MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
The wife and I are thinking of moving. She wants to live by the coast, I want live in the mountains.
Any suggestions on uk towns to provide
Near coast
Near mountains (or at least good trails)
Good Job opportunities
Good education.
Bristol.
Glasgow or Edinburgh or Inverness or Aberdeen or Dundee 🙂
Oh, and one more... reasonable house prices...
shouldn't be too hard
Ferguslie Park or Wester Hailes
Saltcoats
Swansea.
Near coast. (On it, in fact.)
Near mountains.
Some of the best riding in the country surrounds it, and there are good MTB trails literally minutes from the centre.
Cheap housing compared to the rest of the country.
Few job opportunities.
Education is, ummmmm, I'm trying to be polite here, variable.
It's lush! 😆
Salcoates!! sounds delightful
"Eleven months ago I moved to a small seaside town in Ayrshire to be closer to work. Unfortunately, relocating to Saltcoats turned out to be the worst move of my life.
The first thing to hit me was the smell of raw sewage. That, I convinced myself, I could live with. However this was the least of my problems as I later discovered.
I contacted an old friend, who lives in Saltcoats, and arranged to go out for a drink later that evening, thinking it would be a good opportunity to visit the local bars and meet some new friends. Later that night as I left my new home, for the two minute walk to the local Weatherspoons pub round the corner, I encountered a group of the local chavs, or neds as they are known in Ayrshire. At first I wondered if they were speaking to me, “Ho you ya f*kin’ daftie”, I looked around, hoping there was someone standing behind me. Worse luck, the troglodyte with the Burberry cap and knuckles dragging on the ground was speaking to me. “Geez a fag”, the gormless idiot spat, “ I’m sorry, I don’t smoke”, I replied, trying to give him the best apologetic look I could muster. This, however was not a satisfactory response for the troglodyte, “Ya prick!”, he grunted. As I turned to walk away, hoping they would leave me alone now, I received a torrent of abuse followed by a bottle which, although it didn’t hit me, I’m pretty sure was intended to do me some damage.
Upon arriving at the arranged meeting place I recounted my experience to my friend, “Aye, don’t worry about it mate, this place is full of neds you’ll get a lot more of that”. I hoped he was wrong, but unfortunately for me, he wasn’t. As we left to visit another pub we passed another group of chavs , and received comments like, “Ya couple of fannys”, and, “Dafties”. I tried to ignore them, where my friend hardly seemed to notice. In the course of the rest of the evening, I saw five fights in three bars, and encountered more knuckle dragging chavs with limited vocabularies. Needless to say, I don’t go out in Saltcoats very often anymore."
Glasgae
Greenock
Alnwick Northumberland ..very near the stunning Northumberland coast and half an hour from being in the heart of the Cheviots not mountains ..but big grassy hills with some fantastic trails
http://www.****/news/article-145362/Welcome-best-place-live-Britain.html
My apologies with regard to the Daily Mail link as I hadn't realised the STW stance ..for the record I'm not a reader of that newspaper ..its just the first link I came to !
Near coast
Near mountains (or at least good trails)
Good job opportunities
Good education.
Reasonable house prices
Not sure how possible that list is going to be in the UK but maybe South Wales. Swansea for work, Brecons for Mountains,loads of coastline, schools no idea but there must be some good 'uns and fair mix of house prices.
Swansea.
Near coast. (On it, in fact.)
Near mountains.
Some of the best riding in the country surrounds it, and there are good MTB trails literally minutes from the centre.
Cheap housing compared to the rest of the country.
Few job opportunities.
Education is, ummmmm, I'm trying to be polite here, variable.
It's lush!
Cardiff has cropped up in the conversation more than once and is probably favourite right now.
Alnwick Northumberland ..very near the stunning Northumberland coast and half an hour from being in the heart of the Cheviots not mountains ..but big grassy hills with some fantastic trails
http://www.****/news/article-145362/Welcome-best-place-live-Britain.html <
Unless that is some sort of tech wizardry and the joke is on me..... then I am surprised to say the STW are telling us whats good or bad to read.
