Moving to Wales

[YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp]

We’re hoping to move to Wales and are looking at Llandrindod Wells. Where else should we be looking? Not keen on Cardiff, Swansea etc, prefer to be north of the Valleys etc.
We’re retired and want to be ideally within walking distance of a reasonable sized town because I don’t enjoy driving (DH does drive at the moment), with plenty of places to walk the dog, and the opportunity to make new friends.
At the moment we’re in south Gloucestershire.
Any helpful ideas very welcome

I would look at Llandeilo - Carmarthen and Swansea aren’t far for healthcare and it’s a nice sized town with nice shops, and plenty of lovely places to walk. You aren’t far from the western beacons or the coast, and there’s a train station in Carmarthen. Llandod is in the middle of nowhere and a bugger to get to!

@SirVixofVixHall, OP has said she is willing to learn Welsh.

The part of Wales I'm from has lots of property being let as holiday lets. It's a rural area with not much to spend money on.
Visitors will shop before setting off presumably and contribute very little other than on the accommodation.

Meanwhile locals are priced out. Local schools are closing, so children need to be transported to other villages every day, agricultural workers drive in from where there is affordable housing.

There is hostility towards Welsh-speakers in some areas.

I've got family in and around Llandod. PP are right, it has a deprived feel, not a huge amount going on and very far away from good healthcare - I would not countenance moving there in my sixties!

Abergavenny, if you don't like it then you don't like it, but I have to say, it has a lot that you're looking for. A great community, good shops and it's on the train to Cardiff, so probably the best possible option if you don't drive. Plus a hospital (though no A&E any more).

Usk is extremely pretty, Crickhowell has lovely shops, but public transport tricky in both. Monmouth is nice but again public transport not great and also it's significantly more expensive than other towns because it has a choice of sought-after schools, which (presumably) isn't a concern for you but drives prices up.

Have you thought about Chepstow? Much better public transport connections to both Bristol and Cardiff, decent healthcare and very pretty countryside - gateway to the Wye Valley.

It has happened to the indigenous population of London, but no one calls it a tragedy

There really isn't very much "welsh culture" in Llandod, if it wasn't for the bilingual road signs you'd barely know it was Wales 🤷‍♀️ except during the six nations of course.

Fuck me, if I meet anyone who wonders why so many people in Wales want independence I'll point them straight to this thread.

I second Llandeilo OP. It's a lovely town, close enough to Swansea and Carmarthen.

@Asdf12345

Having spent a good bit of time in Wales for long and short periods I would avoid anywhere too Welsh if you hope to be included in the local community. Look for somewhere already on the gentrification path.

For me Wales would be a lovely place for a second home but not somewhere to settle. Yes I do say that as someone priced out of where I grew up also.

I literally gasped on reading this. Don’t know whether to cry or explode. Avoid somewhere “too welsh” ?? What , like FUCKING WALES ? We are too Welsh now ? People here being made homeless so that some selfish person can come here on holiday into a little cottage, I have seen a man cry because he wants to house his family in his own community and can’t, friends with degrees working cleaning the holiday homes because that is all they can get. Nid yw Cymru ar werth WALES IS NOT FOR SALE. I have not seen and heard welsh people this angry for decades . There is a total lack of respect for us as a different nationality, trying to keep our culture and identity, trying to keep ancient communities going. I genuinely don’t understand why someone would want to destroy something they profess to be fond of. I feel pretty heartbroken reading some of these responses. I live in an area really suffering, just because people want to do the selfish thing and don’t care what they damage in the process.

Gower would give you easy access to a city infrastructure. It's very expensive though.

Presumably though, those holiday cottages were sold by Welsh owners?

@Aderyn21

Presumably though, those holiday cottages were sold by Welsh owners?

Not necessarily . But anyway people lie. Next door to me sold to someone who insisted she would live there. It was on Airbnb within a month.

@Aderyn21

It has happened to the indigenous population of London, but no one calls it a tragedy

London is a capital city and does not compare with a country with a fairly low population. The last time I went to London, English was spoken there and there was english culture.

The last time I went to London, English was spoken there and there was english culture.

And when you went to Landod you heard Welsh?

Some of the holiday cottages are owned by Welsh speakers.

Why don't they let the property as a family home?

I don't know where Landod is

@ILoveShula it's where the OP wants to move to and somewhere where much of these criticisms simply aren't relevant.

Sad to see so much anger on here. I'm Welsh, living in Wales and I'm sure the OP will find most places and people welcoming.
Many people in the uk can't afford to live where they were born. Maybe some of the anger here directed at incomers would be better directed at the government, for failing to help improve the economies and education of these areas, as this would improve the prospects and lives of those born there.

It depends on whether you intend to move again. If it's a long term move you need to consider public transport, local services and activities, health service...otherwise you may end up in a beautiful prison

[quote namesss76]@ILoveShula it's where the OP wants to move to and somewhere where much of these criticisms simply aren't relevant.[/quote]
OP said Llandrindod Wells. Is that Landod?

@ILoveShula yes

Why is it called Landod?

I don’t think London has a specifically English culture - it’s a mix of a lot of different cultures. But working class people who were born and brought up there can’t afford to buy houses or rent anymore. There are a lot of properties owned by investors or businesses where no one lives. That it’s a capital city doesn’t alter the fact that for some of us it was also our home.
It’s short sighted to object to people buying homes that they will live in because they aren’t local - presumably you want your kids to have the option to move to England if they want and not be told to stay where they were born? For every person who wants to stay, there will be one who wants to go.
There’s a lot wrong with the housing situation generally and a lot of people in England and Wales (can’t comment on Scotland or NI as have no experience of living in either) have been screwed over by greed. But it’s not the fault of individuals who are just looking for a better life.
Maybe there should be rules on ownership of second homes or homes where no one is going to live and I’d certainly argue for rent controls, but not for denying a citizen of any of the 4 nations, the right to live in any of the 4 that they choose.

@ILoveShula Yes everyone calls it Llandod/Landod, dunno why, other than that it's shorter.

@ILoveShula because it's 2 syllables instead of 4, and because lots of people there can't pronounce the 'Ll', as I say it's not actually very Welsh.

ok It's probably anglicised. A lot of place names have almost lost the welsh pronunciation.

Some people will laugh at you if you say it the welsh way and insist that it is Rudland not Rhuddlan or Bagult not Bagillt [substitute any welsh place name]

Same reason we say Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG instead of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch... Because it's quicker!