Moving to Truro

[Wailywailywaily]

From a long way away with no local knowledge.
We have a 14yo and a 5yo. Where would you recommend as a good location to live within about 5 miles of the city or in the city? Budget is about £275,000.
Pirmelocation and zoopla are great but not helping with local knowledge.

[Wonkyparsnip]

I lived in truro for 10 years. Devoran (1st choice) and Carnon Downs are both great villages to live in. Both would be in the catchment for Devoran and Kea primary schools which are very popular schools. Both have brilliant bus links with truro for the older child. If you want something more central the Treffry Road estate has some really nice houses and is an easy walk from town. Playing Place is another option. Again good on the bus route. If you live to the east of Truro you have villages like Tresillian and Probus which are nice but harder for your older child to be independent. I'd avoid Highertown and areas around the hospital (just my personal choice). Penair is a great secondary so I'd try and be in that catchment area. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

[Wailywailywaily]

Oh shoot, I was just looking at this new build but its close to the hospital isn't it? I have never lived in a new build and quite fancy it.

We had a drive round Devoran and Carnon Downs it does look nice, is it in catchment of Penair? I have been told that is a good school.

[Wonkyparsnip]

Looks a lovely house. I think it's the traffic that puts me off around that end of town. I think devoran is in the penair catchment. My friend went to Penair and he grew up in Devoran. Devorans so handy for truro and Falmouth and has a really nice growing family community. Great for walking, cycling and has a thriving gig club etc.

[OneStepCloser]

Isnt that house in the catchment for Richard Lander?

[austenozzy]

Wonkyparsnip summed it up perfectly in the first answer! Kea primary is great, penair is a good secondary. The villages mentioned are the ones we'd suggest too.

We're a bit further away (Falmouth area) but feel free to message us too if you need any other info.

Best of luck, and enjoy Pastyland! Hard not to.

[Wailywailywaily]

Thanks I love a good pasty

Thinking of the traffic, we will be working near Halfords on St Clements st, so had been looking at villages like Probus and Grampound as they seem to be on that side of town. But I take the point about the teenager not enjoying it so much. We are a walking/biking type of family so perhaps Devoran would suit us better.

[Wailywailywaily]

Any thoughts on Shortlanesend? I have found a new build development there also.

[austenozzy]

There's a new development up the hill from halfords which includes s waitrose but it's all mud at the moment, not sure when they'll be ready. That's on the road towards grampound and probus. My fil lives in malpas but that's pricey up there. There are some places on the malpas rd along by boscawen park but we drive past, not sure what they're like.

I would say that the traffic from kea/ devoran/ playing place into Truro can be a bit sticky getting over arch hill to where you'll be working. No back lanes either unless you go straight into Truro centre and back out.

Lots of walking and trails by the tresillian river (top of carrick roads) out to North of Truro so I don't think you'd miss out.

[PartyFops]

Perranwell Station or Frogpool maybe? Mylor is good.

These are ever so slightly further out though.

Trispen?

[Wailywailywaily]

We drove past that austenozzy I wondered if it was houses or retail. We have a time scale of about 4 months or so to get this sorted.

[PartyFops]

There are some nice newish estates on the opposite side of Morlaix Avenue from where they are building the park and ride/waitrose.

Can't remember the name though sorry.

Also some nicer older properties Mitchell Hill End of town, or up by Penair.

[PartyFops]

Chy hwel is the nice newish estate.

[PartyFops]

Tinney drive sorry!

Ignore my last post, it's late and I'm trying to look at maps on my iPhone.

We moved here last Summer from Suffolk. So we went through similar and did look at Truro.

Now well settled near Falmouth.

[Wailywailywaily]

Thanks Party I am going slightly cross eyed from looking at all these places now but I do have a better mental image of Truro. Its just awkward living so far away. And there are a whole heap of other obstacles to cross too, no doubt I'll be on MN a lot over the coming months venting my pain

[Wailywailywaily]

Why did you choose Falmouth? just out of interest.

[PartyFops]

The beaches! It's fab.

Also, I grew up in Truro and wanted to come home, but not to my old life if that makes sense?

We live near the Helford River and each time we go out walking we realise just how lucky we are to live here.

We might just get a boat this year!

[thekitchenfairy]

Hi Waily-how are you getting on?

