EDINBURGH MUMSNETTERS - HELP!!

[Raptorrethy]

A few months ago I started a thread about living near Edinburgh - specifically within 30 mins of the airport. Moving to that area was on the cards and it is again - but the thread, of course, has disappeared as it was in Chat!! It was over 100 posts of great, friendly advice and I NEED IT AGAIN!! You lot were soooo lovely and I hope you will perhaps take a minute or two to post your advice again as a move is even more imminent now. THANK YOU in advance.

So - we would like to be semi-rural, preferably in a village, but must be 30-40 mins from Edinburgh Airport. Schools are a crucial factor - we have DD8 and DS6. We want, as does everyone, a lovely and successful primary school and then caring and thriving secondary - good state or private. DD very academic, DS more into being as noisy as possible as befits a 6yo boy . I am a teacher so would be looking for a job, too, but not crucial straight away. I'm also interested in the weather and midges - are they a nightmare?!

Let's go - can we make over 100 posts from unbelievably brilliant Scottish people again???

and here's a for good measure.

[fishyscott]

What a fantastic thread this is.... lots of info...just what I need as our move from NZ is imminent. We too are after a 30min commute to the aiport. To date I have not found a school with 3 places for my kids (P1,P3,P6) so we are now looking at Midlothian - any info on Rosewell and local schools would be appreciated. Apparently the local school has spaces - it's a small school with lots of composite classes - what's the general opinion on those - my kids currently attend a large primary school (500+) which offers lots of extra activities, clubs etc - will going to a small school be too much of a change for them (and me)!

[motherstongue]

Hello Fishy - Composite classes can work well and you shouldn't be afraid of them as long as the ethos of the school is that each child works to their ability. You would think if it is a wee school that this might be more achievable if the class sizes are small. However, just because it is a small school doesn't mean the class sizes will be small because the local authorities allocate teachers to schools on the basis of the whole school role, it is then up to the head teacher to distribute the kids accordingly. Saying that, I think the maximum kids allowed in a composite class is 25. I stand to be corrected!!!!

With regards extra activities at school, from my own experience in my home town, the extra activities after school are very few. Nearly all the kids do extra curricular stuff with outside organisations like dancing, football, swimming etc. if you want lots of extra curricular activities incorporated into school life you would probably need to look at private school. Hope that helps

[SunnyL]

Hi Fishy. I live 2 miles from Rosewell. It's a small village with a reasonably strong community but it isn't a very rich area and the village is looking a little run down these days. I looked very closely at buying a house there because of how cheap it was but I'm quite glad I didn't in the end as where I ended up has more amenities and is better organised.

Close by but nice villages with good primary schools are Howgate, Carrington, Temple and Roslin.

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello there

We've moved this to Property/DIY at the OP's request.

[Raptorrrethy]

I am re-animating this thread as we are just back from Edinburgh! We looked at nearly all the places mentioned here but I still have more questions so here we go…

Aberdour - pretty and we liked the beach but too far from Edinburgh schools and airport. We don't want to have to rely on the bridge.

S. Queensferry - not really for us, we think. Where do you go for your shopping apart from the Tesco? Where is Boots, bookshops, etc?

Cramond - very pretty but it seemed tiny…not much there at all (did we miss a bit?!) and very expensive from what we saw online (as a few of you had already said)

Linlithgow - was not what we were expecting we thought there would be more shops and a bit more to it, somehow…again, if you live there, where do you go for more shopping and amenities? The loch and the castle are beautiful, though, as is the countryside…and the lady in the little Boots was lovely

West Linton was GORGEOUS and exactly what we would want - it had a proper village feel to it complete with green etc. However, DCs would go to senior school in Edinburgh and we think the commute would be awful every day. Airport would be doable.

Currie, Balerno, Juniper Green - someone very sagely commented before on what our expectation of a 'village' is and they hit the nail on the head as to why, again, these places were not what we had thought. Unless we missed something there seemed to be just a road running through and no proper centre, village green, that kind of thing. Coming from Dorset, for example, the villages seem to be completely different (apart from West Linton). Maybe it is simply a geographical difference??

Countryside - STUNNING. Idyllic.

The people we met - LOVELY. Just lovely. Couldn't be friendlier or more helpful

So. We are now thinking about whether there are any suburb-type places further in to Edinburgh itself that are greenish still and naive but affordable to us. Any ideas, fab Scottish Mnetters?

[BadgersNadgers]

Unless you go private kids from West Linton go to Peebles High rather than Edinburgh.

[cazzyg]

So from Linlithgow there is a Leisure Centre with swimming pool. Cinema and larger shops are in Falkirk or Luvingston which are both about 10 miles away. Tbh Linlithgow is "desirable" because it is the size it is and isn't any bigger. There's a lot of resistance to larger shops dud to the potential impact on the high st. It has lots of independent shops at the moment and that adds to the character of the place. Remember too that both Edinburgh and Glasgow are nearby and most people travel quite happily for theatres, shops, concerts etc.

[readyforno2]

I can second what Badgers said. Peebles High is really good and has recently had a huge gym/fitness facilities overhaul.
West Linton is a lovely place to live.

