[Closed] Ayrshire. Should I move there? Advice needed please.

Largs itself is a nice area to live and plenty of good road riding up the moors roads, not so much trails, you can peace a few bits together. If you are keen to commute to work maybe start looking at Troon or Prestwick areas good schools and not too far to cycle to killie. Walkers cycles in kilmaurs have a good road and mountain bike club.

Ofcourse you could always move to the scheme 😯

I live in Carfin, work in Prestwick. love it down here. other half lives in ayr, I would move here.
Troon house prices are expensive, courtesy of golf course. great road cycling, easy access to Glasgow and beyond. Next to the sea.
Not too clued up on schools though.
What's the worst that could happen, as Marvin says "happy as Larry, could not be happier"

tomc, I live in Prestwick, and have lived in North, East and South Ayrshire. I really like it here, very reasonable house prices compared to the south, cost of living is ok, and good transport links.

Only downside to living in Ayrshire is the MTBing. Although we are pretty centrally located to [i]get to[/i] great biking, there just isn't that much great stuff around here. Compared to where you are at the moment though, If you're prepared to drive a wee bit, then you have;-

Drumlanrig - 45 mins
Mabie, Ae, Dalbeattie and Kirro - 75 mins
Inners and GT - 1hr 45 mins
Lakes 2hrs 30 mins
Aviemore and FW 2 hrs 30 mins

Thats a lot of great biking all within day ride striking distance. If you want to have a natter about it, my email is in my profile, Be glad to help out.

Greg.

I grew up in killlie. awful town. theres nothing left of it and its just a bland commuter town now

Don't forget Arran is a short ferry away, great mountain biking and hills. [url= http://www.arranbikeclub.com/cycling.htm ]Arran MTB Club[/url]

I've visited Devon quite a bit, and work in Ayshire at the moment. I think while they are both semi-rural Ayshire is definitely a bit "rougher".

That's all really helpful. I'm feeling very positive about the area! Greg, will email you when I have a few more specific Q's. Thanks All.

I spent 19 years living in Ayrshire.

The only places I would consider living would be Prestwick or Troon (although both are pretty sleepy).

Don't move to Kilmarnock (like boardingbob, I spent quite a few of my formative years there, nothing good came of it). In fact, be wary of any built up area in Ayrshire! 🙂

Do you fancy a city move? It's a doddle getting from Glasgow to Kilmarnock by car or train (you'd be heading in the right direction too) You'd lose the ability to commute by bike though.

If you've got a reasonable amount of cash to play with and fancy a rural move, you can get quite a lot of bang for buck in the sticks. Plus, you're never too far from a town or good road link. If I was to ever move back to ayrshire, I'd be buying a farm house a few miles away from a town/village.

I grew up N Ayrshire/Renfrewshire, but not sure I would choose to live in much of Ayrshire proper, except perhaps Troon/Prestwick. Currently live in East Kilbride which is sub 20 mins to Kilmarnock/Glasgow, loads of amenities and well connected for outdoor activities/work. good schools, good road riding, and shorter drive times to most decent mtb riding than Greg 😆

Aye, but the downside of living in east Kilbride is.......living in east Kilbride!. 😀

Tbh, if I was in your situation, if your missus really wants to live near her dad, move to west Kilbride or fairlie. If she can handle a bit of a distance, I'd be heading for Glasgow.

Def don't want a city life, so Glasgow's out. Thinking more of Peterfile's plan of old farmhouse near a town with a decent school. West Kilbride is on the wife's list of places. Presumably its smaller than Troon? And what's wrong with East Kilbride, by the way?

And what's wrong with East Kilbride, by the way?

Nothing, if you like Milton Keynes then you'll like East Kilbride 😉

It's great for families since you can get a 3 bedroom semi with garden etc for cheaper than a 2 bedroom flat in a decent area of Glasgow, plus you're still within easy commuting distance of the city.

Quite a few of my mates who have never had an interest of moving to anywhere like East Kilbride have suddenly found it an attractive (if not only) option for "family" living in the burbs. Try finding a 3 bed semi in Bearsden or Thorntonhall, then compare the prices to East Kilbride...

