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Builth always felt nice to me. Small but big enough for the shops you'd need, a nice river and great biking.
Moving to Wales is a great idea - the biking here is awesome, and generally, the people are really friendly. That said some valleys towns are really rough and will hate you just because you're English.
Your best bet is to actually go there, walk around, make sure you can actually go into the local pub without getting into an argy-bargy then move for better biking!
they’re actually working towards moving some of the trails from ‘tolerated’ status to ‘official’ if nothing else to stop some of the wilder building.
Are they really? That's awesome news!
Or jokes about unpronouncable names. Ha **** ha, how long did it take you to come up with that sparkling wit? The names are all perfectly pronounceable, you’re just ignorant.
I worked in the food industry years ago, and was at an industry exhibition in London. Two reps from some company were attempting to sell something to me, but they did it with some blokey 'where's your sheep, eh Taff?' weirdness. Obviously, they got no business from my company. In the years I spent living in England I encountered sheep jokes with such boring frequency that I probably started to get rather aggressive about it.
I can sort of understand the place names thing. Welsh place names can be difficult even when you live here - my wife queries the way I pronounce local place names and she was only born 10 miles away. Mind you the person taking the mick about it is probably Sinjun from Lemster...
I went to school in Bridgend and now live on Gower. Coincidentally I went to Bridgend last week for the first time since my mother died 11 years ago.....god it seemed small and run down.
If I didn't windsurf and surf I'd probably choose Abergavenny as a home....nice size, stuff going on, good biking in easy reach.
Can't see myself moving...just finished our new build, got great beaches in easy reach, can bike from my door, or drive 45 mins to Brechfa or Afan.
I live in North Cardiff. I play in a band and have spent dozens of Friday nights in various valley towns with less than stellar reputations. Fights happen occasionally but despite my very English accent I've never personally had any trouble.
The valleys are beautiful and the riding is fantastic, with tonnes of off piste digging.
Having said that the deprivation is real and spending some time in your preferred area to get a feel for the local pubs/community is sensible.
Also it's really cheap.
Good luck!
Ysbyty means Hospital. George Thomas in Cardiff at least was rebranded, something to do with old George being a wrong un back in the 70s
I met him in about 1985, and he seemed a decent person, but then I was only a politically naive 17 year old, and I certainly wouldn’t agree with his views today. Wiki reveals rather more – I’m surprised that he’s been disgraced enough that ‘his’ buildings need rebranding? (assuming we’re talking about the Speaker of the House of Commons.)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-39277106
The valleys are beautiful and the riding is fantastic
Parts are beautiful, but I agree the riding is immense, especially if you like technical gnar. That stuff is springing up everywhere. Basically every bit of forestry or natural woodland is now threaded with homemade trails and it's amazing.
Welsh place names can be difficult
No more difficult than any other language. It's not that they get the names wrong, it's that they take the piss. The issue is a combination of monoglot Anglophones and fashionable derision for anything to do with Wales. People don't seem to go to France or Spain and mock the place names and language that much.
I hope it’s better on your side but over here it’s either expensive or pretty bland and rubbish looking – St Ederyn’s. They’re building a school though and there are three or four retail/food units, but they’ve been empty for ages. I hope they fill them as we really need more than token offerings in places like these.
They're building, or have sort of built a few ponds and stuff like that and some open spaces, nothing earth shattering.
*crosses New Zealand off the list*
People don’t seem to go to France or Spain and mock the place names and language that much.
They do - it's not just limited to Wales. I've stood in a French supermarket listening to a loud English accent demanding to know why ham is called jambon in France. As a joke, obviously, but it came across as completely ignorant.
@P-Jay. Yeah I picked up on that. Presumably, even though it was shelved it was serious enough to tarnish anything to do with him. I wonder if the link with Leo Abse also linked him with Jeremy Thorpe in some way?
No more difficult than any other language. It’s not that they get the names wrong, it’s that they take the piss. The issue is a combination of monoglot Anglophones and fashionable derision for anything to do with Wales. People don’t seem to go to France or Spain and mock the place names and language that much.
Hard disagree here. I think you've a bit of a chip on your shoulder about it if I'm honest.
This morning I had meetings with greeks, indians, chinese, maltese, my boss is French. I publicly lament my inability to speak their languages, which are great and sound wonderful.
I also wish I could speak Welsh. But eff me - other than Chinese (which I can't read a bit of) I think translation from letters to pronunciation is one of the hardest things to decipher.
