Moving to Oban

[User4472]

My husband is desperate to move to Scotland, specifically around Oban. We currently live in North Yorkshire. His main reasons are wanting a more outdoor lifestyle, scenery, sense of community, safety for raising our baby. While I understand this, I'm apprehensive due to it being so far from the support of family and friends, it would mean leaving my job, and the weather / darkness concern me too. Oban also feels a little isolated from anywhere else.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has made the move to this area, and also anyone local who can give an honest reflection of what it's like to live there.

Thanks!

The Rosyth ferry might hopefully start running next year, fingers crossed 🤞

I like Oban, we do a cheeky wee Premier Inn deal a few times a year even in winter. The weather is normal Scottish weather, I’ve sunbathed at Gansvan, ber. Battered. By the sea due to high winds. Other than tourist stuff you can see in half a day there isn’t much. It does gave a giant Tesco and and M&S for shopping. It is over 2 hours from Glasgow by car though. As pp have said go and visit it at different times of the year (stay at the Premier inn) and see if you count make it home.

OP has your DH been reading the Katie Morag books. I really enjoyed them very much. I'm not sure it's really like that though, because the Katie Morag books kind of gloss over the constant lashing rain.

The thing is that the UK weather comes to us from the atlantic, so the wind blowing across the ocean lifts a lot of water and then dumps it on the west coast of Scotland as soon as it arrives. That makes the west coast really wet and dark.

By the time the weather reaches yorkshire, most of the rain has fallen so you get more bright weather and less bucketing rain.

If your DH wants to move there, you really need to go for a long stretch in winter - say from the beginning of November to the end of February and see if you really enjoy it. Bear in mind that some years in the west of Scotland the summer never really properly arrives before the winter is back.

I grew up on the west coast, but not quite so far west. It's true that it can be nice to grow up in a close community but you might be better with somewhere like Gourock or Greenock where you have slightly more stuff to do, and more people to talk to.

If he's after kayaking on a river, Oban is an odd choice. Scotland definitely better for river kayaking than England, and the sea kayaking on the west coast is world class so that would make sense, but it's not the greatest destination in Scotland for rivers. Perthshire better.

I feel like he's just got a longing to relocate to fix things but without a clear rationale.

Why don’t you hop over the border to cunbria? I grew up in North Yorkshire, now live in Kirkby Lonsdale. Nice small town, nice clean river, right by the Howgills, the Dales and a short drive to the Lake District. It’s not exactly tropical weather but then nowhere is in the uk unless you’re down south. No train station but a short drive to the settle Carlisle line to get you to Leeds.

I agree re rivers, but as a fisher. The West coast is dire in terms of river fishing. Much better in Perthshire. Oban does not really have a river anywhere near. There is the Orchy a bit away, but that is a spate river, and can be mega bucks.

When I lived in Scotland, I used to dream about fishing English waters.

I would prefer Callander or Crieff for outdoors. They have rivers, better connections, better fishing, but still have a similar-ish isolated feeling as Oban due to having the same number of roads in and out, three. Difference being the distance along these roads to get to the greater network. A few tens of miles compared to 100.

There are a lot of things to consider before you decide to make the move.

Have you visited Oban before? If not, I would go at different times of year to experience what it is like, especially Winter. Weather wise, it is really not that different to North Yorkshire, but it can appear to be a very bleak place in the winter when there are very few tourists and a lot of places close up as a result.

Oban is a different town in the summer than it is in the winter - population wise, there are approx 8,000 residents, but the number triples in the summer due to the amount of tourists, this even impacts the phone signal of the major phone providers.

To address your concerns about darkness, sunrise is around 1/2 hour later than North Yorkshire but sunset is at the same time.

Why is your husband considering Oban? I would imagine that all the things you have mentioned about a rural lifestyle can also be experienced in Yorkshire, so what’s the draw to Oban in particular? What does Oban offer that you can’t get where you are currently?

There are not may suitable rivers for kayaking and for fishing, permits are mainly required, so I would say Argyll is a strange choice for these reasons.

Oban and surrounding areas are beautiful and would be a great place to grow up, but the accommodation is limited due to the sheer number of air bnb’s in the area. I would definitely look into the job and housing market to see what would be feasible for you.

It depends what you think is isolated - it is a pretty big town and facilities are expanding all the time. There are some really good primary schools but only one high school that covers a wide catchment. Fort William is under an hour away (nearest Home Bargains and McDonalds) and Glasgow is approx 2.5 hours by car or 3 hours by bus or train, which both serve at least 3 times per day. Do you both drive? A car is essential.

The hospital is small and although has an A&E, mainly deal with minor things; any major surgeries / complications are dealt with in Glasgow. There are a number of dentists which take nhs patients and there’s a big gp surgery in Oban and another in Connel, 5 miles away.

It is difficult to make the move to any new place without support of friends or family, but as you have a baby, attending parent and baby groups will help to get to know other people, so will make it a bit easier.

Drugs have been an issue historically, but no more than other similar towns - the police and council are working hard to address the issues.

https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s172461/20210302%20-%20DOC%20-%20AB%20Qtr%203%20Update.pdf

Lots to consider and weigh up the pros and cons when doing more research.

Happy to answer any more questions you may have.

A good thing about Oban though is that they're not obsessed with bloody cricket!