We, as a family (with two young boys under the age of 6), are contemplating the idea of moving from the North East to the Scottish borders. At the moment we are considering the Selkirk area as it seems to strike a nice balance between transport links and affordability. We’re a keen ‘outdoors’ type family and wondered whether there might be anybody on here who can offer advice or pearls of wisdom based on experience?
We would both be working from home with very occasional travel to Newcastle and/or Glasgow so on the surface of it, it seems like a relatively good location? (not to mention the riding in the local vicinity…) Neither myself nor my wife know anyone up there so would look to find a riding group and maybe running and yoga groups for my wife.

Any info would be really well received.

I’m up the road in Melrose. I like the borders and think it is a great, active place for bringing up kids. It is a bot inward looking sometimes but probably no more so than any other rural area. You don’t have to ry hard to be properly remote out in the hills yet we are 1hr from Edinburgh.

Plenty of local riding groups, generally based around various Facebook groups. Riding is, obviously, world class. Bowhill on your doorstep, up the hills and over to Yair. Thornielee, Golfie, Inner and GT all within 30mins. Road riding is outstanding.

Very active running groups, notably Gala Harriers who run track and road sessions.

Here is the the biggy though, you need to think about High Schools. Selkirk is fine but it is worth seriously considering getting within the catchment area for Earlston. It is one of the best state schools in Scotland. You don’t have the same flexibility as you may have down south, with Earlston you need to be in the catchment area to get in, they no longer take placement requests. So that means Melrose, St Boswells, Lauder, Earlston areas. You will pay more for this but it really is worth giving this some thought.

My kids are at High School and it is only now that I realise just how fortunate that we ended up in the right catchment area. Perhaps take a look at the inspections reports to come to your own conclusion.

Thanks Frank. That’s useful to know. We are looking at the (very) rural side of things which would, at present, mean they went to Selkirk High in due course. I will check out the areas associated with Earlston though.

As I have said in another thread. Selkirk and Hawick are cheap for a reason. They are dire.

Far enough out of the way to have become backwaters. If you want to see what your kids will become go to a pub in Selkirk one weekend and meet the locals.

Travel a short distance North and you have Peebles, Innerliethen, Melrose Even Gala (it’s cheap as well but is a fairly decent place tbh.

I would consider Hawick or Selkirk if I did not work and wanted a 7 bedroom Victorian Villa for 75k

We are looking at the (very) rural side of things

Yarrow and Ettrick valleys give you load of options for that. You said you will both be working from home so carefully check broadband speeds before you commit to anything. There are some areas around here with woeful, unworkable speeds.

Dicky, perhaps slightly strong comments for Selkirk but fair enough for Hawick! I get where you are coming from. I guess it is about priorities. Every house purchase include a compromise.

– Nice Area
– Nice House
– Low price

Pick two out of the three.

We’ve actually been looking down the Ettrick Valley and I’ve been trying to work out how to check speeds based on post code alone. We’re used to a relatively poor speed (9MBPS at best) but anything less would likely become an issue.

If anyone has any ideas on how to get a reasonable assessment of speed based on postcode, that would be great!

Seems it could be a Satellite broadband solution if we end up down there. <2MBPS according to various websites as a realistic value.

If anyone has any ideas on how to get a reasonable assessment of speed based on postcode, that would be great!

Rightmove have this on all of their listings. It links to comparethemarket so I assume you can also do this direct on that site. Be very careful though, a postcode can cover a huge area and when distance from exchange is so critical postcode averages will not tell you much of any use. I would be asking the agent of any property to give you an accurate reading and then test it myself on a viewing (on the assumption that all estate agents are liars).

I’m in Ettrickbridge getting 74 down 17 up just now. Quite a few guys work from home full time in the village. Good community feel in the valleys …. I’d not want to live in actual Selkirk though. Broadband outside the village may not be as good though!

Awesome gravel riding about also if that is your thing.

Polly’s yoga classes in Selkirk are good or there is one in Ettrickbridge… well there was before March

Ettrick Valley is lovely but will definitely feel cut of from the world. Nothing at all for kids.

Buddhist monastery on hand to help with your sanity though.

Have a look at Borderlink. They are developing a good local reputation for satellite broadband.

’m in Ettrickbridge getting 74 down 17 up just now

That is outstanding. Really good to hear that they are investing in local infrastructure.

I only get 25mbps to 30mbps download in Melrose, it drops to 6mbps at busy times!

We would both be working from home with very occasional travel to Newcastle and/or Glasgow so on the surface of it, it seems like a relatively good location?

