UKC

Considering a job in Inverness.
Where's the nearest cragging?
Summer evening cragging nearby?
Is there wall? What's it like?
Which side of Inverness is it best to live for access to decent fell running and rock climbing?
What are schools in the area like?
What are rental and purchase house costs like (2 adults + 2 kids)?

Inverness is a part of Scotland I really don't know well. (We're currently in Dundee).
Any lowdown / ideas appreciated.
Thanks.

In reply to Jimbo W:
Not up to date but I lived in Inverness in '97. Nearest worthwhile crag was Duntelchaig, and not exactly close, but some nice routes. Running mates tended to live to the west (often towards Beauly) and ran the commute. As most places there are some grotty areas best avoided and done very expensive, pleasant ones too - no doubt a local can advise. I lived in at work (Raigmore) so never had to look for houses.

Having said which I thought Inverness was a great place to live; the city having all the required things for me (simple soul - books, music, gear shops and access to the hills) although the winter climate had its moments (but you live in Dundee!). I remember running over An Teallach after work one long summer night. Magical.

B

In reply to Jimbo W:
Limited knowledge personally but FWIW:
Lots of cragging options on the Costa Del Moray and some sport crags too. There is the leisure centre wall (large for a leisure centre and with bouldering) but also the likelihood of a proper new climbing centre in the not to distant future too.

In reply to Jimbo W:

Good sports crags 30 minutes away, cairngorm car park 1 hour, trad crags 30 minutes to an hour for evenings loads of crags within 2 hours. Adequate wall. Little difference which side you live on advantages to both.
Schools are good housing cheaper than central belt but a lot of new build with little evidence of architecture. Good lifestyle low crime rate.
Excellent access to northwest and cairngorm very good for winter climbing.
Eden court theatre good shops limited.
Not a great place to be a teenager I am told but that may be grass is greener good place to be a child. Good place to be a parent. Flights to Amsterdam Gatwick Heathrow Dublin Birmingham bristol Manchester and more.

Dark in December glorious in June.

In reply to Jimbo W:

Don't have any advice I'm afraid but I like the order you've got you're questions in. Priorities- climbing, then kids, then money. You've got life sorted.

In reply to Jimbo W:
I moved up from Dundee pretty much 10 years ago to the day - haven't looked back.

Duntelchaig is probably your best bet. I've given up what little climbing I did since I moved up, but seems to have some good stuff up there. About 10 miles south of town. If you live on the southern edge of town like i do, it's only 10 or 15 minutes drive away (and less than an hour's cycling). The whole area down the south side of Loch Ness has amazing scenery, and is great for cycling and running, but the hills are quite low.

It's down at the main sports centre, which is on the way out of town heading towards Fort William. Seems to have a reasonable reputation, although I doubt it's as good as some of the places run by climbers. Again, haven't been in years.

For easy access to climbing, you're probably best on the eastern side of town. Duntelchaig is to the south, while getting out to the Moray coast and northern corries (as well as the Kessock bridge for access to the NW) is easier from the eastern side of town. However for running straight out of the back door, the west side is better, as Creag Phadraig and Dunain Hill are right above town (more trail running than fell running though). Still, on the west of the town you have easy access to Strathconon and Strathfarrar, which is where the closest big hills are. Meall Fuar Mhonaidh above Drumnadrochit is good too. If you have easy access to the A9 then the Northern Corries and Glen Glass above Evangon are both 30 minutes or so away.

Mostly pretty reasonable I think. My wife works as a careers advisor so is familiar with the high schools. I don't think any of them have a particularly bad reputation. The primary schools in the roughest areas (Merkinch & South Kessock, Dalneigh, Hilton) are probably less desirable, but I don't think there's anywhere really bad.

Bit steeper than Dundee. 3 bed house is probably £150k and upwards (perhaps £130k upwards if ex-council in one of the rougher areas). Talk of rough areas is a little misleading - I mentioned the less desirable places above but compared to Dundee things are a lot more uniform.

