UKH

 Me and my wife are moving to North Wales providing I get a transfer through at work. 

Were are looking for somewhere to live, ideally with the following criteria;

1. home to lots of nice couples/people who like the outdoors, we've spent the last 5 years in North east Scotland and found it quite isolated. So we want to make lots of friends. 

2. close enough to the A55 

3. Not super rainy, I used to live in Capel Curig and frankly I hated the weather, lived in Aberdovey too and that was heaven compared. 

4. Near a good running club and decent hills to train on. Eryri looks like a good bet. 

5. close to a good climbing wall

Wife's a welsh speaker and I have made good progress with my welsh and can do the basics. We would want our kids to have a dual language education if there is such a thing.

Can any one recommend any where? I know there was a few threads a few years ago but was looking to see if anything has changed. 

Job is for the government in the community so I'd rather avoid living somewhere too rough.

Thanks

Conwy or along the coastal strip east or west 5-10 miles 
In the rain shadow, decent running, 45 mins to everywhere. 

 

...

Good luck with that!

Tim Davies has the best suggestion when considering your requirements: 

Weather is generally better - or at least less wet - a bit further along the coast from Anglesey/Bangor area. Not that surprising as the prevailing weather is from the west but it's surprising how just those few miles can make a difference.

Close to the A55: is this because you will be using it daily or often for work etc? If so, it's definitely better to be close-ish to it if you need frequent access. The A55 is the main (pretty much only) W-E thoroughfare so everybody uses it for commuting and, as a result can get busy and slow, with even more traffic coming into Wales on a Friday evening and going out on a Sunday or Bank Holidays etc. Roadworks or an accident can quickly bring it to a halt, not much you can do about this, though. There are exceptions: going onto Anglesey in the morning is normally quiet as all the traffic is travelling east and vice versa in the evening. 

Close to hills: for running there are ideal hills behind Conwy (Northern Carneddau really) and areas such as the Clwydians a bit further east. Don't know about running clubs.

Close to a wall: The Beacon in Caernarfon is the biggest wall around here, Indy wall at LlanfairPG is about the only other. I'm not fully up-to-date with local walls so there may be some other one tucked away but otherwise I think you're looking a trip east over the border for most others. Unless you lived right next to a wall you'll probably just have to accept a bit of a drive to one; I'm assuming your other criteria take precedence over proximity to a wall. Also worth bearing in mind that, assuming you'll be using the wall mainly in winter, you'll probably have next to no traffic, whereas someone in say Manchester may take a lot longer to get to their wall even though it's closer to them.

On a similar theme to my last point, just accept that you'll have to drive to crags as well: even if you lived in somewhere such as Nant Peris, you'd still have to be up and away early to drive to and get a parking place at the popular crags - ok, you could walk up The Pass but you'd still have to drive to somewhere such as Ogwen or Tremadog and be battling all the other punters. I guess my point is, put your other daily considerations over having a couple of crags on your doorstep. You'll still be able to get out easily on the light evenings, obviously.

The further east from Bangor, the less Welsh is generally spoken, certainly as a first language. It's quite a sharp cut-off: it's heard all round Llanberis, Caernarfon, Anglesey, Bethesda etc but go just down the A55 to Llanfairfechan, Penmaenmawr etc and it's a lot less common; Conwy and Llandudno are similar. I believe all Welsh state schools teach Welsh and English, each to a greater or lesser extent. I am not sure of the ins and outs of this, I'm sure someone else can advise you.

Some specific places to consider: 

Conwy: good location, nice town, very touristy, good access to hills. Probably not cheap due to tourist/picture postcard tax.

Llandudno: good location, good weather, good facilities, regularly invaded by coachloads of (old) tourists.

Llandudno Junction: don't know loads about it, a bit more 'functional' than the previous two places, I think. Very handy for A55 and trains, Conwy is walkable. Could be worth looking into.

Maybe look at places a bit inland such as Denbigh, Ruthin etc. You are moving away from the climbing wall requirement at least, though. 

Hope this bit helps, happy to try and answer any more specific questions or feel free to PM me if you prefer.

Caernarvon and hinterland towards Bethesda and Llanberis. Beacon at Caernarvon is best climbing wall IMHO..

Ruthin would fit many of those requirements , I live between Ruthin and Mold and love Ruthin as our nearest town, but not sure about climbing walls - more of a runner these days and the Clwydians are stunning for that. Plenty of crags and Snowdonia not far at all. My kids are really happy in their Schools and the state secondary in Ruthin gets very good results across its range of abilities in both languages. Plenty of running clubs and great pubs/restaurants in Ruthin.

The coast generally has much better weather. 

