Relocation to north wales

[Studentnurse2000]

Hey, looking for recommended areas to relocate to in north wales with my family of 2 children and partner. Also wanted some advice or other people’s experiences of relocating to north wales or actually living in north wales. Covering every topic please.

1. careers- so in 2 years I will be finishing my nursing degree and this is when we would roughly be moving, I’ve seen some shocking things said about the nhs over there which is worrying me , is it as bad as some people say on here? Is there good job opportunities with them? I know 2 years is far away but fear it will come by super fast! My partners job will be the same his work have a branch he can relocate to. It would just be my nursing that I’d need to find a job as a new graduate.
2. schools- my children would be 7 years old and 5 years old, could this be a difficult ages for them to move? I’ve seen comments about them learning Welsh , would this be hard for them to pick up at this age? I don’t want to disturb there learning to much😩
3. sen - do the primary/secondary schools provide good sen resources my oldest is autistic so does need adaptive measures etc / needs a senco within the school etc.
4. After reading through other people’s posts , it says north wales is amazing for children but difficult for teenagers? How true is this? I would have though having the beach, hikes, lakes etc would benefit teenagers more?
5. is it difficult leaving city life? Personally I don’t feel safe in my city anymore it’s becoming crazy, and would of thought some rural villages provide more safety with everyone looking out for each other etc am I being naive🙈
6. me and my partner both drive so distance of stuff doesn’t bother us , home is only 1-2 hour drive from most places we was looking
7. so sorry for blabbering on but I am mainly looking at small rural places etc, like the outskirts of the main places , the places that have caught my eye so far are Blaenau Ffestiniog, Caernarfon, Pwllheli and some villages in denbigh and Bangor. Is there any specific places I should avoid?

so sorry for blabbering on but there’s so much to think about 🙈

I live in the South so can't answer the specifics about living in North Wales, I used to travel there for work quite a bit.

Your DC will pick up Welsh very quickly.

Yes, the NHS is worse from a patients' perspective, not sure how it would be for a nurse. Welsh (or a commitment to learn it) is sometimes needed for public sector jobs.

If you do move, remember it's not England, there's a different culture and language and you'll fit in a lot better by respecting that. I'm sure your skills would be very welcome.

Thankyou for responding! I’ve been using Duolingo for the past couple of months and I’m starting to remember the very basics, my children are slower which is understood it would help to probably be around the language more etc so we are committed to learning. Do you have any pros / cons of moving to wales or anything I haven’t thought of🙈

If your children are 3 and 5 now try to get them to watch S4C children's programmes on iplayer and download some S4C apps like Cyw on a tablet. They will pick things up quicker like this, rather than from Duolingo.

If you move to Blaenau Ffestiniog, Caernarfon, Pwllheli the children will learn Welsh quickly. Some villages in the Denbigh and Bangor areas will also be predominantly Welsh speaking, it depends on the school/ village.

Pob lwc OP!

Please don't consider moving to any of those places if you're not prepared to learn some
Welsh, especially if you want to work as a nurse.
Your children will probably have to do a term in a special Welsh language immersion centre before starting normal school. They will pick it up quickly at that age though.
Primary school will be mostly in Welsh so think about how you're going to support them with reading homework etc.
A lot of people don't realise this then turn up and are surprised/ annoyed about it.
If you think it would be a problem you would be better off in north east wales, but even then a lot of villages are quite welsh speaking.
You also need to be aware that it's not England but with another language, the culture etc is quite different.

Not necessarily.

I moved here when my eldest was 5. Goes to an English medium school and has learned Welsh along the way, but unless you live in a really Welsh area, you don't need to be able to speak any Welsh at all. Most of my friends who were born here can't speak a word of Welsh! I've been learning it because I want to, but you have the choice bwywwwn English and Welsh medium schools.

I wouldn't move to any of those places you've mentioned tbh Denbigh being the least worst. Have you ever been to any of them?
Blaenau is a slate village, you'd be surrounded by grey slate waste. It's grim even on a sunny day. It is a poor area, has a drug problem and I'm sure not the place you imagine it to be.
Caernarfon is a rough drug fuelled hole as is Bangor but with the added issue of students. Caernarfon is also choked with tourists during the season.
Pwllheli is priced out of most people's affordability please don't add to the problem you won't be thanked for it. It's known as Wilmslow by the sea and there is a lot of anti English sentiment.
In fact I'd steer clear of Gwynedd altogether for that reason.
Village life is not quaint as many imagine and Welsh village life as a non Welsh incomer could be pretty grim.
The A55 westbound (into Wales) Friday/Sat From March to Sept is a nightmare and the same Sunday eastbound (back to England).
I'm Welsh, I live in North Wales and wouldn't recommend it for you.
Oh and as for the hospitals..... Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Ysbyty Gwynedd and Wrexham Maelor....Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is the provider of health services in North Wales. I'd look at the stats and then decide if you want to work in any of those hospitals.

I'm sure securing a job wouldn't be an issue in the NHS, there are always reports about how many vacancies they need to fill for skilled people like nurses. That being said the hospitals are few and far between so you may need to look more at community nursing provision which could mean unstable hours. Worth having a look at the areas you really like and how close the nearest hospitals are. The NHS in Wales is performing really poorly though so expect it to be straight in and full on from day 1.

Remember, whilst you're happy driving the roads up there are largely rural and twisty so slower average speeds, especially during the tourist season so factor that into any commute that you're happy to build in.

Looks like you're favouring the Gwynydd area which is largely considered to be one of the Welsh speaking heartlands. There probably are one or two English medium schools but definitely do your research on where they are and how likely they are to have spaces.

