I live down on Dartmoor. My wife is from Largs and her dad (recently bereaved) still lives there. We have two young children. We love living down in the South West but my job prospects here are uncertain. I have the opportunity to move the family up to Ayrshire. I’d be working in Kilmarnock and would want to commute by bike (up to 15 miles-ish). Are there good areas to bring up a family round there? What’s the schooling like? And, of course, what’s the riding (road and MTB) like? [Of course, my wife has strong opinions on all of this – which is why I need reliable information from you sensible people…]

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 get to 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. Arran MTB Club

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.

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.

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.

No thinking about it it just is

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 areas 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.

[/url] DSCF1287 by nobeerinthefridge, 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.

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

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.