Moving to Scotland from devon

[Gillybum22]

Hi there, hoping someone can give some advice. We currently love on devon, me, husband and our kids boy 7 and girl 3. My Husband loves scotland and we spend most of our holiday time up there. I love it 2 but am less keen only case my mums here in devon, also my brother and nephews are too. All my other family is in Glasgow (I lived there until i was 9) we loved braemar but its a bit far from airport for us etc... we want to live within an hour of Glasgow or Edinburgh Airport but fairly rural and preferably near mountains etc.... we were thinking a village near Perth or Stirling? But open to ideas, I'm concerned about my kids getting bullied about accents etc.... although I'm aware lots of English live there and loads of Scots live here... its probably more accepted now. Any help appreciated, we are also in healthcare. My husband is a paramedic and I'm a nurse.... help us lolol xx

Do teenagers these days really go out of the house for adventures into mountains and hills though? The younger teens I know who live in rural areas spend a lot of time in cars being ferried to activities by parents because it's too far to walk and there's no public transport. They do such long days to get to/from school and before/after school activities that I don't honestly know how they manage it!

You might want to consider the Scottish Borders and towns like Peebles.

Good for Edinburgh airport.
Stunning scenery
Excellent mountain biking in that part of the world too.

Helensburgh prob ticks most of your boxes. Cracking place to bring up a family.

Kinross sounds perfect for you! Beautiful place. Great location. X

I can also echo Stirling/Dunblane/Bridge of Allan area. We moved here a couple of years ago and it's been fantastic. I love that I can go for a 10 mile run on empty country roads or be in Central Edinburgh or Glasgow within an hour, either driving or by train. Schools are great, and there are so many activities for the kids. As a PP said, distance to the beach is the only downside, but it's definitely doable for a day trip.

I grew up in northern Scotland and have lived in many very different places (internationally and in the UK) with my family. We feel properly settled here, despite the pandemic.

I do still struggle a little with the long, dark winters (after years in tropical climates!), but we get more snow here than other parts of the UK so that helps. Nothing quite like a wintry wonderland!

What kind of nursing are you in/do you want to be in? I like ARI but Braemar far too long to commute in, Banchory is a lovely town but would be 30 mins commute into ARI. If you were community nursing though I guess it wouldn't matter where you lived.

There are lovely places surrounding Glasgow that are very village/rural. I think towards the Falkirk/Stirling side can be really lovely. I've worked at Hairmyres which is under Lanarkshire trust and it was a lovely hospital so hope the other side of the same trust would be just as nice.

Perth is a great place for amenities and though labelled a city it really is a large town. It’s well placed for easy access to the outdoors from your front door and has good transport links to make Glasgow and Edinburgh reachable within the hour. Also easy to get onto A9 to head north. The climate is drier than in the west but colder. On days like today it’s simply stunning.

It has a healthy amount of keen cyclists both road and mountain bike. It even has mountain bike trails in the hills in it (Kinnoull, Deuchny).

It’s also got an A&E hospital but a 20 minute drive to Ninewells, Dundee. Easy access to NHS Forth Valley too.

Lots of medics live there because of the easy access to other health boards.

Anywhere around it has nice villages too but living in Perth has meant the kids are very independent and can get themselves to school, amenities, cinema by themselves without having to be taxied. Good local bus service but everything walkable

You can be at Aberdour beach in under an hour (50 mins) from Stirling which is probably the closest beach but lochs are closer including Loch lomond in about 45 mins

Helensburgh

Lots of English accents due to the naval base

Also near loch lomond, mountains etc.

An hour from Glasgow on the train.

another vote for Helensburgh and surrounds. Ticks all your boxes, and jobs at Vale of Leven and Royal Alexandria hospital in Paisley, as well as commutable to Glasgow. We moved last year and can see mountains (and loch) from our living room and still get to Glasgow in under an hour. About half the town sounds like they are from Tunbridge Wells too!

Hello again, 👋 we are still looking around. My husband likes the look of killin? I worry about teenagers and what they do? He has been brought up running around the sticks in forests etc.... I'm wandering if anyone has experience of their teenagers in these small villages? Are they generally desperate to get out, or am I worrying over nothing as we are outdoorsy so they will follow suit?? I'm anxious I'm moving from one drug filled bored teenage place to another. Torbay really is the pits, it's the most poverty stricken area in the South west. Also how has covid and the brexit thing affected house prices, jobs and general areas in these small places...? Thank you.

I don't know Killin too well but my impression is that it is too posh to be drug filled. Hopefully someone more local will be able to tell you more. Think it would be a bit too remote for us. Fine in summer when teens can be outdoors but not so good in wet summer, although you may get more snow there. Depends how outdoorsy they are I guess

Hmmmm OK. Thank you. We are also closely looking at dunkeld.... but doesn't look like there is much in the way of property for sale there...

sorry, I meant wet winter there...

That area is very pretty though. And not too far from Comrie and Crieff, which are also lovely.

Near Glasgow airport:
Houston and bridge of weir are within catchment for some of the best schools in the country.
Bishopton is nearby and is cheaper with new developments.
Further out is helensburgh which is lovely and near to loch Lomond.

Any of the above are an easy commute (not needing to go through the city) to QEUH which is nearby to the airport and is a major trauma centre and one of the biggest hospitals in Europe so should be ideal for jobs

Good luck

@Gillybum22 Killin is in the catchment area for McLaren so your teens best friends might be in aberfoyle or Blairdrummond? You’d do lots of driving as parents but there is a bus service to Callander that ties in with things like the school orchestra etc. Killin is definitely not drugfuelled but if your teens do go down that route I’m sure they can find it like they do other places?

So teens in the village generally have weekend jobs due to all the tourists, do outdoor activities, there’s the village drama club, youth club has restarted last month. But as a parent you’ll need to drive them to sports clubs, dancing used to be at dalmally, some go skiing. But yes you get used to travelling longer distances but that’s rural living whether Norfolk or Killin?

This is very helpful. My children are only 7 and 3 currently. We are wanting move more rural as the town we live in is getting bigger by the day it seems! There is a dreadful drugs and alcohol problem here even at the local secondary school. We love the mointains and outdoors, so hopeful they will follow in our footsteps....! Do you have any experience with dunkeld? Thank you.

Don’t have experience of Dunkeld but do if teenagers! Best thing is good transport links - think that’s why Bridge if Allan / Dunblane is always called out. All the benefits of access to countryside, good schools, clubs and they can get to Edinburgh & Glasgow very easily.

Thank you. Yes it's the teenager bit I have no experience of lololol.... and me and hubby were pretty different teenagers, and it was a long time ago! We are 43 now lol.

I was going to say Peebles too. Ticks all your boxes

Is peebles mountainous ?

Never lived in dunkeld but there are buses to Perth regularly.

Once they hit a certain age most teens in touristy highland Perthshire have Saturday jobs and work a good chunk of the holidays.

Peebles doesn’t have mountains.

@Gillybum22

Is peebles mountainous ?

No, not mountainous but the Lowland rolling hills of the Scottish Borders. It has fabulous mountain biking tracks there, great Secondary school (a number of English parents) and not too far from Edinburgh

There are plenty of decent hills around Peebles for walking, the Borders are beautiful, also not near the sea but plenty of water around and a decent bus service into Edinburgh.

What about Dumfries and Galloway.
Good links north and south
Lots of little villages but not too far from main town.
Loads of mountain biking, and outdoors activity, wild swimming, hiking, sailing etc
You would both definitely get a job there.