Relocation - East Lothian - comments?

zagubov

RLM79 wrote: »

Our child is 7 months. I know it sounds silly, but after hearing horror stories from others, I was worried about him getting grief for being born in England (and being mixed race!) - but after visiting the places, I don't think that will be such a problem.

RLM79 wrote: »

We're moving from outside Epsom (south of, to be precise)

I know the area of Surrey you mean. I reckon these "Others " are pulling your leg and making you worry too much!:beer:

I also strongly suspect you'll be bringing your son up in the corner of the UK that takes education most seriously.

Good luck in your decision. And you might want to follow the earlier advice about renting in your new area while renting out your old place- we did that and it worked out very well for us!

Dunroamin

RLM79 wrote: »

We're moving from outside Epsom (south of, to be precise)

Well, at least you're not moving from one of the nicer parts of Surrey but I'd still rent first before selling up - it's going to be one heck of a culture shock.

alibongo42

My friends, (early thirties with two young children), moved from a nice part of Hampshire to Dunbar a few years ago, for work. The husband had never been in Scotland and was a bit worried about the whole "Englishman in Scotland" thing.

They've been there five years now and love it. I'm Scottish living in England, and assumed they'd hate it. From what they tell me, it's more like some of the nicer parts of England than what I'm used to in North Lanarkshire :0)

cr1mson

I moved to Scotland in 1995 and have only ever had one negative comment about my Englishness.

When we looked to move out of Edinburgh to raise a family North Berwick was on our list as it has good schools. We decided on West Lothian though as on main train route from Edinburgh to Glasgow.

RLM79

katglasgow wrote: »

I grew up in Dunbar, its a lovely town and has got a lot bigger now due to recent housing developments, but that has brought a lot of extra people into the town and its a very vibrant friendly place. The high street is lovely, it has a new primary school, leisure pool and an asda. Lots of things to occupy a family, beautiful countryside. The train into edinburgh is only 20 mins BUT there is ofter a 2-3 hour gap between trains so this could be an issue for a working mum. Saying that, the A1 is now dual carriageway all the way to edinburgh so depending on where you were working driving might be an option.

North Berwick is also nice, slightly more expensive housing. The train journey to Edinburgh is longer, but the trains are more frequent. It also has lovely countryside and surroundings, leisure facilities anda tesco. It does also have a large number of retirement homes, but plenty families too. The high st is a bit naff and it feels a bit more "quaint" than Dunbar - it really just depends what you are after. The road link to Edinburgh isnt as good.

Haddington is also a nice town (think market town) decent enough local shops, tesco and a swimming pool. People commute to Edinburgh by express bus. Its handy for getting into the hills but further from the beaches. Also the river tyne has been known to flood so bear that in mind when looking at properties.

Nice villages on the North Berwick train line into Edinburgh are Drem and Aberlady.

Tranent - I am not so keen on, but it is definitely on the up and up. There are lots of new housing developments popping up. My best pal moved to one and has a great social circle locally she is very happy. It would be much more convenient for commuting, but it is not as rural and self sufficient as all of the places above.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for this - its a very comprehensive answer

Dunroamin wrote: »

Well, at least you're not moving from one of the nicer parts of Surrey but I'd still rent first before selling up - it's going to be one heck of a culture shock.

Culture shock? :eek: I am a bit concerned now!!!

zaxdog

I live in Oban and think there are more English folk than Scots :rotfl:

Culture shock will probably be along the lines of words/expressions/foods you aren't used to. Examples like

"clapping" the dog
"juice" to mean all fresh fruit/squash etc and "ginger" to mean all fizzy pop

Then there are the delights of lorne sausage, sliced haggis, tattie scones, macaroni pies, pie in a roll etc etc Hmmmm that's making me hungry

gibson123

Culture Shock!!! That's funny. Inward migration to Edinburgh and the Lothians is mostly from the South East of England, that is the highest non Scottish group that settle here, English accents are far from rare in the area.

cr1mson

Well I never felt a culture shock!

Yes there were phrases that I hadn't come across but having moved previously everywhere has them to a greater or lesser extent.

The one that used to get me was when I moved up people asked where I stayed however 6 months later still got the question and I used to say no I have found somewhere permanent. I got odd looks until friend explained it meant where do you live?

Oh and the I'll meet you at the back of 6 which I initially meant before 6 when it actually means after 6!

zagubov

Actually I started a thread on something similar over a year ago. Quite forgot I'd done it!

More about comparing London and Edinburgh rather than surrounding counties.

As you learn new words up there you can forget old ones- you don't ask for "water softener" in the shops or ask for "bitter" in the pub. :beer:

caevans

Hi
I would say it entirely depends upon your budget where you choose to live in east lothian. I would like to live in the 'posh' towns like Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick (the latter is retirement central though...) however, our budget of around 180k means we chose to buy in Prestonpans. It's not the nicest of towns, but the new build estates are pretty vast and full of people like me who have moved out of Edinburgh for a house. It has its own train station. Longniddry further along the trainline to North Berwick is nice, but a bit pricier than Prestonpans. Tranent is another not so great town, but has a vast modern estate - however no train station. Musselburgh used to be nice, but now overrun with charity shops and pound shops. Property prices probably on a par to Prestonpans/Tranent. Prestonpans and Tranent tend to be the towns most populated by ex-Edinburgers for the reasonable property prices.
Haddington a nice town, however overrun with feral youths in the town centre at night time. But otherwise a nice place during the day.
There are some lovely towns/villages not near a train station like Gifford and Pencaitland.
Dunbar is a real trek from Edinburgh via train and car so I wouldn't move there.
Lots of options and East Lothian is a nice place to live, but can be very expensive for one of the nicer towns.
Oh and English husband has never had any bother :-)
Hope that helps