moving to the highlands

[Londonflatroofingservice]

Hello everyone brand new to this site so please be kind.
I am here looking for some advice and guidance really I am looking to move my family and I to the highlands of Scotland either Fort William of may be the Isle of Skye and would love a little feedback from people that either know the areas of live there we have 4 children 2 boys and 2 girls ages from 16-10 yrs old we currently live in Peckham south east London and i hate it its an unsafe area and do not feel i can let my children out with out worrying all the time how they are. Anyway I am a flat roofer and have also run my own small handyman business while my wife cares for the elderly but has also worked for many years as a teaching assistant.
What is the work situation like in Fort William & Isle of Skye ?
What is life like. e.g. slower or the same as london ?
and in general has anyone made the move from a major city and wish they had not ?

That’s a pretty drastic move! Have you been to either place? They’re quite different - why those locations in particular?

Parts of fort William are quite rough bit probably not compared to London 😄

Maybe Inverness area would be another place to think about?

For William is a fab place to be if you and the kids like mountain biking and skiing.

Skye is beautiful. Your wife will get work easily as a carer, butbtheres not much call for flat roofers in Scotland. Our roofs are pitched to cope with the rain.

I can't comment on the Scotland aspect, but we moved from a city to a small town and then to very rural Wales. Myself and my husband love it, but my 3 kids would move back to our English town in an instant, even though we have been here 5 years. The positives are many, including hardly any neighbours, breathtaking views and even better air according to our visitors. But there are also many negatives: for us 8 miles to nearest shop, prob. 35 miles to nearest shopping town, Almost non existent public transport, so we are a constant taxi for kids and their friends might live 15 or 20 miles away because of enormous school catchment areas. Also, very remote locations mean getting stranded in bad weather- can't get to work, shop, school.
And, there are the same challenges with teens as in towns/ cities, although I had imagined it would be safer, it is not.
Overall, I wish we had waited till the kids had left home before moving to our rural dream. It might have been our dream but it is most certainly not what our kids want. 5 years on, I still feel guilty ( although we discussed it as a family before making the move) and I don't think my elder 2 have ever forgiven us.

I live very rurally now and adore the highlands but i wouldnt do it with tween/teens either. Work is notoriously tough outside a few key professions like hospitality.

I think you need to go and take a look if you are even asking if it’s the same as or slower than London.

FW vs London is like two different planets!

hope it is miles safer than London.

While it might be safer, I’m not sure that older teens from London would enjoy living in the highlands. Why didn’t you consider Edinburgh, Glasgow or Aberdeen? Those places would have made far more sense.

It's a bit selfish to move teens to the middle of no where.

I wonder if you're romanticising the Highlands. There is a huge difference between Peckham and Skye, but both have their own issues, it's not all rural bliss and cheery crofters. Visit the areas you're interested in. Visit in the next couple of months when the weather is likely to be a bit shit, see how folk manage on public transport when that's the local postbus and not the tube... I live in Scotland and have friends and family spread all over, in small towns, new towns, cities and the countryside, I love my country and welcome pretty much anyone who wants to live here. But I want you to be happy living here, not disappointed and sad.
So do your research, vist the areas, join Facebook groups for them, get as much information as you need. And I hope to say "céad míle fáilte" (well, actually, "a hundred thousand welcomes", as I'm monoglot) soon. :)

I doubt your teens will thank you for it.
We're 45 mins out of Glasgow with a half hour train service and Dd17 wants to be nearer.

What IAmAlways said. What do your children think of the idea? Have any of you been to the areas you are considering?

Maybe post in scotnet where you may get more local information.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/scotsnet

I don't live in either but have visited both on several occasions, it's a very different lifestyle to living in a city and both are fairly remote even by Scottish standards (i.e. you'll pay a premium to get lots of things delivered). I think the culture shock, particularly for a 16 year old is likely to be massive!

And agree re flat roofs, both places are in the west of Scotland which has the milder and wetter climate, flat roofs are really not a done thing.

You also need to factor in that we have a completely different education system in Scotland, and your teens exam years would be different. There is little to occupy teens unless they are to hiking, outdoor activities, water sports, nature etc and they may find it difficult to quickly integrate to established friendship groups.

All very good points and advice so many thanks to you all
thank you WaxOnFeckOff i will post it there and hope to get some real inside info as well.
as for the people who have given feed back here both my children and myself are all very out door orientated i would love to take the kids mountain bike riding i had bikes for the kids where we live and they all got stolen over £2500 pounds of bikes gone police did nothing lol
we have discussed with the kids and they all say they want to move up there where we can see the mountains, lakes, nature, and also experience all sorts of weather. i just want somewhere for my kids to grow up safer than london also give them a chance to buy a little place of there own once they are of that age to do so.
thanks again everyone you've been great

Have you considered aviemore or surrounding areas? Much better for teenagers and a huge amount of outdoor activities on your doorstep, but also only 35 mins by car to Inverness for more of a city feel.far better train links etc than staying on the west coast (I've lived in both areas!)
Off th top of my head in aviemore you have cairngorm mountain, loads of hill walks, mountain biking, water sports etc all in that area.

But they could do this in Ediburgh or Glasgow or Dundee too Op but still not get huge amounts of culture shock!

tbf there’s plenty of knife crime/theft in Glasgow/Edinburgh too if that’s what the OP is trying tonescape.

Not on the level of London, though. In fact the Met were asking Scottish Police for help on knifecrime, because our levels have dropped.

www.economist.com/britain/2018/08/23/as-knife-crime-rises-in-england-police-look-to-glasgow

There's places in England you can do all that stuff though and it not be quite so drastic a move. You realise it's a 4 hour drive just back to the English border from Fort William right?

I live in Invernes - I think what other posters say are right - you really need to come here before deciding on moving. For example, I think it’s difficult to appreciate just how drastically different the weather is here from London. If you have any questions, I could answer please do ask!

You ask if the pace of life is slower than London... I mean it’s probably about 50 years slower!! Bear that in mind!!

There are good mountain biking facilities closer to the cities, Borders for example. I like in a city (tiny by english standards) and can see the hills from my house and neighbours mountain bike directly from their house.

hirples nonetheless, a change in government/policing and it all kicks off again.