Relocating to Scottish borders

[Chipsahoy]

Happy Sunday all.
Our home is for sale and we are planning to move to Northumberland, however in our search there we’ve seen properties we like over the border and starting to wonder if we should be looking there instead. I have family in Aberdeen so would make us closer than we are now, in the midlands.
Can anyone recommend a town or village in the Scottish Borders which is within an hour of the coast. We want to live semi rurally.
Three kids, two school age, jobs are home based and have been for ten years Plus so no commute to consider.

Thanks.

And you've looked at the income tax and LBTT vs stamp duty differences? Melrose is very popular.

Thanks. Yes aware of the differences, it’s affordable for sure as the house prices are much lower than in the midlands.
Melrose seems nice but a bit of a way to the coast?

Just about the hour - there are towns east of there closer, maybe someone can advise on the schooling options. Glad you've looked into the tax differentials.

Depends what you are looking for and what type of coast.

Peebles and the surrounds are lovely and 45 mins to Edinburgh coast/portobello beach, a little more to the east lothian beaches.

Unless you have a particular need for the coast, the countryside in the borders is lovely with plenty of water and hills etc, you might find you aren't that bothered about the sea?

Maybe check out internet speeds for working at home? Some of the Borders high schools can be mixed and might involve longish journeys, primary generally easier.

I definitely want coast. I’ve lived as far away from the sea as you can get in England for all my life. This is a self care, choosing me after horror of child exploitation. Done choosing my families peace over mine. So I want to live where I’ve always wanted to live. With access to the sea, pretty, and far away from home. Done the therapy, it’s time to run towards something new now I know it’s not running away.

Northumberland ticks all the boxes and we love it there but my family in Scotland all rave about Scotland so wonder if we just go over the border and get both Scotland and Northumberland on our doorstep.
It’s hard because we obviously can’t holiday or view. We think we could rent instead, not many rentals in Scottish Borders so maybe in Northumberland and spend time in both areas before we commit with buying. But then you have the worry of moving schools twice for the children. If they hadn’t already had half of this yr out of school I’d just pull them out for a few months while we rent.

Thanks for the input.

The Scottish school system is quite different - I'd be inclined personally to rent a beach front flat in Northumberland whilst you scope it out. We rented before buying when moving to completely new areas.

I concur with you about the soothing nature of living by the beach.

Hope you get decent comparative advice - really just bumping for you.

In your case I think I would definitely prioritise the sea then and look for something more coastal though then that brings in the affordability factor. Maybe into East Lothian? Or even over the Forth into Fife or Tayside?

I'd say that the Borders in general is more focussed on land and hills than sea, the villages etc very near the sea excepted.

I wouldn't necessarily bother about which side of the border it was but expect that there will be a bit of a shitshow about independence again soon, depending on your views of that it might be a positive or negative outcome but the process itself was pretty unpleasant the last vote.

If I really wanted what scotland can offer in terms of my future then I guess that's a short term thing.

Thank you both so much.

The biggest issue really is not being able to view or holiday. Our house is already for sale and keen to move but don’t want to get it wrong. Renting is a good idea but again hard to figure out where to rent.
Scotland education system could be good for my middle child who is behind in his year, I believe due to his birthday being in April I could put him down a year.

My youngest is very like my middle so keen for him not to start school until 5. He’s also an April birthday so could do that in Scotland..

Kelso and duns? My dh loves hills and countryside.
Will check out Fife and Tayside.

Thanks

I grew up near a seaside Borders town and there was quite a bit of bullying of anyone 'different' for example accents, it now has real issues with drugs...take care and look closely at the area, it may not be as idyllic as you think.

What about west coast? Dumfries and Galloway has some great coastal options and even further inland a 20 minute drive to beautiful beaches

Ok so I'm very rural borders, specific questions welcome but will try and give overview.

Primary's ok, most places. High schools earlston and Peebles are the two sought after, Peebles was recently burnt down though. In temporary use until new one is built.

Berwickshire coastal but comes with issues as PP mentioned. Drugs rife here at moment, across area really but coastal towns have had some publicised issues, as have Hawick, gala, Kelso.

Duns and Kelso have new high schools, both ok but can be bullying, I suppose like anywhere.

Hard to give a good picture at moment as everything so unusual. All kids given iPads from upper primary and work sent home during covid was minimal. Wifi is patchy, not always reliable, super fast broadband being rolled out in some places.

Agree Melrose nice and many from there use earlston high rather than galashiels. Or they go private. Also has the train link from tweed bank.

If I could live anywhere, having been born and bred here I would move to Northumberland or up north way.

