Retiring to Scotland

[GinJeanie]

My DH and I sometimes talk about moving up as have always adored Scotland - it's where we've always spent most of our holidays over the years. We have family in East Lothian, Fife and Coll who we visit, but have no fixed ideas about where we'd want to settle. We're late 50s. DH seems to want to live in the middle of nowhere but I'd like to be somewhere with community, my fear being that retirement could be quite isolating if we weren't careful...
Does anyone know of beautiful places to live which aren't too isolated and where it would be possible to integrate? Interested in insider views I guess. Many thanks

I think Fife may well suit you. It’s not isolated and has a nice mixture of countryside and coast. The east nuek is beautiful but I think it may be difficult to integrate as there are so many holiday homes the place is half empty in winter. Sadly.
For a community feel I would suggest a village rather than a town. possibly somewhere like Ceres or Strathkinness.

I think you have to carefully unpick fantasy from reality.
We are a bit older than you so it is on our minds.
Think about access to healthcare.
Social activities
Shopping, every day and occasional
Life after car ownership.
Don't forget that the weather is worse in Scotland.
So many friends our age have done a double move when the first move didn't work out.

Rather than one larger home in Scotland, maybe consider one smaller home on a train line in Scotland and one maybe further south like south coast of England or southern wales, again on a train line then you can easily pop from one to the other for the price of a train ticket . Keep an appropriate car at each (4x4 and a soft top) and enjoy your retirement.

Thanks for your replies... Really helpful. @7to25 - I agree, like you I can only help think of practicalities. DH maybe has a more romantic view.
I've experienced an elderly family member have a heart attack whilst living on a hebridean island and the fact they were a helicopter ride away from hospital treatment added to an already traumatic experience. Obviously, we wouldn't want to live quite so remotely - they were originally from Glasgow area and had lived there 30 years so it suited them, but I know the conditions were extremely tough at times. Other family members warn us about the weather inland too - I guess it's different when it's day in, day out... A lot to consider.
I have suggested we could try renting for a year and see if we like it before committing. Cheers all

I would think Perthshire, Stirlingshire. East Lothian or outskirts Inverness may suit you. rural but easy striking distance city amenities if required.

He needs to reign in his ideas. Seriously consider the practicalities - how far are you willing to travel to hospital/ dentist? How will you spend your time - classes, clubs, cultural stuff? If you go to the cinema or a concert how far are you willing to drive afterwards? What if you need care workers etc, where are is your new property compared to the care “base”.

Having had to try and organise care for a relative it was horrendous and their care was shit due to their rural location. For example the hospice for forth valley is Strathcarron, Denny, the palliative care nurse for them lived in edinburgh. She was meant to travel to my relative north of Callander. Funnily enough they were only seen 3 times and for about 20mins a time. It took the nurse 3-4 hour round trip! Likewise assessed for full package of care, entitled to full package of care, unable to get half of that die to shortage of care workers in the rural area. I will be moving to a city when I am retired!!

I think Angus and Perthshire are nice and handy enough for Dundee and Perth. Dunkeld, Aberfeldy, Kirriemuir etc. Blairgowrie... I also like NE Fife if you like gentler countryside and drier weather.
It depends on if you are happy to have another move when you get decrepit or not. You could have 20 + active years ahead.
If your DH has hermit tendencies I'd choose a village rather than an isolated property for your sake and something not too hard to maintain.
The OP is in her 50s not quite ready for the retirement flat with warden and emergency buttons yet, my FIL is 74 and not even retired yet!

I agree north east Fife would be nice to retire to. Ceres as mentioned above is a nice village and easy access to Dundee and st.Andrews. St.Andrews would be nice to retire too as well I think. I would like to retire to crail or elie and walk along the beach every day but they are a bit further away from everywhere. No midges so that’s good 😊.

We however tend to holiday in England as the weathers better, there is more to do and the pubs and beer gardens are better

Renting for a year sounds very sensible! You will get a much better feel of day to day life and you should experience the long wet, dark and cold winter before you commit!

Maybe spend December and January in Tenerife 😀

@Wbeezer by relative was 66 and not decrepit and still working but cancer meant they required care. Sometimes you are not given enough warning to sell up and move before you need the support. Before they were ill they were already finding that driving everywhere and lack of public transport was curtailing their social life.

I’d second moving to an active village, small town in rural area with a full range of facilities required. If he want solitude he could take himself off and camp etc?

