AndrewUK

Hey Guys and Gals Ive been following the threads on here for sometime and they have been so helpful. We have now sold our house in the UK and are in the process of exchanging contracts etc and will be making the move to Nova Soctia soon probably around May June this year. We visited last year to house hunt after receiving our PR cards and becoming residents and returned back to UK to sell house and quit jobs. So far so good but now that we have sold we need to commit to an area.

We are coming over for a 7 day recce without the 2 little munchkins on the 6th May and hope to buy a place then. The areas we liked and are looking to settle are Pugwash, Tatamagouch - North Shore or Bridgewater, Blockhouse (because of the Steiner School) - South Shore.

We will be mortgage free so looking for a small acreage to be self sufficient as possible and maybe open our own home based school.

What we would like help on are other peoples experiences of these two areas. We are a very much the peace and love type characters and are happy to be leaving the madness of inner city London UK living behind so we can focus on raising our children in a much more positive and natural environment but what we dont want is to end up somewhere where many of the same issues such as crime and violence and materialism has taken over or on the increase.

Sorry for the long post but any constructive opinions about the two areas would be invaluable!

Much Love to you all
Andrew

Mistress Miggins

wow, there is just too much that I could start mickey taking with here, but I won't, although I'm sure Butch Cassidy will be along to at some point.

Best of luck to you, hope you have lots of kids in your school, thermals in your knicker drawer and nerves of steel

Seriously though, may all your new dreams come true, I understand why anyone would consider that after parenting in the UK.

Mrs M x

Silverdragon102

Pugwash can be quiet especially during the winter months, I live approx half way between Pugwash and Amherst and isn't too bad. We have 18 acres, big house and live approx 20 mins from Pugwash and Amherst, 2 hours ish from Halifax, an hour from Moncton and 10 mins to the local beach.

Happy to meet up if you want or phone call, just send me a pm

Butch Cassidy

So tempted, so tempted..................................

AndrewUK

Mistress Miggins and Butch behave!!! LOL

I myself try not to be too serious but aren't we here to all help each other! Well let's not look "to take the mickey" out of one an other and try instead to be helpful! Its a big move and all the help we can get the better!

Much Love
Andrew

PS: Silverdragon I cant PM you as I dont have 3 posts but do you know Dean Pounder? He lives in tatamagouch? How have you found the people of pugwash?

Tangram

Perhaps a mod can move the post to the general Canada forum as this is the Maple Leaf, as far as I'm concerned the prime territory for mutual piss taking.

bsmith

....I thought all the soap dodging, dope smoking hippies gravitated towards BC?

Tangram

Thank you for proving my point.

Flogger

I watched yellow submarine the other week

AndrewUK

I heard that once they got to BC they were deported back to Riverview NB where they came from!!!

Do I qualify now?

Lord Vader

From Wiki,

Population of London UK 12,300,000 to 13,945,000
Population of Pugwash NS 784
Population of Tatamagouche NS 689

Moving from one of the largest cities in the world that was the heart of a former empire to a small coastal village is going to be a rather drastic change. I grew up in a town near Pugwash. Pugwash and Tatamagouche are essentially the capitals of western North Shore Nova Scotia cottage country. June to September are much different than the rest of the year due to the influx of tourists and the people who own cottages from outside the area.

In Pugwash there is salt mine, grocery store, a hardware store, a couple of convienence stores and gas stations, one branch of Scotiabank, a small warf and marina and a few other small business owners, a couple of schools and that is about it. There are a few golf courses and lots of beaches near by. There are some small farms outside of the village and all along the North Shore. I would imagine that some people travel to work in Amherst or Truro from Pugwash as there are not many jobs to choose from with such a small population

If the rural life and independance is was you want, then Pugwash could be for you, but you have to make sure coming from inner London if it is the "rural" life that you want. The culture shock of going from the UK to Canada would be nothing compared to leaving the recent center of world power to a tiny coastal village. .

I don't know Bridgewater that well as it is on the South Shore, but it is the largest town in Luneburg county and would have more in the way of jobs and anemities, at least as much as a town of 8,000 people could be expected to have. Bridgewater is also closer to Halifax.

Lord Vader

That is incorrect, BC doesn't turn anyone away.

AndrewUK

Lord Vader you are a breath of fresh air!

Thanks so much for you very helpful input! Yes it is the rural life we seek and which is where I grew up! In a very small village in South America - came to London and and been wanting to escape ever since. Carved out a very successful career but now following the quiet life path as opposed to the noisy one! More people in one place = more problems I find. We want peace and quiet and to live very simply without all the mod cons that most people chase after! So rural is good!

But there is also rural outskirts of Bridgewater I've seen but I here about this fog that hits the South Shore which the North Shore doesn't get!

Many Thanks again for your help!
Andrew

Silverdragon102

We do get fog but I don't think it is as bad as the south shore. Living on the main road between Pugwash and Amherst we certainly see things busier during the spring/summer and early Autumn compared to winter but still not as busy as other places I have lived in. To travel 30 km takes me about 15-20 mins compared to 3 miles in Bradford in 30 mins so for me there is definitely an improvement. I also have no problem shopping and getting all the stuff we require, mostly from Amherst but do travel to Sackville and Moncton NB for other bits I can't get but that isn't that often.

When I came over and looked at houses in Feb 08 I did look at Bridgewater but found land and prices better in Cumberland county compared to Bridgewater way, I also felt more at home in Cumberland county compared to other places I visited. A lot will depend on what you want out of life as well as type of job you are looking for, many do travel to Amherst and Moncton for work, we are lucky as dh works from home which gave us the opportunity to look this way.

val50

you've obviously never been to Bear River in NS