Tell me about helensburgh

[CurlyBlueDog]

Thinking about moving to Helensburgh - Upper West End - What is it like? Any opinions on Lomond School? Is anti-social behaviour a problem in the town centre (I know all towns have this problem to a greater or lesser extent).

Thanks!

Helensburgh is about 45 mins from Glasgow Queen street by train, upper west end is nice.

Lomond school is from 3_18, the nursery operates on some forest school principles, the new headmistress has been there about 1 year, generally good results but is non selective. So results not as good as some private schools

Hermitage primary would be catchment school and it is pretty good, hermitage academy the stratre secondary takes pupils from as 25 miles arrochar, less kilcreggan etc, it has about 1000 pupils generally thought of as a definitely above average school though new national 4&5 and higher results last year were not so good three is local debate as to why my dad is young so not so sure about senior schools, nearest catholic secondary is in Dumbarton.

Helensburgh generally has low crime rate and is a safe place, has a co.op and tesco metro in town centre plus 3 independent butchers a fish shop green grocers 2 decent though not cheap tyoyshops several good restaurants La barca won Mediterranean restaurant of Scotland last year, if sailing kayaking is your thing plenty of opportunity, loch Lomond is 10-15 minutes drive

Downsides, it is best coast of Scotland, it rains!!!, also midges in summer, there is no nightlife or cinema, though the tower has some films and cultures stuff,
There is boots and whsmith Gregg's but most shops are independent, there is a large wait rose on outskirts of town.

Regarding anti social behaviour there ius a bit around pubs at weekends but better than most places hardly likely to affect you if planning to live in upper west

Hope that helps

I live in Helensburgh and love it! Feel free to message me and I can share all that's good about it...

Teacupdrame & Maldive moment - thanks for your replies! It would be a big upheaval for us so need to make sure its right. All seems positive from my recce visit, but was considering Lomond School at secondary level and couldn't find much feedback on what it's really like. Plusses at the moment are the access to outdoor activities, scenery, trains to city and I want kids to have the independence to play out.
Slightly worried about long term effect on the town if anything happens to Faslane, but would probably need a crystal ball to forecast that question!!

Helensburgh is a lovely place. Heaving in the summer tho with people coming to visit and can be a bit of a nightmare then but overall it's lovely. I lived in balloch which is quite near and would be in and out of Helensburgh frequently. Nice place to live and it's all been recently upgraded too so looks lovely.

Also, if living in upper West of town, what is the best primary school to consider? Younger kids would need state school.

Great to hear another positive comment 'Kiss'!

hermitage primary would be catchment school and is probably the best primary in Helensburgh, others would be placement requests, rhu primary is generally well thought of, I don't think colgrain or john logie Baird are as good but they're certainly not bad schools. St Joseph's is the catholic primary

I would stick with hermitage, 2 classes per year, all other schools are smaller and may have composite classes, if not used to Scottish education system you are guaranteed a place at catchment school, you can make a request for a different school but it depends on there being a place after everyone in catchment has a place

I live here too and though I want to move, it's to be closer to hospitals as I have a chronic illness, not because I dislike the town.
I know very little about Lomond School, DD is at Hermitage Academy, as for Primary, avoid JLB, the others are fine, though I believe Hermitage is thought of as the better one, it just didn't work for us at the time.
Lots of lovely independent shops, great food to be had, everywhere delivers to here, trains every 30 mins to Glasgow/Edinburgh.
I don't go out in the evening really to see anti social behaviour in pubs, so it doesn't affect me, and even when I lived in the worst part of town, it's not random, but infighting, you get that in most places, and I'm fairly sure you won't be planning a day out in Kirkmichael!

Thanks Teacupdrama and Ihavebrillohair for the extra info re the primary schools, just need to suss out the preschool provisions next in my research. I see from hermitage Primary's website that they don't seem to have a nursery class. It might not be a issue anyway as my youngest will start P1 next year, so missing a few months will make no difference.

Sorry to hear you are having to leave Brillo for health reasons, hope things work out for you.

JLB and Colgrain both do.
I'll probably be here until DD finishes school now, she's S3 so a bit late to change and it would limit areas I could move to if she had to travel back here for school.
On the general health care front, as in GP and Dentist it's great though, just I need frequent hospital appointments which are a pain from here.

I am what you would call a 'lomonder'. I was there from 4-17, all my school educated years were spent there and I loved it! Obviously changed since the days I was there but I have heard positive things from younger family members and also children of my friends who now attend.

Hi Mani83
That sounds like a good recommendation...fairly sure Helensburgh is the place for us, just need too find the right property now!