UKH

Many of us must have dreamed of upping sticks for somewhere with better climbing or more mountains. But it's not all sunny days and free time; life in the hills has challenges too. In our new series, people who have made the break share their experiences, good and bad, of relocating to follow their passion.    

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As someone currently stuck in London, I found this an intriguing read. 

If you don't mind me asking, did you change careers in order to enable the move? I'm a career academic so my fate is tied to universities. I increasingly think that one of the ones not based in London would be good....

Loved reading this and thank you for the honest perspective of the (few) negative sides to. Interestingly, I had to move out of London for work... but to Norfolk. Although I'm sad to be in the flattest area of the country, I had a similar epiphany once out of the 'bubble' of London life about how much better it was to slow down and be amongst nature, and gained a great love of the immense coastal areas up here. I realised how much I'd missed rural life and taken it for granted having grown up most of my life on the edge of Dartmoor.

But perhaps ironically, I get out into the hills more now than any part of my life, because paradoxically I live further from them, it feels so much more special. I still hope to move closer to hills / back south-west eventually, but I think the importance of getting out of London can't be overstated, regardless of where that may be in relation to mountains. Plus its great to see London's beauty as a tourist now rather than a rushed-off-your-feet resident.

Don't know what field you work in but there are several Scottish universities where you could fairly easily live in a village/small town some 10 -20 miles outside the city - look at Stirling as an example. And there's always the University of the Highlands which seems to be spread across a variety of sites.

Lochcarron looks a nice place to live although I'm not sure 'undiscovered' fits the bill - quite a lot of holiday cottages. Having a train station must help a bit with moving around the country though.

I tried a move 'closer' to the hills moving from southern England to Glasgow (where I grew up). However I moved to Derbyshire after 4 years as I found I spent a huge amout of time travelling south for work and social events and reckoned the 'net' time travelling was probably less when I lived south. However there is no doubt nipping up a Corbett after work on a long summer's evening is both joyful and not possible from Bakewell.

I do wonder if the ability to settle in somewhere like Lochcarron is more about settling into village life (vs living in a large town or city) than the actual location in the country.

Interesting question. We'll be looking at other locations in upcoming episodes, so we may get some answers

I think the change from an urban to a rural life is definitely the most profound difference you have to get used to and is what understandably puts most people off - that and practicalities around work etc. What was interesting for me is how it altered my relationship with the mountains to being less consumptive, i.e. no longer have the need to escape for a mountain fix or to tick off routes etc. You're basically in the mountains all the time, even when you're at home - so feels a more relaxed and subtle symbiosis. Might be other factors at play here too I guess though. Conversely I now look forward to weekends away and the smells and sounds of a busy city!

For me the interesting aspect of this story is what impact the digital revolution could have on reviving communities. I’ve stayed in numerous holiday homes over the years, very much aware that their proliferation kills off small communities. I stayed in Melvaig last year, which is apparently 40% holiday homes. However the owner who lived next door said that one of the houses nearby was lived in by a couple whose jobs were essentially in the city, but who could work from home. So not exactly ‘locals’, but at least people who live, and have invested, in the local community. 

Could we, in the long term, see a return to people being able to stay in small communities? Rather than having to leave to seek work.

I think the vast majority of people prefer to live in towns and cities. Yes there might be a few who look to live in small communities I suspect most are reluctant to give up (semi) urban conveniences. Even in Derbyshire we see families come and go from the village with issues of transport seeming to be the main reason for leaving (ferrying school children around is the bane of my life). Add in several hours in cars to shop for food/DIY/clothes and having to give up a day to travel to relatives/friends and I don't see the western highlands ever being that popular for conurbation expats. I can see significant growth around Inverness  and the A9/A96 corridors though.

Not sure what your point is here. The owner who lives next door is making an income from his holiday cottage. Without that income he may not be able to live in the village. Therefore his holiday cottage is supporting the community by allowing him to live there.

This article mirrored my own experience almost verbatim. I moved to Glencoe over a decade ago from the Midlands. No regrets what-so-ever.  "Living the dream", it's not and certainly no panacea. The daily calling of the rat race is still there and 99% of us still need to earn a bob or two.

I was lucky to be working in IT support and was fortunate to be working from home in the early noughties when a 512Kb ADSL line was state of the art.  Later down the line I managed to negotiate the move North, though I was still flying GLA-BHX monthly for about 5 years until redundancy came calling. 

Things just work out. You have to make your own luck. Put the building blocks in place and things eventually happen if you want it enough. After redundancy we set up a B&B on the shore of Loch Leven. That was great until Covid struck, tourism stopped overnight and we had no income fo 15 months. Despite putting the house on the market we managed to survive and keep the house. I guess you need to be resilient.  Employment can be difficult, but with so many opportunities to work remotely it's so much easier now than it was a decade ago.  I've got 60 on the horizon now; if you're a lot younger than me then plan a career that gives you flexibility in location; so that you're not in an industry that fixes you geographically down South.  If you're thinking about everything that you may loose in moving away from the big smoke, then maybe it's not for you - sometimes you need to take a step backwards to make progress forwards. 

