Thinking about moving to Dumfries & Galloway - questions

[Muddy unicorn]

We're looking at the possibility of moving to Dumfries & Galloway from England and have seen some gorgeous houses listed. I've got a few questions as the whole process seems very different so hoping someone could guide me through ..

We've accepted an offer on our house and need to get going with finding somewhere to buy.

I've seen a couple of websites say we need to have exchanged contracts on our English property before making an offer in Scotland - is this true? It would make things quite tricky to coordinate - is the process much quicker after exchange?

Are midges a problem in D&G? One of our horses is prone to sweet itch so obviously don't want to move somewhere where he'll be miserable.

What's hacking like generally?

Our daughter events - how many BE fixtures are within easy distance or would we be spending all our weekends on motorways?

Sorry if any of these are stupid questions - I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with moving house stress!

 

[Kat_Bath]

I don't massively know the area but have visited a good few times. It's a huge area though, so do you have more an idea on somewhere specific? There's a big difference between Stranraer and say, Lockerbie.

Being nearer the M74 would help massively if you did want to travel. The A75 is an OK road though. The A701 is a sneekily windy road! And you get overtaken by locals, even if you're doing the speed limit. I've not used the A76 between Dumfries and Cumnock really.

I definitely can't help with house buying as we were first time buyers with no chain on the house we were buying either, so it was a piece of cake.

The windier the better for midges. This might be handy, although no live just now as we're out of season: gahhh, I can't copy paste for some reason but Google "midge forecast". Wind is good, by the coast is better and no standing water! I've only ever really been down to Stranraer in winter for curling but have been camping once in June and the midges were bad, but we were in land, sheltered, near a forest so that won't have helped!

For BE: https://www.britisheventing.com/compete/fixtures-and-results (annoying I can copy that but not the midge forecast). Carlisle and Penrith look closest so being nearer Dumfries/the M74 would go in your favour.

Hacking really depends on where you might end up but there's a tonne of walking down that way, so I would assume a good amount of riding as well.

This probably doesn't help very much, and I'm sure someone else will be along soon, but maybe it does a little.

 

[Kat_Bath]

Was wracking my brains as I was sure someone who posts regularly in AADogs is based in D&G. It might be Chiffy but I'm not sure on that.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Definitely Chiffy is the one to contact.
I understand they have thriving PC and RC, it's a blooming long way from where Chiffy is to get to a BE tho.

 

[sbloom]

I've only driven through once, it's beautiful, and very inexpensive, but we decided against it. Transport links are terrible, D&G is notoriously left behind in terms of all sorts of Govt provision including public transport and roads (our soon to be neighbour in Biggar runs a political think tank and this comes from him). The plot we were interested in had a new conifer plantation right up against the fence so would have lost its views in 10 years so that was the dealbreaker, but for me there was a lack of facilities at all (this was right in the boonies, Dalmellington, then we drove to Biggar though New Cumnock) and to be honest there was a real feel of poverty across much of the area. I have a friend/customer near Lockerbie which feels completely different.

 

[Shilasdair]

It's a lovely area for a holiday (and I have relatives in Castle Douglas) but;
1. Yes, it is midgie.
2. It is out on a limb from the rest of Scotland - particularly the central belt which has more population, therefore more horses, and events.
3. Transport links to anywhere are poor.

That's why houses (with/without land) are cheap there.

 

[Caol Ila]

Midges in Dumfries and Galloway can be terrible -- better up high, like Wanlockhead, or coastal areas like Dumfries itself. Horrendous up inland glens, like around Castle Douglas, Rinns of Kells, etc. Lots of places are holes.

Transport sucks, like everyone above said. It's the forgotten corner of Scotland. The motorway network is a distant dream, and the A roads are hopeless. But if you're like my ex and like it for its weird backwater feel, then it's great.

 

[windand rain]

I love to hoiday there but not sure living there would be my choice. Mild wet weather, midgies and the road to nowhere means it seems like a lifetime to get anywhere. It is very beautiful and the people are generally friendly and welcoming

 

[Cloball]

I would love to move back to D&G it has everything I want in life beaches, hills, the odd music festival. I didn't find the midges that bad to be honest compared to other part of the west coast but maybe I have a skewed perspective.
The more west you are of Dumfries the worse the transport links are bad the more cut off you feel however Lockerbie is on the direct train line. I used to commute between Dumfries and Glasgow and it's only an hour and a half drive (I did this all winter in the snow). It's also not far to Cumbria (I'm not an eventer but I understand there is some BE still in Cumbria) I used to regularly get the train to Carlisle.

It's quiet in the winter but in the summer there is a lot of lovely local events. If you like folk music the Moniave folk festival is fab. The weather in summer I found much better than just up the road in Glasgow, it's a bit of a microclimate.

I used to live up in Aberdeen and if anywhere feels cut off its the North East. I'd rather be in D&G.

As for hacking if you're not used to the Scottish access laws it's worth looking into them. There is some fantastic forestry hacking around Ae and New Abbey plus the beaches.

 

[sbloom]

I always forget that the A74 and Lockerbie are in D&G, I have English friends (a farrier and a scientist) have moved up there and love it. They're down a mile long track with no immediate neighbours and have no regrets whatsoever.