If your children enter Welsh medium then all of their lessons except for English will be in Welsh. Primary school that's pretty straight forward but secondary school can be tricky - all math and science terms will be in Welsh for example and learning modern languages like French/German/Spanish are done via Welsh. In secondary school literally the only lesson taught in English, is English language/literature. I'm not a Welsh speaker and my children attend Welsh medium, they are learning sponges and take it in so well - but it's not easy as a parent when you try to support their at home learning activities.

Really not sure about more specific local things though sorry as we're in South Wales (have visited the North a lot). I wouldn't expect SENCO provision to be excellent, anecdotally everyone I know local to me who needs extra support for their children has to fight tooth and nail for it.

Might be worth checking local news websites from now on to get a measure of the kind of things happening in the areas you're interested in and if possible local Facebook groups. If the most interesting thing in the local FB groups are missing pets and complaints about dog mess then you're probably heading for a decent enough area.

Best of luck, it's a gorgeous part of the world and I've seriously considered moving up there myself...it's just the 4 hour drive to see my mother that stops me!

The places you have identified are very different from one another. As a PP says, it is not just the language there is a huge cultural difference living in Wales.
Can you clarify what it is you are looking for?
North east Wales around Deeside and Wrexham is also very different culturally compared to Caernarfon or Pwllheli.

Have a look at Mold and the surrounding areas Op. That would place you well for Countess of Chester hospital and Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.

To clarify my post, you have said what you need but the question was more about what you want in terms of lifestyle shift.
If you are outdoorsy, it's obviously great but don't underestimate the impact of over-tourism and second home ownership in some areas. The roads can be very busy in summer.
The villages around Mold are a good shout and also villages between Mold and Wrexham.

Amazing Thankyou for answering ! I will 100% look into this x

I live in Gwynedd, am not Welsh (or even British) and love my life here. Both my kids have become fluent Welsh speakers without any 'work', full immersion just kinda does it. Your eldest may need a term at a special Welsh language immersion school, but she will be fine. The kids pick it up far more easily than the parents!!

Bangor has more schools with English speakers than the other places you've mentioned.

None of your places would be in my top choices, I think North Wales is better at villages than small towns/cities. Extend your radius to look at villages outside of Bangor and Caernarfon.

Blaenau Ffestiniog has very cheap property for a reason. You're also miles away from any decent supermarket and public transport is poor.
I would be looking around Wrexham, Wrexham Maelor is a good hospital for a NQN.
Betsi Cadwaladr is failing as a health trust and under special measures though.

Thankyou going to have a look around Wrexham & mold as many have suggested!

The further west you go, the more Welsh it is. In Gwynedd I think all the schools are Welsh medium. My own kids go to Welsh medium school so I’m not opposed to it. But it might be hard to live in a predominantly Welsh area if you don’t speak it. I would suggest Flintshire. Your kids can go to English medium school and learn Welsh as a second language which they’ll pick up easily. You can be within 45 mins of nice beaches and also Liverpool and Manchester

Thankyou ! Is there any areas you recommend to avoid

I worked in the NHS in North Wales there are lots of openings, from what I've been told.
As a nurse I wouldn't work in Gwynedd county unless you have some level of Welsh as they can be quite rude with none Welsh speaking nurses my own experience But Glan Clwyd is nice so is Wrexham but crap parking and so are some of the community hospitals towards England so Holywell, Countess of Chester etc.
Stick with the counties of Conwy, Flintshire, Wrexham for work in NHS.
Those counties also have some English medium schools and the kids learn Welsh as a second language.
Blaenau is not a good place to move too. Avoid.

There are some very good Welsh medium schools in the east that you should consider. No reason to be afraid of bilingualism.

Have you ruled out South Wales?

Just to clarify I am already learning & trying to learn my children basic Welsh ! We currently use Duolingo but commenters have suggested different apps n shows ect to use & watch for the children ! That wouldn’t be a problem ! & south is just a tad to far for me , I’m from Liverpool so I like that north wales is not to far of a journey back home ! ( in my opinion) but I don’t want a city life anymore looking for abit more rural but not far from shops ect (20 min car max)

Mold would be ideal. It’s a nice town with a market, Chester and Wrexham are 20 mins away, Liverpool 45 mins. There are a lot of nice villages just out side Mold- pantymwyn, gwernaffield, Gwernymynydd mynydd isa, Nercwys, Northop, sychdyn, llanferris Northop hall, maeshafn to name a few. Lots of fields and country walks. Moel Famau and loggerheads are 5 mins from Mold too.

This sounds perfect ! Fields and country walks are exactly what I’m after! While having the amenities for my children still close ish by! Thankyou ! X

N Wales is beautiful. Have a look at Ruthin too, gorgeous small town and easy to get to Wrexham, Denbigh, Mold etc

I love the place but one thing to consider is you cant always nip to the shop as they can be a distance away. You just have to plan shopping well.
BBC Bite size is good for Welsh.
I recently watched Hidden and Hinterland on The BBC I think I was surprised I could understand a few words.

North wales is wonderful, we live on the clwydian range highly recommend it, good schools, good access to health care, betsi cadwaladr for jobs ( maelor hospital is 15 mins from here, Abergele 50 mins, also got chester and Shrewsbury hospitsls at around 1 hr) you don't have to learn Welsh, kids do it in school until age 16, but that can only be a good thing, we know learning languages is good gor the brain! Loads of drops in wrexham, chester 30 mins away, Liverpool and Manchester 1 hour. You can have both worlds, the peace of the gorgeous countryside and all of the facilities of a town on your doorstep!