@Orangeblossom77777 I think that's right. My job pre DC took me into a lot of the schools more at a child protection level and it was eye opening. Quite a divide in many areas between incomes and locals and between poverty and well off.

Thanks so much, it’s very helpful. I guess prices are lower for a reason in the more remote areas. We do absolutely adore Northumberland and know it quite well so perhaps should stick to there.

We are mostly sticking to the east because of weather tbh! Don’t mind cold but less rain is preferable. Don’t want to go too north into Scotland as on occasion need to get to London to work. Not for commute just once or twice a year for a few days, staying over there.

Little fishing town, quite picturesque, in the borders...

www.bordertelegraph.com/news/18731563.county-lines-eyemouth-homes-searched-police-drug-raids/

That's the East coast btw just up the road from Berwick...

Crazy eh @Orangeblossom77777. Love Eyemouth, until I looked much closer. Sad really.

I went to Eyemouth high school myself as a teen, so I know the area quite well. Lots of underage drinking and teen pregnancies. I thought it may have improved but saw recently still only about a quarter go on to higher education. It is sad, drugs never used to be such a problem.

www.eyemouthhigh.org.uk/page/?title=Information+for+University+and+College+Admissions+Teams&pid=570

More about the high school here, for info, in case you are considering the area.

Wow! Thanks for the information. It’s given us a lot to think about for sure.

I've recently lived and had primary and high school ages in the areas of NE borders and N Northumberland that you are thinking of OP.

Borders can be very insular. Melrose is the most open to outsiders.
In Melrose your acceptability is based on Money (secondarily, rank at the BGH or local Council). Unless you have these, you may find it hard
Everywhere else in the Borders, it matters if you are not local. From your kids being bullied re accents, to lack of support if SEN is a need.
IndyRef2 will come and that was divisive and horrible 1st time around. Broadband is very patchy and the Scottish curriculum is very different to the English one, and woolly, especially at primary level.

East Lothian is a bit better and has lovely beaches.
North Berwick has a good school but is expensive.
Dunbar School is okay but there's issues locally in the housing estate.

Northumberland:
Berwick upon Tweed consider themselves a separate entity - a true mix (historically) of English and Scottish. But the High School is appalling. It isn't much better in Alnwick (though a pretty town). Poor teaching plus I know young people in both being horribly bullied. It's not until you get down nearer Morpeth that you get a good choice.

Both areas are nice for younger children - very old fashioned in every way but have a lot of bored teenagers who need ferrying everywhere later on and drugs are in all schools / villages. The internet is poor.

BUT by and large it is clean, empty, very scenic.

I lived in the Borders for a bit as an "incomer". Have also lived around the East Lothian coast. In my experience the coastal areas in this part of Scotland tend to be quite deprived and not idyllic at all, if that's what you're after.
It's a shame because the towns have so much potential to be nice but due to lack of investment have become run down, hardly any decent shops or anywhere nice to eat/drink, beach fronts often unkempt and dirty.
The people were generally nice but the mentality was parochial.
Or maybe that was just the places I experienced. There may be some better places I don't know of.
Melrose and Peebles are the more upmarket towns in the Borders but they're not beside the sea and are quite pricey. I also liked West Linton and Eddleston, they're small villages and very commutable to Edinburgh and the coast.

Not the borders but a bit closer to Edinburgh is lovely: North Berwick, Dunbar, East Linton, Haddington etc. Schools generally good too.

I suspect that the problems described by pp are around in Northumberland too to some extent OP.

Many rural towns with poor public transport infrastructure and bored teens will have drug/underage drinking problems, regardless of whereabouts in the country they are.

As a teen it can be hard, I think as a PP mentions closer to Edinburgh could be nicer. We used to get a friend with a car to drive us up there, or occasionally get a bus trip to Newcastle metro centre which was very exciting!

Coldingham beach can be nice for surfers but little else around there. St Abbs was a very pretty village but the local meds were feral when we lived there and used to stone us! - they had to camp out in our village school hall for a while as theirs was to small or something. Strange times.

There was a huge double decker bus used to go from Eyemouth round the villages and we would catch that I remember.

Dunbar had a nice pool with a wave matchine. In Edinburgh you have the commonwealth pool.

Kids, not meds!

Thanks lots to think about! We are definitely used to having faculties nearby. Schools are a mix here. It’s so overcrowded which we hate. Dh grew up rural mid west USA on a farm so he’s not bothered by any of the driving or being cut off etc stuff.
Schools I definitely would be concerned by bullying not being dealt with. I’d seen Berwick upon tweed high school was failing so will not be moving there.

We were looking rothbury and Morpeth perhaps Hexham.

Thanks for the info. I will look further towards Edinburgh area also.