Anyone relocated from busy part of England to rural Scotland?

[Equimum]

Has anyone ever made the move the a fairy rural and northern part of Scotland, and if so, how have you found it, and what are the positives and negatives, please?

We currently live in a village about a 45 minute train journey from central London. Although technically rural, I can be in a motorway within ten minutes, have all the big supermarkets within a twenty minute drive etc.

DH, however, has been offered a job about thirty minutes outside of Aberdeen. It’s a slightly more senior role than he currently has, and the company have offered more than he currently paid, and will contribute towards distance travelling for the trial and relocation if it works out. This would means we could fulfil our dream of owning a cottage with land and animals, and that we could significantly reduce DHs commute. (Although we can get into London very quickly, he has a longish onward journey from the station to the part of London he works in).

On the face of it, this seems like a great opportunity for our outdoor living family BUT I can’t decide how I feel about living in northern Scotland. I think I’m most anxious about the weather and just being so far from everything.

If anyone has experience of a similar move, I’d love to hear your experiences/ advice.

TIA

I grew up in the Thames Valley, did my professional training there and met my now husband. When moved to Aberdeen in 2009 and apart from a couple of years in Houston been here ever since.

We started out renting in city centre but moved out to Aberdeenshire to buy a family home.

Positives:
-looonngg summer nights

• an outdoor culture - our lifestyle is much more outdoors focused here - walking cycling open water swimming skiing etc
• ski fields about 75 minutes away
• lots of different cultures in Aberdeen, welcoming to ‘immigrants’, clubs for every interest
• generally good public and private schools
• more expensive than other parts of Scotland but money goes further than Thames valley
• new bypass has significantly improved traffic and we have a 15 minute commute to work
• lots of social initiatives in Scotland ie free school meals, baby box, free prescriptions
• thriving arts and foodie scene
• new concert and exhibition centre should see big names
• good flight connections through London, Amsterdam and Paris.
• we’ve had some lovely staycations in Cairngorms and highland

Negatives

• winter can be harsh -first year we lived here it snowed incessantly from November to April. But embrace it!

-dark winters -can feel claustrophobic next big towns are 2/3 hours away

• oil boom to boost - people get laid off really easy
• there’s a bit of a new money/ showy off thing (ie vanity car regs) 2015 oil bust tempered that a bit
• takes a while to get your head around different education system

-SNP/nationalism/indyref - although the shire is largely remain/for the union

If you have any other specific questions please DM me

Can you go up for a few short holidays to get a feel for the place?

You should put this in scotsnet.

If it’s 30 mins inland from Aberdeen the countryside their is lovely. Very lush and green. You can easily get to the slopes in winter.

Nearer the coast you have lots of long sandy beaches.

The NE of Scotland is cold but dry.

You can sometimes see the northern lights!

The summer evenings are long and light (till 11) but it’s dark before 4 just before Xmas.

Because of the oil industry there are lots of English people in that region so you wouldn’t be the odd one out.

It is quite monocultural though- very few BAME people.

It’s also not a good area for nice restaurants.

If you are on the coast you are near the train line that goes straight to kings cross so getting back to London isn’t a problem.

That area provides a fantastic quality of life but with the benefits of being close to a nice city. It is, however, much much colder than the south of England both in winter and summer. Might take a bit of getting used to?

Not recent but my mum moved to aberdeen for a few years when i was tiny and she said it was a brilliant place to live, even back then. Its not a poor city like glasgow was back then because of the oil industry.

Thanks everyone. All your comments have been quite reassuring. Yes, we will go up and have a look round the area in a couple of weeks times. If DH takes the job, he would also do the probation period travelling back and forth to our current home (I.e weekly commuting). We’d certainly go up in school holidays and some weekends to get a few for the area and start to identify areas we would like to live.

It’s all a bit easier for DH as he went to university in the area, but I’ve only been as far as Dundee!

I would recommend renting your house out for a full year and seeing how you get on. Once you sell and buy, it’s very difficult to reverse if it doesn’t work out.

We live in Aberdeen city and quite central. The beach is a short drive away and there are parks within walking distance. Countryside is easily accessible and It's green lush and beautiful!

I find Aberdeen cold but definitely drier than the rest of Scotland.

And don't your children get free university education? I'd move to Scotland again in a heartbeat if I could

Thanks again to everyone who has replied. I had no idea this was such a common move.

Haggisfish, (love your username BTW!) that is certainly something we would consider doing and might even do for a lot longer. DH has always wanted to move to Scotland, but the lack of jobs at his level in his field has always been the deterrent. If this job came to a close, we would probably end up back in the London area or moving overseas.

Hopelessly, the proximity to beautiful beaches and stunning countryside is defiantly a pull. Also glad to hear that it’s not soooo wet - that is something i always struggle with in Scotland. I think I’d be okay with the cold.

I live in Aberdeen. I really like it. Just to add to all the other excellent advice here - the air is really fresh!

And the Aberdeen Art Gallery is opening at last in November! Music Hall has been refurbished too.

I grew up in the Thames Valley, did my professional training there and met my now husband. When moved to Aberdeen in 2009 and apart from a couple of years in Houston been here ever since.

and you list "SNP/nationalism/indyref" in the 'negatives'?

I would have said that the prospect of an Independant Scotland was something very definitely in the positives. And I speak as an FEB incomer too.

@Equimum, bear in mind if you move to Scotland you are moving to another country. Scotland isn't just a different bit of England with shittier weather - it's a different country in a union with England and it's a union that's hanging on a very shoogly nail.

TheSandman - thank-you, I think that is something I am quite conscious of. We’ve lived overseas in the past, and I’ve sometimes found the places most like England the most difficult to settle. The subtle differences seem to sometime cause more of a culture shock that places that are completely different. I suppose it’s to do with expectations etc.