In terms of schooling it is generally bilingual, however I would suggest for a levels to look at ysgol friars in Bangor as it’s slightly more English. I found it hard when I started my a levels having done all my previous work in Welsh, not even knowing basic science terms in english! I’m glad I went to Bangor my a levels though, and soon caught up with  translations !

Beacon is very good, yes, though I hope the bouldering mats have softened a bit, when they were new it wasn't far off the same as falling onto the much thinner rubber crumb under the lead wall!

Thanks for the all the replies.funny how this forum really has the best insight into loads of stuff.

Honestly I'm really thankful for the effort you all made replying.

I think Conwy/ Colwyn bay is high on our list. We're pretty exited to be moving within driving distance of so much, I guess I forgot how small North Wales is compared to Scotland and that you have a dual carriage way.

Going to look at Ruthin too

Any Eryri Runners on here? I think that's the club to join

Another (late) vote for Ruthin. I've been here for 10+ yrs now and probably wouldn't go any further west. There is a lot to be said for living in a rural area, smack between a huge forest (Clocaenog) and decent hills for running, biking and bimbling. It's also NOT Snowdonia, and there isn't a huge amount of difference between traffic and tourism levels between summer and winter. 

Betws Y Coed is about 45 minutes away, but you can get to Chester (stations and shops), Dolgellau (crusties and quiet mountains) and most of the A55 in under an hour.

The Boardroom is an excellent wall and just the other side of Mold.

Welsh is first-language in most of the Ruthin/Denbigh/Corwen area - it switches back to English pretty much at the top of Moel Famau and everywhere east of there. 

It's generally a bit drier/less windy here too - I think Snowdonia and Denbigh Moors creates a bit of a rain shadow here. 

The very nature of UKC and its inhabitants will lead you towards a Llanberis/Caernarfon-centric view of things - but there is a world beyond the A55 and A483 corridors. 

I lived between Bangor & Caernarfon (Llandeniolen) which was rural, quiet, not far to Bangor supermarkets, the Beacon at Caernarfon  and 20 minutes from the hills. It is also much drier being out of the hills.

Personally I’d find the Ruthin side too far from the North Wales climbing scene, not that I’m particularly part of it.

Yeah you’ve got some climbing nearby, and a good wall, but it’s not the same as being surrounded by climbers, runners, bikers etc as you get by being around the Llanberis side.

That said I’d never live in ‘beris, it’s nice to be just outside that scene. There’s some nice little villages between ‘beris, Caernarfon and Bangor like Cwm y Glo, Bryn Refail etc. 15min to the Pass (join the CC and park anytime of day), 15 to the slate, 35 to Tremadog, 40 to Gogarth, 30 to the Orme. The weather is genuinely a bit better just out of beris too!

If I was over Ruthin way I’d always feel pretty removed from the climbing world - but I’m sure that’s better for many people!

Probably why people move to Spain every winter

Hahaha!

In reply to Removed Usercapoap:

I'm really hoping to be part of the outdoor scene again. I am a poor climber and always have been and not really interested progressing any more.  But what I do miss, having moved to East Scotland from fort william, is the availability of nice people who are happy to go out and do something last minute. 

Whether that be running, biking or bumbling up some nice Vdiff somewhere. I'm guessing being close to the triangle would be ideal for that. 

On a different note, whats the road biking like? I never rode when I lived there and am really lucky where I live at the moment with there being miles of empty roads to train on.

Road biking is excellent 

less busy than the peak or Yorkshire. Able to get up high and stay high for a long time. 

If you are serious about your rain requirement then you will need to be up on the coast. Llandudno/Conwy it is possible to get a bilingual education but it isn't standard in the same way it is in Gwynedd. 

Ignoring your need for less rain, then mynydd Llandygai, coed bethesda, rhiwlas  pentir, dinorwic,  edges of deiniolen and brynrefail are all within 10 minutes of the A55, and meet your other criteria. But it feels like it hasn't stopped raining here for about 3 months!

I just remember months of rain when I live in Capel, then years when I lived in Fort William. I think we are going to go to the coast. I'd rather drive to the hills then not be able to sit in my garden.

we'll rent for a while first in any case, just to test the water (falling from the sky)

Ruthin is only about 30 minutes drive from the boardroom wall in Deeside. Not a bad little wall at all. Mold would only be about 15 minutes away. 

Been in Carneddi above Bethesda for a year after living in Llanberis for a couple of years. It's great here, feels super rural but with the shops in Bethesdaclose at hand, and Bangor only 15 mins away, and the A55 about 7 mins away. Much less rammed than Llanberis in the summer, but still with a strong community of runners/climbers/cyclists. The Carneddi are fantastic for running, there's excellent MTB around the immediate vicinity of Bethesda, and obviously the Ogwen valley. Weather is slightly better than Llanberis but not as good as the coast. And well placed for both the Beacon and the Indy, 15 min to each.