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How far can you get in an hour


SteamyTea

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On 09/12/2017 at 09:47, JSHarris said:

 

 

Not at all, for some reason midges only start to appear further North.  I used to have to travel up to Loch Goil, around 2 1/2 hours North of Portpatrick, a fair bit, and midges were certainly an issue there.  There seems to be a line, roughly from Glasgow to Edinburgh, that defines the Southern boundary of midge territory, I think.

 

Portpatrick is pretty far South, about the same latitude as Newcastle and only about 20 miles from Belfast, plus it's on a coastal peninsula, so strongly affected by the surrounding sea, which keeps the area warmer than you'd expect.  There's a botanical garden just down the coast at Port Logan, and look at what's growing there will give an idea of the local climate: http://www.rbge.org.uk/the-gardens/logan

 

Had a peruse on rightmove as you do. Pretty good value up there, considering its not that far north. Nor too far from civilisation. 

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13 hours ago, Roger440 said:

 

Had a peruse on rightmove as you do. Pretty good value up there, considering its not that far north. Nor too far from civilisation. 

Yes I had a look on Rightmove as well and the prices are about half what they are around here.

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It's further from civilisation than it looks, though, as if you want to do any serious shopping (DIY stuff etc) then you're faced with a 60 mile each way drive, either up to Ayr and back or across to Dumfries and back.  We found it was easier to get the Seacat across to Belfast - 20 mins and you're right in the centre of Belfast practically.  No good for heavy stuff, as you can't take the car, but as a shopping centre Belfast is pretty good.

 

The main snag is that none of the roads are great.  It's nearly two hours to get to the border at Gretna, for example, or about an hour and half to get to Glasgow airport.  Stranraer is also a bit of an iffy place, very rough at night.  Out on the Rhins peninsula at Portpatrick it's like a different planet though, and a very nice place to live indeed.

 

House prices are low up there - when we moved from there to West Sussex we ended up paying nearly double for a smaller house, and went from a 30% mortgage to a 95% mortgage, not nice.  Luckily I had relocation assistance that covered the first five years of the mortgage cost difference, and by then inflation had increased the value of the house we bought, so the LTV on the mortgage came down a great deal.

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10 hours ago, JSHarris said:

It's further from civilisation than it looks, though, as if you want to do any serious shopping (DIY stuff etc) then you're faced with a 60 mile each way drive, either up to Ayr and back or across to Dumfries and back.  We found it was easier to get the Seacat across to Belfast - 20 mins and your's right in the centre of Belfast practically.  No good for heavy stuff, as you can't take the car, but as a shopping centre Belfast is pretty good.

 

The main snag is that none of the roads are great.  It's nearly two hours to get to the border at Gretna, for example, or about an hour and half to get to Glasgow airport.  Stranraer is also a bit of an iffy place, very rough at night.  Out on the Rhins peninsula at Portpatrick it's like a different plant though, and a very nice place to live indeed.

 

House prices are low up there - when we moved from there to West Sussex we ended up paying nearly double for a smaller house, and went from a 30% mortgage to a 95% mortgage, not nice.  Luckily I had relocation assistance that covered the first five years of the mortgage cost difference, and by then inflation had increased the value of the house we bought, so the LTV on the mortgage came down a great deal.

 

Look at this! This would be 5-600K here. Even in that state. All those lovely outbuildings...............................

 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54743672.html

 

Interesting about going to Belfast instead!

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On 11/12/2017 at 20:28, SteamyTea said:

I am 100 miles from civilisation, nearly 200 from culture and 300 from both.  Would not swap now though, I have kind of got used to the horror that is Cornwall.

 

Horror is a bit harsh, though i have been to St Austell!!!

 

We should have bought this http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34896699.html  Stayed here on holiday 4 times. And only a few miles from Falmouth, but might as well be on a different planet. Went for £421K in the end. A semi serious conversation was had about this one. Would be a dramatic life change, and you can never go  back

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10 minutes ago, Roger440 said:

 

Look at this! This would be 5-600K here. Even in that state. All those lovely outbuildings...............................

 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54743672.html

 

Interesting about going to Belfast instead!

 

 

I used to drive past that twice a day, driving to and from work at West Freugh, from Portpatrick.  It was still a dairy farm back then.  Lochans is a nice little village, inland and far enough away from Stranraer.  There was a fair bit of housing development going on there just before we left, so my guess is that Lochans may well be bigger now than it was.  There's no pub there, though, or wasn't when we left.  Portpatrick has the advantage of half a dozen bars, including at least one really good music bar, with live traditional music at least one night a week.

