crofting in scotland

eilidh_s

Sad Dog Lady, I'm afraid you are coming into this with the wrong attitude. You are expecting you and your children to be the victims of racist abuse so if anyone even so much as looks at you in what you percieve to be the wrong way then you will probably feel you were justified to expect it. I am from a crofting community and the main problem we have with the "white settlers" is that they don't want progress. They come up to escape the rat race and settle into an idylic life whereas we want to move forward and improve our communities which sometimes means doing the very things that these people have moved to avoid. If you are willing to integrate yourself and become a valued member ofthe community then off course you will be welcome, just remember that we have a genetic inability to support an english team and when the Calcutta cup is being played we do tend to get a bit "braveheart" and relive Bannockburn as if we were actually there! Your children might well get bullied, I'm sure we all suffered from it in the past, but it won't be because they are English, it will be because other children are mean.

Also boasting about your qualifications and degrees won't make anyone feel more friendly to you, all we teuchtars care about is whether you can croft a good lamb, if you can speak to it in three other languages and then clone it a few times than thats all well and good but there is no need to sing it from the treetops.

For your information, Sassenach is not a derogatory term, it is simply the gaelic for people who come from Sassain which is the gaelic for England. It used to mean anyone who wasn't a highlander or was off Saxon origion.

aliasojo

I think you're all being just a wee bit harsh. The OP has a genuine concern and it seems like she's getting a hard time for voicing it. Just because she's admitted a worry, doesn't mean she's going to be a stand offish outsider with her nose in the air.

OP I can understand why you might have a background niggle but you must accept that like everywhere else, Scotland has it's share of a few bad apples. The huge majority are nice, friendly and welcoming individuals.

Btw....if you go to Shetland, take a translator. I have family there and even I can't understand them as the accent is so thick. :rotfl:

sad_dog_lady

lol
i love the shetland accent, id love to learn norwegian as its the same twang!
thanks to all, i am looking to rent at first and im going on a road trip all around the highlands to see what reaction i get when i ask about land for sale..... but i think renting is a good idea in the short term.

choille

You usually have to have crofts assigned to you & if you are in the community, then locals can see if you are committed (or need committing - LOL).
It's very hard work & often people don't really realise how hard, and how long some Winters can be. Renting can save a lot of heart ache, see if you fit in & that the locals aren't too scary!

Errata

How frequently do crofts come up for rent ? Is there a waiting list ?

choille

Tenancies are usually sold.

If you look at HSPC & local papers to the area you wish to move to. A croft may or may not have a house.

Torry_Quine

littlereddevil wrote: »

goldspanners wrote: »

proves what i say then. big citys are breeding grounds for this kind of hostility.

Aberdeen a big city ? Hardly, just over 200,000 people.
And this was a one off as far as I am aware. Loads more locals assaulted every weekend.

Actually it is Scotland's third largest city.

It was a one off which is why it was heavily reported here. Problems are the same as everywhere else with most violence drink related.

Mistymaid

I think it's a sensible question to ask of any area you are thinking of moving to.

Anyway, I'm on one of the outer islands of Orkney. Here goes:-

Buy, Chucking it All, off Amazon. It was a book the local MP originally got pulped because he found it offensive. Bottom line is, it is very funny and will give you a practical insight into moving from a city to a rural location and give you some idea of the issues you may confront.

I didn't do a direct urban-rural move so unfortunately I tend to forget a lot of the stuff most 'townies' are surprised by!

Orkney - no foxes, good for when you are keeping birds. Very good!
This summer, and last, has been beautiful, not as warm as England but still calm, sunny dry days (too dry really!)
We don't have spring and autumn. Second week in April it's summer. Second week in October it's winter. That's it.

Winters aren't as cold as England, and are spectacularly warm compared to Aberdeenshire, BUT you have the winds. Three years ago last spring they went up to 104mph before going off the scale. Not funny.

No trees, lots of sand, sea, seals.

Internet can be lousy (says she who likes to argue with aforementioned MP about this) and some areas of the outer islands only have satellite BB which, although subsidised, is expensive.

If you move onto one of the outer islands there needs to be two of you. There's only one of me and I'm looking for a move onto Orkney mainland because it's just too tricky to do stuff and still have a smallholding to look after.

Everything is more expensive than on the mainland. Diesel at my local place is £1.30 litre.

There are more English folk, or incomers in general, on the outer islands now than there are Orcadians.

Guess I'll think of more stuff in the morning!

nesssie1702

Good luck to you in your proposed move!

As has been suggested before, you might be better renting a place for a while before buying, at least that way you'll get a feel for an area and whether or not you want to live there.

Surviving your first winter can be no mean feat, especially if the weather is pretty dire and there's no respite from the rain and wind. Thankfully, it's not been too bad here in the Hebrides over the last couple of years. You'll soon get used to having a chest freezer and making sure that the cupboards are well stocked with essentials for when the ferries don't sail on account of the weather!

Check with the local estate agents in the areas that you're thinking about, both for rentals and for details on buying. When you're "buying" a croft, you're buying the right to be a tenant on the croft, not buying the land itself. Some crofts are bareland, which means that there's no house on it. You'll have to consider the ins and outs very carefully.

As far as integrating with the local community, get involved and get to know people and that will stand you in good stead with people.

Kids are kids and can be unkind. I was bullied in school and it had nothing to do with being an incomer into the area.

tinandsue

I understand the concern's regarding racism as when I moved from Sussex to Aberdeenshire, it was all the English people kept asking me once they found out I was moving! It makes you paranoid but there's no real truth in it. Ok, there is the odd incident but it makes the press headlines only because it is such a rare event.

I was born and bred in Sussex so moving to Aberdeenshire with my husband and 4 kids was a really big deal. We didn't know anyone here at all but I've fallen in love with the place and the people and could never ever return to England now. People are a lot more friendly here and it is so true that if you're willing to join in and not remain aloof, you'll get on just fine. I would say just to go for it. You'll never really know unless you try but I don't think you'll be disappointed. By the way, I don't agree that there's no Spring and Autumn here. In the city, every season was the same but where I am now, the seasons are all very different.