We’re thinking of recolating from the Reading, The South, to East Lothian up in Scotland.
We love the sea, countryside & culture and Scotland seems to have it all.
East Lothian- Dunbar & North Berwick seem to tick some boxes.. small sea side towns with a short 25 min train journey to Edinburgh. Houses prices are about 30% cheaper than here so we can step in to a much larger property.
I WFH full time and this won’t change, even the job does, so it won’t impacts me, but I’m more concerned for my wife that’ll need to work in education/youth work and we also have a baby, so we wan’t to join a nice welcoming community.

I guess a couple questions..
– Are we missing any other nice areas close to the sea and Edinburgh?
– Is there a negative atmosphere towards Southerners? We had this quite strongly in Wales.

North Queensferry / South Queensferry and roundabout there is kind of on the sea and pleasant, could help broaden your choice of houses. Fife coast also nice with a few notable exceptions but you’re further away from rail connections.

Many Scottish people just have a negative disposition to everything, not sure the English get singled out.

If we want to we’ll find lots of reasons to dislike you. Nationality is quite low down on the list. 😀

I’d probably avoid musselburgh. It may be the honest toon but…..

IIRC more than 16% of the population of Edinburgh is made up of folk born in England, so you’ll fit right in. It’s always possible that you’ll hit some resentment if you are scooping up lower-cost housing as that prices the locals out, but that’s not specific to your popularity.

Personally, I’d rather look to Fife, or even Angus if it’s that combination of factors you are after.

North Berwick is lovley, holiday destination place. Its further from Edinburgh than it looks, i reckon 45 mins plus by car.

Very mixed population so you should be ok there!

Yellowcraig beach is a couple of miles from the town and super nice.

Lack of qualified workers in childcare and most councils offer very flexible working so should be ok there. Look on http://www.myjobscotland.com

Thanks all! Will do a little research into the places above.
Anywhere particularly in Fife? Aware there’s probably some towns to avoid.
We’ll move to a 4/5 bed detached place with space which might help us get into a nice area?

Good to hear the Scots don’t hate us entirely. I like a bit of banter, but resentment and negative vibes is something we can do with out.
I guess Edinburgh’s the pull because of all the ammeneties, but if there’s other large towns & cities to consider that offer the same, that’ll do too. I suppose within 1/2hr (train or car) will work. We’re country bumpkins and only need simple stuff for the majority of the time.. but nice to have hospitals and other ammenties available when wanted and needed.

Its a nice part of the world. Depends what you want. Access into the highlands is not great from east lothian but Edinburgh is a lovely city. If you want the city live closer? dunbar is 20 mins on the train but north berwick is much longer and edinburgh traffic / bypss can be slow

Houses prices are about 30% cheaper than here so we can step in to a much larger property.

Yeah, about that…Scottish listing are “offers over”. In the current climate and in that part of the world, that can mean “minimum 15% over”. Stuff gets sold very quickly and without seeking a second round of offers from people.

Edinburgh to North Berwick is 33 mins on the train and 45 mins by car at dead of night!

Is there a negative atmosphere towards Southerners? We had this quite strongly in Wales

IME some welsh don’t really like the english all that much, once there are beers involved.

the scots however don’t like each other in equal measure to any dislike of the english. However, if you’re round the east way it’s full of english anyway. 😉

Falkirk puts you 1/2hr train journey to 3 major cities – Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling. But Falkirk… I live there and it’s OK, there’s nicer towns but none with the benefit of central location – ideal for Mrs a11y who’s in healthcare and had 6-mth rotations as far away as Dundee to the north, and Greenock to the west.

Stirling/Bridge of Allan is worth a look if you place doorstep MTBing high on your ‘needs’ list.

As an Englishman living up here for 13 years, nationality is just way down the issues for discussion and falling out. No one judges you on your accent – more on how you behave and become part of community.

I too think that Fife and Angus has some ace places, a bit nearer big hills and more varied riding, but near beaches, some lovely places and nice climate.

Excellent, thanks again. Keep it coming please 🙂 !
Any recommendations you m specifics bits of Angus and Fife?

To be honest, house prices are crazy down here. All the houses are selling for more and in less than a couple weeks around here. Good to know though- thank you!

