Wales - are the natives friendly?

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Wales - are the natives friendly?
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barefoot_boo

Joined: 06 Aug 2005
Posts: 399
Location: Wiltshire

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 1:01 pm Post subject: Wales - are the natives friendly?

Now the new year is here we are beginning to consider our options more seriously re: where we ultimately downsize to.

Something in my gut pulls me towards Wales - I love the landscape, and the sense of s-p-a-c-e. I've been speaking to a few friends and family about this and have received a lukewarm response, with one person even going so far as to say "the welsh don't like the english moving in!" Do you think there is any truth in this? Or is it just outright prejudice?

I've lived in a rural community all my life, so I have a pretty good understanding of how rural life works - you can't expect everything on a plate, and have to be preapred to get stuck in.

Actually, I went to Uni down in Carmarthen, but being a 'typical' student I didn't really spend much time trying to integrate into the community - I was far more interested in the SU bar! I met my first husband (a welshman) at Uni and for a while we lived near Caerphilly. I had no problems getting on with folk then, but I'm wondering if that was because the welsh are generally welcoming, or whether it was due to the fact that I had married one of them!

So, I guess my question is this: for those of you who have moved to Wales, how easy have you found it to settle?

boo
p.s. I hope no-one takes offence at this post, none is intended.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 1:06 pm Post subject:

I'm Welsh and we moved to Northern Ireland, where the people are fantastically welcoming.

Generally, the sense of community has disappeared in wales in the same way that it has done in the rest of the UK, I don't think it's any better or worse generally that other places but you will get pockets where you are either really well treated or badly treated.

I've been insulted in North Wales as an English speaking welshman, and have English & Irish friends who love it up there.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 1:22 pm Post subject:

My experience has been wholly positive. Our village has felt like home practically since the day we moved here. There is a sense of community here that I haven't felt since I was a child growing up in Somerset.

We have worked at getting to know people, though. We go to most village events, we didn't roll up with fancy cars and start flashing the money around and we don't complain about country smells, noises or whatever. To my mind, the difference is more between town and country people than English and Welsh.
That said, I have seen people picketing estate agents in Pwllheli!

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 1:59 pm Post subject:

Judith wrote:

We have worked at getting to know people, though. We go to most village events, we didn't roll up with fancy cars and start flashing the money around and we don't complain about country smells, noises or whatever.

I'm glad Boo raised this because I think it's something you have to consider wherever you move - Brittany is still on our list of maybe's and a while ago the same kind of thing came up, protests against the English people pushing up house prices. Then they interviewed some people and I strongly got the impression that they weren't very happy about lots of homes being turned in to holiday places only occupied half the year by English people who made little contribution other than some tourist cash; but those people who lived there full time, worked/participated and made an effort with the culture/language had only a positive experience. I'm hoping this will turn out to be the case because part of the attraction for me of moving somewhere else is the chance to learn new customs/language (even within England!) and I hope that would overcome most of the alleged problems.

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 2:09 pm Post subject:

I moved to Wales to do my degree and never really left. Granted I'm in the Cardiff area so its all very cosmopolitan, but my experience has been that some areas can be a bit tricky to integrate into unless you speak Welsh (had a few interesting moments visiting friends in West Wales until they realised I was at least learning Welsh), but mostly its the same as anywhere, be pleasant, go with the local flow and it should be ok. The more homeowrk you do on the area the better too- what can be a great area may have small pockets of individuals that are not so friendly

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 3:26 pm Post subject:
Living on the border, there's a degree of friction, but it's well meant and humourous, and no worse than you get between, say North and south Londoners, or either side of the Yorkshire border. There are, for sure, some people in Wales who don't like the English, or, as JB says, anyone who doesn't speak Welsh, even if they are Welsh. Just ignore these members of the Viet-Taff, and you'll be fine.

thos

Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 1139
Location: Jauche, Duchy of Brabant (Bourgogne-ci) and Charolles, Duchy of Burgundy (Bourgogne-ça)

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 5:14 pm Post subject:

Does anybody else remember the

'Come home to a real fire' advert and the Not the Nine O'clock News addition

'Buy a cottage in Wales'.

Mind you, the Manx were also burning houses at the time.

There are very few Jaucheois here, certainly most people at the school and church have moved here from Brussels to raise a family, and hubby commutes while wifey looks after the children. Fortunately, house prices round here are still cheap enough for that to be a viable option.

In the Ardennes and on the coast there are certainly a lot of holiday homes, but there is the question of whether one has a flat in Brussels and a weekend cottage or a house in the country and a pied-à-terre in town.

Gervase

Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 5:29 pm Post subject:

Here in West Wales we've encountered nothing but support and help from the locals; far more so than ever we've found on the other side of Offa's Dyke.
Most communities will accept you if you accept them, and if you make it clear that you want to make a positive contribution. Much of the perceived anti-Englishness results from a prejudice against holiday homes - and it's a prejudice I share. Buying up a place and leaving it empty for half the year isn't going to endear you to the natives, but buying a place to live in, and sending your kids to the local school, buying your stuff from local shops and seeking local advice - that's how you become local.
I've lived in Suffolk, Herts, Bucks and London, and I've never encountered nicer, more friendly people than here. As Judith says, there's more of a divide between urban and rural than Welsh and English.

