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Scotsnet

Welcome to Scotsnet - discuss all aspects of life in Scotland, including relocating, schools and local areas.

Remind me what's good about living in Scotland?

516 replies

CoralPaperweight · 06/05/2022 17:18

I moved to Scotland 25 years ago (central belt) and I've had a great life here but over the last year or so I've got increasingly itchy feet. May be a post-Covid or age thing but I'm not sure I want to stay in Scotland forever - it just doesn't seem to be as appealing to me, and even the cities seem a bit flat at the moment. Realistically, I can't disrupt DS education at the moment, he's very settled and happy so please remind me of everything that is fantastic about life in Scotland. I'm forever reading threads about people who are desperate to move to Scotland and I'm not really seeing why at the moment.

OP posts:
MrsAmaretto · 14/05/2022 18:31

Snobs?

so you were suggesting leaving a habitable property empty for most of the year, then retiring to it. This means the property won’t be available for people to move there to work. So the breeding age people don’t move to the community as they can’t find properties to rent. Retirees are usually fit and get involved in lots of things in the community. Great. But they then get older and infirm and require social care etc and medical care and fit neighbours who can assist them. Those professions need somewhere to stay, but the community is not an attractive place to live any longer the population is aging, the school is tiny or shut, there’s only old folks stuff on at the hall like 500, and the only younger folk are those coming up at weekends to work with sheep as there relatives are to old to do so anymore. Oh hang on, I’ve just described Yell and Fetlar haven’t I?? And you are wanting to add the issue.

The reason why people don’t do up old ruins is 1) it’s not classed as a new build so you have to pay vat. With a new build you get your vat back on materials. 2) They were traditionally built on the poorest land that was no use for agriculture so often they have poor percolation (I’ve spelt that wrong) test results and require too much ground work. 3) The ruins have been there for 100+ years, the remaining residents built often there houses away from them, then the electricty came in the 1950s/60s and the wires/poles are near them and the cost of getting electricty to house sites is ridiculous and scuppers many a house build plan (we paid £15k for our connection 18years ago)

You keep banging on about the Scandinavian model of cabins. They were traditionally we’re just that a cabin with no mains services used for holidays and weekend. There’s not the same issues with them as they were never meant to be main dwellings in a community. More like a glamping pod/ wigwam that we have nowadays. No one seems to object to them as they are specifically holiday homes.

Best of luck if you inherit a share of a Croft with relatives who live on the island, many a fine family feud has happened that way.

Anyway I’m bored of the conversation now, I wish you well but you really have come across as someone who thinks they are superior due to their bloodline? You might want to tone that down a bit when visiting next.

Selkiesarereal · 14/05/2022 18:48

What is lovely about Scotland is that you can quickly escape the maddening crowd to somewhere peaceful and beautiful.

I do hope that the place I still call home as that is where I and my family come from does not succumb to the blight of the highlands or indeed Cotswold and similar beautiful places which are empty for great swathes of time due to second homes.

Shetland has not been blighted too much yet partly because the sheer difficulty in getting there even in summer. Nor has it suffered in significant depopulation, it remains a constant around the 23k mark.

It has a thriving community and industry, not solely reliant on tourism and I now include myself in that group.

Whilst it was once Norse this was what 600 years ago, it is it’s own place, neither inherently Scottish nor Norse, you get this if you live there, to assume otherwise shows a lack of understanding of the place.

It doesn’t need second home owners, it needs affordable homes for those who live there and are part of the community.

I rarely comment on “home” as I don’t live there anymore, it’s not my place, but I take a keen interest in the place and I do get annoyed in reading comments from those who really don’t get the place and think that a second home and a bloodline makes them think they understand what it is really like.

EdgeOfSeventeenAndThreeQuarter · 15/05/2022 05:53

Achat - have you ever pulled on your boots and walked around sellafirth? I have. From way up past the water works all the way along basta voe out past cunnister to the broch. It’s soggy. Even in august.

a friend has been helping an English retiree on some home maintenance there… her renovated Croft house for the win. Said he could literally put his fingers through the walls they were so wet.

dont worry, l’ll tell Shona next time I see her you think her gallery is wanky. 😂

Jasmine5552 · 15/05/2022 16:24

Every country has its good and bad points. Personally I have lived my entire life in Scotland and I like it up here.

AchatAVendre · 15/05/2022 19:16

MrsAmaretto · 14/05/2022 18:31

Snobs?

so you were suggesting leaving a habitable property empty for most of the year, then retiring to it. This means the property won’t be available for people to move there to work. So the breeding age people don’t move to the community as they can’t find properties to rent. Retirees are usually fit and get involved in lots of things in the community. Great. But they then get older and infirm and require social care etc and medical care and fit neighbours who can assist them. Those professions need somewhere to stay, but the community is not an attractive place to live any longer the population is aging, the school is tiny or shut, there’s only old folks stuff on at the hall like 500, and the only younger folk are those coming up at weekends to work with sheep as there relatives are to old to do so anymore. Oh hang on, I’ve just described Yell and Fetlar haven’t I?? And you are wanting to add the issue.