I think the knuckle draggers often give the English or foreigners an easier time than the wrong type of Scots. They just go into a “other” category and get spared the “where are you from?” “where abouts / what school in X?”

I moved up to Edinburgh from Reading (well, Wokingham, but was at school in Reading) about 11yrs ago and now live in the north of the city (Boswall, between Trinity and Pilton).

Love it as a place, Edinburgh is a great size, pretty compact centre city-wise and you’re out into the countryside fairly quickly. House prices have gone crazy over the last year though, especially anything with a garden and more than a couple of bedrooms.

Weather – generally cooler and dryer than on the west coast which means a fair few sunny days but it’s definitely colder than down south which I moan about every summer.

Depending on what you can do I’d be tempted to rent for a bit to see where you’d like to be and get a feel for a place before you commit long term. The smaller ‘towns’ really are pretty small compared to Reading and its surroundings. As above, North Berwick is a good 45mins drive into Edinburgh, half an hour train, Dunbar a bit longer. There are a huge number of new builds going up on greenfield sites all over East Lothian depending on your view of those.

Otherwise, I’ve felt it’s the safest place I’ve ever lived – never felt threatened walking around at all hours and in all states.

The beer is pretty good up here too, though I do miss the West Berks stuff.

@ally

Falkirk puts you 1/2hr train journey to 3 major cities – Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling. But Falkirk… I live there and it’s OK, there’s nicer towns but none with the benefit of central location – ideal for Mrs a11y who’s in healthcare and had 6-mth rotations as far away as Dundee to the north, and Greenock to the west.

Stirling/Bridge of Allan is worth a look if you place doorstep MTBing high on your ‘needs’ list.

you didn’t spot this bit of the requirements did you:

– Are we missing any other nice areas close to the sea and Edinburgh?

It does lead me to ask what “close to the sea” means though – e.g. if you just like a nice stroll along a coastal path watching the waves, that’s not necessarily the same location as reasonable surf, which might different again from sheltered sailing or sea kayaking…

Is there a negative atmosphere towards Southerners?

Plenty of English in East Lothian, local politics is pretty toxic, very NIMBY, local roads can be wacky races and traffic into Edinburgh can be painful. On the plus side it’s very dry and the odd place is allegedly frost free, surfing beaches as well. Plenty of worse places to be.

Think about schools if you have kids, a surprising number of kids get privately educated in the area

I know a few folk in East Lothian and there are many with English accent, a couple who belong Sheffield and a lass from Newcastle tell me over the years the do get the odd snide remarks ie go home you don’t belong here , most of East Lothian is a wee bit middle class
I think you would get more grief over in Fife it’s a strange place
PS I’m a Fifer

Bridge of Allan and parts of Falkirk will be on / in the sea fairly soon the way sea level rises are going.

Lots of good stuff to think about, thanks again! Everything’s telling me this is a good idea.

When I say Reading.. I mean a hamlet 20 mins away (with West Berks Brewery in sight), so used to having no village shop let alone anything else.

We’re about 1 1/2hrs away from the sea, so it would be nice to move by the sea or within 35mins I guess. Just a beach to relax and walk.. possibly do a bit of kayaking or SUP.

Feels like the right time to move somewhere more outdoor focused and less hectic than the South with raising our baby.

i have nephews and family in haddington, lovely place was up there last week, 45-50 mins drive to park up at glentress, it’ll be nice for a road bike flat with some small hills, i’ve taken the gravel bike up and its a lovely coastline dunbar to north berwick and towards edinburgh.

lots of building going on and houses are going well above asking..

north berwick can get very busy on sunny days, and yes the weather tends to be good up there.

compared to west yorkshire it feels very quiet on the roads, especially since covid, although the roads are busy in towards edinburgh

I mean a hamlet 20 mins away (with West Berks Brewery in sight),

Ha, v. envious. Spent a cracking weekend last summer sitting outside in the sun at the Pot Kiln on one afternoon and walking up to the Bell at Aldworth from Goring the next (didn’t have time for the full walk up from Pangbourne along the Thames, perhaps this year)

so it would be nice to move by the sea or within 35mins I guess. Just a beach to relax and walk.. possibly do a bit of kayaking or SUP.

