Considering moving up to Caithness

[Tumbleweed]

Hello :o)

I'm seriously thinking of moving up to somewhere in the Caithness area to live.
To be quite honest the main reasons why i'm considering this is that the price of property is much cheaper here than other areas of britain i've looked at.
Other consideratios are that both myself and my wife are looking for a quieter lifestyle as regards road traffic, a more peacefull area, somewhere within view of the sea and more 'space'.
We would also be looking to hopefully make new friends and become a usefull part of the local community.
I would hope that i could become 'semi' retired, although i think a part time job would benefit us not only in an extra income but help us more to get to know local people better.
I've browsed the site here for information and would like to take the opportunity to thank Bill Fernie and other folk for providing photographs and general information to look at here. :o)

My interests (including my wife's) are Wildlife and the Countryside, Astronomy, computing (including games) Walking and fishing, art and painting...there are many others, but I won't bore you by mentioning anymore :roll: :D
I'm middle aged..but still 'fairly fit'.

I would appreciate any information or thoughts the forum folk here might have on living in this area, or indeed what you might think of my thoughts and reasons for wanting to move to your area.

Kind regards
'Tumbleweed'

[Drutt]

If you don't mind my asking, where are you living now, Tumbleweed?

[garycs]

Hi Tumbleweed

Family and I are in the process of moving to Caithness. We're building a house and will actually move next Summer. We have always loved the area for the big skies, beaches, etc; and after suffering a very traumatic three years decided the quieter life was a good idea :D

We live in the Lakes at the moment, some people would regard it as being quiet, but in reality it is a very busy and very expensive area to live.

I'm lucky that I have an easily relocatable business as well as working part-time for a company who want me to work on-line once I've moved.

We have found everyone we've met in Caithness to be extremely helpful and welcoming. Can't wait to get up there :D

[roybacer]

sum bits of caithness r peaceful haha make sure u got a gargae for ur car and a 5 point lockin system on ur door!!!!

[Mad Martigan]

Hi Tumbleweed,

We've recently moved up, and we love it. We moved up to get away from the rat-race further south. Up here there is a real feeling of community spirit (although you wouldn't think so looking at this forum some days!). People are very friendly, roads are quiet, scenery and wildlife are fantastic, house prices are relatively inexpensive compared to other parts of Scotland . Petrol and Supermarkets are a wee bit expensive but thats a small price to pay considering all the plus points. We'd never-ever go back! :D

[katarina]

Have you a preference for any area? Personally I love John o' groats, but my family prefer the town so I'm outvoted.

[Tumbleweed]

If you don't mind my asking, where are you living now, Tumbleweed?

Hello Drutt, don't mind at all :)

We live in Warwickshire at the moment, been there for quite a few years.
We're looking to take a holiday up in Caithness, probably early or later next year, which I hope will give us more of an indication and insight of the general area etc. :o)

[Tumbleweed]

sum bits of caithness r peaceful haha make sure u got a gargae for ur car and a 5 point lockin system on ur door!!!!

Hi :)

I will ;)

Where I live this is a common occurrence, so i'm thinking that if i decide to move up here then home security wouldn't be any different to down there.

Thanks for the advice :o)

[Tumbleweed]

Have you a preference for any area? Personally I love John o' groats, but my family prefer the town so I'm outvoted.

Hi Katarina :o)

At the moment no, but this is because i'm not so well aquainted with the area other than what information i've gathered from friends and this web site. It would be important to me to be in a rural area, quite close to the sea. I don't think i would want to be in a town, though a few miles away or on the outskirts i think would be okay.

I've always lived quite close to countryside so in this respect i don't mind (in fact i'd prefer it) if the surrounding area is 'rugged'.
Obviously distance travelling to the nearest shops would have to be a consideration, especially when we get older, and your winters can be very 'scenic' too... :D

Perhaps you can point me in the direction of a few areas up here?
Any information would be greatfully appreciated :o)

[katarina]

Sounds like you'd like John O' Groats or Dunnet. Though JOG can be a bit touristy unless you live on the duncansby road towards the lighthouse and the interesting 'stacks'. It is 18 miles from Wick.
Dunnet is near to Thurso for the shops, very scenic and near to a wonderful beach. what you really need to do, tho, is come up for a visit and have a look around.

[erli]

A lovely place is Auckengill, it is on the way to John o Groats, and a couple of miles from a village called Keiss which is 9 miles from Wick.
The area is beautiful, set on a hill with veiws over Sinclair Bay, with a great little beach/harbour. There is a filling station there and Keiss has a shop, pub, post office school a nice liitle harbour and the best beach ever!