The reason why people don’t do up old ruins is 1) it’s not classed as a new build so you have to pay vat. With a new build you get your vat back on materials. 2) They were traditionally built on the poorest land that was no use for agriculture so often they have poor percolation (I’ve spelt that wrong) test results and require too much ground work. 3) The ruins have been there for 100+ years, the remaining residents built often there houses away from them, then the electricty came in the 1950s/60s and the wires/poles are near them and the cost of getting electricty to house sites is ridiculous and scuppers many a house build plan (we paid £15k for our connection 18years ago)

You keep banging on about the Scandinavian model of cabins. They were traditionally we’re just that a cabin with no mains services used for holidays and weekend. There’s not the same issues with them as they were never meant to be main dwellings in a community. More like a glamping pod/ wigwam that we have nowadays. No one seems to object to them as they are specifically holiday homes.

Best of luck if you inherit a share of a Croft with relatives who live on the island, many a fine family feud has happened that way.

Anyway I’m bored of the conversation now, I wish you well but you really have come across as someone who thinks they are superior due to their bloodline? You might want to tone that down a bit when visiting next.

Is there not a lemon to be squeezed somewhere that you can wring just a fraction more bitterness out of?

ginghamstarfish · 15/05/2022 19:31

Sorry OP, just about to move back to north of England after some time in Scotland (DH family Scottish) and glad to leave. I don't find people very friendly and often feel as if I don't 'belong'. DH feels the same - he has an English accent as he mostly grew up down south. Really dislike the SNP and narrowmindedness of the independence/nationalist stuff which in my opinion is a huge waste of taxpayers' money. Yes, there is great scenery and open space, but also because the population is comparatively low, unless you're in Glasgow or Edinburgh you have to go a long way for big shopping areas/hospital treatment/dental care etc. Transport is poor unless you're in a city. I've had a free bus pass for a few years now but can't use it - would have to drive some way to find a bus to get on, and even if I did they are so few and far between I wouldn't trust I'd be able to get one back, so driving is easier.

LilythePunk · 15/05/2022 19:38

Buses services are mostly very poor in England too.

CoralPaperweight · 15/05/2022 19:44

@ginghamstarfish good luck with the move to the north of england. I do know where you are coming from - there is so much Scots/Scottish stuff at DS school it does feel a little bit non-inclusive at times. Eg many of the children where we live have non-Scots backgrounds / families yet every year the kids have to recite Burns and Scots poetry rather than being allowed to chose something that is meaningful to them and their culture - and yes I have asked if this would be possible and the answer was no.

OP posts:
AgentProvocateur · 15/05/2022 20:04

Kids have been reciting Burns poems and Scottish poetry since I was at school in the 70s 😂 I can still remember the poem I learned (You’ve hurt your finger…)

I expect the same applies in state schools the world over.

ssd · 15/05/2022 20:27

I love Scotland. And i love Glasgow especially. God knows why, its so run down just now. But I'm the sort of person who chats to folk so i fit in. I know there are lots of negatives, I'm not stupid. But where i live I'm near 3 high schools Usually in the top 5 for secondary schools, which my kids walked to in 20 minutes. 20 minutes drive into Glasgow city centre and one of those RG unis the middle class of mn love mentioning. 30 minutes drive to the sea. An hour to loch lomond. Decent public transport. Houses less than 200k.

Whats not to love.

ssd · 15/05/2022 20:37

Yes we did Burns too, made no bloody sense😁

CoralPaperweight · 15/05/2022 21:12

@AgentProvocateur I expect you are right

OP posts:
Corcory · 15/05/2022 21:33

Well this has been an interesting thread! One thing I've gleaned from reading many none Indi posters is the desire to move if Scotland becomes independent.
That's something DH has always said he's from Kent but has no desire to return there, wants to move to Northumberland if needs must. But when to do it?
Wait till the referendum results and your house price will plummet. Jump ship before the referendum and it might be a no result again!

darlingdodo · 15/05/2022 22:09

Corcory - we just jumped. I honestly think the independence push will just go on and on until people are just so worn down by it they'll vote yes just to make it go away.

I'm Scottish, born and bred. DH is an Aussie so has no skin in the game, so to speak. In 2014 he read and read, checked and rechecked claims and counter claims and was very much convinced independence wasn't a good idea.

What annoys me is the undercurrent that Scotland and Scots are 'better'. Don't get me wrong, I think Scotland is a great country. It's beautiful, it's people are fine and friendly, we have space and resources. But, we're no better, no worse than anywhere else in the UK.

The SNP have managed to position Scotland as some kind of liberal utopia. It isn't. We're no more liberal/socialist than vast tracts of England. Glaswegians have far more in common with Liverpudlians than Borderers. Many in Edinburgh are probably closer politically to residents of the Home Counties than Dundonians.
The Scottish education system used to be world class - it's not any more. We have free (actually funded) university education, but tbh many of the Scottish equivalents of the 'red bricks' are having issues because the Scottish govt funding isn't keeping pace with the real world cost of providing a degree level education.