Just a joke for ianc's benefit!.

West Kilbride is a nice wee village with some decent MTBing, and is 5 minutes drive from Largs. Sits up on a hill, and has some great views over to Arran. Fairlie is more of a series of houses strung along the coast, but still has a pub and a train station, sharing the same MTBing.

If your looking to go down the farmhouse type route, I'd go for those areas above, or up near to the lochwinnoch area, but not actually in lochwinnoch. Whats the job in kilmarnock btw?.

what peterfile said....

plus in the last 10 yrs it's expanded significantly, with all good private housing, new schools etc. We used to live in Glasgow's South Side and didn't rate EK, as we tended to stereotype it, however the reality is a lot better than the 'image'

....and it's nowt like Milton Keynes anymore !

Just a joke for ianc's benefit!.

bit of a side question bob. What years were you living in Killie?

If you've got a reasonable amount of cash to play with and fancy a rural move, you can get quite a lot of bang for buck in the sticks.

I didn't realise how true this was until the last week. I've been house hunting for a while and can't find anything that suits in the area I'm looking at, but Ayrshire semi-rural and rural houses are extremely cheap with loads of land in comparison.

[i]Do you fancy a city move? It's a doddle getting from Glasgow to Kilmarnock by car or train (you'd be heading in the right direction too) You'd lose the ability to commute by bike though.[/i]

Whilst I certainly wouldn't recommend moving to Glasgow if your job is in Kilmarnock you certainly wouldn't lose the ability to commute by bike. There's a cycle path just about all the way between the two.

Symington, dundonald, preswick, Troon are all okay. West Kilbride and fair lie nice too. If your budget wi stretch to it have a look at eaglesham

A colleague's other half (who posts on here) commutes from killie to glasgow. No reason you can't go the other way.

Thanks all. What would the options for secondary school be from West Kilbride? And how does it compare with Troon for schooling and general 'niceness'?

I think west Kilbride is a nicer town than Troon, personally. Troon has sufferd in the last few years with the same issues as lots of other similar sized towns, ie, lots of charity shops and farmfood type places. Lots of nice houses, but not that great an actual town centre.

West Kilbride went under a bit of a reinvention a few years back, when a local housewife stood as a councillor. She got the local authority to pretty much give up on the rates for shops on the high st that were lying empty, and opened them up to local artists etc, and rebranded the town as a craft town. It's worked a treat, as it was always a nice wee place, but it has a proper feel to it now.

School wise, I'd say Troon has better a better secondary, marr college, as WK kids have to go to either Largs academy, which Im not aware of how good or bad it is, or ardrossan academy, which is a bit, er, rustic....(I know, I went there!.)

If you plan on coming up for a look, bring your bike, I'll show you round fairlie moors, and answer anything else I can.

Greg.

South side of Glasgow (Giffnock, Newton Mearns) to Kilmarnock is about 15 miles by bike, just take the A77 and there is a cycle track down the side.

Largs itself is quite nice. Some good road cycling routes nearby but less good for a mountain bike - although that being said there is some off road riding available, access road to a new windfarm above the town or walking paths at the Greenock cut...it wont be technical riding but good for a spin.

There are (or were) also some downhill routes at the back of Largs, i've never riden them though so dont know what they are like.

As with most of the above - Ayrshire's nice but avoid Kilmarnock (and Ardrossan and Saltcoats). when i was working there, i nearly bought in Ayr (which I did quite like) but ended up in Glasgow and commuting out. West Kilbride is nice, but (IIRC) a bit remote. Largs is on the coast road so civilization is a bit more accessible. A bit of a pensioner town though and you're moving away from commuting distance from Glasgow.

I think west Kilbride is a nicer town than Troon, personally.

Lived in Maybole as a kid.. What a dump!! looked on google street view and looks even more of a dump than I remember it to be.

Is it really as bad as my childhood memory makes it out???

Meant to say that Fenwick is quite a nice wee village too, couple of decent hotels/pubs. Some new houses being built too if thats what you're after. Sorne also very nice.

Avoid the following - galston, newmills, darvel, tarbolton, mauchline, patna,dalsmellington, to name a few - all old mining/mill towns that have had the life torn out of them and they're just shiholes now.

