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I was around Snowdonia last year and wanted to see the sea. I went to a beach in a town but decided to drive along the coast to find a quieter beach. Driving along I was amazed at how long Traeth beach was. It took a while to realise traeth was Welsh for beach. Doh.Not much welsh spoken in South Wales, would be an issue in the north, particularly north-west Wales.
rydw yn hoffi coffi0 -
Thankyou all for your detailed replies, I never expected to get so much information so quickly!
It is hard to be exact at the moment as it is very early days but in answer to some of the questions:
We will both need to work, my field is admin and finance, OH is mechanical and engineering.
Rental budget would be upto £500 p/m and there's no scope to buy just now sadly.
No possibility of children sadly so schools isn't an issue.
Short reply for now (on a phone) but will add more detail tomorrow
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The Welsh Government have offices in North, Mid and South Wales - might be employment opportunity there. Transport Department might suit the skills of you and your partner?
It depends how remote you want to be. Oh, and Pembrokeshire is stunning: perhaps Tenby?Mornië utulië0 -
Wales is no different from anywhere else. If you live close to the cities there are jobs but it's urban; if you live in the countryside it's nice but there aren't any jobs. There are plenty of areas of England that are just the same.0
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As others have said, look at a map of Wales and all the major centres of employment are in the coastal fringes, while the interior is largely rural. The scenery and sense of freedom in the latter is part of the attraction, but not necessarily as places to live.
The climate in central Wales is harsher than around the coast, and places above 200m should be regarded with care if you need to commute or suffer from SAD. It would be just the same if you chose to live on Exmoor, or in parts of, say, the Lake District, in the area where you are now. At least you will be used to an Atlantic-influenced weather regime!
So, if you want reasonable convenience and good value, the hinterland of a city/large or uni town is the best bet, avoiding seaside locations favoured by retirees/2nd homers, or blighted by seasonal emptiness.
Things get more personal as you investigate a particular locality. For example, I wouldn't have bought in the area between the centres of Llanelli and Carmarthen, yet I'd have considered the Whitland/ St Clears area on the other side of the latter town because it offers good value, reasonable scenery and good access to the Pembs coast/ other centres. Others might have a different view.
That's why you are wise renting first, which will give you a chance to acquire a real feel for your chosen location. Good luck!0 -
Penarth just outside Cardiff has good links, and there's Cardiff Bay not far away. Penarth can be quite expensive though, as can Cowbridge.
The Valleys are cheap, nost have good road links to Swansea/Cardiff, but choose wisely, some areas of Merthyr are not great, some areas of the Rhondda aren't. Also consider hospitals etc...Some are dire.Shampoo? No thanks, I'll have real poo...0 -
The majority of the population and therefore jobs live along the coastal strip from Swansea to Newport. Housing costs vary enormously, as with many places. From extremely cheap up in the Valleys to very expensive in the sort after areas of Cardiff, Swansea, Newport etc. Brecon Beacons have stunning countryside and equally some amazing coastal areas. Gower combines both but you would be limited by journey to working in Swansea or west of Cardiff.
No idea what North Wales is like for jobs.
sorry as someone from Bristol seeing Newport labelled very expensive made me giggle.0 -
Lord_Baltimore wrote: »The Welsh Government have offices in North, Mid and South Wales - might be employment opportunity there. Transport Department might suit the skills of you and your partner?
It depends how remote you want to be. Oh, and Pembrokeshire is stunning: perhaps Tenby?
The Welsh Assembly is one of those employers that these days requires staff to speak Welsh (at least those dealing with the public anyway). There's a recent law that says public sector bodies must deal with the public in Welsh if a member of the public so chooses - and hence that legal requirement.0 -
Norman_Castle wrote: »I was around Snowdonia last year and wanted to see the sea. I went to a beach in a town but decided to drive along the coast to find a quieter beach. Driving along I was amazed at how long Traeth beach was. It took a while to realise traeth was Welsh for beach. Doh.
A friend's mother used to think that Wales had a lovely chain of hotels, the Gwesty chain, took her a few years of visits to realise that gwesty is just Welsh for hotel, she had even recommended to friends back home in Sussex that if they ever visit Wales to stay in a gwesty hotel.Thankyou all for your detailed replies, I never expected to get so much information so quickly!
It is hard to be exact at the moment as it is very early days but in answer to some of the questions:
We will both need to work, my field is admin and finance, OH is mechanical and engineering.
Rental budget would be upto £500 p/m and there's no scope to buy just now sadly.
No possibility of children sadly so schools isn't an issue.
Short reply for now (on a phone) but will add more detail tomorrow
£500 for rental down South would really leave you with the valleys, possibly a small holding heading into Powys or Carmarthenshire but they are likely to be pretty run down for that price and quite a few places in those areas still run on oil with no gas.Penarth just outside Cardiff has good links, and there's Cardiff Bay not far away. Penarth can be quite expensive though, as can Cowbridge.
The Valleys are cheap, nost have good road links to Swansea/Cardiff, but choose wisely, some areas of Merthyr are not great, some areas of the Rhondda aren't. Also consider hospitals etc...Some are dire.
Penarth has gone very expensive lately I know of a house recently bought there although detached is about the same size as my valleys mid terrace and it has hardly any garden to speak of after being built in the grounds of another detached property and either went for just under or just over a million. In comparison I paid less than £70,000 for mine.
There are only really two areas in Merthyr that are not the greatest, the rest really isn't as bad as people like to make out, of course there is good and bad everywhere, same as Aberdare has some really rough areas and some really nice ones, as does Caerphilly, Rhondda and heading Blaenau way is no different. Even Cardiff itself has some rough areas around Canton and Ely but also has Penarth and Cowbridge0 -
Harryp_24. I understand your comment about Bristol prices but I did say parts of and that is still valid that overall the SE is more than Bristol and ditto say Swansea but some areas are the reverse. I am buying (well attempting) a 2 bed Flat for £535k in South Wales but within 1 mile I can get one for £150k and within 5 miles for £70k all in good condition and all similar floor area.0
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