It isn't a big town, but getting from one side to the other by car can be a bit tedious at rush hour, as everything is shoehorned over a couple of bridges. You are also a little further away from the large hills than you might expect - not like Fort William with Ben Nevis immediately above. The upside to that is that you do see the occasional bit of sunshine in town through the winter.

In reply to malky_c:

And let's nor forget bouldering at Reiff In the Woods and Farr, about 30 mins away!

In reply to Jimbo W:

Can't offer much other than Morayshire looks really nice after a visit 2 weeks ago - quick bouldering trip to Cummingston and Primrose Bay and I could live there - my great grandad did!

In reply to craigloon:


A bit more than 30 mins to Reiff in the Woods!

In reply to Jimbo W: I moved to Inverness 2 years ago and from a climbing point of view it's very good. Pretty much everything Roger says plus I'd add that Inverness can be quite dry and if it is wet you can very often escape east along the Moray coast which has some good coastal trad crags that can miss the rain.

In reply to Jimbo W:

An alternative to living in the town is to live in a village outside the town. I live on the Black Isle which is great for running and cycling. Its 30 mins into town from here (less if the traffic is light but as I used to live in Surrey and ride a motorbike into London I don't complain about the traffic here!). Its easy to get to the big mountains in Torridon or the Cairngorms (about an hour). Duntelchaig is ok but I find it chock full of midges in Summer. However with 18 hours of daylight you can drive a bit and still have hours to play. Does get very dark in Winter though!
The wall is good and usually busy. There are strong rumours about a new wall being built soon.
Schools are good. On the Black Isle we have Fortrose Academy which is very good.
There are rougher areas of Inverness such as Merkinch but many, many nicer areas as are most of the small villages.
As a parent I like bringing up my daughter in the Highlands. Its a safe place.
We live right on the shore of the Moray Firth - its going to take a lot to get me away from here. Love it!

In reply to DaveHK:

Ok, I must be thinking of somewhere else. The one I mean is not far from er, Farr.

In reply to craigloon:

Ruthven or Brin?

In reply to all:

Thanks everyone, this is all most helpful. When I said fell running, trail running is fine, just ready access to nice off-road running, which I kind of need for my keeping sane. Climbing options look good! We have a 6yr old and a 1yr old. Its been very difficult getting to get a good after school set-up here. How is it getting after school club access, and child minders etc to bridge that gap before you get home?

In reply to Jimbo W:

I live on the southwest edge, the nearest offroad running (the south loch Ness way and associated trails) is a mile or so away. I have no direct experience of after school clubs, we had the flexibility in our work to not need them, but I am aware that there is provision and that friends were able to find childminders quite readily, the local secondary has just been rebuilt and does have some after school activities.
The road biking is very good on this side.

Where I live the street is overrun with children after school, there are a lot of young families about, mutual assistance is the order of the day. There are areas where I would be young though....

In reply to craigloon:
Perhaps you're thinking of the Farr Boulder, the Ruthven boulder or Brin Rock? I thought maybe I'd missed somewhere, or maybe it was known by an alternative name, but Reiff in the Woods is pretty much where I thought it was going to be: Reiff in the Woods

Still, being only 90 minutes or so from that part of the world is yet another good reason for living in Inverness! And having upper Strathnairn handy for evenings out after work is pretty good.

In reply to rogerwebb:

Roger is correct.

Basically few drawbacks to Inverness for climbers, walkers, paddlers and so on. Job-wise, if you are not careful, you find yourself out on a limb since there is one town of 50k+ here and nothing else that size for over 100miles.

As Roger points out, air travel pretty easy and road or train similarly sorted.

Housing? No, don't get me started.

In reply to Jimbo W:
If I had kids that age I wouldn't hesitate. It's a cracking place which has really improved over the last 20 years. I live about 40 miles from Inverness and as others have said there isn't much else around for over 100 miles. Visiting family can be a real pain.

That said the quality of life for a family is fantastic. Moved up north about 8 years ago and have never looked back.

There's also a cracking park, Bught Park, for kids.