Moving to Scotland Advice

[JBHB9]

Good morning, please be patient I know how forums can befirst day on here so this might be in the totally wrong place.

So we're relatively young-ish parents 24 & 23 with our newborn, came back from living in Australia to finish our career qualifications this year ( along with a baby lol). I'm in my last year of Uni which will gain me a degree in Midwifery, my partner an Auto Electrician.

Since our arrival back we have taken a liking to the look of the highlands in Scotland, so our questions are focused to people that live there, Nice places to live, good schools, relatively good selection for groceries etc and the places to avoid? Job prospects for us both as mentioned.

Before anybody starts "why did you come back" "why don't you go back to Australia", we spend most of our days debating this with family haha!

Thanks in advance!

Troublesome areas: there are more problems with drugs, alcohol (underage drinking) and underage sex than you might imagine in small Highland places. It just depends. Also dangerous driving by youngsters.

I live in and am from the Highlands. It is a very diverse and huge region so you may want to narrow it down to what kind of things you want. I lived in rural Aberdeenshire for several years and that is very Highland-y - down Deeside way. Ballater, Braemar, Aboyne, Banchory - all beautiful villages and towns within easy reach of Aberdeen if you worked there, good schools and good for amenities.
The weather is extremely diverse. Don't be taken in by people who tell you it rains constantly in the Highlands - yes it does in some parts, but not in others. The Moray coast is very sheltered and often has lovely weather - there can be a world of difference between eg Forres and Inverness which is some 25 miles away. Further up the east coast is the likes of Dornoch, Tain, the Black Isle, Dingwall - all wee towns and villages within easy reach of Inverness, and generally good weather patterns also as well as no midgies. The Cairngorms on the north side (Aviemore, Carrbridge, Grantown-on-Spey, Kingussie etc) are all very central, not too prone to midgies, extremely beautiful and within easy reach of Inverness also. As well as good for schools, groceries, amenities whilst still living in the Highlands.
The west coast is WET and also this is where the midgies reside. Fort William rains like something else. You also asked about areas to avoid - Fort William town can be quite rough. But as nibdedibble said above, the main problems in the Highlands are underage drinking and boy racers. It really is an extremely safe part of the country. The surrounding areas by Ft Williamt are beautiful yes, but hordes of tourists and way too many holiday homes lying empty mean a lot of the local character isn't there anymore on the West. Many of the places are very remote and not handy for groceries and amenities.
Don't worry about Scottish people not being friendly to the English - this is simply not true in the north. Throughout the north there are loads of English people and it has never been a problem, and not one I've ever been witness to.

The Highlands is my favourite place in all the world. If I was younger I would move there as I work in the NHS.
I particularly like the Loch Ness area or somewhere near Aberdeen.
My idea of heaven.

If you're looking to work in a hospital with 12-hour midwifery shifts and live semi-rurally, I'd think very, very carefully about childcare.

My friend lives in a very small place with a commute into Inverness hospital, her local nursery shut down when her child was 4 and they had a total nightmare for a year. They eventually cobbled together a sort of parents' network where everybody all pitched in, but she found it incredibly stressful.

You'll probably have a village primary school if you live somewhere small, but your DC will have to bus it to secondary school which can be a pain for teens. I know that feels like a long way away, but it will come...

Personally if you have DCs I would look for a town rather than rural. I'd want childminders or nurseries, the ability for DCs to walk to school, a library etc. But that's just me!

Thanks for your input guys, apologies in advance if I don't reply directly to your comment, I've not worked out how to do that yet, but I have taken everyone's input into consideration.

Couple people asked to be a bit more specific on where and what we want. Where we don't know, hoping you guys could help us out with that. As mentioned we loved the look of the highlands due to the stunning scenery and believe it or not the "cold" weather (yeah we're cold weather weirdos). We'd like to be far enough away to enjoy some nice scenery from home and a relatively easy drive to other places as mentioned above Perth is drive distance to Glenshee. Little village with a post office that does everything is obviously not ideal for us, work wise and children wise so we would need work and childcare covered by driving not too far. To be honest I think you guys have covered it.

What I've got so far is, Perth and surround would be ideal for hospital, still great scenery, local to ammenities childcare etc. Stay away from the west basically!

Thanks again, feel free anyone that might have other suggestions. PS, close to a "big town" would be better than "big city", that feeling of being out of the way feels nice :)

You can find lovely rural area to live in and around Angus which would allow you to consider working at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. You'd be able to live rurally but be able to plug in to more than if you were up around Inverness etc. Kirkcaldy has a maternity unit too, a very good one, and that would let you live rurally in Fife, Kinross and Perthshire. Again, not so remote.

Hello!

Any guesses where I'm from by the user name? 🤪

I live in Caithness and as much as I would love to sell you my home town it wouldn't be right as you're looking to go into midwifery unless you're interested in becoming a community midwife.

I love spending my children's school holidays exploring the highlands as there is so much beauty surrounding us. I have to admit I have slightly fallen in love with the Black Isle and it is within commuting distance to Inverness, with local bus routes. My children have enjoyed discovering world war shelters, pirate graveyards, seeing tons of dolphins while whizzing round the Cromarty firth on speed boats and searching the fairy glens for magic while exploring the Black Isle! We adults have also been delighted having discovered the finest coffee, fresh pizza and amazingly friendly people! ❤️

Lol, have you seen the price of tobacco in Australia? Not that my partner smokes anymore (good on him). The rest of your comment id have to disagree with. It's all relative, just like living in London is extremely expensive I'm sure Edinburgh is too, but we never mentioned wanting to live in a big city nor expressed concerns for standard of living to income.

We still have family in Scotland, the wages and cost of living are almost identical to where we live in England at the moment, but I appreciate your input👍

I lived in the Highlands for many years. I came to think the Highlands are a great place for holidays, but to live there maybe not so much. (I mean north of Perth). There are advantages of course but not for me, others will no doubt find differently!

The water is very soft and it is hard to rinse out detergents. This was bad for me as I have ultra sensitive skin.

The summers can indeed be very hot about one year in ten - mind you, sometimes muggy without sunshine. I guess that's the same as anywhere else. Besides the midges there are ticks to be aware of which can carry Lyme disease and are amazingly efficient at attaching to any exposed skin. Not just woodland walks either, I even found them on me after gardening. I don’t have dogs but if you do it's something to bear in mind for them as well.

Shopping in Inverness isn’t bad at all, there are no nearby towns to compete. There are several Tescos and a Morrisons. Shops in the Eastgate come and go but it is generally good for various types of shops and there was even an HMV, quite rare these days.

Worse thing was the A9 road and though that has calmed down with average speed cameras you still get the odd crazy overtakers, and tourists on the wrong side of the road, but again, that can happen elsewhere. The worst part of the road is in the north to be faced when returning home tired. Dualling is underway at the Perth end but whether that will ever be finished in its entirety is anyone's guess - there have been mutterings about cancelling it on environmental grounds.

I found parts of the Black Isle away from the coast very bleak actually especially in midwinter, I felt I had entered a time warp! Cromarty, Rosemarkie, Fortrose are lovely of course. On sunny days summer or winter though, there's nowhere I'd rather be than the west, for its stunning scenery. Probably May or October to avoid the insect life. I still miss the fantastic walks.