No Daily Mail
I’m sorry but we don’t allow direct links to the Daily Mail on our website as we find it an abhorrent publication.
If you really feel the need to follow that link through then please click the link below.
If you still want to visit the Daily Mail website your can use this link:
http://www.****/news/article-145362/Welcome-best-place-live-Britain.html
The above link has a nofollow attribute applied.
Salcoates!! sounds delightful
Well, you didn't include 'safe' on your list. 🙂
Anway... Invergordon
Another vote for South Wales. Cardiff is a great city that punches well above its weight. Plenty of good biking options, OK not proper mountains at that end of Wales but pretty good. Not the most epic bit of coastline immediately surrounding but a short hop to some great bits. Basically a good compromise location with plenty nearby and a cosmopolitan city. Surrounding towns and villages have very reasonable property prices and Cardiff itself isn't too bad.
Inverness
Another vote for South Wales. Cardiff is a great city that punches well above its weight. Plenty of good biking options, OK not proper mountains at that end of Wales but pretty good. Not the most epic bit of coastline immediately surrounding but a short hop to some great bits. Basically a good compromise location with plenty nearby and a cosmopolitan city. Surrounding towns and villages have very reasonable property prices and Cardiff itself isn't too bad.
If you want better jobs, a glitzier city, better night life and all that, then Cardiff is the answer.
If you want easy access to the hills and mountains, and one of the best coastlines in the world while sacrificing the above, then Swansea.
What more needs to be said of the city that spawned Harry Secombe, Bonny Tyler and Catherine Zeta Jones? 😆
Dundee FTW 😀
Lancaster?
What type of jobs do you want?
I'm a relative newcomer to Teesside. Good trails, some nice towns, you can live on the edge of moors, good surf beach, good schools, cheap houses. The job situation is somewhere between really good and diabolical depending on what industry you work in.
What type of jobs do you want?
I'm a relative newcomer to Teesside. Good trails, some nice towns, you can live on the edge of moors, good surf beach, good schools, cheap houses. The job situation is somewhere between really good and diabolical depending on what industry you work in.
IT,
and
Child Welfare (preferably in an educational setting)
Ulverston?
I've always fantasised about settling in the llyn peninsula (abersoch) as you have Snowdonia as a backdrop but also some amazing beaches. I don't think it's a job hot spot though unless you're doing a holiday let 🙂
Ardrossan.
Way nicer than Saltcoats. Handy for Saltcoats.
I'd probably point folks towards Troon though...
good surf beach,
Is that Saltburn? Cos to me that's the equivalent of a trail centre.
The surf dudes turn up in their fancy T5's with a couple of surfboards on the roof, they go into the (freezing) North Sea, bob around on the board waiting for a wave (they get loads from the anglers on the pier) Then when a wave comes along they stand on the board then fall in. Then after a bit they go home.
I'd take a look at Dunoon. On the coast with mountains a plenty behind you. Short ferry away from transport links to Glasgow (Motorway and Railway). Excellent biking from your door, hiking, boating all the good outdoors stuff. House prices are reasonable.The wife and I are thinking of moving. She wants to live by the coast, I want live in the mountains.Any suggestions on uk towns to provide
Near coast
Near mountains (or at least good trails)
Good Job opportunities
Good education.
I lived in troon for a year and a half and i loved it.
It is very much road biking heaven though with the Ayrshire Alps on the doorstep.
The whisky shop is run by a friend who does a very good lock in:)
Mountain biking trails require a car journey though, not a lot on the doorstep
Milton Keynes
The whisky shop is run by a friend who does a very good lock in:)
He'll love you for that little bit of publicity. Will he still consider you a friend after he loses his license? 🙂
Arran
Its basically a mountain in the sea.
