View Full Version : is wick a friendly place
hi all, im hoping to move to this lovely town, but know nothing about it, short of it sounds and looks beautiful, any areas to avoid, thanks for your help:Razz
Hi pmc, I moved up here from central scotland in 1991 and have'nt regretted the move even once. I found the Wick people friendly folks since my first day here. My husband was moved up for his job and since then his place of work has closed but we decided to stay here and settle for good. I'm sure you will, like me fall for Wick very quickly.;)
hello and welcome pmc. im think that ye will find that weik is a really friendly place. im sure ye will fit in nicely. everyone is really friendly and speaks til ye when ye pass on e street, even if its just a nod, a kweek hello or a comment aboot e weather.
i used til go back an fore til glesgow an would feel kwite lonely walkin e streets. i found that the people were nice if i asked for help...directions or assistance in a shop, but on e street they never ever said hello or smiled.
im so used til speakin til people and acknowledging them when i pass but when i said hello in glesgow they would look at me suspicioulsy til see what i wanted an ye could tell they were tryin til place me.
anyway, weik is ma home toon an i widna rether be any where else :)
hi all, im hoping to move to this lovely town, but know nothing about it, short of it sounds and looks beautiful, any areas to avoid, thanks for your help:Razz
Hi pmc,
Where are you moving from and what bits of Wickdom will be important to you.. jobs, housing., schools, shopping ?
Ask and the friendly folk o' Wick will answer!;)
karia
hello and welcome pmc. im think that ye will find that weik is a really friendly place. im sure ye will fit in nicely. everyone is really friendly and speaks til ye when ye pass on e street, even if its just a nod, a kweek hello or a comment aboot e weather.
i used til go back an fore til glesgow an would feel kwite lonely walkin e streets. i found that the people were nice if i asked for help...directions or assistance in a shop, but on e street they never ever said hello or smiled.
im so used til speakin til people and acknowledging them when i pass but when i said hello in glesgow they would look at me suspicioulsy til see what i wanted an ye could tell they were tryin til place me.
anyway, weik is ma home toon an i widna rether be any where else :)
nice dialect (not) ................ run fast, run far............ buy a house in Thurso. :)
nice dialect (not) ................ run fast, run far............ buy a house in Thurso.
Not that there is anything other than 'good natured rivalry' twixt Thurso and Wick...right guys??!:Razz[lol]
Karia
Not that there is anything other than 'good natured rivalry' twixt Thurso and Wick...right guys??!:Razz[lol]
Karia
True enough, but Wick has always been a bit "insular" compared to the relative "cosmopolitan ambience" of Thurso.
(did I say "cosmopolitan ambience" out loud???)
LOL :lol:
weel, ive lots o mates in t-inaboully land an iv hed some o e best nights. an e music?? fantastic!! newmarket on a sunday night wi sutherland an son?? oot o iss world...!
but na...i widna live there. ye made e rite choice pmc, an if ye fancy a nite oot up in thurso, id be more than happy til share e taxi fare home ;)
We have a friend who moved up here because they listened to us talk so much about living up here. My friends husband got a job in Thurso and they moved there, although he likes his job they could'nt settle and intended going back down the line as soon as possible, however they moved to Wick 4years ago and they are still here. ;)
Thank you all so much for your fast responce, i english, though i do have scottish blood in my veins, you for sound really nice and friendly, i look forward to moving up early next month, up to the battery road area, thank you all again, pmc :D
bluewickers
09-Sep-07, 19:43
Best place about wick is the road out, and that is coming from a person who had lived in wick for 18 years.
no the best about wick is the road in
Best place about wick is the road out, and that is coming from a person who had lived in wick for 18 years.
couldnt agree more here i lived near wick for 16 years then wick itself for 2 before moving up to thurso, the people are a bit more friendly up here. not that i have anything against wick all my family still live there.
Nothing wrong with Wick. Although it's only a small town, there's some good pubs, etc and it's what you make it. E peeps are nice and friendly and you can get a good craic on a nite oot.
thanks again for all your wonderful responses and support, see u all soon i hope, pmc :D
We are also considering retiring to Wick in the next couple of years, my wife's family came from Keiss and we are just back from another relaxing if windswept week in Wick.