I think translation from letters to pronunciation is one of the hardest things to decipher.
It really isn't that hard....30 mins on a pronunciation website and you'll have the key letters/combos sorted. Have a look at some English place names....they bear no resemblance to the letters involved!
Btw you can do Welsh on duolingo now
My wife and family her family is from Abergavenny or the valleys. It's a great compromise for transport and outdoor activities. The valleys can be rough (like other parts of the UK) and unless the OP wants to find a really low cost property I would say that there are nicer places north and west of the valleys to move to.
It really isn’t that hard….
Yeah, if you're a welsh speaker. For everyone else? Nightmare. Sorry - but:
Turning this: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch into > how it sounds < by just reading it is, for the vast majority of people who aren't Welsh speakers, an absolute impossibility without some serious study.
Same goes for the much smaller words.
I just got off a call with a colleage who's lived in Bermuda all his life and his opening sentence was along the lines of "welcome to the guy from the place with the famously unpronouncable language".
The fact that the Welsh get the mick taken out of them a bit is generally gentle ribbing. But we all know that gentle ribbing repeated for your whole life can become really really annoying. And because of that a lot of Welsh have a chip on their shoulders - in the same way I've a couple of Glaswegian mates who are really triggered by any anti-Scot jokes.
Of course, we could hate-speech the entire world up so nobody takes offence at anything because technically it becomes illegal for them to hear it.
Or people could just grow thicker skins eh?
Born in S Wales, lived in the valleys for many years, have many friends living in the Rhondda, know but not lived in Ystrad Rhondda. What P-Jay says is pretty much bang on the money. I’d be looking somewhere else tbh.
Welsh is easy.
'ch' is the same noise you make trying to relieve an itch in your upper palate.
'll' is just 'L' and 'h' said together. Not really but its the closest most English will get to the proper sound .DO NOT SAY 'TH',as in Bath, th is th in Welsh.
'ng' is the same Ng as in shopping.
'Dd' is the same noise as the 'th' in 'the'
'F' is v, so its ****ing avan, not affan.
'Ff is f, as in laugh. So Welsh is weird , but g and h make "ff"? Cheeky ****s.
'ee' is ee, but so is U, which is also 'uh', and so is "i", and so is Y when its not busy being 'uh',or 'i' as in the word 'inn', along with U which might also be ee, or 'i' as in 'inn'.
'si' is 'j', but there is no j in Welsh, but loads and loads of Joneses, but no Sionses, unless some Deddf Iaith clown is trying to prove a pointless point. There are plenty of Sion though, which is pronounced shoooorn, very long 'o', not a w.
'Si' is also 'see' depending on if it feels like it.
'c' is 'c ' as in crack. There is no K in Welsh so that would be spelled crac.
You can get by in Welsh by putting an 'o' on the end of most verbs, such as joio (enjoying), paintio (painting) , scetcho ( sketching), etc.
Words such as cwtch , which has no real English equivalent, but nominally means a great hug, or sometimes a hideaway, or to hide, has no vowels, it is not mis-spelled. You dont always need vowels where you're going, so bring em only if you want to.
Freshly bestowed with this wisdom, go back and try out Welsh place names again. I reckon if you were paying attention they'll sound much more accurate.
Oh, and sheep shagging jokes. You are not the first to say it, it aint funny anyway, we can be a fiery lot, just dont bother. If youre from the North or the Midlands you might get cut some slack due to the assumption that you are from a similarly skint ,working class area . If you have a Home Counties accent or are obviously well-to-do, just give it a swerve, we will feel like you are taking the piss too much and behave accordingly. Thats just how it is, I didnt make the rules.
Scots and Irish, crack on boys n girls, you can get away with mostly anything in my experience.
Now you've conquered Welsh , and never ever say THE Welsh here, even for a joke, you will be fought.
Words such as cwtch , which has no real English equivalent, but nominally means a great hug, or sometimes a hideaway, or to hide, has no vowels
Yes it does...W is a vowel in Welsh
Anyone remember reading a feature in FHM magazine about the time The Lush, I think it was, went out for the night in Neath? I have a vague recollection of two English journalist fellas asking me directions to the best pubs in Neath on a night out.
If my memory is correct, I think the locals took against them. Am I imagining all this?
Well yes, w is a vowel in Welsh, but i wasnt tongue-in-cheek explaining Welsh to Welsh speakers or people with a knowledge of Welsh (except, seemingly, yourself, well done).