OP, do you currently live in the south of England? Because if so, come and rent a property up here for the (nine months of)
Scottish winter and see if you still think you could live here permanently!
In December we have darkness from 3.30 pm to 8.30am. Last winter it hit minus 18C here in Perthshire.
Yes it’s fabulous in the summer, and the autumn colours on the hills are stunning, but it’s the winters that need consideration if you are retired. There is also the risk of Scotland becoming a foreign country if Sturgeon and her cronies get their way.
There is a certain amount of anti English racism from SNP supporters. Idiots waving “English go home” banners, etc. One of my surgeons had an SNP supporter spit in his face and threaten his elderly father - for the crime of speaking in an English accent.
On the plus side, there is a strong cultural scene - particularly in Edinburgh, but even up here north of the central belt we are well provided with theatres and concert halls etc.
There are good opportunities for golf, hill walking, skiing, fishing. Access to stunning scenery - mountains, lochs and beaches goes without saying.
Try it out over a winter before committing yourself, just to avoid any expensive mistakes or later regrets. And as a PP suggested, factor in a winter sun holiday somewhere like the Canaries each year, to remind you what sunlight looks like!

Cove and Kilgreggan. Very pretty small village but 30 mins to Helensburgh and about an hour to Glasgow on the fast road. Parts of Arran or Bute. Comrie in Perthshire. Parts of Borders are very pretty but don't know them so well.

I love these threads having lived in a number of areas in Scotland

We are nervous about independence though. The anti English sentiment is bad in some areas. DH and I will move if it goes through. Many are saying same.

What about East Lothian? Rural further out but close to an amazing city. Also quite outward looking. Or Peebles - rural and good amenities but close to the city. Further north, around Inverness is another option. The Moray coast is gorgeous and drier. Around Perth and Stirling also stunning - dunkeld or Pitlochry, or Dollar

I’m with your DH and have romantic notions of living very rurally and remotely. I adore Gairloch and other parts of the north west. But practically very difficult

@MrsAmaretto I'm sorry that happened to your relative, that must have been very tough. Its a personal risk benefit analysis, i think I'd like to have the same level of amenities that were important when my kids were wee, i didnt have a car for years, ergo, shop and doctors and library in walking distance and bus to town. For some people a lovely view is really high on their list for enjoying life and is worth the risk of not being near a hospital. Im wrestling with a similar dillema myself as I'll have an empty nest soon, I've always wanted a bit more land for animals but it would involve moving further out and as i already live in one of the places recommended by PPs i will most likely stay put (DH has developed back problems and is no longer up for full on gardening). I may kick myself if i remain fit and active into my 80s like my parents...

I wouldnt live anywhere where roadworks regularly cause 50+ mile diversions, i think the Rest and Be Thankful diversions were even longer and seem to be happening every year!

I’ve sent you a PM op.

Ive name changed Im a regular poster.
We mid 50's and have just bought a house in Scotland like you we have family here (Glasgow) we are lucky in that we are able to keep our house in England (which long term we will probably rent out as a holiday home to add onto our pension).
We did a fair bit of research into where to live, we are used to living in a village but know how important amenities are, especially as you get older, IMO a shop ideally in walking distance is very important even if you can only buy the basics and it has a post office, public transport is important we found buses are significantly better in Scotland than in England; despite the fact that in England we live in a village that is a popular tourist destination and is less than 20 miles from two major cities and 10 miles from two good sized towns we have no public transport in our village and no local taxi service. I agree easy access to medical care is also important although more and more appointments I think will be virtual in the future and I personally don't object to a telephone consultation. We have lived in a isolated house before and I liked it at the time but I'm not sure Id do it again, once your retired you'll have more time and may want to participate in local activities etc. a friend whose retired and lives in a small town in the Cotswolds likes the various activates that are on offer and the community feel this is also a good way of meeting people if your new to the area.
We found the Scottish system of buying has positives and negatives having the home buyers report before you even look at a house was great we dismissed quite a few sitting in our living room because of work that needed doing that was not obvious from looking at the photos reading the blurb. We found the bidding system frustrating we bid on three and were unsuccessful despite going in significantly over the asking price. We also found prices were significantly cheaper than we were used too, utility rooms are the norm, as are large often very gardens.

