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Thinking of relocating to Aberdeenshire

sharkeyl said:
I have the same problem as 'sparkling' , but am in Lancashire, where it is alot warmer than at daughter's in Huntly...yet it is 7hr drive to get to see her and feels like a drive to the end of the Earth... I would like to be in a concert band or wind orchestra... (I have saxes) I am too old to learn bagpipes! :-(
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Playing the bagpipes is not a residency requirement :D
 
sparkling said:
Thank you all for the really helpful comments.
We visited many of the places mentioned above and liked more or less everywhere.
I need to remind myself that part of this move is about being closer to grandchildren and so even though we loved Forres, Findhorn and the coast up there they are probably just outside my travel journey of about an hour and a half at most from Aberdeen and in that case Huntly is in the lead.
The other thing we noticed apart from the spectacular countryside (don’t let on that East is just as wonderful as west) was that when estate agents call somewhere rural the English translation would be remote.
We looked at a tiny cottage high up in the cabrach and the views were amazing and just on that quick visit we saw wonderful wildlife but it did feel a tinge remote.
Still looking forward to this adventure late in life
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Surely Stonehaven is within the half hour? Cracking chippy too.
 
Lovely bay, too. Nice little town to wander round I thought.

My aunt lived in Johnshaven which does indeed have an atrocious road in/out, impassible in snow.
 
Fedayn said:
Surely Stonehaven is within the half hour? Cracking chippy too.
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Two cracking chippers now. It struggled for a while after Callum left to start his own place - The Bay but The Carron has got right back to its old form this Last year or so. :)

In fact The Bay has been a bit of a victim of its own success IMO and although when they are on top form, they are indeed excellent, by the end of a busy week/weekend, they do have a problem keeping the quality of fish as high as we have become used to - plus long queues, not helped at all by current social distancing restrictions.

The last year or so, I’ve used the Carron instead at busiest times and not been disappointed by quality once, although early-on on a Friday (before it gets busy) is still the time to catch The Bay at its best.

There is also an excellent new Indian just down from The Carron. Choice is getting difficult!

A lot of new-building slated for around Stony these next few years too and the new road/Fastlink from Stony has made getting in to and about Aberdeen a much easier proposition.
 
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Hi sparkling :) im imagining that the pandemic has knocked/delayed your plans.. sorry if that is the case. However, fingers crossed that you can get back on track, and i hope that you have been able to find somewhere appropriate for your needs. When i moved up here from England i noticed quite an enhancement of the quality of life front (although it did take a few years to settle). Just not having to sit in endless traffic jams surrounded by the simmer of stress inducing bustle was (and is) such a joy. The slower pace of rural/semi rural life can be quite infectious if you previous existence revolved around large town or city routines. Take care and good luck, and be sure and let us know of developments because we are nosey ;)😂
 
Nothing much to add apart from saying that I was in Portsoy today and managed to have a cracking ice-cream and notice what a lovely town it is. Saw a pod of dolphins swimming by as we sat in the harbour watching the world go by.

I truly believe that Scotland is the greatest place on Earth.
 
On a similar theme, I am thinking of relocating from England to the west coast of Scotland in a year or so, going to look at the area around Portpatrick . Anyone got any thoughts about places to see, or avoid?
 
Trencher said:
On a similar theme, I am thinking of relocating from England to the west coast of Scotland in a year or so, going to look at the area around Portpatrick . Anyone got any thoughts about places to see, or avoid?
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I don’t know Portpatrick itself very well, but I had friends in Wigtownshire in the 90s, closer to Whithorn. The far south west has a very “island” feel about it. Played a few gigs around the area back in the day. Newton Stewart and so on.

Wigtown has lots of bookshops.
 
Trencher said:
On a similar theme, I am thinking of relocating from England to the west coast of Scotland in a year or so, going to look at the area around Portpatrick . Anyone got any thoughts about places to see, or avoid?
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Portpatrick is very pretty but remote. You'll absolutely need a car as public transport is not great. The Gulf Stream means the weather's warmer than you might expect. Personally I'd move somewhere a bit bigger/less remote.
 
Trencher said:
On a similar theme, I am thinking of relocating from England to the west coast of Scotland in a year or so, going to look at the area around Portpatrick . Anyone got any thoughts about places to see, or avoid?
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Depends if you want somewhere with employment or not. Portpatrick is pretty in summer but pretty bleak in winter, personally I would go somewhere that has a railway station, Stranraer is well connected to other parts of the mainline rail network.

Really depends on what you're looking for.
 
equationgirl said:
Depends if you want somewhere with employment or not. Portpatrick is pretty in summer but pretty bleak in winter, personally I would go somewhere that has a railway station, Stranraer is well connected to other parts of the mainline rail network.

Really depends on what you're looking for.
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The train service from Stranraer isn't great. Like a train every couple of hours not great. And while it's been a while since I was there, don't think it's a specially nice place either.
 
Yeah Stranraer’s alright but not hugely exciting. A rather conservative-with-a-small-c population.

It depends what you’re after really. Were I moving down that way I’d consider Dumfries, Wigtown, Kirkcudbright. I like Annan too but that may be more of an acquired taste. Sanquhar is interesting too, but maybe a bit remote.
 
I quite like Girvan. A fantastic beach, views of Ailsa Craig and Arran, a good wee folk festival and plenty of old-fashioned pubs. So much green space both in the town and around the local area too.
 
steeplejack said:
Yeah Stranraer’s alright but not hugely exciting. A rather conservative-with-a-small-c population.

It depends what you’re after really. Were I moving down that way I’d consider Dumfries, Wigtown, Kirkcudbright. I like Annan too but that may be more of an acquired taste. Sanquhar is interesting too, but maybe a bit remote.
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Places of my youth, steeplejack. Annan and Sanquhar though.... :eek: (There is a decent chippy/Italian cafe in Annan but it would take a lot more than that for me to move there.)
 
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heinous seamus said:
I quite like Girvan. A fantastic beach, views of Ailsa Craig and Arran, a good wee folk festival and plenty of old-fashioned pubs. So much green space both in the town and around the local area too.
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We went on a school trip to Girvan when I was 9 or 10. We spent hours being taken round this traditional boat builders and we were all immensely bored. There was a fair that we weren't allowed to go to and we only saw the beach from afar. Then half the kids were sick on the bus on the way home. My views on Girvan are very much coloured by this and I've never been back...
 
Sue said:
We went on a school trip to Girvan when I was 9 or 10. We spent hours being taken round this traditional boat builders and we were all immensely bored. There was a fair that we weren't allowed to go to and we only saw the beach from afar. Then half the kids were sick on the bus on the way home. My views on Girvan are very much coloured by this and I've never been back...
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That traditional boatbuilders (Nobles) is still going. A school trip there sounds amazing to me :D I can see not being allowed to go to the fair or the beach would put a downer on your trip though.
 
heinous seamus said:
That traditional boatbuilders (Nobles) is still going. A school trip there sounds amazing to me :D I can see not being allowed to go to the fair or the beach would put a downer on your trip though.
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Yeah, these days I'd find it interesting but think they slightly misjudged what kids that age would be into. :D
 
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