Move to Edinburgh

[sarahepeel]

My husband has been working in Edinburgh for 7 months now but the commute (from Somerset) is getting a bit much so we're considering a move to Edinburgh (12-18 months initially and then reviewing the situation). I have one son in Y7 and one in Y5 so schools are important. We are homing in on Musselburgh for rental prices, its transport links to work and the distance to archery, climbing and sailing clubs, as well as decent walks for the dog. What is this area like? Do any kids in Musselburgh go to school in Dalkeith?

There is only one large secondary school in Musselburgh (over 1000 pupils) and it's non-denominational, so families wanting a Catholic faith school have a choice of an RC school in Edinburgh or the one in Dalkeith. I don't know what the transport arrangements for that would be but I'd assume there is a special school bus service for Dalkeith as there isn't a direct local bus.

Musselburgh itself is a very mixed area socially as you'd expect from a town of that size. The transport links to Edinburgh are excellent (bus better than train at the moment, IMO) giving very regular, quick access to all the city has to offer, and it's also really easy to access the rest of East Lothian, including the beautiful coastal areas. The harbour is well-used, with the yacht club and coastal rowing club, and there are loads of places for dog walking, on the prom and beach near the harbour, at the Lagoons at the other end of town, at Newhailes estate (a NT property) and inland along the River Esk walk. I don't know about archery clubs nearby but there are three indoor climbing arenas within half an hour's drive (Alien Rock in Leith, Eden Rock near Straiton for bouldering and the huge international climbing arena at Ratho, which has indoor and outdoor walks, plus a bouldering area.)

Thanks @TheGirlOnTheLanding, that's really helpful. We are not after an RC school but I thought Dalkeith High School looked really nice and wanted to know if our options extended beyond Musselburgh Grammar. I guess we need to come and have a good look around!

It's the opposite end of town, but maybe consider the area around South Queensferry- there's the marina at Port Edgar, Climbing Arena at Ratho & good transport links to airport & city.

I suppose it all depends on work - where would your DH be based?

Thanks @MoreProseccoNow. We have looked at that side of town, and even out to Aberdour and Dunfermline but I'd like to eventually find work at once I'd the university campuses and it looks like transport links to those are better from the east. Husband is mainly near Haymarket railway station.

No problem @sarahepeel - if Musselburgh Grammar doesn't suit, there are several schools closer than Dalkeith. No idea what the chances of getting a place at Dalkeith would be, as it's a different education authority(Midlothian) to Musselburgh - you might be better off looking at houses in its catchment.

Most although not all kids in Scotland go to their catchment school, or at most the one next to it. If you're moving up from down South, it will probably be easier for your kids to make friends if they are at the local school.

And just in case you didn't realise (you probably did but I'm not going to assume ) Musselburgh Grammar is not actually a grammar school

If your eldest is in Y7, then now is probably a good time to move as it would mean that he would start in S1 after the summer holidays - where everyone will be making new friends and adjusting to life at secondary school

And just so that you don't piss your kids off by truncating their holiday , remember that Scottish schools stop at the end of June and go back mid August or a week or so later (I think the East Coast schools tend to be amongst the slightly later ones).

East Lothian break up on the last friday in June and go back about 14/15 August.

When my sister moved down south many years ago her kids finished end june then didn't go back until September - they loved it!

We occasionally have 8 weeks summer hols but it's usually 7 and a day.

If you're looking to work at the uni and Haymarket then Musselburgh would not be my first choice! Although it's a very mixed town with good amenities. I would look more to the west of the city, Corstophine, South Queensferry or south to Liberton or further on to Lasswade for good schools.

What is your budget? Have you considered linlithgow?

Commuting from Musselburgh to Dalkieth for school wouldn't be advisable, it across council boundaries and a fair distance to commute. Most kids will go to their catchment school, which would be Musselburgh Grammar.

I'm from near Musselburgh and now live in South Queensferry.
It would be incredibly unusual for someone to go to Dalkeith - it's different council areas as a pp has said. Also you'd be responsible for transporting them and I can't think that would be easy on public transport, so it would be down to you to drive.

In terms of each school, the catchments are broadly similar (mixed, dormitory towns for Edinburgh) so I can't really see an advantage in one over the other. Again, as pps have said, children do tend to just go to their catchment school in Scotland, especially outside the cities.

Musselburgh is bigger than South Queensferry, there's probably more to do. Linlithgow would be comparable I think. Linlithgow school is very good, so is Queensferry and they're getting a new building soon. There's probably more rental property in Musselburgh though.

Transport to Edinburgh from Mussi vs South Queensferry would be six and half a dozen to be honest.

Which university are you interested in? Queen Margaret is convenient from Musselburgh, Herriot Watt not an easy commute. Edinburgh George Square and maybe Medicine would be OK, but Kings Buildings or the Bush could be difficult. Personally I would avoid a commute around much of the bypass, obviously lots of people do it but it is very slow in rush hour. Napier is the wrong side of the City Centre (though I’m not sure where all its campuses are).