Kilmarnock isn't nearly as bad as its being made out to be, people are very friendly generally, easy access to the countryside, cinema, gyms, nice restaurants, coffee shops, lovely country park.

I'm in Sorn which is very pretty and a pleasant commute away from Killie and unlike a lot of ayrshire does offer a little bit MTB fun on the doorstep (but frankly the road riding is so, so good its difficult to make a case for getting muddy). But schools wise it a bit far flung, not so much for primary (theres a lovely little primary school) but maybe not so ideal for secondary aged kids.

When I had a job in Killie I commuted from the south side of glasgow - absolutely doddle by car, running opposite to the flow of traffic and from Shawlands along the A77 is pretty much the nicest route out of glasgow by bike

If I had kids, wanted to live rurally and needed to work in Killie personally I'd be looking to live somewhere in the Kilmaurs, Stewarton and Fenwick areas. Stewarton/Kilmaurs has a good selection of shops, a good school, easy links to the motorway and is in the trainline too, linking to Glasgow, Ayr, Stranraar and Dumfries.

There's not many shops in Kilmaurs and Stewarton is a small verion of Kilmarnock,just more neds in a smaller town centre.

Avoid the following - galston, newmills, darvel, tarbolton, mauchline, patna,dalsmellington, to name a few - all old mining/mill towns that have had the life torn out of them and they're just shiholes now.

Patna and Dalmellington are really in the boondocks - very isolated (and too much of a schlep to get to Killie) but I wouldn't discount the rest of those towns as [i]areas [/i]to live if you are looking to live rurally. The irvine valley (Galston/Newmilns/Darvel) is gorgeous as an area, Galston has become the poor relation but Newmilns in particular has had quite a brush up over the past few years and you can get a cracking property for your money there

Newmills is a major shithole - avoid

Newmills is a major shithole - avoid

so is Princetown so avoid Dartmoor 🙂

I'm in Sorn which is very pretty and a pleasant commute away from Killie and unlike a lot of ayrshire does offer a little bit MTB fun on the doorstep

We used to go riding in Sorn when I was about 17! I think i've got a video of us somewhere 🙂

Is it really as bad as my childhood memory makes it out???

Possibly, I was in Girvan and absolutely hated it as a yoof, however parents are still there and now I enjoy the fact they belong to a community (lets face it did your dad ever manage to 'borrow' a steamroller) where people actually speak to you so my feelings are somewhat mellowed, but I wouldn't live there - Ayr looks a bit more practical.

im from irvine, used to work in kilmarnock.
irvine is fine, kilmarnock is . . bizarre, some parts are really nice, others are total shitholes, dont forget that 'the scheme' was filmed there.
my best mate still lives in kilmarnock, i would move there, but it would have to be the right area.
west kilbride> troon imo.
fairlie is nice, avoid stevenston/saltcoats/ardrossan,
kilwinning is ok if its the right bits (sort of).
road riding is great, lots of nice flat roads near the sea, mtb tends to be good bits scattered around.
there are worse parts of the world to live in.

I come from Troon, great place to live, good schools and some good pubs, handy for road riding and theres a decent commute over Dundonald hill to Kilmarnock.
You can even MTB in both the Big Woods and the Wee Woods, albiet it aint Glentress.
Used to be the rule for locals was dont live anywhere in Ayrshire north of Troon, good chance of getting stabbed, i.e Irvine, south of Troon was okay but avoid the villages further inland than Minishant, you might not be seen or heard from again.

[img][url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3124/5712843352_fddb6d85b0.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3124/5712843352_fddb6d85b0.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nobeerinthefridge/5712843352/ ]DSCF1287[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nobeerinthefridge/ ]nobeerinthefridge[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Omarlittle, some right good trails above fairlie/west Kilbride (west Kilbride is just visible over the top of the reservoir in the distance)

irvine is fine, kilmarnock is . . bizarre, some parts are really nice, others are total shitholes, dont forget that 'the scheme' was filmed there.

You're joking right? I lived and was schooled (if you can call it that) in Irvine, then moved to Kilmarnock.