The SNP tinker round the edges of tax and land reform when they have the capacity (but not the will) to make a real difference. For all their claims that Scotland could be a socialist utopia without the yoke of Westminster, they don't dare test the theory.

They've made some utterly duff policy decisions which they've back pedalled on having spent millions. They've made some utterly duff policy decisions where they've had expert advice telling them they're making a mistake but they've carried on anyway.

I don't like where my country is going so we made the decision to leave. We're lucky, we have several options.

LilythePunk · 15/05/2022 22:16

darlingdodo · 15/05/2022 22:09

Corcory - we just jumped. I honestly think the independence push will just go on and on until people are just so worn down by it they'll vote yes just to make it go away.

I'm Scottish, born and bred. DH is an Aussie so has no skin in the game, so to speak. In 2014 he read and read, checked and rechecked claims and counter claims and was very much convinced independence wasn't a good idea.

What annoys me is the undercurrent that Scotland and Scots are 'better'. Don't get me wrong, I think Scotland is a great country. It's beautiful, it's people are fine and friendly, we have space and resources. But, we're no better, no worse than anywhere else in the UK.

The SNP have managed to position Scotland as some kind of liberal utopia. It isn't. We're no more liberal/socialist than vast tracts of England. Glaswegians have far more in common with Liverpudlians than Borderers. Many in Edinburgh are probably closer politically to residents of the Home Counties than Dundonians.
The Scottish education system used to be world class - it's not any more. We have free (actually funded) university education, but tbh many of the Scottish equivalents of the 'red bricks' are having issues because the Scottish govt funding isn't keeping pace with the real world cost of providing a degree level education.

The SNP tinker round the edges of tax and land reform when they have the capacity (but not the will) to make a real difference. For all their claims that Scotland could be a socialist utopia without the yoke of Westminster, they don't dare test the theory.

They've made some utterly duff policy decisions which they've back pedalled on having spent millions. They've made some utterly duff policy decisions where they've had expert advice telling them they're making a mistake but they've carried on anyway.

I don't like where my country is going so we made the decision to leave. We're lucky, we have several options.

This is such a good summary. Totally agree. Independence will come for the reasons you say. Better to get out whilst you can.

WouldBeGood · 15/05/2022 22:44

What I love about Scotland is the good natured and intellectual debate on the constitution 🤣

CoralPaperweight · 16/05/2022 09:17

@darlingdodo I think there is a lot of truth in what say. Eg both northumberland and Pembrokeshire have beautiful beaches and are not overcrowded; Manchester had (pre-Covid) a vibrant theatre / arts / shopping scene, the education my cousin received in Wales was extremely good etc etc

OP posts:
MagnoliaTaint · 16/05/2022 09:23

AgentProvocateur · 15/05/2022 20:04

Kids have been reciting Burns poems and Scottish poetry since I was at school in the 70s 😂 I can still remember the poem I learned (You’ve hurt your finger…)

I expect the same applies in state schools the world over.

'the sair finger' is by Walter Wingate. It is a truly fucking dreadful poem.

www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/sair-finger/

Burns, however, is really a poet worth learning about, although a hurried rote recital is not going to give anyone the context and insight that makes his work rewarding.

MagnoliaTaint · 16/05/2022 09:30

darlingdodo I'm sorry you've gone. Independence may happen, and if it does I'm sure it will be every bit as damaging as Brexit, especially in terms of healing a divided nation. As we can see, the subject still generates bitterness and aggression - whatever the potential risks or benefits.

So yes, a thread about Scotland is inevitably going to get political. We are a country with this huge issue hanging over us. I think it's souring things. Still.

What's good about Scotland: History, heritage, landscape, low population, lower cost of living.

What's not so good: Division, tribalism, politics, education, infrastructure, weather.

happygolurkey · 16/05/2022 09:43

yes the bitterness is certainly a downside. if you stay off ihatescots.net though you can by and large avoid it

EdgeOfSeventeenAndThreeQuarter · 16/05/2022 09:49

Don’t forget the dancing. As hated by small boys all over since 1954 (according to my dad).

WouldBeGood · 16/05/2022 10:00

@EdgeOfSeventeenAndThreeQuarter ds would agree with that 🤣

I like it, apart from on one horrific occasion when the dance Id embarked on enthusiastically involved the men picking the women up ! (Not like that!) I am not suited to be lifted 🤣

EdgeOfSeventeenAndThreeQuarter · 16/05/2022 10:03

😂 I can’t dance. I’m built for drinking. I have zero coordination and even fell over at tai chi. We were standing still. I still have nightmares about a step class I once attended.

Shunter350 · 16/05/2022 10:08

Rabbie Burns.. sex pest or not..? ( and that's putting it mildly )..

WouldBeGood · 16/05/2022 10:08

🤣🤣that’s funny @EdgeOfSeventeenAndThreeQuarter