Another recommendation in that case for Haddington if you’re keen on East Lothian

North bewrwick is lovely but someone has already pointed out the offers over things and its the most expesive seaside town in Scotland average prices are about 450k my sisters was double that and that got them an admitteldy very nice house but its still attached to another one and while plenty big enough for the five of them its not massive in the sense of “oh i see where the money went”! And they go fast and i’m assuming quite a bit over asking price in the current get out of the city climate. No idea about the other towns but there aren’t actually that many on the sea, gullane and dunbar? especially if you want a nice beach, i’d rather live in porty than musselburgh, atleast you get the benefit of livign almost in the city.

Fife has a similar seaside issue, either very expensive or a total hole. Fife is miserably served by public transport, with the exception of kirkcaldy i don’t think any of the other towns have a trainline and teh bus services are pretty lam and it takes AGES to get anywhere because the roads are crappy and getting into edinburgh involves the bridge which can be a right arsehole around commuter times. Don’t get me wrong I love fife, grew up there, it a lovely place and if you can afford the nice bits and don’t mind driving everywhere and avoid leven (deprived shithole) and St Andrews (affluent shithole) its great.

East of Dundee is lovely, the beaches are as beautiful as anywhere else Lunan Bay etc are fantastic. dunno what living in the towns are like though. you get access to the glens and you aren’t that far from the big hills. Dundee is a nice wee city, I rememeber when it was a grey shit hole but it has slowly crawled out of that label.

I think you would get more grief over in Fife it’s a strange place
PS I’m a Fifer

Fist bump. Fife for life. depends on the bit I guess its not so bad north east.

Feels like the right time to move somewhere more outdoor focused and less hectic than the South with raising our baby.

in that case, if you fancy north berwick make sure you have plenty of off road parking because it is NOT a quiet place in the summer.

This is going to get laughed at by some. Tayport. kinda fits fantastic beach kinshaldy, pretty chill. 15 minutes to dundee.

This is going to get laughed at by some. Tayport. kinda fits fantastic beach kinshaldy, pretty chill. 15 minutes to dundee.

Having moved to Fife some seven or so years ago, I concur with @joshvegas – Tayport has much to offer. Better links than much of Fife, should be plenty of education and youth work in Dundee too.

Not Balmullo though thats where the weirdos live.

Although I think it might be one of the most STW members per head of capita locations on the planet

it would be nice to move by the sea or within 35mins I guess

I mean, you could live in Penicuik or Southside Edinburgh and be in Musselburgh 30 minutes later. It’s my prejudice but I wouldn’t want to live in a small town AND 30 mins away from the beach – you might as well go for one or the other! If you see yourself commuting into Edinburgh I would say there is a huge plus in living on a rail line rather than just a bus service.

On your second point; I live in one of those funky wee towns in the West of Scotland. I have no census data to hand, but it feels as though English people comprise 20% or so of the populus. But that might be because of who I associate with.

Its probably because qualified English people with a bit of money come to interesting places to live, sometimes in Scotland for good reasons, and IMO, usually contribute a lot to what’s going on in the local scenery that’s good.

My 2 besties from the town escaped Kent and Bristol respectively, and do a power of good in the town and beyond. Something about moving to a place rather than just being born in it makes you enthusiastic instantly.

You might get the odd bit of hassle but no more than I’d get if I flitted to London. Come up and have fun.

Not Balmullo though thats where the weirdos live.

Easy Josh,Strathkinness is where the real oddballs live 😉

Ah Strathkinness a village built around a field.

Aw man the field has gone.

North Berwick , St Andrews without the Uni or much history and don’t forget the haaaaaar
When 3 miles inland is basking in 75° heat ,North Berwick will be shivering

North Berwick , St Andrews without the Uni or much history and don’t forget the haaaaaar

I’m sorry but North Berwick is an infinitely nicer place than St Andrews. It’s like St Andrews with all the students and all the **** golfers.

It also totally gets the haar as does Tayport… And balmullo, at least, we got it in lucklawhill on the reg. Its the east coast getting sunburnt then hypothermia on the same day is part of the charm.

