Relocating to Scotland - middle-age & fed up with London life - looking for quiet, ''horsey'' place

[Whitehorsegirl]

I want to move from London to Scotland. Flexible about locations which is probably making things more difficult...

Has to be: safe and quiet (I will be living alone & one of my reasons for leaving London is being the victim of an assault by a former partner) but still within commuting distance of either Edinburgh or Glasgow so not more than one hour away and with a train station.

Interests: I took up riding recently as an adult beginner and would love to be continue to take riding lessons. I don't need to worry about schools or nightlife . I am quite arty though so would like somewhere that is not too conservative and has some nice cafes and independent shops.

I don't need a lot of space so a 2 bed flat or small 2 bed house would be great. I can take on somewhere that needs basic renovation an it doesn't need to look ''pretty''. I just need somewhere they I can have a spare room to use as a small artist studio :). Budget not big: £250,000 absolute max.

I love Scotland. I am British but originally from an EU country and I just can't cope with London anymore: the noise, the crowds, the heat, Brexit and the Tory madness. It really has affected me badly and my health has suffered so I need to get out and find a better quality of life and somewhere where I can be more outdoorsy (lived in the countryside as a child and teenager).

Any suggestions much much welcome!

Job-wise I am likely to continue to work remotely but I have a background in working for charities (comms, fundraising, marketing, website management) and running projects and services for people with complex needs and homeless people.

That's how we say it here though tbf 😆

İ dont think there are any Stables handy for Dunblane anymore, at least not easily accessible by public transport. Also it's v expensive, you can wait an awful long time for cheaper properties to come on the market.
I wouldn't worry about students in Stirling they are concentrated in one area of town or in purpose built blocks in town or on campus.
I did a quick search, there seems to be a few Stables near Dunfermline which I personally would choose over Alloa.

Have you considered Renfrewshire at all? Eg Kilbarchan, Howwood, Lochwinnoch? Nice villages with stations (Kilbarchan close to Milliken Park) about 20-25 minutes to Glasgow on the train and quite a few stables in the local area.

Kirkcudbright is lovely, I ride and I’ve stayed there many times with a friend on riding holidays. Nice arty town, with shopping centres not too far away.

I cam on to say Fife too. Even up through Kinross (very horsey area) and up towards Perth. Fife and Perth are on a train line. Kinross is a bus to Edinburgh. Your options are vast.

i know Kinross well, was there yesterday, it is v horsey and has a good bus link to Edinburgh but I really would buy a wee car and get back into driving if I were you, you will miss so much if you don't drive and the driving is easy. I didn't learn until I was 35 and experienced living in a small rural town relying on buses (and they were better then) it wasn't impossible but it was very limiting, couldn't go anywhere on a Sunday for instance. I'm not the world's most confident driver but I enjoy driving on the country roads round here (apart from when deer and pheasants launch themselves at me!.

Same here. North East Fife would be ideal for you OP.

Either that, or Dumfries and Galloway. South Scotland.

Bridge of Allan or Dunblane.
Linlithgow.

Bearsden and Milngavie might be too suburban for you (satellites of Glasgow) but tick a lot if your boxes.

Regarding how much properties cost (relative to home report values and offers over) find a local conveyancing solicitor who can give you advice on the local market of wherever you are targeting.

I don't think the OP has said she doesn't drive or doesn't want to drive? Just that she'd like a train station for the commute into the city?

Lots of great places suggested. I don't think the student population is anything to consider for Stirlingshire. There are many people who have and stable horses near me. The borders is also a very good shout. Peebles side doesn't have the train but it does have a good bus service.

It might be helpful to Google riding lessons X area and see what comes up. Do that for a few of your target areas and then you might be able to narrow it down to a few for more research for your other wants.

@BinBandit my mistake I'm on another thread that's v similar where the OP wanted to move out of London and wanted to access riding lessons by public transport, I though I was on that thread so didn't read the OP.

would second outskirts of Glasgow. I know there are stable in Busby and dd sometimes rides in Kirkintilloch - does a taxi share to the west end.

In fact it's another thread by the same OP, hence my confusion. She did ask about buses in that thread but has obviously realised it would really limit choice.

With mention of art, possibly Lochwinnoch.

Have a read at A Lochwinnoch resident says...