Despite a love of Winter climbing, I really find Winters up here really hard. The rain on the West coast can set in for weeks. The Sun dosn't rise above the hills from mid-Nov until mid-Feb. Perpetually living in shaddow. Our GP advises everyone to take vitamin-D supplements. ..but then the sun arrives and the short days of Winter slip away. The weather coming down the loch highlights every colour in the spectrum and every day we remain thankful to be here. No more spending hours sitting in traffic jams and at red lights.

So, there are negatives, but they are far, far outweighed in my mind. The hills are there, but I'm not so driven to run up and down them every day. I choose which weather to go out in. I got into sea kayaking and have explored further afield; Mingulay to Muckle Flugga. Opportunities that I would never have had if I still lived in the Midlands.

I read a quote years ago and had it at the forefront of my mind when trying to get up here, "At any time, always be preparred to give up all you are for all you can be", maybe it will work for you too.

It's interesting though because post WWII in the UK there has been a movement to suburbs and then to towns and villages around, but out of cities - where I live, the town is basically a dormitory of Sheffield, where I grew up loads of my friends parents were like my dad, going into Birmingham or the Black Country conurbation to work. 

Having lived a chunk of my adult life in Finland, there is still the tail end of the post War move to the cities, with the emptying out of the countryside and population concentrating in the cities. We moved from down town Helsinki, to the inner suburbs, and on to the very edge of the urban area - and I noticed the small town closest to (but still separate from the Helsinki urban area) were starting to fill up with families where people were willing to commute a bit further into the city, but you didn't have to go far from the city to find town that were obviously still losing population or at best static.

Clearly the pandemic has really led many to think they can work remotely and go a long way from the big cities, but people moving out of cities to towns and villages isn't a new thing, it was just they could be as remote because people had to really commute, not cyber commute!

There wasn’t a point, that section was an introductory narrative to the mention of others in the village who worked remotely. 

Banjo country I reckon.

Achnasheen for beauty, and Kinlochewe for pride. Applecross for charity, and Gairloch for a ride.

The version of that I know is a Borders one, Peebles for pleasure, Gala for pride, Kelso for bonny lassies and Hawick for a ride. Or something like that.

A local worthy told me that one in the pub in Lochcarron. Another I heard was,

Edinburgh for the culture, Glasgow for the soul

Stirling for the history, and Paisley for your hole.

The University of the Highlands & Islands has 36,000 students spread across 70 different learning centres.  It's all there, just waiting for you to turn up; if you want it enough. 

As a family we found ourselves needing a change of pace and location. While we only intended to move 'somewhere in Cumbria/Northumbria/ Borders/D&G, and most certainly not north of Edinburgh and Glasgow in a weeny village, the job offer came in from Loch Tay area... This was 14 years ago.

We've since moved to Dunblane area.

Reflections from me:

- the proximity of nature and access to adventures meant we had a lifestyle many would be envious of. Our kids had a delightful upbringing and spent much time in thier formative years climbing hills, paddling rivers and riding bikes in beautiful places. It's safe and welcoming. You're somewhat isolated from bigger things in the world. You learn to be resourceful and independent, yet also finding out what true community and support is. And waking up to three Munro's and a waterfall is something you never tire of - or being able to explore in detail the local hills and glens. 

- the wonderful community is small, so you have to live 'up close and personal' with everyone in the community, and there's no avoiding of issues or conflict. Gossip is a powerful force. It's 50 miles round trip to any bigger shops, swimming pool, secondary school....On a wet Wednesday in November it feels like the edge of the world. Fuel for heating is electric or oil, and ferocious in cost. See also so many miles on rough roads in the car, with high running costs and fuel. Jobs are few, well paid jobs very unusual, many folk travel a lot to undertake work.

- our move to nearer a city has had few downsides. The Stirling to Perth valley, villages and towns has everything we didn't have in more remote areas. Yet we also have huge nature and places to explore on our doorstep, and within an hour we can be in 'proper' mountains. We can catch ferries to the Hebrides with an early start, we can be in Oban, Fort William, Aviemore and Inverness within a couple of hours. There's trains, buses and the end of the motorway network. The kids can now walk home with pals and head out to the cinema (etc) with them. I still pedal to (well paid and stable) work on a quiet backlane to Stirling University site. Yet this morning I also hopped on a train and will be in London mid-afternoon. I can still see the summit of Ben Vorlich and the Ochils from my garden. On balance, I'm struggling to see many downsides other than the cost of housing and the view of the hills compared to 'really rural'.

- another take, and sorry this is a bit political. Scotland is not perfect, but we do have marginally better services up here, a government with a vision of the future and some integrity in how they deliver that. There's a different feel generally to many areas of life, some of which is the Scottish humour and attitude, some is the aspirations of a nation and our leadera.

The move north was the best thing we've ever done as a family. We won't head South again...and you couldn't pay me enough to be back in the rat race of a city.