Wow, thanks everyone, it's so great to get this kind of feedback. In my area (Somerset, south of Bristol) people drive their kids all over the place to school but I'd much rather just go with the catchment and it sounds like that's what most people do and that most schools are ok - I'm keen for them to go to a fully comprehensive school and meet people from all walks of life - much better preparation for life!

Thanks @prettybird for the tip about holidays, I think my kids are going to be mighty annoyed when they realise I've short changed them 2 weeks of summer holidays...

A few people have mentioned South Queensferry so will look there too but I really like the East Lothian coastline so it would be great to live within easy reach of that for weekend walks.

@Invisimamma yes, we have considered Linlithgow but that makes work and hobbies (climbing and snowboarding) even further away.

We're just going to rent initially so our budget is up to £2k for a 4 bed house with garden. There seems to be very little out there though...

OP, I think i'd rather have to drive to hobbies and days out and be at a decent school within easy distance for DC to get there and back themselves than drive them all over the place for school. I say this as someone who has spent 7 years getting DC to and from an out of catchment school (chosen because of bullying issues) The big climbing centre is at the west of the city, there is ski-ing at the artificial slope at Hillend to the south and I believe they accommodate snowboarding too? Sailing might be harder but I think there might be a club near linlithgow? I also like the east coast landscape, but other areas have lots to offer and in your position, I'd go mid lothian or west side of edinburgh. or the south west too. Look at the school charts and look at houses in catchment.

I'd be looking around Boroughmuir, Linlithgow, Balerno, Currie, Firrhill, Craigmount, Gillespies, Queensferry schools or somewhere like Penicuik, near to the hills etc.

Have a look on Zoopla, lots coming up on that side of the city.

There’s a sailing club at Port Edgar which is South Queensferry. West rather than east would also suit better for heading north for climbing and snow sports outdoors. Plus as other posters have said Ratho is the place to be for indoor climbing. No idea about archery 🏹

sarahepeel - you could always takes them out of school two weeks early because you're moving Don't need to worry about fines as you're effectively de-registering your children (BTW: fines aren't a "thing" up here )

It would've been good for your ds1 to go to some transition days (which would be in June) but it's probably a bit late to organise that, especially as you're not sure where you're going to be yet

Linlithgow would be good for getting to Xscape at Braehead - indoor snow slope - and not too far from Hillend or the dry ski slopes in Polmont or Tillicoultry. Just a short hop along the M9 to Port Edgar too.

And an easy 20/30 minute commute to both Glasgow & Edinburgh. Brilliant high school too.

Have you spent any time in Edinburgh? Musselburgh isn't lovely and the school isn't great. Davidson mains is cheapish and has better schools.

@imperfecttents you've just summed up exactly what I wanted to say about Musselburgh but didn't want to offend anyone who lives there and might like it.

Op for your budget you could do far better!

Remember too that the distances in Scotland are less and the driving easier

We think a 15 minute "traffic jam" is atrocious

I love living in Musselburgh, but the school isn't great, as PP said.

@prettybird, is the traffic really that good? We have been focusing exclusively on train travel as we are currently -l25 minutes from Bristol on a Sunday but would need to leave no later than 7.30 on a Monday if we had a 9am meeting...

Better to ask East Coasters with recent experience, but I can say, having living down Down South and then moving back to Glasgow (and regularly commuting over to Edinburgh for meetings by car) that what counts as a traffic jam up here would be seen as "nothing much" down South

It's all relative

From my experience of the Edinburgh bypass going to cycling events, it slows down but is rarely at an absolute standstill for more than c5 minutes (ie it moves, albeit slowly).

Glasgow (Southside) to Edinburgh is 45 minutes in free flowing traffic (eg even on a Saturday going to Murrayfield for an International) but I'd allow 1.5 hours "just in case" at rush hour during the week.

I don't live in Edinburgh anymore, but from travelling in from time to time, there are definitely "pinchpoints" on the bypass but again, (apart from when there has been an accident), in general it just goes very slow for a bit and then cracks on back to normal again. I think the worst bit is the big roundabout at the turnoff for Dalkeith at the east side which there are plans in place to ease and the bit at Hermiston gate can get busy both coming off the bypass towards the gyle and coming in from the west. I used to commute from Penicuik to Stirling and as long as I left early to avoid the busiest times, I could do it in about 45 mins on a work day. I still work with people who drive from edinburgh to Stirling daily and don't complain - I suspect it's busier in the opposite direction though.

The Edinburgh City bypass is grim at peak times; it's not a commute I would willingly undertake! Unfortunately there's not much of an alternative. Edinburgh just doesn't have a good transport infrastructure, IMO. I think the traffic here is worse than Glasgow & other cities.

I hate the bypass, most locals do, but if you're used to 1.5 hours for your normal commute you will laugh in the face of our bypass woes.

(Though I do think, why add to that, which of course you would be doing if you were driving your kids from Musselburgh to Dalkeith every day...)

Linlithgow isn't far from the coast and there is a brilliant sailing club/marina at South Queensferry. If you're used to a lot of driving, popping down to East Lothian for a walk won't phase you, but of course you're closer to the Fife coast, which is equally lovely. Scotland is all coast, really. (That's why it's so wet.)