[2little2late]

sum bits of caithness r peaceful haha make sure u got a gargae for ur car and a 5 point lockin system on ur door!!!!

Take no notice of this post. Can't you tell by his username. A spoonerism of boyracer. That says it all.

[The Pepsi Challenge]

Sorry to venture off topic, but I wonder how many of us regular posters are actually local? There's certainly a lot more middle-aged freelancers working in Caithness's rural areas. Hope you enjoy your new life there. I can see why people would move there, but wild horses wouldn't drag me back, as much as I love/miss the place.

[fred]

Sorry to venture off topic, but I wonder how many of us regular posters are actually local?

I think it's best to live locally, then you don't have too far to go when you go to bed.

[neepnipper]

Fine to live in Auckengill if you're going to buy a house already built but we moved here 3 years ago as it was quiet and we had no other houses in close proximity. In the 3 years since we've been here there have been built or in the process of being built 12 new houses (mainly kit homes), that is just on Hillside, not the new houses on the sea side.

So much for being rural, it's getting like a housing estate up here! :confused

[Setanta]

A lovely place is Auckengill, it is on the way to John o Groats, and a couple of miles from a village called Keiss which is 9 miles from Wick.
The area is beautiful, set on a hill with veiws over Sinclair Bay, with a great little beach/harbour. There is a filling station there and Keiss has a shop, pub, post office school a nice liitle harbour and the best beach ever!

Hehe Ive heard of extracting the urine but how blatent can you get? [disgust]

[~~Tides~~]

Ha Ha, Keiss. Aukengill? Your Joking? [lol]

[squidge]

You are all such cynics!!

Local people dont always see the beauty of a place. Keiss itself is a wee village with nothing much to write home about as special in the village itself. However the beach is amazing, the views are breathtaking and the same can be said for Aukengill too.

Caithness is lovely and Tumbleweed you will love it

[katarina]

Don't let the weather put you off. We do sometimes get hot summers. It was early this year - I think it was a sunday at the end of April.

[majic]

hi tumbleweed
we move to dunbeath 5 years ago and ok it is not the hotest place on earth but it is quiet and safe the people are very friendly the night sky is nice in the winter with all the stars but there is a down side MIDGES

[Margaret M.]

Local people dont always see the beauty of a place

I so agree, Squidge. The views from Keiss and anywhere on the drive to John O'Groats are stunning. I think the scenery is lovely from just about anywhere in the Caithness countryside.

[Tumbleweed]

hi tumbleweed
we move to dunbeath 5 years ago and ok it is not the hotest place on earth but it is quiet and safe the people are very friendly the night sky is nice in the winter with all the stars but there is a down side MIDGES

Hi majic :o)

I wasn't lookin' fer a suntan :D ...what about wasps? :eek: (joking)
(edit)...The colder weather i don't mind too much, midges i can just about handle, but wasps....are not my favourite insect! ;)
The dark cold skies of winter sounds great, most of the sky here is obliterated by light pollution, so that would be one thing i'd be looking forward to. :o)

Thanks everbody for the reply's, and while i'm here i'd like to apologise to all the people that sent me private messages. I've replied to everbody concerned but i notice that some of the messages i've sent back have not left my 'outbox' ...and i don't know or understand why not :confused *shrugs*

Anyway, thanks once again for everbody's input.I'll still be browsing the forum so if you have any more relevant information i'd be most obliged :o)

'Tumbleweed'

[Drutt]

Thanks everbody for the reply's, and while i'm here i'd like to apologise to all the people that sent me private messages. I've replied to everbody concerned but i notice that some of the messages i've sent back have not left my 'outbox' ...and i don't know or understand why not :confused *shrugs*
'Tumbleweed'
Your sent messages sit in your outbox until the recipients have read them (at which point they move to your sent box). It means you can always tell if the messages you've sent have been read or not.

Anyway, good luck in deciding where to move to - I hope that you settle somewhere you're very happy with.

[Moira]

Hi Tumbleweed

I was born in Caithness & have never left the place for more than a week or two in my life. I could enthuse here about the part I live in - or indeed certain other parts I would have liked to move to. All I can say is, after a really hard couple of days away on business, or even a wonderful week away on holiday, when I hit the beautiful Berriedale Braes, (snow/sleet, sunshine or fog) I feel I am truly "home".

Whatever part of Caithness you choose to live in, I hope you will be really happy. Good luck. Please ignore the cynics here - if the place you choose initially is not the one for you - it's not far to move to find what would suit you better. Keep in touch with the Website (fantastic) but don't take too much notice of the negativity which is often posted on the messageboards. Welcome to Caithness, Tumbleweed

[golach]

Moria,
Well said, Caithness Tourist Board could not have put it better,