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2 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

 

I used to drive past that twice a day, driving to and from work at West Freugh, from Portpatrick.  It was still a dairy farm back then.  Lochans is a nice little village, inland and far enough away from Stranraer.  There was a fair bit of housing development going on there just before we left, so my guess is that Lochans may well be bigger now than it was.  There's no pub there, though, or wasn't when we left.  Portpatrick has the advantage of half a dozen bars, including at least one really good music bar, with live traditional music at least one night a week.

 

Small world!!!

 

Not really a bar type person, so not really an issue. No pub here either. Closed in the sixties.

 

Just cant get over how cheap it is!!! Wife says NO.

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Just now, Roger440 said:

 

Small world!!!

 

Not really a bar type person, so not really an issue. No pub here either. Closed in the sixties.

 

Just cant get over how cheap it is!!! Wife says NO.

 

 

Go up there for a holiday.  Stay in one of the hotels in Portpatrick  (the Fernhill is pretty good, avoid the Portpatrick Hotel up on the clifftop).  Drive around the local area and see what you think, the area is great and it's the most friendly place we've ever stayed.

 

The main issue around there is unemployment, when we left it was still running at around 20%, and we were the biggest local employer, so things got worse when we closed down.  The only employment locally is the creamery and the ferry port, everyone else is just scraping a living from smallholdings and some bigger farms, plus some fishing.

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3 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

 

Go up there for a holiday.  Stay in one of the hotels in Portpatrick  (the Fernhill is pretty good, avoid the Portpatrick Hotel up on the clifftop).  Drive around the local area and see what you think, the area is great and it's the most friendly place we've ever stayed.

 

The main issue around there is unemployment, when we left it was still running at around 20%, and we were the biggest local employer, so things got worse when we closed down.  The only employment locally is the creamery and the ferry port, everyone else is just scraping a living from smallholdings and some bigger farms, plus some fishing.

 

As it happens............................

 

Im currently planning a driving holiday in the west of scotland in May. Ive got 9 days, so i may take a detour via that area.

 

Just cant make up my mind what car to take! 1st world problems and all that.

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9 hours ago, Roger440 said:

Just cant make up my mind what car to take!

The best handling one, but that should be first choice anyway. :D

9 hours ago, Roger440 said:

Horror is a bit harsh, though i have been to St Austell!!!

Called St Awful.  There are more run down places, I live in one of them.  So bad that it is recognised as one of the poorest parts of the EU (that problems is solved by BREXIT, well done Britain). http://inequalitybriefing.org/graphics/briefing_43_UK_regions_poorest_North_Europe.pdf

Cornwall has about half the GDP per Capita than Buckinghamshire.

There are two Cornwalls, the nice coastal part and then the really large part in the middle.  Not many people ever stop in the middle bits.

 

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12 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

The best handling one, but that should be first choice anyway. :D

Called St Awful.  There are more run down places, I live in one of them.  So bad that it is recognised as one of the poorest parts of the EU (that problems is solved by BREXIT, well done Britain). http://inequalitybriefing.org/graphics/briefing_43_UK_regions_poorest_North_Europe.pdf

Cornwall has about half the GDP per Capita than Buckinghamshire.

There are two Cornwalls, the nice coastal part and then the really large part in the middle.  Not many people ever stop in the middle bits.

 

 

WORSE than St Austell??? Can you say where?

 

Ive done plenty of the middle bits. But reminds me of an experience that re-enforces your point. And i remember this because i was in the same shop in Liskeard last week. Few years ago on holiday, went to buy some magazines for my phone and internet free week off. Bought a few as i recall, about £18 ish. The girl behind the counter was in shock. She just stared at me after taking the £20 from me, then said. Nearly £20 on magazines. She said it again. She genuinely was amazed. That was certainly an eye opener that i wont forget. 

 

Sorry if i sound like an American when i say ive "done" cornwall :)

 

As for the car trip, its either the Maloo, which is by far the better handling car, but modern and WAY to fast at 600bhp, or the Stag, which even when thrashed to within an inch of its life, isn't really going that fast at all.

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12 minutes ago, ProDave said:

If you do the NC500 to do it justice you need to do it slowly, hence I suggested the stag.  Make sure you have breakdown cover with recovery. At times you would be a long way from help.

 

...or a V6 engine from a Capri in it! :)

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11 hours ago, ProDave said:

If you do the NC500 to do it justice you need to do it slowly, hence I suggested the stag.  Make sure you have breakdown cover with recovery. At times you would be a long way from help.

Well, ive got 8 days up there. Wont be doing the NC500 as such, as the east side isn't that great, and ive been to JOG more times than i care to remember. Only so many breakfasts you can have at the Seaview Hotel (in case you wondering why, and for those interested : http://ctrbrr.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-route.html  ) So im concentrating on the west coast.

 

Got breakdown cover, but spanners too! At the moment im with the Stag idea, its just the flog there and back thats not so good :(

 

Any words of wisdom on places to stay or visit always welcome :)

 

 

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