Irvine is worse than killie IMO. A lot of my family and friends still live there so i'm down a lot, it's even worse than when i was young.

I wouldn't wish either killie or irvine on anyone 😉 🙂

How old are the kids and how do you feel they will cope with the move?
Are they at the age where they will pick up the accent easily? If not then give that some thought before you leap. It shouldn't be the main factor but it is worth thinking about.

[i]irvine is fine, kilmarnock is . . bizarre, some parts are really nice, others are total shitholes, dont forget that 'the scheme' was filmed there.[/i]

Umm so you're saying Irvine is all nice then? It's not, it's a dump.

I've lived in Ayrshire all my life, and can say hand on heart, Irvine is by far the bleakest, most miserable place in the 'shire. Allegedly used to be a decent town, but the new town estates and their massive Glasgow overspill have done it no favours. Killie is bad, Irvine is purgatory.

And as for the scheme, that could have been filmed in pretty much any provincial town in the uk.

Ayrshire-Another world.It's chits and ginger but up the road in Glesga it's pieces and juice.
Baroso ain't that daft 😉

And as for the scheme, that could have been filmed in pretty much any provincial town in the uk.

The issue with The Scheme wasn't the streets where the filmed it - it was the shits who filmed it and the thoughtless prick that commissioned it. Daily Mail editorial paid for by the license fee.

And east Ayrshire council being stupid enough to let them do it.

Daily Mail editorial paid for by the license fee.

yeah it was great, wasn't it 😀

I nominate Nobeerinthe fridge to organise a STW Ayrshire chapter day out! I live in Ayr myself and I quite like it. A reasonable variety of pubs/bars/restaurants and good local transport links nationally and internationally due to proximity to air and sea links. Plenty of decent schools in the area and as stated by Greg travelling for biking ain't too bad. We do alright with wee trips to the Lakes and up north from time to time! Again if you need any further help just ask. We should all get together and start a club!

Went to east kilbride the other week

Grimmer than a grim thing !

Rural airshires lovely though . Kilmaurs and surrounding area and is good for cycling if a little flat.

I nominate Nobeerinthe fridge to organise a STW Ayrshire chapter day out!

+1

😀

Tomc Can you say where you will be working? No problem if you can't/ won't. For what it's worth I've lived and worked in Killie/ Irvine and would advise Prestwick to live in. If I could move thats where I would be looking.

Hows about a fairlie/west kilbride ride during the hols, and we can then tell tomc all about the riding?. And even post up some pics.

I rather like Ayrshire (memories of trials riding years ago) but there are some desperately unfortunate places.

I have to occasionally visit a site near Beith. Beith has a baker that claims its Scotch pies are award winning. The pies are the only possible reason anybody could have for going to Beith.

peterfile - Member
bit of a side question bob. What years were you living in Killie?

1978 till 2002. I thought I recognised you. Did you used to be friends with Steven Cree?

If you move to Ayrshire, take up sailing.

Watty irvines award winning pies full of keish
,were the best
Not that dried up sh1t that Maurice passes for a pie

No guessing who used to stay in beith
Shithole best avoided

The mountain biking around Darvel is very good with some locally buildt XC and DH trails on both sides of the valley. The XC trail is about 23kms long with only about 2km on connecting roads.

There's also Craufurdland estate where we have built a 10km XC route with jumps, berms etc. Not too good in the winter though.

There's a new XC route being built at Whitelee Forest over the winter.

Also you can go to the Newmilns Ski centre and practice DH.

There's plenty of local mountain bikers here, with trips to trail centres organised almost every week.

Wow - didn't expect so many responses...and great to see I'm on the brink of starting a bike club (which I'll definitely join if we move!)

maccruiskeen: you're spot on about Princetown. Its almost joyously bleak up there - and you can enjoy it all the more when you know you're about to ride home and its downhill all the way.

The kids will be 3 and 6 when we move. Young enough to pick up the accent I hope (will be actively encouraged by their Scottish mum).

Overall, it seems there are no standout towns, but some do have some good schools, and you can get a lot for your money if you want a rural life. The local MTB-riding's average but a little travel gets you a lot more, and there is good road riding. Sounds good to me.