Did i say lock in, what i meant was a by the book whisky tasting event:)!
I was going to suggest Ulverston but having moved away from the area many years ago I don't know what the job situation is like there now. If that's too rural for you then maybe Lancaster, likely to be a bit cheaper house price wise as well.
Exeter? Dartmoor and Exmoor have some excellent riding. Beaches are great. I suspect education is good as Uni used to be very good. Large City should have a good variety of job opportunities. House prices will be cheaper than where I live!
The IT development jobs in Cardiff are not as high-status as London or even Edinburgh/Glasgow but there are definitely more coming up.
Plus points for Cardiff, for me:
- Lots of amenities, more than you would expect for its size because you get the Welsh National this and that all the time.
- Good riding from the door
- The rest of Wales if you want to drive to epic rides
- Not too far from the SE (handy for my line of work) - Swansea, whilst having better countryside is an extra hour from London
- By chance there are lots of nice suburbs within walking distance or a short bus/bike ride of the city centre, but with their own community centres/local high streets. This is brilliant, and the houses are lovely and not too expensive either. Only downer is that you only get on-street parking in these places.
Exeter's also pretty nice btw - however it's not that big so IT jobs might be harder to find depending on what you're into.
Ardrossan?..the only thing it's got going for it is the ferry to Arran ..
Bit of a dump from what I've seen ..sorry !
trailwagger - MemberCardiff has cropped up in the conversation more than once and is probably favourite right now.
trailwagger - MemberOh, and one more... reasonable house prices...
What's 'reasonable' to you?
@Hodgynd - I don't live there - but near it
As a place, it's picking up all of the time, some nice houses kicking about for not a lot of cash, easy commute via train into Glasgow (less than an hour, and around £13 a day for fare). Access to a decent secondary school, nice rugby and a strong athletics club..
The road to most ferries tends to be pretty grim, it's not the indicator of what the whole area is like.
Overall - there are a lot of comments on this thread from people suggesting places within 20miles radius though...
a glitzier city, better night life and all that, then Cardiff is the answer.
😆 😆 😆
"Glitzy" aka fur coat and no knickers.
"Glitzy" aka fur coat and no knickers.
When the local competition is Swansea and Newport it's glitzy. Believe me. 😆
Yeah allfankledup ..I pretty much jumped in with both feet there ..purely based on the main drive to the ferry ..apologies..and you are right in terms of its general location it's well placed for the city ..
Somewhere between Fairbourne, Dolgellau and Bangor in North Wales?
Dundee FTW
Well there are two words I never thought I'd see together 😆
More like Broughty Ferry FTW. The rest of it is a shithole filled with about a million Tescos.
EDIT: to add something useful; Poole/Bournemouth. Beautiful seaside, hills in the Purbecks and lovely weather.
Somebody better tell the Americans then.More like Broughty Ferry FTW. The rest of it is a shithole filled with about a million Tescos.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-41761399
^^^^^
Jesus, I've seen it all now. 😯
They must never have taken the delightful walk from the city center down past the bus station, Arnold Clark and HSS Hire to get to the new V&A gallery. 🙂
Edinburgh depending what you think is reasonable house prices. Greaqt city you can ride across in under an hour. Beach at portobello 20 min ride from the centre. Pentlands 1/2 hr ride from the centre for some fine XC riding, tweed valley an hours drive. Highlands start an hours drive away. Fantastic beaches in east lothin 20 mins on the train. Finest place in the UK to live
Where’s nobeer when you need him ??.. 😀
Millom
Spitting distance of the Lake District
Mountains nearby
Black Combe on your doorstep
Cheap houses
Great nightlife
All of those places are cold and wet...apart from Purbeck. Love Purbeck, but it ain’t cheap, having said that you don’t get bottle throwing neds on iour stroll to the local thatched roof pub!