[dementedma]

The village green thing isn't as common here as in England.
Not in Edinburgh but on the right side of the bridge is Bo'ness. Would that suit?

[BadgersNadgers]

Also - we should get jobs selling houses in Westy, Ready - loads of people in West Linton commute to Edinburgh. It's twenty minutes by car. I'm assuming you wouldn't enrol your kids at Fettes and just dump them on the Stagecoach to Princes Street of a morning.

[fiestabelle1]

Have you considered East Lothian? Gullane is lovely, as is Aberlady, both commutable but not sure re timings. East Lothian is lovely, beaches, scenery and great community feel. Ormiston Village is also highly thought of, but I would consider fee-paying for secondary.

[wigglybeezer]

You are right about villages, in Scotland village greens are a rarity, mostly houses are laid out along the Main Street, I think generally Scotland does small towns better than villages. Stenton has a village greeny feel but is the wrong side of Edinburgh for the airport.

If you went up and down the High Street in Linlithgow you would have missed the big shops as they are a little further out due to parking etc. ( but handy for residential areas). There is a big Sainsburys, a Homebase etc, and there is also a decent sport centre with a pool/ gym etc.

Maybe us Scots just have lower expectations, everywhere in Scotland is fairly ordinary, nice ordinary, but not outstanding. I think it is relaxing because you are never fretting that other people are living somewhere much, much better than you.

I live in Dollar by the way, it is quite villagey but a lot people live here to send their kids to Dollar Academy which is private, other options at secondary involve compromises. You can get to Edinburgh airport in about half an hour if you set off early enough though.

I chose Dollar, my sister chose Linlithgow. I live in prettier surroundings but my kids have less to do and have to travel to high school, she went with head, I went with heart, now that my kids are older I am a bit envious of her choice.

[dementedma]

Dollar is vair nice!

[bluewonderful]

What about Kirknewton? It's a proper village (with a "green", well a park) 10 miles from city, has shop, post office, pub and chippy. Local primary but catchment for Balerno high. Fantastic community atmosphere and lots of local stuff going on (v active facebook page will give you an idea). Houses well within your budget. If you work in town the park and ride is 10mins drive.

[Sunbeam18]

Hi there,
I'm in South Queensferry and we shop either locally at the Tesco or Scotmid for food, topped up with farm shop stuff from Craigie Farm nearby. For other shops (clothes, books, etc) we would head into town (Edinburgh) which is 20 mins away. I think most villages around Edinburgh don't have a great deal in terms of great local shops/independent bookshops etc as they are just too close to Edinburgh with its great choices. Bo'ness has a nice little bookshop and independent shops but not sure if it's what you are looking for. A lot of the areas of Edinburgh itself are little villages (Stockbridge, Bruntsfield, Morningside) that might appeal?

[wigglybeezer]

Yes, vair nice but a bit dominated by the Academy, it can feel " us and them " if your kids don't attend. The academy grounds are like the ultimate village green though, cricket and everything!

English people seem to like it.

[Raptorrrethy]

Thank you! I keep being bowled over by how helpful you lot are. And those are not empty words - we currently live abroad where it is not particularly 'naturally' friendly. We were chatting away to the lad cleaning the rooms in our hotel this morning - so helpful

Will check out the Edinburgh areas that sunbeam mentioned.

Yes, we looked quite thoroughly at Linlithgow and saw the S-burys, Homebase etc. Thank you.

badgers West Linton 20 mins by car to Edinburgh - what did we do wrong?! It honestly seemed much longer, using the sat-nav…which route would you take?

[Raptorrrethy]

wiggly where are you referring to? (Sorry!)

[prettybird]

Don't know the area myself as I'm a Glaswegian but Philpstoun near Linlithgow looks nice if you're looking for a tiny small village. I go there annually for a cycling race (hill climb) and there seems to be a nice community spirit. Don't know how much of that is due to the cyclists and how much the local community though

[dementedma]

wiggly is talking about Dollar in Clackmannanshire. Its lovely and has a good private school, Dollar Academy.
Not too far from Edinburgh at all.

[wigglybeezer]

Sorry, I was sort of replying to dementdma's comment about Dollar but I am slow at typing so ended up with other posts in between.

[cloutiedumpling]

If you are looking within the Edinburgh boundaries then Colinton is quite nice.

[wigglybeezer]

Pretty bird my BIL runs a cycling club in Linlithgow, it is exactly the sort of thing that Linlithgow does well.

[Raptorrrethy]

wigglybeezer Dollar looks lovely. How would you get into Edinburgh and how long does it take? Where do you shop for food?

[PrimalLass]

Aberdour - pretty and we liked the beach but too far from Edinburgh schools and airport. We don't want to have to rely on the bridge.

If it's any use, kids are bussed to Stewart's Melville from Dalgety Bay, and to Dollar Academy from Aberdour. I took the park and ride bus from Inverkeithing to the airport and it took 20 minutes.

From here, if I wanted proper shops I would go to Dunfermline, over to Livingston or (if I had to) - Edinburgh (35 mins).