Lovely villages near Edingburgh

[Ultracrepidarian]

I'm very excited, I adore where we live but dh works away for months at a time and we miss him. A week ago dh got a phone call inviting him for a job interview in Edinburgh when his current contract ends. Dh left a few days ago for work, I'm not sure when he'll be back but when he returns he will have the arrangements made for the interview.
It's looking promising so just in case I just want to look around for nice villages, I'm looking for small schools as my both my ds have Aspergers and high functioning autism and I don't think they'd handle a big school, I also have a dd and toddler so a family place would be great. I've always lived highlands west coast, beaches and vast empty spaces and have little knowledge of the east coast or the central belt. I've driven through and had odd days but nothing I could base a relocation on. We rent so I have no house to sell, it all feels very exciting. Nothing may come of it but I need to start investigating just in case, I'm trying not to get excited but dh has never had a 9-5 job. Thanks for any ideas.

How far would he be willing to commute?

And more importantly, where is the job?

The job is in Morningside and half an hour commute or so would be ok, maybe a bit further.

Have you considered East Lothian? There are some beautiful little villages and towns there between the coast and the Lammermuirs. I grew up in Haddington, a small market town which has excellent schools, and is only about half an hour's commute to Edinburgh, but if it really is village life you're after then places like Gifford, Garvald and East Linton are lovely. If you want to be by the sea, North Berwick is great, and also has excellent schools. Hope this helps!

Just noticed that your husband's job is in Morningside, in which case villages south of Edinburgh might be more commutable - ie towards Peebles and Biggar. But East Lothian still more than do-able.

Thank you, I will start googling. I just needed somewhere to start, I really hope it's a goer would love to see dh regularly.

Kirknewton.
Small school but getting a bit crowded, for some year groups that might not be an issue. The nursery is brilliant and I say that as someone who can be critical of them.
Both school and nursery have expereince of austism spectrum kids and from what I could tell their parents are happy with the care they received.

Nice playground and woodlands.
Regular trains into Edinburgh (and the other direction Glasgow) taking about 25 minutes. There is also a local bus cpsefvice into Edinburgh too.

The villiage is full of families, with many SAHM and a friendly place to live..

Other Village immennties include a post-office, Church and church hall (there isa thriving playgroup)decently stocked shop, a pub (not the nicest one) a chip shop and there is a pottery/craft place too. There is a sports center near by but it doesn't have a swimming pool.
The next villiage over has the library and the Drs surgery.

The nearest town shopping area is Livingston abut 30 minutes by bus, under 15 by car. It has all the usual shops, cinema plus fast food and some restaurants and a swimming pool near by.

Come and live in Biggar - or even one of the surrounding villages like Broughton, Symington, Wiston or Lamington. It's probably more like 45 minutes into Morningside but it's such a lovely part of the world that it makes up for it, plus it's an easy 45 minutes on a decent a-road with no traffic. Biggar has some great local shops and is very family friendly. Also an hourly bus into Edinburgh. Quite a wide range of property types, from traditional stone cottages, big old farmhouses, Victorian terraces and semis to new-builds - and a wide range of prices to match.

Biggar and most of the surrounding villages have their own primary school, usually just the one class P1 - P7, very inclusive, lots of pastoral care and maybe ideal for your DSs.

If you're looking for something a bit closer, then West Linton is also lovely, though smaller and therefore less going on. I also visited Kirknewton recently and really liked it.

We're in Aberdour, but it would be more than half an hour's commute.

If it's Monday to Friday 9-5ish, then half an hour will only get you into suburbs, not out into villages. But 45-60 minutes should get you out to lots of nice places.

I have a friend who does a daily commute from West Linton to Morningside & says it's very easy.

Most of the city/suburb schools are full, so village living sounds the best option.

If your DH is working in Morningside and you want to live in a lovely villiage you are going to have to accept that a 30 minute commute isn't possible your going to be looking at 45-60 minutes average.

Watching with interest as we have also had this move on the radar for a while now… Places I am keen on based purely on research - and proximity to the sea - include Aberdour (tell us more PrimalLass), but it would be more than half an hour commute. North Berwick appeals as well but when we visited it seemed very bleak and quite expensive in terms of property prices.

I'm in Dunfermline and would love to live in Aberdour! It's genteel and classy with the most beautiful beach. Sadly, not such a short trip into Edinburgh, but many find the extra commute worth it :-)

How about North Queensferry? A unique setting and very easy to get into the city.

Living further afield might be doable as dh has been told he probably won't be expected to do a full week. So that's an option, I don't drive so somewhere not so remote would be good. Cometesse I will look into Biggar and West Linton. I will also check out Aberdour although it's sounding too nice and maybe expensive for us. Winterland I will look at Peebles and Dot I will check out Queensferry.
Thank you so much dh is many miles away and hopefully I will here about the length of this contract and when he might get back for the interview. Amazingly he was offered another job, although sadly it was in Eritrea and I wasn't keen on relocating there. Even for an amazing salary and a short three year post. Seems like a relocation will be likely and probably by the New Year I'm hoping we get the Morningside position, I'm not sure I want relocate the family abroad.

If you're looking further afield then you may also want to check out Stirling and Dunblane - I've heard very good things about both. They're not really villages, but may suit if you don't drive. I loved Queensferry (north and south) but didn't see much property and not sure I could put up with the rail/road bridge noise.

If you search the archive you will find a few threads about relocating to Edinburgh - maybe a year ago? It might be worth reading through those as there was a lot of good advice from what I remember.