You won't need umbrellas ever (too windy), all your winter coats will have hoods, you wont' need summer dresses, don't buy a house on a hill.
It is cold but so much less traffic and prettier scenery make it worth it imv.

I lived in Hertfordshire for a while and now live in the East Coast of Scotland. It is definitely colder, but the east and north east are much drier and have many more clear days than the west of Scotland. I don't find it a problem to wear an extra layer as long as it's dry. We don't get that muggy heavy heat in the summer and have much longer days. But then winters are darker and at the coast there is not much snow. However a short distance inland there is loads of snow and all the associated winter sports.

You will be amazed how quickly you can get places and get everyday living tasks done and how much that reduces stress levels. People are generally more relaxed and there is less tension in the air. But the flip side to that is that you don't have as many options as you do when near London. Personally that doesn't bother me, as I'm perfectly happy with a simpler life, but you may miss that.

The education system is different, but if you've been overseas before you will probably be quite used to finding out about that and adapting. In my case it was better here as it gave my DC more flexibility and options to continue different subjects at various levels rather than only being determined by the school year they are in. University is free, but I think you need to be here for 3 years to qualify?

In summary, if you don't mind cold but dry, and prefer an outdoorsy and relaxed lifestyle I think you will like it. If you would miss the restaurants, theatre and events that London present, maybe not.

TheSandman, the risk of Scottish independence is very definitely a negative.
A new country with a 7% deficit, which bars it from re-entry to the EU, choosing to separate from its major trading partner (England), having no currency, central bank or cash reserves, with a junk credit rating on the international money markets, and unable to afford its own public sector pension, defence and NHS costs, once the £12 billion subsidy from the U.K. ceases.
The major financial institutions have already said they would have to leave Edinburgh as Scotland can’t afford to underwrite them. RBS alone has £74billion of assets. Scotland would lose all of its share of their corporation tax.
OP, you will just have to pray independence never happens, and be prepared to move back south again if it does. Along with the rest of us English ex pats up here!
As for free uni places - they are limited in number as the SNP can’t afford to subsidise all of them. So the uni’s offer al the remaining places to English or non EU overseas students instead, as they pay full fees. This limits Scots kids’ chances of getting in at all.
On the subject of education, Scots schools have plummeted down the international ratings tables under the SNP. They’ve actually withdrawn us from the tables, as it was so embarrassing for them! So you may have to factor private schooling into your budget.
On the plus side, as PPs have said, you get much cheaper houses, fresh air, wild countryside, sports facilities etc. I moved here from London over 40 years ago, and raised two DC here. It’s a great lifestyle, and only an independence vote would drive me away.

Me. I grew up in the North West of England and moved to a village in Scotland and I LOVE it. It's a wonderful, friendly place. My DSis was up visiting for a funeral here once and while we were walking down the street around a dozen people said good morning or gave us a smile and a nod. She asked who they were as it seemed I knew everyone and was shocked to hear that I only knew some. Some were friends, some just familiar faces and some were complete strangers.

The only time it's not been perfectly nice was during the bloody Indy ref. I'd never heard such rudeness because the "evil English" were fair game. My own friends would go on 'Yes' rants with caveats of "not you though" "you're different if course". Thankfully our area were 77% no voters and whilst I still hear that guff it's not common and I don't care for their opinions. My life here is wonderful. I've got a Scottish hubby and made three little Scottish people too.

As for the weather, I don't find it any different. In fact, my FB newsfeed is regularly full of snow days back in England whereas here in SW Scotland the weather can often be sunny.

And I completely agree with @Babdoc. The SNP have all that devolved power of self governance and so far it's a shambles. Wee Nippy Sturgeon wants to think less about independence and English hating and more about how to run the country with all the powers she has.
She reminds me of my MIL. She would happily sit there in the dark grumbling that the bulb has blown, demand a ladder and bulb and not let anyone in to change it, be given the bulb and ladder and then refuse to change the bulb and blame someone else she's still in the dark.

I don't think you'll have to budget for private schooling, unless you wish to but choose secondary catchment carefully.

I think it's a wonderful place to live OP. And best of luck with your move whatever you do. It's always stressful.

I see you are thinking of a cottage. There are lovely farmhouses and steadings to buy and the countryside is beautiful.

I want to move to Scotland now 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Indy ref 2 is definitely a negative; it's so divisive and was very ugly in 2014. But Aberdeenshire is stunning, dry and cold on the east coast, and proximity to the ski hills is a big positive.

Do you live in the same Scotland I live in? I have been here 30 years - speak with a very middle class 'English' accent, live in a village with families who have been here for generations and have only ever ONCE, in all that time, had any anti-English hostility directed at me - that was from a drunk in the pub who grudgingly apologised when told to by his equally drunken pals. A lot of it is down to attitude. I'm not a Scot. I'm Scottish but not a Scot. My kids are Scottish. Born here and raised. It's attitude. Come in like a colonial settler and yes you'll get people's backs up.

My experience of the the 2014 Indyref was far from 'divisive and [...] very ugly'. A political struggle is never bump free but, compared to the Cluster Fuck semi-civil war the English establishment is endlessly engaged in over Brexit, Indyref 1was a walk in the park.

In 2014 we were told ; The only way we could stay in the EU was to remain part of the UK. Now we're told we can't stay in the EU we're part of the UK.

No wonder people are pissed off with the lying, self-serving fucks in Westminster.

No, the SNP aren't perfect. No political party is; but the SNP have done more to offset the effects of Tory 'austerity' than I would have thought possible.

I agree Sandman.