I’m from London originally, moved up here to Edinburgh 15 years ago. We kind of found Portobello by chance, if we hadn’t I don’t think I’d still be here. I am pretty ambivalent about Edinburgh itself, kind of feels like living in Disneyland for the festival laden bits of the year, the traffic is a joke for a city of this size and the roads are a permanently being dug up. But Porty is great. I can walk to the sea in 2 minutes, drive to a surfable beach in half an hour and it’s 45 minutes to the Tweed valley. Great community and none of the staid Edinburgh vibe. As a result it’s quite desirable now and on the local FB page there is a fair bit of grumbling about incomers and London types with money coming in and driving up house prices.

East Lothian is really lovely, especially at this time of year. But as others have said it’s not super convenient to get into the city. Gullane and North Berwick are nice but driving in from them gets tedious – windy coast road. Dunbar has much better access but the town is a bit meh.

Lots of really exceptional beaches in East Lothian. Proper world class.

My folks live in East Linton lovely wee place close to north berwick. I ride down to east linton to visit weekly. Great
Cycling roads and great cafes everywhere. I take dogs to north berwick sometimes it’s a great place to visit.

East Lothian is beautiful and Edinburgh is a great city to visit. I don’t think you’ll regret moving.
I am sorry to say though that I have experienced negative attitudes.
More so here (I moved from the east to a small town in south west Scotland in a moment of absolute madness) but I also experienced it in Edinburgh and the Borders.
As a Welsh person, I can only apologise for what you experienced in Wales.
I am from Barry (from Gavin and Stacey fame) and I escaped as soon as I could. I wouldn’t say people are negative about the fact that I left, just bemused, they are not sure why anyone would leave Barry! I don’t have to visit often happily.
Hope it works out for you anyway.

Thanks- I knew the STW hive would have lots of experience and opinions. Did not disappoint! We’ve lived all over the UK and visited Scotland a few times. Always felt special.
I’ll do some research on all of the above. Thanks!

I’ve lived in East Lothian all my life
It’s a great place to live and is a cycling Mecca as you are spoiled for great roads and routes and are 40 minutes from the Tweed Valley

The East of the county is more upmarket and a fair bit “posher”
and house prices relflect this.

Average price in East Lothian is about £220k. Averages price in North Berwick is nearly double that.

North Berwick is lovely, to visit, I wouldn’t live near the town centre for that reason but there are loads of place’s nearby just as nice.
Direlton, Gullane, East Linton etc etc

Dunbar is nice as is Haddington
And further West there are loads of smaller places worthy of a look. Pencaitland Ormiston East Saltoun Gifford etc

I’d live here over Fife as houses are cheap on Fife for a reason.

Boswall, between Trinity and Pilton

Or the “Buffer Zone” as I call it! I’ve lived in this area for about 15 years and it’s lovely and quiet. Close to beaches at Wardie and Crammond. Doesn’t meet your countryside criteria but you could drive to the Pentlands in about 30mins or cycle there (mainly off road) in an hour.

Longniddry would be worth checking out. Near the sea. On a train line. Close to Edinburgh.
Aberlady worth a look too.

I’m not sure why Musselburgh was dissed, it has a lot going for it.

I quite like Haddington but it’s not next to the sea nor has a train station. Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick are all nice but North Berwick is the only one with a station. They do tend to be full of retirees who have a few bob.

If you can afford Joppa then I’d be tempted to buy there.

We’ve already discussed Leven but in its defense, the rail line from Thornton Junction to Methil / Leven is opening again… Not a reason to move there though.

All the places in East Lothian I’d suggest have been suggested. I’d rather visit the sea though, I’m happier in Penicuik in the shadow of the Pentlands.

Are we missing any other nice areas close to the sea and Edinburgh?

East Lothian is lovely – we moved up from Sheffield and originally lived in Edinburgh, but any sunny day was spent on the beach in Gullane or North Berwick.

We’re now NE Fife near St Andrews which is – in my mind – even nicer. House prices in our village about the same as East Lothian. Train station at Leuchars is 5 minutes drive from us, train gets you to Edinburgh in ~70 minutes – that might be too much.

Strathkinness is where the real oddballs live

Oi!