dougal03

Have lived in Spain for many years,retired & considering relocation to Scottish borders,so need some details.I have lived in Scotland previously,had a Scottish spouse & daughter born there.My granddaughter lives in Inverness but I would prefer further south & more east Scotland area.My previous locations were Ayr, .Glasgow(Renfrewshire) & Edinburgh(Colinton).Since I probably wouldn't be too familar with these areas,I may as well choose a new one & the Borders look OK.But I need to hear from those who can tell me a lot more.I shall be buying a small property so can look at property websites but need the nitty gritty info.of day to day living.PLEASE do not tell me how I shall be exchanging the sunshine for the gloomy climate,I have lived on the south coast of England,too near bossy siblings,& Devon where the folks wear big boots to hide their webbed feet due to the wet weather.And nowadays,due to age,need to turn up the Aire-Conn as I find the heat oppressive in southern europe.Ideally I want a small town with supermarkets & public transport as I no longer want to drive.Would appreciate your comments.

scot47

Dumfries and Galloway has many small towns worth looking at. Castle Douglas. Wigtown, Kirkcudbright. In the East there is what we usually
call "The Borders" Peebles, Galashiels, Hawick, Berwick (temporarily located in England until we get it back.) Ayr is interesting and a good centre. Irvine. Last 2 have good rail links. Getting closer to me we have Largs. Also good public transport.

Borders - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Borders

Dumfries and Galloway - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumfries_and_Galloway

lauraloulou

I grew up in the Borders and absolutely love that area. Kelso is a glorious town with a racecourse, great events like fairs, sweet town center. Can't speak to public transport though. Berwick is on the London - Edinburgh train route so also a decent option. Some lovely towns around there.

scot47

Public transport in Berwickshire - like in The Southwest (Dumfries and Galloway) is poor. Dr Beeching killed all the small railway stations. ScotGov has been trying to reverse that decline, with some success. Bus services are not great. I always advise people to be careful in terms of location. If there is no public transport how will you get around when your car is off the road or you are unable to drive ?

I chose a different region for retirement. Rothesay on the Isle of Bute has good public transport and I manage perfectly well without having a "Ford-machine" or "Horseless carriage" parked outside. More citizens should follow my example !

dougal03

Scot47, the Isle of Bute sounds very nice,never visited but have often been to Arran.However I am not really a fan of island life ,perhaps put off by the IOW which I am familiar with.Also Malta which at one time I visited often as a possible place to relocate.I've done my fair share of travel all over Europe so just want to settle down & toddle around locally since I am independent & retired.There is one thing that has recently sprung to mind though.Watching British TV you cannot get away from constant weather forecasts.I ignore them on Euronews because,where I live at present,weather reports are all about more sun,sun,sun every year getting hotter.You may think this odd,but is another reason I want to return to UK.However I now have to consider where floods occur since,it appears,that after a few hot days down comes the torrential rain in many places in the Borders.This happened in Devon where I lived once but didn't affect me so,until now,it did not cross my mind.Can anyone tell me where such a situation is a regular occurrence in any border town area?

mikelincs

Berwick is an oddity of a place, it's actually in England however some of it's services are supplied by Scotland, it's football team plays in the Scottish League as well. It has changed countries many times due to wars

scot47

And will return to Scotland one day !