My main reason for posting is to add to other replies confirming how helpful and friendly people in the area are, in fact the first rudeness was encountered was when we moved onto Inverness.
Wick's benefits became more obvious when we returned home to bad behaviour, bad language and vandalism.
Bananas.
Well there you go pmc, think the reply,s speak for themselves. know you will enjoy Wick. Were laid back here. welcome . Great choice. :cool: :D
Ignore the STUPID remarks being made by folk from the other end of the county.Wick is great & a very friendly wee place!
percy toboggan
27-Sep-07, 19:40
Well, I've been there twice and didn't fall out with anybody!
It's a bit grey, drab and dour but for a far flung northern outpost I think it's the business. Thurso is lovelier. I'm told it's apparently due to atomic mutants...or was it migrants :-)
I know now't - I'm Ainglish.
helenwyler
27-Sep-07, 20:06
hi all, im hoping to move to this lovely town, but know nothing about it, short of it sounds and looks beautiful, any areas to avoid, thanks for your help:Razz
Hi pmc!
We were only there for a short time this year...McKay Hotel were very friendly, and other folk we met in Caithness.
However, don't expect Wick to be as you've seen on the old photos, as I did.
It's not at its best (in July this year anyway). Scummy river, lots of boarded up shops/businesses, dirty buildings, general lack of prosperity.
But there are signs of regeneration (i don't mean Tesco, we have Tesco land-grabbing issues down here[evil]), and older people feel a deep love of the town, its traditions and history. The heritage centre is a truly astonishing place to witness what a rich local history it had.
When I arrived there (looking for Caithnessian ancestral haunts), I almost cried, it seemed so desolate and neglected.
When I left, I had discovered a spirit and loyalty I admired, and will go back one day!
Enjoy your life there,
Helen
Phoebus_Apollo
27-Sep-07, 20:11
Wick is a bit of dump to be honest...it has nothing on Thurso, the town centre is like something out of a horror film and the yobs driving in circles (cause they have nowhere else to go) is sure to warm your cockles. The only good bit is the Tesco (soon to be superceded by Asda in Thurso) and the thoroughly overpriced Homebase where you can purchase all manner of things you`ll never use.
Goto Thurso instead.
wick is a great town, plenty of walks some breath taking views and of course it is the royal burgh. very friendly folkes :Razz
The Angel Of Death
28-Sep-07, 10:41
Wick is a bit of dump to be honest...it has nothing on Thurso, the town centre is like something out of a horror film and the yobs driving in circles (cause they have nowhere else to go) is sure to warm your cockles. The only good bit is the Tesco (soon to be superceded by Asda in Thurso) and the thoroughly overpriced Homebase where you can purchase all manner of things you`ll never use.
Goto Thurso instead.
What absolute rubbish thurso and wick are more or less exactly the same each has there good points and bad points but once the surface has been scratched its more or less the same
Ohh and correct me if i am wrong but the "yobs driving round in circles" doesn't happen in thurso does it silly me i thought that there was a circuit in the eutopia that is thurso where nothing bad happens and everyone loves each other and lives in perfect harmony etc etc etc
And for info i live in wick and work in thurso so i see both sides of it and my opinion is i dont like thurso but i wouldnt go as far to say that wick is the dogs danglies it has its problems but at the end of the day its where i call home and im happy where i am
lynne duncan
28-Sep-07, 11:04
wick is a very nice place to stay, and everybody has an opinion which they will share with you willingly
hurry up to the best town in the north and be welcome!!
rob murray
28-Sep-07, 11:35
I am a wicker living in Tain Ross Shire, working in Inverness, my family and I left Wick in 1995. ( actually left in 1988 to study 5 years in Glasgow the worked away before leaving ) What always amused me was the Wick / Thurso thing and the laughable postings on here vis a vis the merits of Thurso better than Wick / Wick better than Thurso. For a very small isolated county with a population of c26,000 this "comparison" is and has always been laughable. One thing I picked on early doors down here is that in certain circles the so called rivalry is seen as it is, small minded and damaging. Ok as far as Invernessians go the world stops at the Kessock Bridge, but honestly people see through and laugh at the stupid small mindedness behind it all.To be honest its actually embarrasing. With a very shaky near future facing the entire county does any of this matter, people have to pull together !