I'll be sure to let those that kindly volunteered to show me some trails / answer Q's know if I'm coming up for a reccy.

maccruiskeen: you're spot on about Princetown. Its almost joyously bleak up there

the pub beer garden (in a July hailstorm) is also one of the few places you can camp - thats why I'm familar with it 🙂

When you come up bring a good road map and put in some milage driving round the back roads- for all the whinging snobs say ( 🙂 ) the most notorious shitholes are often cheek by jowl with some incredible little hamlets and some cracking little country retreats.

If you look at the map of scotland you'll see that it generally has a remarkable lack of roads - ayrshire by contrast has loads more little back roads and backwaters (thats what makes it so good on a road bike).

Actually - for rural have a look around Moscow too, the village itself is small and has no amenities but theres quite a scattering of rural properties around it you're very quick into Killie.

1978 till 2002. I thought I recognised you. Did you used to be friends with Steven Cree?

I left Killie in 2001. Steven used to go out with one of my close friends, Gemma (probably around 2000 - 2002). I didn't really kick about with him, although he was around quite a bit.

What school did you go to/year left? I reckon we must know quite a few of the same people. I used to go riding with the Marsh brothers (their dad owned the car garage which used to be where the new Tesco is now) and two other brothers (Willie and ???, whose surname I can't remember!), lovely lads, really miss getting out and about with them.

I was also the PR manager at Expo (for my sins) for a couple of years when i was a student, which means if you ever used to go there, we've probably met at some point!

Drop me an email if you'd rather not put it on here. I'm still down in Killie a lot, my mum lives next to Howard Park.

edit

Best description I heard of Patna is that it's "the Arsehole of Ayrshire - and Dalmellington is ten miles up it"

fnarr fnarr

pebblebeach - Member
Meant to say that Fenwick is quite a nice wee village too, couple of decent hotels/pubs. Some new houses being built too if thats what you're after. Sorne also very nice.

Avoid the following - galston, newmills, darvel, tarbolton, mauchline, patna,dalsmellington, to name a few - all old mining/mill towns that have had the life torn out of them and they're just shiholes now.

What pish are you talking?! I agree with you about the others but Mauchline a shit hole?! Brilliant primary school, good amenities for its size and 3 nice(ish) pubs. Ayr and Killie both 15min away, Glasgow 30 min. The only thing that lets it down is the lack of a railway station as the mainline to glasgow runs through it. Left when I was 17 but I visit family once or twice a month. Missus is from rural Oxfordshire and she loves it!

Killie town centre is run down and I feel that Ayr seems to be self destructing under the ineptitude of south ayrshire cooncil but given a choice, I'd stay in Prestwick or Ayr. On the coast with nice beaches and great links up to Glasgow.

As for mountain biking, I used to use all the paths around Mauchline as well as the old quarry in Sorn to scare myself. Mauchline pit has some nice little drop ins and there is a mountain biking club at New Cumnock (Glenafton MTB club) which meets once a week. I've not managed to meet them but they're on facebook and seem friendly enough. Because of the right to roam act the best advice I would give you is the usual, get the landranger and go where ever you want. All the 7stanes sites are within 2/3hrs of killie and you have Fort william/Glencoe 3.5hrs away.

I would move back in a shot but work ties me down here. Hampshire is too impersonal compared to the "shire".

Agreed, mauchline is no shithole.

The Black Bull in Mauchline is some place 😆

Hows about a fairlie/west kilbride ride during the hols, and we can then tell tomc all about the riding?. And even post up some pics.

Yeah I would be up for that, drop me a email mate.

Hows about a fairlie/west kilbride ride during the hols, and we can then tell tomc all about the riding?. And even post up some pics

Irvine - I kept a boat there for a couple of years. My experience of the place was driving in to the harbour either from the Ayrshire Central end or from the A71 then through the industrial estate (which is just like any other industrial estate). Spent a night on the boat every so often but never really checked out the pubs. Always though it was pretty nice, but that was from a fairly limited point of view. I'd happily stay in the harbour area though. Good access to the fleshpots of weegieland.