I’m sure you know from experience, but while they’re geographically quite close, they’re not the fastest routes. As I’m not an STW driving god, I reckon on about two hours to Selkirk from Newcastle (where I am).

The direct route to Glasgow is even worse. I have some friends in Innerleithen and they reckon going via the Edinburgh ring road is just as quick (by which I mean, slow).

I live in Selkirk (woo hoo, didn’t think my hometown would make the hallowed pages of STW!) and have been here for 15+ years. I like it and can’t really see me living anywhere else, YMMV. We’re late 40’s, no kids, so I can’t really comment on franksinatra’s thoughts (except to say I know him in real life, and he will be right on the money).

The riding is fantastic. It’s generally an amazing place to live if an outdoor lifestyle is your thing. Great road riding, MTB, rivers, lochs, forests and hills. All within minutes of the town.

True, it’s a small town, so has small town levels of facilities, but does have a half-decent pub, a couple of decent restaurants, a swimming pools etc. It’s a friendly place, and with a bit of effort/mixing, we quickly became ‘locals’. Transport links are reasonable to Gala and beyond – a night out in Edinburgh is entirely do-able.

Commuting to Edinburgh etc. isn’t too painful – I did it most days for about 10 years.

It is cheap in terms of housing. Some of that does still reflect it’s historic isolation and poor transport links. It teetered on the brink of become a lost cause a few years back, but I think has turned a corner. Shops are filling up again, and the place is beginning to feel prosperous again.

Thanks all. We’d be moving from Hexham way which I would say also has it’s small town facilities issues. To be honest, it seems to be on more of a downward trajectory than any other path at the moment. I must admit that the idea of being cut off really appeals and is generally what we consider ourselves to be at the moment whilst perched up on the top of the north pennines at 380m elevation – especially in the winter.
I think we will have a drive up this weekend and have a bit of a scope about – weather looks set to be pi5h (that’s what you say when you move north of the wall right?) so we won’t be swayed by the delights of blue skies and sunshine.

Coin flip; I moved between Langholm and Selkirk with a partner at the time onto a 5000 acre Estate that her family owned… even that couldn’t keep me there.. I found it a miserable & dreich place. No disrespect to anyone that likes it, but I couldn’t see myself there or find happiness. Granted it was coming from the South Lakes (near Coniston) and from living in Morzine… so I maybe had a warped experience. I tried Edinburgh for a year too but still didn’t cut it.

I’m back in Morzine now. My advice would be to rent a house for 1 week or a month (no idea what schools in the uk are doing right now) and see how you feel after it.

The riding in the Peebles valley really is special though and there are a lot of good folk up there. The Scottish landscape in the borders doesn’t inspire me like the Lake District or Alps…

Good luck with the move – but test your toes in the water first is my advice!

I live in Selkirk (woo hoo, didn’t think my hometown would make the hallowed pages of STW!) and have been here for 15+ years. I like it and can’t really see me living anywhere else, YMMV. We’re late 40’s, no kids, so I can’t really comment on franksinatra’s thoughts (except to say I know him in real life, and he will be right on the money).

Late 40’s? Really? Tough paper round….;-)

I still think the school thing is a big deal. That an the fact that if you live super rural you just end up spending half your life driving your kids places.

Selkirk has got a decent coffeeshop now, surely the first sign of an upward trajectory!

Granted it was coming from the South Lakes (near Coniston) and from living in Morzine

That is a pretty impressive baseline. I think everywhere would feel crap compared with the Lakes or Morzine!

I live in Stow and work in Selkirk.
Just to pick up on something someone up there said, of the three towns along that stretch of the A7 I recon Selkirk is the nicest and the only one I would consider living in. Galashiels and Hawick are useful for town facilities but I wouldn’t want to live in either. Gala is the more expensive (because commutable to Edinburgh?) then Selkirk then Hawick
Innerleithen is the obvious place to move to (considering it myself) or Traquair/Ettrick/Yarrow for quieter (which I would prefer but can’t afford) but don’t discount going the other side of Selkirk, places like Yetholm are lovely.
I’ve come up from Lincolnshire, five years ago. Topographically a huge improvement but the weather really is grim here. On a nice day it is wonderful but they are fewer and further between. The OP may not notice such a contrast because of where he is moving from.

PS. Galashiels high school is apparently to be avoided at all costs. Have heard good things about Earlston and Peebles, but then the Peebles one got set alight by one of the pupils so….