To be fair I think the rivalry is a bit childish but it does happen all the time up here...nobody wants to say that where they live isn't as good as where someone else lives now do they?I have lived in Wick,it was a long time ago and I lived there for 5 years and to be honest I didn't like it.I found the people very unfriendly, unless they wanted to know something BUT that can happen in Thurso too!It really is up to the individual as to where they want to live and take things like being near to tesco,new Look,Argos Homebase into consideration.At the end of the day Thurso is only a 20 min drive from all these things so it doesn't matter which side of the county you choose to live in.The thing that may sway it is that property prices in Wick do seem to be lower than they are in Thurso.Wick has gone downhill lately but i do like to go there shopping when I can, it's just a shame that so many of the high street shops are boarded up as it does give a bad impression on the whole place.This is just my opinion though x
donnalee1994
28-Sep-07, 12:22
Hi PMC,i moved up hear 2 an 1/2 yrs ago and found everyone to be very friendly and helpfull i just hope you dont have any children of school age,the school's in wick and thurso have a very big problem with english kids (ill prob get shot down in flames for this) but in my experiance and ive heard from lots of other english parents that there is a very big english scottish divide and am not the only one that thinks this,dont get me wrong there are bullys in every school but found some scottish kids not bully's plain evil and the school's do very little to help and to be quite honest the parents of these kids dont seem to give a hoot what there kids get up to it's such a shame when this kind of thing goes of in this day an age i was very disapointed with the school and luckly my kids dont have long to go before they can leave.
northener
28-Sep-07, 12:54
Hi PMC,i moved up hear 2 an 1/2 yrs ago and found everyone to be very friendly and helpfull i just hope you dont have any children of school age,the school's in wick and thurso have a very big problem with english kids (ill prob get shot down in flames for this) but in my experiance and ive heard from lots of other english parents that there is a very big english scottish divide and am not the only one that thinks this,dont get me wrong there are bullys in every school but found some scottish kids not bully's plain evil and the school's do very little to help and to be quite honest the parents of these kids dont seem to give a hoot what there kids get up to it's such a shame when this kind of thing goes of in this day an age i was very disapointed with the school and luckly my kids dont have long to go before they can leave.
Kids will pick on anyone who is different. Doesn't matter where you are. It used to be kids from 2 villages away at my school who used to be the victims.
You get stupid and narrow minded people wherever you go. Trouble is, in a small community like Caithness the planks become more easily spotted. If they were in Inverness, they'd just be a face among the masses in a large town....
Rob Murray said that the Invernessians laugh at the rivalry between Wick and Thurso.
In effect, they are no different then, because they mock their provincial cousins who are -somehow- inferior because of their competetive stance.
BTW Wick is definitely better than Thurso - Thurso has no identity or soul!
;)
having been born and brought up in the country i wouldn't suggest moving to the town, especially as crime and drugs in wick now appears to be more prevalent. i think if your going to relocate it would be nicer to do it in the country. mind you if you don't have kids then the town would be ok.
i have to say though in defence of wick the folk are nicer and not so aloof as people from thurso, who appear to think that they have the upper hand over the people from the eastern side of caithness.
I think Wick is a pretty friendy place, the people are pretty approachable if somewhat insular, they will certainly make you feel welcome........to find out all about you, then decide whether they like you or not - but nothing different there from any other small community.
I personally would not live in Wick. But that is just my opinion.
I found the post by Donnalee particulary disturbing, as someone who went to School in Thurso in the late 60s/70s it was a fantastic place to be - we had classmates from all over the UK and even some American kids, there was never any anti-English feeling.
As for Northener's comment about Thurso having no identity & soul - well lets just say I disagree.
Whitewater
28-Sep-07, 14:37
I was born and brought up in Thurso. However, after I finished my apprenticeship I went abroad for a few years. On returning, all my old mates from Thurso had all gone on their various ways. I found it rather more difficult to make friends with the "New" Thursonians. On going down to Wick, I found it to be more like the Thurso I knew before I left. I got married to one of Wicks best, and have been living in the town for the past 37 years, have never had a problem with it, and have many wonderful friends here. Sure the place can be a bit drab at times, but I have always found it very easy to make friends, and life is what you make it. Wick has never had the social influx of people from the cities (all over Britain) as Thurso has had. But having said that I still know many people in Thurso and have many friends there as well.