So why bother even mentioning the vowel (or lack thereof)?
Because to English people used to seeing a,e,i,o,or u, functioning words without them look strange. Its a common comment I hear from people from the Midlands,etc who come here to work, along with what does the word araf mean, because they see it painted on roads.
But explaining that W is one of 7 Welsh vowels makes it easier to understand, surely?
Anyway the point is Welsh isn't any harder to pronounce than any other language if you learn a few simple pronunciations.
Why would English people casually commenting on a funny looking Welsh word give a shit about Welsh grammar? Lighten up mate , its not lefel A.
Still say you're wrong @Twodogs - I can get by in Spanish much better than Welsh, and I live here and try. But can agree to disagree 🙂
But frankly this @johnnymarone
Oh, and sheep shagging jokes. You are not the first to say it, it aint funny anyway, we can be a fiery lot, just dont bother. If youre from the North or the Midlands you might get cut some slack due to the assumption that you are from a similarly skint ,working class area . If you have a Home Counties accent or are obviously well-to-do, just give it a swerve, we will feel like you are taking the piss too much and behave accordingly. Thats just how it is, I didnt make the rules.
Scots and Irish, crack on boys n girls, you can get away with mostly anything in my experience.
Now you’ve conquered Welsh , and never ever say THE Welsh here, even for a joke, you will be fought.
Is the sort of 1980's working class hero low-rent jealous-of-everyone thin-skinned inherently-underconfident crap that means I'd advise the OP to give huge swathes of South Wales a swerve.
Like I said, it is what it is, just cos you dont like it doesnt make it untrue.
It's worth considering practical things like transport, jobs, doctors, schools etc as these can make a big difference.
Getting around is easy East to West but very hard North to South.
There are 8 public schools in total (read into that what you will)
My nearest doctor is 10 miles away (I live in a town of 10k people) and A&E, 40 miles away (in England!)
The language is only heavily used towards the coast and everyone will speak English but it's interesting and fun to learn even if you have no idea what's being said.
The Welsh (IMO) are humble, thin-skinned and romantic but equally welcoming and full of history.
Biggest weakness - crap marketing but that's OK 'cos it keeps the numbers low!
Welsh place names can be difficult
No more difficult than any other language.
This is clearly not the case. There may indeed be more difficult ones, but to say that Welsh place names are the easiest in the world to pronounce is just a little bit... wrong.
If your mates in Caerphilly move to Caerphilly? Loads of nice bits all over South Wales, I'd think about renting for a year and exploring. I live in Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan and plans are afoot for a graaaavel network.
I've enjoyed these programmes about Welsh places (in Welsh with subtitles)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p09vbn6n/cynefin-cyfres-4-llangollen
I think translation from letters to pronunciation is one of the hardest things to decipher.
Is it bollocks. That LlanfairPG place name (you know it's a Victorian publicity stunt right, not a real place name?) was taught to me by my dad when I was about 7 or 8 as we walked across the Barmouth Bridge, which isn't much more than a km. It's not even that hard compared to other European languages, not least because it's phonetically written - all you need is a fairly small number of rules (compared to many languages) and you can pronounce any word spot on first time. Much simpler than English. Also try nailing the difference between dessous and dessus in French, or have a go at the word kaytöohje in Finnish (hint - it's got 5 syllables). It was written on our coffee machine and every time I made a coffee I had to practice it in my head. I've muddled my way through a few words of many languages and Welsh really isn't one of the hard ones.
As for vowels - English has at least 14 vowel sounds but most native speakers think it only has 5. How's that for bonkers?
Seen the house now - it's really nice and on a nice little road that spans two main roads with one end blocked so it's not a rat run.
Great views obviously - area also seems fine - big sports centre across the road and a bowls club that might be handy when I am older...
After speaking with those ladies in the bar last night I had a chat with the hotel owner who said he would choose further up in the Brecons personally, but I want to be in easier reach of my mate in Caerphilly so Ystrad is nicely placed.
I got there a couple of hours earlier than my viewing time and was just walking around the outside when I met the lady owner at the gate and she asked me in for a viewing which was great and much better than the agent viewing later.
She's from Sussex originally and is trying to go to Spain for warmer weather as her arthritis is playing her up - but complications as she divorced a while ago and has to prove both her and her new partner are a couple with decent resources, etc (Brexit...), so thinks that it nmight take 6 months to complete.