Meets requirement for train station and also has stables nearby. Not farm from coast too.

eg Stables

far* ( not farm)

I’d go for the borders or fife. I used to keep my horse near dunblane and there’s not much in the way of “riding schools”.

further north in Perthshire there are so many estates that have blocked off access… at least in the borders you can still get up into the hills properly.

plus you can flirt with Ian stark.

Ok, so it looks like Dunblane will have to come off my list due to the lack of riding schools and Perthshire (if issues with pathways).

Thank you @fudfootedfannybangle for suggesting the Ian Stark riding school. Looking at their picture gallery their indoor arena is so much bigger than the one I use in London! and of course all the amazing scenery for hacks. I really like the look of that.

Thank you @butterflymum. That's a really interesting blog. This village looks good (and it is only 27th minutes to Glasgow by train).

@BinBandit yes I think I will do that draw a shortlist of places that meet my requirements based on all the suggestions and then check where the nearest riding school would be.

So far it seems the most popular suggestions are: the Borders (Galashiels, Melrose, Peebles, Kelso) various places close to or satellites of Glasgow (Bearsden, Milngavie, Lochwinnoch, Kilbarchan, Lochwinnoch) and Fife (Cupar) and also suggestions to still consider Stirling and Bridge of Allan as the student population does not need to be an issue and for places easily commutable to Edinburgh South Queensferry and North Berwick. (I hope I got my geography right...). I think I will put all of this on my shortlist and then start looking in more details at what's available in term of housing, the cost, the nearest riding schools and train station.

Apologies if I confused people with having a thread in the Tack Room and here, I thought it would make sense to post it on Scotnet as well and I am glad I did as I got som many useful responsesl. I put a slightly lower budget here as I think having to move a longer distance and potentially changing job if I can'd do everything remotely means I want to also keep a bit of a cushion and not spend everything on the home.

To answer the questions about the driving, I do have a driving licence but having lived in London for so long I have not driven or owned a car for 20 years or more and I would want to avoid if possible having to do that. Although I will get a bike/e-bike...:)

Another nice town with horsey stuff nearby is Biggar. Look at Scottish equestrian hotel it’s nearby in Lanark.

Sounds like Carnoustie is the place for you! Population of around 10,000 so not too village-y. It has a riding school, a busy high street with independent shops, cafes, etc. There is a local theatre group, an award winning beach, beautiful countryside and local walks. It has a train station and only an hour or so to Edinburgh by train. Just a couple of miles to Broughty Ferry, another beautiful town with a bustling high street but property will be more expensive. There are plenty of properties for sale within your budget in Carnoustie though. Or Monifieth.

Slightly north of Stirling and you have Crieff/Blackford/Dunning/,Auchterarder the latter two being v close to Gleneagles train station that gets you to Glasgow and Edinburgh (and Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness and London too).

Dunblane and BofA insane property markets. We are looking there, can't go further north than that for family/care and work reasons, and houses are going for a minimum of £40k over valuation.

I think you'd find driving (local stuff) in the places you are looking at, a lot different to London so I wouldn't rule it out. The traffic is so much quieter and you can get most places without being on a big busy road. You could then get to and from local riding places and still pick somewhere with decent transport for Edinburgh or Glasgow so you weren't doing journeys you might not feel comfortable doing.

A lot of places aren't that well served for buses for local journeys, maybe one an hour, or doesn't get close to where you need to be so you might end up with taxis. Some more rural places need to have taxis come from a bigger place to get you and so you might need to wait or not get one when you need. It's just so easy in London and to an extent, Edinburgh and Glasgow and the other bigger cities to use public transport that it's a bit of a shock to the system when you get more rural and find the service is quite poor.

How about Carluke? It’s pretty horsey and this is the kind of place you can get for £250k

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125271845#/?channel=RES_BUY

Double check train times. In the SW the trains are slow to Glasgow. The last train from Edinburgh is around 8pm - if it runs (from Lockerbie).

I'd suggest Berwickshire - lots of lovely farms around there and 40 mins on train to Edin

Berwickshire is very rural. Without a car you'd really struggle. There are farms but no riding stables that I can think of. It's all pretty small towns with limited amenities if you can't hop in the car. Having said that it is a different matter driving. I passed my test down the re many monks back and did not encounter more than a mini roundabout and the only traffic lights were temporary road works