Not that there is anything other than 'good natured rivalry' twixt Thurso and Wick...right guys??!:Razz[lol]
Karia
awe think that died out years ago, i myself have many very good mates in thurso, i visit them as often as im up in thurso.
Murchiemannie
28-Sep-07, 15:56
Hello pmc and welcome to Wick (when you eventually arrive)
Life is what you make it and if you approach with a positive and friendly attitude you will settle in fine. Being a born and bred Wicker in my opinion Wickers are a very friendly bunch who normally go out of their way to make incimers welcome. They may ask a lot of questions but at least when you walk "down the street" you will get a welcoming word or nod from whoever you meet. Where I stay you are lucky to know your next door neighbour and little or no chance of knowing who stays close by. City folk tend to keep their selves to themselfs.:)
Well I lived have lived up here for aboot 8 years now, and my oh my it has gone downhill in that time!
Coming from edinburgh before I though it was nice and quiet, well it used to be. Until a ned let himself into my kitchen and nicked a load of stuff (he got caught though).
Now you have to lock everything or it will walk, petty vandalisim, speeding up the main streets at nights....its awful and I will be damn glad when I get back to the highlands.
I'm sorry, but I have nothing nice to say about wick.....
I would recommend
celtic 302
30-Sep-07, 00:06
the long and the short of it is that wick is a bit off a tip and i would recommend that you did not move up here
Metalattakk
30-Sep-07, 01:52
I'm a Thirsa-born boyagie, lived in Thirsa all my life. My fowks all come fae Week tho'.
I'll be happy to live in Thirsa for the rest o' ma days, but all the same, I ken that Week has the one thing that Thirsa will never hev' - the community.
Thirsa is fill to the gunwales o' sooth-moothers, incomers and people who are only there for the work. They have no intention or desire to interact with, or become part of, the community.
Weekers are different. If you're an incomer in Week, they will take e' time til' size ye up, and if ye pass muster (i.e., if ye dinna act lek' an all-knowing, high-and-michty, been-there-done-that blow-hard) they will open their arms, homes and hearts til' ye. Swan aboot thinkin' ye're better 'an them, an' ye'll get the bum's-rush. Pronto.
Iv ye come til' Week, behave lek' a Weeker, an' all will be choost grand.
Wick people are very friendly. Well, none of them have fallen out with me yet, and that's some sort of record, so they are not only friendly but extremely tolerant as well. ;)
awe think that died out years ago, i myself have many very good mates in thurso, i visit them as often as im up in thurso.
no way johno, ats no died oot!! i hate thurso people!! [lol]
ats no true, some o ma best friends live in thurso but i still gie them wild cheek for bein a t-inabowlee, always will do. its their only doonfall i tell them...!
defo still a 'guid natured rivalry' thing goin on, aye.
maybe years ago it was more serious an real cos we didna really ken mix wi at idiots then.
i met mosts o ma bowlie buddies fie college an bt an hed some o e best laughs.
they no so bad...but i widna want til be one :Razz
rob murray
01-Oct-07, 09:34
Northener, I did say that as far as Invernessians go they see that the world stops at the Kessock Bridge. However, does the world also end south of Berriedale ?
I'm a Thirsa-born boyagie, lived in Thirsa all my life. My fowks all come fae Week tho'.
I'll be happy to live in Thirsa for the rest o' ma days, but all the same, I ken that Week has the one thing that Thirsa will never hev' - the community.
Thirsa is fill to the gunwales o' sooth-moothers, incomers and people who are only there for the work. They have no intention or desire to interact with, or become part of, the community.
Weekers are different. If you're an incomer in Week, they will take e' time til' size ye up, and if ye pass muster (i.e., if ye dinna act lek' an all-knowing, high-and-michty, been-there-done-that blow-hard) they will open their arms, homes and hearts til' ye. Swan aboot thinkin' ye're better 'an them, an' ye'll get the bum's-rush. Pronto.
Iv ye come til' Week, behave lek' a Weeker, an' all will be choost grand.
I think the above post sums up everything you need to know about Wick and Wickers.
Northener, I did say that as far as Invernessians go they see that the world stops at the Kessock Bridge. However, does the world also end south of Berriedale ?
Of course! :lol:
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.