I said I would try and accomodate this, as it might be tricky with any chain above me, so I might have to end the chain with me and rent for a little while. Hoping that willingness to accomodate might give me edge when the offers are in.
Exchanged phone numbers and then pretended that we hadn't met when the agent was there later!
The agent used to do ironmans and mountain biked in the area and confirmed that it was indeed very good.
I then went sightseeing and went over to the sports centre for a look around. Accosted some young guy in his Alfa Mito to see where he got it serviced, but he'd only just bought it. There was also an Alfa 159 sportwagen by the sportcentre, and I saw a few more Alfas around, and another SW, around so hopefully there might be a decent independant nearby. No Shell garages though for V-Power 🙁
There was some sort of community meeting going on at the little skatepark near the sportscentre- some painting project - and I had a long chat with two of the female police officers. There did seem to be the faded outline of a swastika that had been painted on one of the ramps, but maybe it was the religious version of it...
So it all seems great to me - everyone friendly - didn't really see any 'ned' types around - a lack of restuarants and pubs maybe - and only a slightly tired look about bits of the place. Ystrad seems less tired than Treherbert where the hotel was.
And it comes out very favourably compared to some of the nasty areas in the south east here - like Croydon, Crawley, anywhere around the Heathrow corridor, etc. But then again so does the majority of the UK... The Welsh accent is also vastly preferable to anything sarf london.
So I've got my fingers crossed 🙂
Ooh don't mention syllables...you'll be accused of using grammar 😂
Seen the house now – it’s really nice and on a nice little road that spans two main roads with one end blocked so it’s not a rat run.......
All sounds positive..good luck!
@ OP sounds very positive. 🙂
Interestingly - whenever I mentioned that my girlfreind had lived in Dolgellau for a while, no-one (policewomen, ladies in the hotel bar, or the hotel owner) knew where that was.
I tried using Barmouth as a reference but that didn't work either.
When I holidayed in Barmouth earlier in the year we did stop off and look at a new build on the road between Dolgellau and Bala, and I spoke to the young guy in the house nextdoor as I saw that he had several mountain bikes hanging in his garage.
I asked him what he did - he said he drove for Toyota.
Turned out it was Elfyn Evans...
Just missed out on that one though as some lady had just offered on it.
You know North and South Wales are different countries, yes? 😁
I’d go for Builth Wells or Llandrindod Wells. Mainly the latter because there are loads of massive fantastic houses for very cheap, but I think this might be related to the rumours that it’s a bit rough…
I think the ship might have sailed on Llandod. Was there last month, chatting to a lady who had bought a 5 bed house with shop and basement for about £80K three or four years ago, reckoned the same sort of thing has been going for 250K this year!
It didn't feel rough though it did seem a bit run down and there were a lot of 'odd' characters around. My dad has a story of kipping overnight in a camper by the lake in the 70's, when a large SPLASH announced that some pissed up lads had crashed a car into the lake, and were running away. He phoned the police to tell them what happened, and the officer on the phone just says 'oh, not again...'
Wouldn't count on Brecons getting you much favour in the Beacons.
Find most of the valleys are fine, they are very deprived areas in places, so a bit off putting if that's not what you're used to, but everyone I've met has been good.
I’d go for Builth Wells or Llandrindod Wells
Builth always seems much nicer to me....although I have reasons for being averse to Llandod
I think the ship might have sailed on Llandod. Was there last month, chatting to a lady who had bought a 5 bed house with shop and basement for about £80K three or four years ago, reckoned the same sort of thing has been going for 250K this year!
That's still cheap. I was looking idly the other day and there was a £350k 'house' converted into 5 flats from a Victorian hotel. It had 23 rooms!
Ha!
I remember thinking there were a couple of cracking Grand Designs opportunities if you had serious cash. The big art-deco/ glass space above the cycle museum, or the former Bradley's, now closed. Stunning building, and probably available for about 3 and 6:
1 Middleton St
https://maps.app.goo.gl/oUFZ6cuVKR3ffUv56
The Welsh don't have the monopoly on hard to pronounce names:
Leicester
Bicester
Towcester
Slough
There are 8 public schools in total (read into that what you will)
Are you sure? I've got 2 within a mile of my house. (And that's a good example of what we were saying earlier about nice areas being almost on top of crappy areas. To get to either I'd have to go down streets where I wouldn't leave my car unattended for any length of time.)
I think the ship might have sailed on Llandod.
