Talk to me about life in the highlands?

[batmanladybird]

Dh is in running for a job there.
We are currently in Home Counties

The Highlands are a big place. Whereabout in the Highlands?

The job is in Inverness

Inverness is like any major cities there are good and bad areas. The bad areas are not really bad in comparison to most cities. The schools in general are good. Inverness has all the normal family activities such as bowling, cinema, Go-karts, swimming pools, leisure centres, soft play, nice parks, lovely walks etc. You can get to the beach or the mountains relatively easy. Aviemore is great for outdoor activities. Paddleboarding and water sports are very popular in the Highlands partly due to the fantastic lochs. There are some beautiful beaches within 20 minutes of Inverness. Hill walking is very popular here also. Summer nights are lovely and bright and it often doesn’t get dark but the winter can get dark at 4pm. We get snow more frequently than anywhere else in the UK. Inverness clothes shops are pretty rubbish but food shop wise you will get all the main supermarkets. The summers tend to be wetter than other parts of the UK but we do get warm days.

Oh wow. This is all super helpful.
I have one y9 dc one y6 and twins in y3

The town centre is a bit shabby these days but location it's surrounded by wonderful scenery. There's a brill splashpark at Nairn, Aviemore has Loch Morlich (THE best beach in my opinion!). Glen Affric Torridon- absolutely stunning. There's a university in Inverness too now.
Oh, Belladrum is a family friendly festival just North of Inverness. Whin Park is brilliant.
Go for a few days and you'll get a feel. The winters are tough as there's not a massive amount of indoor stuff to do but it's very pretty in the snow!!

The school system is different - so you probably have (roughly) a s3, p7 and twins in p4!

Inverness centre is very run down and shabby. Moray( to the right on the map) is lovely though with great beaches

*Glen Affric and Torridon should be separated with a comma as they are separate places!

Ugh, please add an edit function MN!!

I agree with the comments about Loch Morlich. It's gorgeous we go frequently ( kids are age 9,4 and 2). Unfortunately Inverness shopping area is pretty run down. There has been a lot of investment in hotels but none in the shopping area. Ness islands is lovely and close to it we also have an ice skating rink and crazy golf. You can ski in the winter in the Cairngorms if you want. The A9 between Perth and Inverness is not great and can be busy. The Highlands are sparsley populated which has actually been a blessing with COVID as you could always find a quiet walk. Aberdeen is 2 hours away if you want a better choice of shops. They also have a science centre, codonas amusement park and a couple of universities. I personally think driving is fairly essential in the Highlands as the bus and train service is rubbish plus we have miles of area to explore.

Inverness vs the Home Counties! Inverness will feel much colder, and it's small compared to most places in the SE despite being a major Scottish city (population 46k). It's in a beautiful area and accessible to stunning mountain scenery on the west coast and beaches on the east coast. I imagine it offers fantastic quality of life. It's a long drive south if you've got family etc down there - A9 can be clogged in the summer and wintry in the winter. If it survives covid, Inverness Airport takes about 5 minutes to get through, and the London sleeper train is also good (but expensive).

Poor transport links, huge distances, bad weather, beautiful scenery, don’t think schools great, lack of employment opportunities, long winters, long summer nights, midges, difficult to get tradespeople, extra delivery charges or no delivery to.

Unless you’re madly outdoorsy I wouldn’t do it.

I am quit surprised by the comment about lack of employment opportunities. Inverness is documented to have some of the lowest unemployment in Scotland. I personally have never struggled to find work nor has anyone I know. There are some excellent schools. Although like everywhere some schools are better than others. If you want recommendations on schools and areas please pm me OP or join Facebook group Inverness mummies. There are a couple of schools I wouldn’t allow my kids to go to.

I have no issues getting tradespeople either. I have spent about £6k doing my house up in the last 18 months and have had in an electrician, plumber and joiner.

Extra delivery charges can be an issue as some companies insist that Inverness is an island it starts with a IV postcode as to the islands. Big companies like Argos delivery large items for £3.95 to £8.95 max so people who live here just use companies that want our business and there are plenty. We also have places like The Range, Home bargains etc. The kids play outside for hours in the summer and we can walk to a waterfall and park in less than 10 minutes. House prices I would think we much cheaper too though they are on the rise and houses go fast.

The biggest negatives I find living here are the weather can be unpredictable. The midges are a pain in the summer if you decide to camp in the woods they will eat you alive. However for a warm summers nights in the garden I spray Avon skin so soft original and they don’t come near. The other negative is it it much harder to get anywhere south unless you fly so things like holidays abroad are far more expensive.

OP it really does depend what you enjoy and what your kids are interested in. I have quite a few friends who have relocated from England up here and love it but if you can come up and visit for a few days later in the year it will help you decide. Summer is lovely but winter nights are cold and long though the snow this year was amazing as we sledged most of lockdown. S

Fabulous place for children to grow up. Very safe and loads of activities.
Not the best for shops if that's important to you.
Welcoming to incomers, of which there are many.

Long sunny summers, but long dark snowy winters. It's drier than lots of places in Scotland.

Schools are generally good and everyone goes to their local state, non-denominational schools. No private and no segregation by religion at secondary (1 primary).

There is now UHI but many youngsters leave to go to the main universities and don't return.

As others have mentioned it's a long way north when you want to travel for holidays or visiting relatives.

It will be a massive shock to the system if you’re used to being able to go to gigs/theatres/galleries etc so easily, or to eat out. Or hop on the tunnel or a plane. And you’d need to drive your dcs around. Also medical care can involve long distances.

It’s really a huge decision. Some people love it there, definitely not for me!

The school year age groups are different in Scotland, so your children may not be in classes 3 years apart. It depends which month they were born in. Primary school starts with P1 for children who are 4.5 to 5.5, and secondary starts with S1 for children who are 11.5 to 12.5.

But also you’re allowed to delay when your child starts school, so some children are a couple of months older than that.

Also they stay at primary school for 7 years and secondary school for only 6. The youngest ones leave and go to university when they are still 17.

Sorry I should have said my reply referred to Inverness, I don't have experience of living elsewhere in the highlands.

This is all really helpful, thanks
It's still all up in the air, and yes we would have to factor in a stay first.
Thanks to the poster who offered a dm - I will take you up on that

@WouldBeGood

It will be a massive shock to the system if you’re used to being able to go to gigs/theatres/galleries etc so easily, or to eat out. Or hop on the tunnel or a plane. And you’d need to drive your dcs around. Also medical care can involve long distances.

It’s really a huge decision. Some people love it there, definitely not for me!

Huh? Have you been to Inverness? Eden Court Theatre? Lack of gigs, yes. There's are also a lot of cafes and restaurants so eating out is no problem!

There’s not the range of shows, nor restaurants that there are in the Home Counties with easy access to London and big towns, with lots of different options. Or galleries displaying big permanent collections.

I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s a huge difference. If you’re used to things being easily available. It means children brought up there don’t have access to those experiences or such a wide range of activities, other than outdoorsy ones.

Eden Court Theatre is good. It has an art house cinema there too and lots of arts education programmes.

Lots of decent restaurants too for the size of the place due to the tourism industry. Rocpool, Mustard Seed, River House.

I moved to Inverness from Yorkshire. I haven't noticed it's any colder, if anything I think we had more snow in Yorkshire but we did live quite high up. Not much difference in daylight either. It is very far away from other places though.