Perhaps I should expand a little as it may influence some of the comments. My wife is into her horses and as such she would like (“Need” I guess, if we’re moving this far) a field adjoined to the property of c.1.5 acre to accommodate said horses. This sort of constrains us in so much as we will be out of the towns (much like we are at present) but we’re happy with that. To be honest, we rarely venture into Hexham these days and only do school runs and driving related to mountain biking.
I guess some folk might refer to me as a bit of a hermit (though the idea of a pub I could wander to is nice).

Thanks again all – I do appreciate the input!

Following this thread, almost bizarre how similar this is to us. Although we currently live in Norway I grew up in Hexham area (Barrasford) and we’re trying to think of where in the UK we would like buy a house as a base. Tweed valley + surroundings are the current thoughts so it is very interesting to read these comments. Currently thinking Innerleithen would be the best spot as you’ve got the trails right there and there’s just a great buzz around the town with a lot based around the riding scene, plus you’re more likely to get mates visiting since they would come for the riding ;).

I have a little bit similar experience to alexxx though, lived in Alps, Slovenia, Norway previous to this so not sure rural borders will feel as exciting for riding but also not sure where in the UK would be as good for riding that we could afford either.

Where in Hexham area are you now?

I mentioned Selkirk on the other thread.
We’ve been looking for 3 years or so for somewhere to move to from the Midlands. Perthshire was top of the list, but house prices are beyond us, apart from in far flung villages, where it would be difficult to get any work locally.
We are not the same age as you though, we’re now mid 50’s with no ties, apart from elderly parents.
We visited Selkirk (actually, stayed a night) in August. It has definitely gone downhill, a lot, since we first visited around 96. However, people we know in Ashkirk, 5 miles down the road, reckon it is coming up now, and it’s a good time to buy into the area.
Houses are at an affordable price – we can actually sell here, and have a little change after buying a house there, which isnt something we could do in many places. Obviously that shows the depressed prices in the area, I think there were 2 big employers who shut down locally, so a lot of jobs were lost in the 00’s.

PaulMcG, what is a ‘decent’ area to be looking at? Considering we live in an ex council house in a less than salubrious area now, our expectations arent high!
I did notice a 1 bed flat in the town square for sale at around £44k. That’d be no good for us, but shows how cheap you could live if needed.
the downside for me would be finding local-ish work. There doesnt seem to be many advertised electrical jobs in the immediate area, that’s holding us back for now.

Where in Hexham area are you now?

Up above Blanchland so the other side of Hexham to where you were.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the area and would happily consider a move to Allendale area if the right place came up!

I mentioned Selkirk on the other thread.

Have I missed a similar thread then? Apologies if I’m covering old ground…

There’s not really anywhere in the town that isn’t “decent”. Bannerfield at the bottom end is talked of as being ‘rough’, but it really isn’t compared to what you’d find in areas of any city or large town (the scheme was even designed by Sir Basil Spence!). Also it’s so small that everywhere is walkable.

Away from the areas with the larger houses, the nicest bits (in my view) are around Ettrickhaugh Rd, Forest Road/Victoria Crescent, Hill St/Taits Hill, Knowepark, Thornfield etc.

Loads of 1960s/1970’s places of various kinds around Ladylands, Kirk Wynd, The Loan etc.

Not sure what the place looked like in ’96, but I guess since then the arse fell out of both the textiles and electronics industries. The town took a hit from which it hasn’t yet fully recovered, but it does feel it’s been going in the right direction for a few years now.

Thread Hijack.
We’re in the process of buying a house in between Gala and Tweedbank.
Hopefully we should be sorted by December so will be keen to meet up with some of you local guys for rides and local advice if anyone would be kind enough.
Are there any local riding groups in Gala that we could try and hook up with?
I’ve already found out there are some trails pretty close to the new house and read that there may even be plans for official trails in Gala. Anyone know anything about that?
Any more advise for us on local stuff that’s not bike related would be brilliant?

My wife has horses…

Be warned unless you find a property with land then renting a field for grazing can be really hard. Much of the valleys is owned by Buccleugh estate who were no help.

Foolishly we assumed being surrounded by countryside this would not be an issue however we got to the point where my wife was making plans to get rid of the horses before we finally found something, and that was only because someone elses horse died.

http://www.cullenkilshaw.com/residential-property/properties-for-sale/property-details/?prop=157801

Over 6 acres of paddocks and woodland located 2 miles north of Innerleithen and 4 miles south of Peebles

……but how?

……but how?

Because Cullen Kilshaw are the Donald Trump of the estate agent world.

I’ve already found out there are some trails pretty close to the new house and read that there may even be plans for official trails in Gala.