About 20 years there were significantly more women living there than men. I can't remember why, or even where I found that fantastic piece of trivia, or whether the balance has been corrected. 😀
The Welsh don’t have the monopoly on hard to pronounce names:
There's loads even just around Huddersfield, Slaithwaite being the classic.
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/ten-place-names-around-huddersfield-15494268
There’s loads even just around Huddersfield, Slaithwaite being the classic.
They're not hard to pronounce, you just need to put on your broadest Yorkshire accent when you do so.
When I was in the military I used to spend a lot of time down in St Athan, I’d like to say that’s the only place where I’ve been offered a fight, unfortunately it’s not! I’m Welsh but lived in England most of my life, was once offered a fight whilst wearing my Wales Rugby shirt when shopping with my mum in Liverpool. That one was a bit bizarre. I was once mugged in Manchester and in Jersey of all places (but I was so drunk I may have actually gave my watch to a homeless man rather than he mugged me, the memory of that one is a bit hazy!)
RAF Valley was a bit rough and the locals didn’t like the English (or anyone for that matter including Scottish). I didn’t stay there for long, but my memory of Anglesey wasn’t great (been back hundreds of times since and it’s awesome, but when in my early 20s I really didn’t like it)
Anyway I digress, I still go back to South Wales a fair bit, I’d love to retire there, unfortunately it’s not going to happen, wife’s family are all Midlands based and she is very close to them. Laugharne would be my ideal place to settle. Pretty coastal area, nice pubs, just the right level of not being a sleepy little village but not being too busy.
We still go to North Wales, Snowdonia, just so I can ride, love the road riding around there. But wouldn’t be my place to retire.
Good luck OP, but I’d definitely be spending a fair amount of time there before deciding.
Idlejon, not sure if that trivia is tourist bait or something, but around St Athan it certainly didn’t feel like that. Or there may have been significantly more women, but they never went out!
My dad was Welsh and didn’t speak a word of it, nor his brothers.
Idlejon, not sure if that trivia is tourist bait or something, but around St Athan it certainly didn’t feel like that. Or there may have been significantly more women, but they never went out!
I meant that Llandod (Llandrindod) had more women than men. I know little about St Athan, apart from my sitting in an ATC control room there for a day..
The Welsh don’t have the monopoly on hard to pronounce names:
Yep even Reading. Which is also a challenge for Googling.
I live outside Llandod and moved here 18 years ago. Sure each area has its issues, common theme is that everyone who has lived around here since birth seems to know everyone else and their business, (I have found that it pays to keep opinions and social media posts fairly neutral, same goes for revealing your own business and not be too open with it etc for this very reason). I think that when you choose your area to live do so with an open mind and leave the pre-conceived ideas behind, like a lot of the comments already, the same problems in South Wales exist elsewhere in the UK.
I have found that if YOU make the effort to get to know folk and want to fit it, (which you've done already) then you shouldn't have a problem. One of my best friends now is a Welsh speaker who enjoys slagging the English off over a pint (in Welsh of course) but I trust implicitly. (Could be said he didnt have any friends before I showed up?)
As for the biking here in mid Wales, sure it doesn't have the density of trail centres, (great if you like those) but rides from my front door can take in umpteen miles, see no one and the natural trails and isolated feeling can be second too none.
That said will be at Nant in the next few days, between conf calls! 🙂
As for the biking here in mid Wales, sure it doesn’t have the density of trail centres, (great if you like those) but rides from my front door can take in umpteen miles, see no one and the natural trails and isolated feeling can be second too none.
Don't forget that it's not just trail centres here in south Wales. Because there are so many MTBers, there are huge amounts of unofficial trails which vary in quality but tend to the very gnarly end. I think that once you go west past Llanelli, or north of the A465 this starts to peter out (simply because of the population numbers), but really you can't go ten miles around here without finding a new trail network.
or north of the A465 this starts to peter out (simply because of the population numbers),
Peter out maybe, but if you know where to look they are still there. In fact I will be riding some tonight 🙂
@Idlejon, it may have gone up, but there aren't many https://www.isc.co.uk/schools/wales/ (compared to England, anyway).
Llandod used to have a bad Heroin problem 20 yrs ago, not sure about it now.
Basically, everyone lives North and South, with a load of sheep in the middle!
The only time I’ve ever had a fight was in Wales.
I was 9. It was with Kevin, my best mate at the time.
