Hi

I´ve got a chance at a job based in Fort William, does anybody here live there? What´s it like? Any advice to give on where to live etc?

Cheers

Where might you be moving from?

I drove through it last year, and remarked to the other half that it seemed like an attractive place to live: mountainous, forested, waterside (on the loch shore), busy in summer (tourist trail).

Try a wee websearch, with VisitScotland, local authority info (highland.gov.uk), Wiki…, as points of launch.

Could be all you ever wanted.

Wet.

2retro4u
Marin County, Cali

Very wet, but incredible trails. In the boggy areas they put down plank paths with chicken wire for traction to keep the trail from being churned, and in the higher ground the trails are crushed rock and nicely drained. Turns on even the lower elevation trails are banked all the way up to vertical.

And then there is the downhill course…
______________________________________________________

Orwell was a f#@king optimist.

someone once said to me

” the best thing about fort william is the road through it “

personally, when i’ve been in the area, I thought it was OK but nothing special. I’d personally like to live a little bit out of town.

Visually, it’s like so many Scottish towns – great setting but marred by bad planning: an endless ribbon of bungalows and hotel joints as you approach from the South then a hellish dual carriageway effort squeezed in between the water and the arse end of all the shops. It does indeed look like one of these places you’d just want to continue driving past. With a couple of minor exceptions the shops are all a mixture of high st names and tat.

Might be fine to work in but I’d look further North to live in if you can commute.

Hope that doesn’t offend any Ft Williamites but not a fan

The town itself is nothing to write home about but it’s an amazing location.

I know that the riding and general outdoor life up there will be good, I´m just looking for a feel of what living there will be like.

I´m coming from near Swindon so I would be prepared for a slight increase in rainfall and hill size, and a slight decrease in the number of people 🙂

I was born in Fort William and grew up in Spean Bridge. As a teenager I couldn’t wait to get away but as I get older I hanker more and more for a return. Fort William (I’m afraid I have a pathological hatred of the name “Fort Bill”) isn’t the prettiest town and has been blighted by poor planning, but there are plenty of great wee villages in the surrounding area where you could have a pretty good quality of life. It goes without saying that if you’re into the outdoors life at all, there are few better places to be in the UK.

Natives are like natives anywhere – most friendly and helpful, some bawbags.

What’s the job/company?

Fort William is a dump, surrounded by some of the best countryside anywhere.

I´m coming from near Swindon

Then scratch all the comments about Fort William not being that nice, it will seem like paradise on earth in comparison. 😛

Everytime I go there I think much the same as Smee.

It looks nice at the start but first time I arrived nearer the centre I was surprised at how run-down it looked after having driven through glencoe and all the stunning scenery on the way up there.

Very very wet as said above, but, if you are into biking, hillwalking, sailing, skiing, climbing, fresh air, getting away from it all bound to be good.

if you haven’t lived in a small town/rural area then it may be an eye opener.

If you want an outdoors life it may suit, if you want lots of mates and a buzzing social calendar (that doesn’t involve lots of alcohol) then it may take a while and require quite a lot of effort.

e.g. I sometimes socialized in a very small nearby town (my mate was a shepherds son)the pros were we got served in the pub at 17 and lockinns etc etc and as there were two of us it meant that if we turned up the local badmington club could play doubles (honest) however EVERYBODY knew what you did ……

Lived in the Fort all my days and wouldn’t live anywhere else, yup the highstreet is pretty crap but that doesn’t matter, stops you buying stuff you don’t need, and there is always the internet for everything else, even if I won the lotto I’d still be here!
PJ.

if you’re into outdoor stuff, Fort W and the surrounding area is outstanding. As for the town itself, it’s a little bit dull especially during the week especially if you’re used to city living. But I think the positives of the area far outweighs the negatives of the town. I would love to live there.