Went to auchinleck academy and my family's from cumnock. Out of all the villages in the area, I would only live in mauchline. Would love sorn but errr......

I'm a loudon (refuse to use silly name) drinker but venture up to the bull occasionally for the duke box 😛

Irvine....Always though it was pretty nice

I hate to break this to you...it's not.

17 years of living there followed by 14 years of living in a variety of other towns/cities in the UK and elsewhere has taught me one thing, Irvine is a shithole 🙂

Ianc, wash your mouth out! MTB, of course!. 😀

I can do any day between the 1st of January to the 7th. Would be riding from west Kilbride railway station, not too early if there are folks travelling down. Ian, I'll text graham at GMBC and see if any of the others fancy it.

This ride can be done by train from Glasgow, opens up the possibility of a wee dram afterwards!.

wow, i guess my standards are much lower than many others, i lived in irvine for 18 years (bourtreehill) and it was absolutely fine.
i still go there regularly as my mum and dad still live there, and its still fine imo.
im not saying its the centre of the universe or anything, but if i had funds and was looking to buy a place there are worse places to live.
obviously, some of the council estates are shitholes, but you get them in any decent sized town, not just irvine.

Peter where a outs did you live in killie? If you don't mind me asking.

Get yourself along to an Auchinleck Talbot.vs. Cumnock junior.football match. P.s. Juniors ain't kids up here in case you don't know. Serious stuff 🙂

gavinturnbull - Member
The mountain biking around Darvel is very good with some locally buildt XC and DH trails on both sides of the valley. The XC trail is about 23kms long with only about 2km on connecting roads.

peterfile - Member
We used to go riding in Sorn when I was about 17! I think i've got a video of us somewhere

Greenock cut...it wont be technical riding but good for a spin

The Cut itself is pretty bland but some lovely riding in the hills above The Cut, you just need to know where to look.. 😉

Get yourself located in east ren somewhere.

Good schools and a better class of ned. Try whitecraigs, eaglesham, Newton means, giffnock, williamwood, hazeldean to name but a few of the nicer places.

You are 15 miles from Killy using the cycle path from NM.

House prices are a bit more than the likes of Kilmarnock, but for good reason. Seriously you owe it to your kids not to go to a school in Killy.

IMHO>

Largs: Been known as Gods waiting room since the dawn of time. Infuriatingly long traffic lights. But nice enough, has reasonable places to eat and drink and pretty good if you like watersports as well. The people do have a higher opinion of themselves than they really should and they sometimes have that'incomers' chip on their shoulder.

Fairlie: Some really nice property and as mentioned some mountain biking on your doorstep, close enough to Largs to use the facilities with the benefit of not having to live there.

West Kilbride/Seamill/Portencross: Nice town with a wide variety of property, everything from child friendly estates to beach cottages and small holdings, same biking as Fairlie on the doorstep.

The Three Toons(Ardrossan/Saltcoats/Stevenston): Mostly poo poo'd and Saltcoats and Stevenston ( and for the most part Ardrossan) town centres are miserable places. But there is a bit of regeneration going on and there is a host of new builds on the outskirts of decent enough houses and the price will be comparatively good. In Saltcoats alone I'd say the areas with decent property outweigh the crapper ones. Again if you like sailing the Marina is decent enough, you can also roll down to the ferry to Arran for some biking. The beach at Saltcoats has also had alot of work done, its now very clean and you often get windsurfers/kitesurfers/jetskis/canoeists etc using it. And for commuting to Kilmarnock your dual carriageway all the way and pretty equidistant to Largs as well.

Kilwinning: Open air lunatic asylum

Irvine: Has good and bad bits, the outskirts has some nice enough estates, some of the new town stuff is pretty miserable and the 'mall' is a genetic experiment. The harbourside is fairly nice though, nice pubs and eateries.

Troon: is nice but I think the premium to live there doesn't match the actual living. Seen as one of the posher parts of the shire.

I'd love to tell you more about the mountain biking but mostly I'd chuck the bike in the car, my out the door riding is mostly on the road bike or crosser.

BTW I live in Saltcoats and apart from a notion of moving down to Portencross a while back, theres nothing really in the other places to tempt me away.