(I grew up in Mid Wales. Lots of farmers, old hippies and magic mushrooms. And plenty of mountain biking)
@IdleJon,noted about the volume of trails etc in the south, ridden a few over the past few years, you are right though about the number of riders which I guess could be viewed as a curse in itself, all depends what your riding preferences are: bike park/centre, unofficial trails (thats a whole discussion topic on its own!!).
@finephilly, Llandod still has its choice selection of users, a very small minority! But is no different to any other part of the UK now with similar social and behavioural issues.
For the most part its great here, fantastic scenery, great riding and nice people (mostly!)
@boredmarriedwithkids
I’ve literally just bought a house near llandod (llanbister) so great to hear your positive experiences of the area! Moving hopefully in January....Slightly apprehensive because of the language and (these) stories of anti-English feeling but plan to just be positive and throw ourselves into the local community. At the very least the riding/countryside will be good!
Slightly apprehensive because of the language and (these) stories of anti-English feeling but plan to just be positive and throw ourselves into the local community.
My stepmother is English, my sister in law is English. I'm in the office at the moment with about 10 other people around - 3 of them are English, with obvious English accents and all live around here (Swansea). There is genuinely nothing to worry about.
To back up IdleJon, its about attitude not accent. As long as you dont treat the area as if it was put there for your own leisure use, or treat the locals and the local culture as an inconvenience, you will be absolutely fine. We're only people, same as everywhere else in UK.
Yes and I'd add to that: Don't make jokes about the placenames or language; and don't talk about 'Wales' like it's one place!
lightly apprehensive because of the language and (these) stories of anti-English feeling
don't be. the whole anti English thing is a tired trope that people like to trot out. i'm not saying there aren't isolated incidents of people with chip on their shoulder (in the same where there may be in England against the welsh), but that's chippy individuals, not a regional or national trait.
as with most places, act like a dick, get treated like a dick. don't act like a dick try and integrate into the local community (if you want to) and you'll be fine
my dads side of the family are welsh, my mums side are English, i'm welsh but grew up on either side of the border at various times and for some reason have a southern UK lilt to my non-welsh accent (no idea why) - i can't remember any incidents of overt anti english sentiment directed at individuals at any point, even in the 70's in very isolated and insular north walian communities.
you do sometimes comes across a bit of resentment about the way the country has been treated historically in terms of exploitation of resources, dismantling of the countries industrial base etc, but that's more dissatisfaction with the industrialists or governments of the day, not the "english" per se - no different to how pockets of the north of England feel about the south historically
depending on where you settle you may also come across feelings of resentment on second home / holiday home ownership, with prices in many areas being driven up by those outside of the local market to the point where those living in the local market can't afford to buy - but that not a unique to wales - see lakes, Cornwall & Devon or any tourist area or rural areas in general these days. although Meibion Glyndw took it a little far!
oh, and i'd be tempted by mid-wales
Yup I'd heard tales about anti-English sentiment in Scotland but never experienced it in real life except once very mildly many years ago when I accidentally referred to England when I meant to say Britain, so kinda fair enough.
Lived in Glasgow for a few years and had not even a hint of unpleasantness - was mildly apprehensive about going to watch Celtic and going in certain pubs but also totally fine. People generally treat you as you treat them.
Cornwall
A very good point - my brother moved there and lasted about 5 years before giving up and moving back to Yorkshire. He is the friendliest, nicest, most smily and personable person in the world ever yet he encountered countless incidents of anti-English sentiment. He moved there with his job as they were short-staffed for field engineers in the region yet he was regularly accused of 'stealing jobs from locals' even by people working in the places he visited (mainly banks and shops - he fixes cashpoint machines and electronic tills). He was devastated to come home but couldn't cope with it.
I live in a village called Llanmaes about 6 miles from Barry. Work in Cardiff and cycle there every day. I moved from Newcastle Under Lyme about 15 years ago. Took a chance on uprooting everything for a new life. Never looked back. I love living down here. I can chose what type of riding I do. I couldn't drive until about 2 years ago so was mainly restricted to the road and my MTB's never got used and eventually sold for the skinny tyres. Now I've got a license and a car I can get to places like Afan/Glyncorrwg/Smilog and so on. Or I get on my road bike and can ride from Coast to mountains in an hour or two.
As long as you do the research into where to live it should be fine. Rhoose is nice. So are parts of Barry if you stay close to Porthkerry Park/The Knap. If you go up into the Valleys property is cheaper but I've never felt intimidated by anyone. Most of them are friendly enough even with my clearly English accent.