A message to the Scottish Mafia!!

[Gordon Steadman]

Right you lot North of Hadrian's Wall......

....I speak as someone who considers anyone born north of the Thames as foreign but I suppose I had better rein in my usual prejudice as I'm considering moving some way north of here. I managed to talk to Alan and Shirley (Firebottle and better half) so there is hope.

Ronnie and I have been living here for ten years now and so for both of us, it has been the longest stay in one place we have ever managed, together or apart. Itchy feet syndrome is rearing its ugly head. We have been looking at the Highlands and Islands. I like the idea of the Islands but Ronnie wants to be slightly less remote as she actually enjoys talking to people!!

We were talking to a guy who comes from Harris in the Hebrides and he told us not to do it as, 'cos we are sassenachs, we would never be accepted on the Islands!! I moved from London to a Suffolk village and it took three years before we really became an accepted part of the community. In France it took two weeks.

We are not the typical cash waving southerners that legend has it exist but quite normal poor people who intend to live off the land to feed ourselves as we do here. We keep animals for food and are quite in tune with country living. Its quite probable that a croft with a couple of acres would suit. I really want to be near the sea and be able to look out over islands as I slip into my dotage - not that far off now.

So, are you lot really as mean and nasty as suggested or do you welcome strangers (very strange probably) into your midst? Any advice to make the transition to talking proper and fitting into the community is quite welcome. Any suggestions of good areas to look at would be good too. As we are talking crofts possibly, obviously we are not thinking of mansions or castles.

We have to finish the house here in order to sell it so either next year or the year after is the probable timing. Strange as it may seem, it gets much colder here in the winter than Scotland but the summers are cooler so more suited to our ageing bodies. I like rain and stuff so that's no problem and Ronnie is a proper land girl so is used to it.

[walpurgis]

Not north of the border, but I'd suggest Shropshire or Herefordshire. Lovely scenery and there are areas that retain a good degree of country isolation and quietness.

[struth]

Some parts of highlands n islands can be a bit like that. They were inundated by folk who didnt want to be part of comunity i guess and then some bad eggs produced an attitude of intolorance in some places... even lowland Scots get it so its not a race thing.lol.
To cold in the highlands anyways. Scottish borders is nice, as is the English side. You get a bit of the wild and free without the -30c and months of seeing no one lol.
Perth is as far up as i,d want to go, and maybe up the East coast where its a bit milder. Cumbria is also a nice place id like to live.
If islands then Skye is best bet, or Arran

[Ali Tait]

You will find a welcome pretty much anywhere you go up here Gordon. Scots in general are very welcoming to strangers despite what some stereotyping would have you believe.

The West Coast is beautiful, as long as you can stomach the midgies!

As a workmate of a friend of mine, who is from Harris, commented when my mate was complaining about how bad the midgies were that day- "Och, this is nothing, on Harris I once rode my pushbike into a cloud of midgies, and when I came out the other side, there was no rubber left on my tyres" :-)

[Gordon Steadman]

You will find a welcome pretty much anywhere you go up here Gordon. Scots in general are very welcoming to strangers despite what some stereotyping would have you believe.

The West Coast is beautiful, as long as you can stomach the midgies!

As a workmate of a friend of mine, who is from Harris, commented when my mate was complaining about how bad the midgies were that day- "Och, this is nothing, on Harris I once rode my pushbike into a cloud of midgies, and when I came out the other side, there was no rubber left on my tyres" :-)

I'll swap you the midges for the frelons (Asiatic wasps) any day. They killed our French neighbour's brother when he looked at them kind of funny!! It would take a few midge bites to achieve that.

Anyway, things tend to take one bite of me and then keel over. They like Ronnie though

[Gordon Steadman]

Some parts of highlands n islands can be a bit like that. They were inundated by folk who didnt want to be part of comunity i guess and then some bad eggs produced an attitude of intolorance in some places... even lowland Scots get it so its not a race thing.lol.
To cold in the highlands anyways. Scottish borders is nice, as is the English side. You get a bit of the wild and free without the -30c and months of seeing no one lol.
Perth is as far up as i,d want to go, and maybe up the East coast where its a bit milder. Cumbria is also a nice place id like to live.
If islands then Skye is best bet, or Arran

I think you might be thinking of too many naughts after the numbers. We could probably afford a small fishing boat on Skye !!!

[brian2957]

Aye we're quite a welcoming lot up here Gordon . Indeed there are a lot of English people already live in Scotland and I've very rarely seen them having problems . As Ali says the west coast is lovely and I also have a soft spot for places like St Andrews .
Judging by your preferences I would stay away from the Central belt of Scotland as that's where a large proportion of Scotlands population lives ..
Good luck with finding something suitable and '' lang may yer lum reek ''

[struth]

I think you might be thinking of too many naughts after the numbers. We could probably afford a small fishing boat on Skye !!!

Ayrshire and Stirling used to be cheaper than most price to earnings wise. Obviously urban being cheaper than rural. Some nice spots down Ayr way. Tbh there is nowhere youd want to live that is cheap as such now. Its a good country to live in though

[rmcin626]

As someone who works for the Ferry company that provides a service to the islands on the west coast, I should be able assist with your search. Harris is lovely but the weather can be fierce during the winter months. Arran, Islay, Mull or Skye have many English residents now living there but the houses do not come cheap and not sure about the availability of crofts.
Travel to and from the islands is now much cheaper but the cost of living is always higher than the mainland.

[Gordon Steadman]

As someone who works for the Ferry company that provides a service to the islands on the west coast, I should be able assist with your search. Harris is lovely but the weather can be fierce during the winter months. Arran, Islay, Mull or Skye have many English residents now living there but the houses do not come cheap and not sure about the availability of crofts.
Travel to and from the islands is now much cheaper but the cost of living is always higher than the mainland.

Hi Robin,

Thanks for the reply. We've been looking at what we can afford and there do seem to be a few that are suitable. Obviously, the situation could change over the next year or eighteen months. We are very reliant on the exchange rate so as far as we are concerned, the Pound can sink to the depths against the Euro

If Scotland joins the Euro we won't be so happy!!

Weather doesn't bother us. Down here, it's very open and we get fierce winds and driving rain and temperatures that are colder than Scotland during the winter. We've been watching the weather reports and wishing we were in the islands now so we could get the thermals off

We may well be in touch near the time. Finding a place will be difficult with such a long journey to make. Our move will depend on the sale of this place and that can take a long time here. We may just sell up, store everything with Ronnie's brother in the UK and then rent for a bit whilst we search. No hurry but once we make our minds up to do it, we wan't it now!! Typical kids (69 and 64 year old kids)