Azura Skye

Joined: 14 Jun 2005
Posts: 2199
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 6:44 pm Post subject:

I live in west wales, and slowly the homes on my little street are being bought by lots of English people, in my opinion I feel sad to see the Welsh language going, because communities are what keeps things like language and customs going. But really, Im not bothered who moves in next to me, as long as they are friendly and join the community! Two people a few houses up, refuse to send their children to a Welsh school in the village, literally a five minute walk, and will send them instead all the way to Carmarthen, which is 16 miles away! I cant see the point in this, and its a obvious attempt at not joining the community. I think if you move from England into a Welsh village, you will be very warmly received, if you go and say hello and 'sut mae' to your new neighbours!
But thats true anywhere, Im sure.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 8:39 pm Post subject:

Gervase wrote:

Much of the perceived anti-Englishness results from a prejudice against holiday homes - and it's a prejudice I share. Buying up a place and leaving it empty for half the year isn't going to endear you to the natives, but buying a place to live in, and sending your kids to the local school, buying your stuff from local shops and seeking local advice - that's how you become local.

i live in suffolk now .......we don't like to see holiday homes out here that are lived in for only a few weeks or even days a year but we don't burn them down.....certainly a friend of mr nanny's parents bought a small holding in the wrong valley in wales and they were harried until they sold up and went back to england

i am sure it isn't like that everywhere but it would give people pause......

gingerwelly

Joined: 08 Dec 2005
Posts: 419
Location: Wales ...in cardiff at the mo but from mid wales

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 06 9:48 pm Post subject:

I grew up in mid Wales ... my family have been in the area for 200yrs + so i am a "local" .. over the years there have been a number of people move to the area ... how the "new" people have been treated, has realy not been related to where they came from, but from how they treated the local people ..... most people who have come to the area have come because of what the area has to offer, joined in and become a important part of the community ... new families help to keep the schools open and bring much needed money to shops and pubs, etc
An area of conflict (as well as the holiday homes) is the language ...our local primary school has always been half welsh and half english (some lessons been Welsh others in English) a few families that moved to the area were very unhappy that their kids were asked to learn Welsh ..even went to court over it !! that did not go down at all well with the local people who felt that it was an insult to them and their culture.
I would say go for it ... the people are great,

and its the best place in the world to grow-up/bring up kids

good luck

Gervase

Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 06 10:05 am Post subject:

gingerwelly wrote:

...our local primary school has always been half welsh and half english (some lessons been Welsh others in English) a few families that moved to the area were very unhappy that their kids were asked to learn Welsh ..even went to court over it !! that did not go down at all well with the local people who felt that it was an insult to them and their culture.

Blimey, I'm not surprised the locals were pee'd off! Jack, our youngest is now getting pretty fluent in Welsh, thanks to free intensive lessons locally, and we're hugely envious. In Ceredigion Welsh is still the predominant language, and we would love to have better Welsh than we have. That said, I was dead chuffed to have been able to sing the national anthem, in Welsh, at the Millennium Stadium when we beat the Aussies before Christmas.
With attitudes like those of the litigious idiots mentioned above, it's a wonder that the Welsh are as accepting of incomers as they are. But, to paraphrase gingerwelly, treat people as you'd like to be treated yourself and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Behave like a pompous prat and don't be surprised if the locals are unfriendly - not suffering fools gladly is not just a Welsh thing!

barefoot_boo

Joined: 06 Aug 2005
Posts: 399
Location: Wiltshire

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 06 10:17 am Post subject:

Thanks all, my mind has been put at rest and my own secret suspicions confirmed - if we decide that Wales is for us, I'm sure we'll be fine.

I can't get my head around the notion of moving somewhere and then trying to carry on living as if you're still in the place you left! Surely the whole point of moving to a new area is to immerse yourself in the culture/language etc? Where-ever I end up, I fully intend to do all I can (without being the pushy newcomer

), to take an active part in community life.

Thanks again!
boo

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 06 1:14 pm Post subject:

Puff pant, puff pant: sorry folks, late as usual: I'd jus tlike to echo what most people here have already said. I'm a few miles from Judith and it's wonderful here: the people are tremendous, the countryside great... best thing we ever did, coming here. We've been made to feel so welcome: people fall over themselves to help. The toughest thing is getting people here to take money for things: I found myself exchanging a chocolate cake for a bale of straw from the neighbour yesterday!

Our village school is Welsh medium: even English is taught in Welsh, and we're having lessons from two local women. The scariest thing I've ever done was giving a speech in Welsh after a village concert. the applause was marvelous, and a good many people came up to congratulate me (in both languages) afterwards.

Boo: you're obviously thinking of Wales as somewhere to live full time. If you're going to take part in the community without having the (only too common) "I'm Englis, I know best" attitude that I've come across you'll more than likely be made very welcome. There's nothing less appealing to people here than the "Can't let the Welshies get their own way" type.

Silas

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 6848
Location: Staffordshire

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 06 3:03 pm Post subject:

I have always found the Welsh to be the most insular and English hating of all people ( I am 1/4 welsh myself - so don't start) However, my new next door neighbours who are welsh were invited to our anual christmas bash and discovered that I had a slight weakness for single malt whisky.

Last week they brought me round a bottle of WELSH SINGLE MALT WHISKY! I never even knew that they made whisky in wales. Good stuff too 46%!

So, my opinions are mellowing a little.

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