Depends what kind of coast you want. Cardiff could fit the bill (often tempted myself, nice place and good location), but it's not going to be sandy beach coast. Though there are beaches along the Welsh coasts, the better stuff is around Devon and Cornwall. However, no mountains, and bit far from civilisation (though Exeter isn't too bad. Couple of hours from S.Wales too).
Don't necessarily need an official "mountain" to have some awesome riding in the UK anyway.
If you want proper big hills/mountains, rocks and loads of fitness on climbing, really Lakes, Peaks and Scotland are the places to go.
Plymouth? Best beaches and coastline in the country.
You can actually go in the sea too.
Got Dartmoor, exmoor close for easy rides, s Wales, BPW, Quantocks all regularly doable in a day.
Plymouth uni, Exeter uni, Falmouth, fx plus and various colleges are available.
House prices are very reasonable as well.
Just don't tell everyone!
Lakes, planty of decent jobs to be had if you can go to the coast or towards the M6
If you actually want mountains, then that rather counts Cardiff or anything in south Wales out then. Hills, yes..
Dundee ticks all the boxes and please ignore the rather odd views of one commentator, who clearly hasn't been in the place anytime in the last ten years. Lively city, ticks all of your boxes and is a very pleasant, educated and cultured place to live. Properly reasonable house prices too and easy access to a huge range of trails that are, crucially, accesible. Unlike some places... Every outdoor sport you can think of nearby, including skiing and ski-touring. Bike packing from the doorstep, superb kayaking and expedition canoeing nearby. Great food, locally grown. Dry climate, by Scottish standards.
I could go on for hours but hey, what do I know. I've just been living here, mostly out of doors, for 30 years...
Though there are beaches along the Welsh coasts, the better stuff is around Devon and Cornwall
Now, I love Devon and especially Cornwall, but there are plenty of Welsh beaches that are their equal.
With regards to Cardiff v Dundee, in my mind you trade, amongst other things -
Cardiff: a lot more rain, hotter summmer, milder winter
Dundee: a winter that lasts 3 or 4 months longer
Nuneaton or Coventry (the city of culture)
Edinburgh's pish.[s]Stevenston[/s]Stinson, boatam end.
Or Troon if you fancy cosying up to Mad Dog Adair. Doonhill up the res, XC in Fully woods, sesh doon Cheekies tae finish.
(Serious suggestion - anywhere north of Helensburgh will probably tick the boxes)
Cardiff: a lot more rain, hotter summmer, milder winter
Dundee: a winter that lasts 3 or 4 months longer
From that I can gather Cardiff winters last about 8-9 months?
Following on from my earlier endorsement for Alnwick in Northumberland ..also worth remembering that just 30 miles down the road is one of the world's great cities ..
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/travel-tourism/newcastle-named-worlds-number-one-14008459
Disclaimer : To my knowledge I am in no way related to the author of the article featured above ..the fact that we share the same surname is purely coincidental 😀
Dundee ticks all the boxes and please ignore the rather odd views of one commentator, who clearly hasn't been in the place anytime in the last ten years.
Born, raised and lived there until fairly recently. Still return a couple of times a year to visit family.
Comments were slightly tongue in cheek but seriously, it is a good place for outdoor activities. You can be in the hills in a matter of minutes depending on where in the city you are.
North and east of the city are better. The Ferry, Barnhill and Forthill are nicer. Monifieth is ok but in Angus rather than Tayside. Avoid Douglas, Fintry, Mill o' Mains like the plague. Lochee and and the Perth road are OK for convenience and nightlife but lots of tenements and terrace houses so if you want a decent size garden look else where in the city.
It does have a pretty crap city centre though and there are very few good restaurants. They are trying to sort it out with things like the V&A and new swimming pool etc but they are disjointed with pretty manky areas and streets to pass through to get between the nicer bits of the centre. Broughty ferry beach is nice but bloody cold all bar about a month of the year. And there really are a million Tesco; more than any other city in the UK if I remember the article in the Courier correctly.