Local trail builder, Pete Laing, had some well developed plans for Ladhope, big woodland just north of the town. They were gathering pace but seems have have gone quiet in the last couple of years. Hopefully there is still stuff going on in the background

We’ve been in a similar boat to you OP. I’m pretty sure my OH bought your old Genesis i0 a few years back – if that rings a bell. Last couple of decades have been mostly in the Borders, Glasgow, Edinburgh and your neck of the woods and working, having kids, doing daft commutes each way over the border for a while etc, but no horses thank God. We were looking pretty seriously at living in or close to Selkirk for a while but for various reasons didn’t work out long term.

I like Selkirk, it’s pretty limited in what it has, but if that works for you then location is decent. Industries and services wise it’s definitely seen better days (like all the textile towns have) but I reckon probably slowly on the way up. Most folk seem to travel to Gala/Hawick for more services etc – if you’re outside of town then you’ll likely end up bypassing Selkirk for larger shops/stuff for kids as they get older etc, so probably worth checking out Hawick/Gala as beyond that then you’re back to realities of Central Belt travel. Rumour has it some folk from Hawick even travel down to Carlisle (shudder). Especially if you think Hexham is on a downward trajectory with ”facilities issues”, it’s worth comparing the realities of these. Knowing your current location pretty well I think that if your life functions with all that kind of thing now then you’re probably fine anywhere in the Ettrick/ Yarrow valleys. Though you might well pay a sizeable premium for a ”rural” place here it’s likely to be cheaper than comparable places close to posher places like Peebles, Melrose or the train/A7 access to Central Belt etc.

Driving – as above, probs quicker to Newcastle than Glasgow at normal times unless Carter bar is closed (winter, landslips, crashes etc are a PITA).

Schools – wouldn’t let it influence either way. Your kids are young, all the Borders friends/family we have never had any issues and all turned out into decent folk.

Riding & running – obviously MTB is great especially if you can ride doorstep to Yair/Traquair easily enough, but other less well known stuff too. Can be a bit more limited if you’re miles out from the towns and ”honeypots” that everyone knows. Road is good, but not nearly as good as your place IMO. Running is really good, but I’m not a clubs person so no experience with them.

With similar ”wants” to you I still wouldn’t rule it out if it worked for us in the future, and if the dream place turned up in budget could quite easily envisage it happening. But then several of the quieter side valleys off the Tweed/Gala water would suit too. That or a house swap with Will, definitely pining for the fjords with winter on the way.

There doesnt seem to be many advertised electrical jobs in the immediate area, that’s holding us back for now.

I would consider setting up on your own, plenty of people moan about getting good grades people in the borders

Just to chime in a little more.. possibly useful information.. I commuted to Carlisle from the farm I was living on.. it was ok to get to the edge (serviced offices) but when I moved my office into town it made my commute an hour or more with traffic… and had a nice flooding surprise which messed the town “city” up for a while.

The pub culture in the borders in Scotland is terrible compare to England or Scottish Cities and I don’t think there was 1 pub in Langholm or Selkirk I’d happily sit to drink a pint in.

The now GF lived in Gala for a bit (relocated for work with an office in Selkirk)… she managed a year and had to move back to Edinburgh and suck up the commute.. I’m sorry to say but it just all feels down trodden in looks and attitudes.

I’m sure there are some really nice “nest” homes in those areas and lots of good folk but it wasn’t pouring out with a community spirit.

FYI the farm I was on had about 10 cottages to rent.. some with land and they were offensively cheap… so I’d look at the A7 between Carlisle and Selkirk or the Newcastleton road if you want the biggest bargain for land price.. however as said if my arm was twisted I’d do everything I could to make Inners my doorstep / local pub as theres more going on since you’re connected with biking.

However I’d imagine a lot of people are buying up this area more and more for commuterville.

Another option is to look in Dalkeith direction and more East of Edinburgh and then back down towards Inners… Dalkeith is horrible but no worse than Gala or Selkirk imo.. and you can get some good walks on beaches and other amenities.

East Lothian , I can be at Thornie , Yair and Inners in around 45 minutes . Edinburgh in 25 minutes or 15 minutes by train. Loads of local feilds have horses also beautiful beaches very close.
Schools have improved a fair bit too.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73554788.html

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73554788.html

The exact house we had been looking at.

bajsyckel

I remember you well. I also remember bumping in to you on the fell top whilst I was running and I recognised you by the wheels I sold the bike with and the VeloSolo spacers too!

Useful info though – thankyou.

Ettrickhill (not Ettrick Hall , Retties are no better than Cullen Kilshaw) has been on the market for quite a while.
A deal could be had.