We started on the west coast which we love and knew a bit (although not the islands we felt that just added an extra layer of difficulty in) in particular we wanted to be by the sea, there were loads to choose from many with stunning views. As our bids were unsuccessful we started looking at other areas and ended up in Dumfries and Galloway. Its very beautiful here, its long and narrow and has a long stunning unspoilt coast line but also forestry barren uplands and lush pastures its mainly a farming community. It seems less popular with tourists than the west coast and because it's just over the boarder its easier for our English friends to get here. We spent our first winter here I personally didn't find the shorter days an issue, it's definitely more windy here but I don't think any colder than where we lived in England, we've only done 1 winter but no more rain that we've experienced in England either (unlike Glasgow where it seems to rain all the time). The scenery is simply stunning, we live in a village and have a good shop, the village organises lots of activities (pre Covid) and there are regular buses everyday to our to our nearest two towns and our local hospital is 1/2 an hours drive away. Everyone we meet both the Scots and English are very friendly and welcoming.
We have moved a lot in the past and have always been happy to up sticks and move to areas we dont know we are also friendly and I'm sure this helps.
"I wouldnt live anywhere where roadworks regularly cause 50+ mile diversions, i think the Rest and Be Thankful diversions were even longer and seem to be happening every year!"
^ This is a significant issue and another reason why we started looking at other areas.
I don't know what Scottish independence will bring (if they get it) I have listened to arguments for both sides, and read two pieces of research one stating it will be a disaster the other saying it will the best thing that could happen to Scotland if I was asked to vote borrow I wouldn't have a clue which way to cast my vote. We are registered to vote in the upcoming election but I genuinely feel that as new comers I don't know enough about any party to have a strong view (Im generally left/green leaning). Many criticise Nicola Sturgeon and they may be right e.g around education but I personally think she's handled the Covid crisis much better than Boris, she is certainly able to put out a very clear message, Ive talked to other here who are not generally her supporters and they seem to agree.
All in all OP I would say research your area carefully there seemed to be lots of options and loads of pretty amazing houses and then go for it.

The Borders are lovely, particularly Melrose and Selkirk - lovely community feel, good transport links to Edinburgh and the north of England, and the benefits of the big and relatively new Borders General hospital.

The climate is a wee bit less severe than further north, although please don't (and I say this as a born and bred Glaswegian who has lived in Scotland for the vast majority of my life, bar a few spells abroad) underestimate the impact of the Scottish winter and how dark it is, particularly if you're coming from SE England. You'd be amazed at the difference 400 miles can make...

Quite pricey in comparison to other areas (you could probably get more for your money in Dumfries & Galloway, although it's a bit more isolated), but overall, a really lovely part of the country.

An advantage of the Boarders and D and G is that it is significantly closer to England if you want to go and see friends or vice versa. There are some gorgeous villages on the west coast but they were adding a good 2-3 hours on our journey from England. I think it easy for those in England to not really comprehend how big Scotland is and how few people live here in comparison to England. This of course means that population density is much lower so it feels significantly less crowed in rural areas which for us is one of its attractions but towns with major infra structure like hospitals etc are quite spread quite far apart.
The short days light thing is interesting we're not from the SE but not far off, my family who live in Glasgow complain about the crappy weather this a lot where we are in D and G I barely noticed it.

I’m in Fife and I am wondering whereabouts in Scotland @Babcock is living if they are experiencing nine months of winter. Utter nonsense. The dark months are mid-October to mid-February and that’s it. Tayside and North Fife have the driest climate in Scotland too. Why not rent a house for a month or two and try it out. Maybe try May/June and then December/January to get the extremes of weather?

And just to add, we stay much lighter at night in the summer months. As a PP has said, 400 miles does make a difference in terms of the length of the day, but in June when it’s dark in the south of England we are experiencing beautiful sunsets and twilight that goes on for hours - quite Scandinavian. And in semi rural areas the sky is BIG - not interrupted by lots of buildings.

I’m south Aberdeenshire on the coast, half way between Aberdeen and Dundee, great rail and bus links. Lots of local amenities but can also be rural. Have you thought about Deeside, Banchory, Aboyne area, beautiful summers but yes cold in winter but definitely not as PP stated and I’m born and bred. Good luck with your move

It would be really interesting to hear from people I have retired somewhere they are very happy, whether Scotland or England. I need some ideas!

As @millymoo1202 has written, Aboyne, Banchory, Royal Deeside area is absolutely stunning. Gorgeous summers, walks, great amenities and sense of community. Another great area to consider is the Moray coast - Elgin, Nairn, Forres. A previous poster mentioned the long summer nights the further north you go - very true - it makes for long summer days. With relatives on the Moray Coast we hear about decent Heath care in that area too.