If you can sacrifice a 30 min drive to the beach then Perth would be much better. Or as Scotroutes says Inverness.
The people recommending places in the Highlands are forgetting the IT job requirement. Even Dundee to be honest.
Millom! hahahaha.
Unless that is some sort of tech wizardry and the joke is on me..... then I am surprised to say the STW are telling us whats good or bad to read.
It’s a case of STW not allowing a click through from here as they want no association with the hateful paper.
Anyway Alnwick is pretty nice but the fun can be sucked out of you.
The people recommending places in the Highlands are forgetting the IT job requirement. Even Dundee to be honest.
Dundee is the centre for computer game development in the UK to be fair. Plenty of IT companies there.
Yes but there's IT and IT. Game development is very different to say enterprise IT. But if he's just looking after someone's corporate network then there are far more opportunities.
Scotland ?..you may wish to re-think..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/07/scottish-businesses-warn-nicola-sturgeon-could-take-years-repair/
Yes but there's IT and IT. Game development is very different to say enterprise IT. But if he's just looking after someone's corporate network then there are far more opportunities.
Infrastructure/network management.
There is NCR who design and manage the cash machine network and then there is .....
Tesco who manage all their IT out of the Dundee call centre
Not all Tesco IT is in Dundee... I've been to a Tesco IT centre that wasn't there.
Barmouth.
gauss1777 - Member
Though there are beaches along the Welsh coasts, the better stuff is around Devon and Cornwall.
The better stuff is in DEVON?
You haven't travelled much in Wales, have you? I can take you to a dozen beaches within a ride of my house in Swansea that are better than anything in south Devon and as good, if not better, than north Devon.
Then we could jump in the car and head to Pembrokedshire. Or Cardigan bay. Or the Lleyn peninsular.
One thing Wales doesn't lack is a good beach. Or castles. 🙂
Barmouth.
IT jobs in Barmouth?
IT could be almost anything. Most folk I know who work in IT for larger organizations work from home.
Fat biked to work this morning into central Dundee; 1.5 hour ride, started in the dark then up and over the Sidlaws. Frozen ground with a good dusting of new snow. Will make an effort to get away sharpish this afternoon, return ride and a fireside waiting. Happy days...
Most folk I know who work in IT for larger organizations work from home.
Most folk I know who work for large IT (which is a lot) work from the office 🙂
I'd like to be able to WFH and live in Scotland, but it's not an easy gig to get. You usually have to somehow make yourself indispensable before they'll let you do it.
I'd like to be able to WFH and live in Scotland, but it's not an easy gig to get.
Get yourself up here - plenty of dev contractor jobs around for those with relevant experience and willing to take the plunge.
trailwagger - MemberThe wife and I are thinking of moving. She wants to live by the coast, I want live in the mountains.
Any suggestions on uk towns to provide
Near coast
Near mountains (or at least good trails)
Good Job opportunities
Good education.
It's probably too left of field but if you're willing to hop across the Irish sea you could do a lot worse than South Down. Brilliant trails everywhere, vibrant mountain biking scene, great hiking (nothing massive but still good), on the coast and property is no doubt much cheaper than England, Scotland, Wales. Can't speak to the IT industry or education though.
Barnet - cheaper housing but close to London for jobs and some good private schools/grammars.
Is that Barnet on Mars? Here on planet Earth I don't think Barnet fits the bill of what the OP is looking for.Frankenstein - MemberBarnet - cheaper housing but close to London for jobs and some good private schools/grammars.
Bottom line, though, is that it doesn't matter what we say because your missus is in the driving seat (plus ca change). Wanting to live by the sea is common enough that millions do this in the UK. Wanting to live IN the mountains, OTOH, is obv unusual in the UK and very few people do this. That means that living 30-60 mins away from the mountains is prob fine, but a similar distance from the sea is completely unreasonable.
@IdleJon, I was saying the same thing as you, the quote was from someone else.
Britain has many, many wonderful beaches.