I love in Truro, love, it, it really is a great place to raise a family and lots going on for older children. but lots as changed here in recent years re schools: primary wise St Mary's is the best, I would stay away from Bosvigo and AB Benson is church oriented and their selection is done this way so not for everyone (parking a nightmare at drop off so awful unless you're on foot). Secondaries: Penair has only hung on to the new HT for a year so the school is looking for another one, it will be a few years of change at that school so probably not ideal for a child of 15 to come to. RLS is right next to the college- if your DS is expected to do A levels this is where they will go as none of the Truro secondaries do them. I have experience of both and my eldest is currently at RLS, v happy and cannot say enough to recommend it.

Re: location while We wanted rural living several years ago, now I am v pleased to be in .truro we spend much less time than friends in villages trekking round fetching and carrying. Depending on preference there is cinema, skate park in town and a bunch of organisations/clubs from canoeing, to art to tennis, football. Any kind of sport in fact!

In the city, there will be a lot of disruption around the Waitrose development, traffic already hideous this side of town and the queues are already noticeable. The shop will open late next year but will be a couple of years before the development is complete

Some great roads of Lemon .st and not too far for you to get to work - and handy for kea or Devoran schools as this side of town- look at Daniell road, higher Redannick, these are close to a fab park that is well used locally, it is a lovely local community. Also check out barrack lane and the houses off Falmouth road to the left - might not be your thing but another space with lots of families. Trehaverne (close to st Mary's school) might work too., few houses have parking but most of the city is residential permit now so congestion much less of a problem.

I would really recommend you speak to Pete Madsen at Hus Estate Agents, they have a good locAl knowledge, it is an independent agency and both owners have good selection of properties. V user friendly website too.

Devoran is fab, v pretty but pricey. Playing place and Carnon are changing away from the elderly demographic but not much going on there. Much overlooked, but if I was going to be out of .truro I would pick Chacewater, a great community, brilliant primary with after school care and lots of families with kids of all ages - and useful things like post office, corner shop, bakery/pasty shop and pub :)

If you were in .truro looking for a village school I would look at kea, then Chacewater, then perran-ar-Worthal.

There were a few threads on MumsNet Local: Cornwall re: relocating in 2014, might be worth a quick read for you?

I returned to Cornwall after many years away- considered myself local but how wrong I was when it came to buying a house! Happy to help you so please PM me if you want some local knowledge

[thekitchenfairy]

I live in Truro, love it.

And apologies for random capitals

[Wailywailywaily]

Hello Kitchefairy,
Thatnks for the great message! We are still very much in the looking and trying to get a feel for it phase, all on the internet so its hard to love at the moment. Its not helping that the only time I have been to Truro was last week, it was packed with sales shoppers and not hugely pretty. I appreciate that this is a time of year thing . I'm starting to feel very stressed about the whole project and we have only just begun.
Anyway, I noticed Chacewater and did wonder - there are some nice houses there. We live on the outskirts of a fairly large city (compared to Truro) ATM and I love the easy access to facilities and the fact that we don't need to rely on the car most of the time. Is it fairly easy to cycle around Truro? Are there cycle routes and paths?
I did search talk for other threads and found some general advice about moving to Cornwall (a lot of 'don't do it!') Thanks for the specific advice about schools, I would prefer to live within walking distance of a primary (or cycle) and defiantly need after school club, or a child minder, few times a week. DS1 is able to manage public transport confidently so I'm not so worried about him.

[thekitchenfairy]

Hi Waily
Glad the long post was useful I am on way home and have some answer for you but data connection can be patchy from the train so I will check in later. We are all suffering first day back blues so may take a while to sort DCs out .. But I will be back

[thekitchenfairy]

Waily, I think you visited Truro at possibly the worst time of year - damp sales shopping in a town centre that isn't big enough to hold enough choice for everyone so people always seem grumpy at that time of year between .xmas and schools going back. To be honest it is not my fave place to shop and I wonder why people always flock here when the sales are on!

Truro really doesn't look very inspiring this time of year but also there are roadworks in abundance - so I wonder where you were driving? Certainly the main roads in and out are pretty dull

Despite hills, there are lots of cyclists in Truro and many families cycle kids to school and then commute on to work. There is a new track behind the hospital that runs down to st George's road it cuts out a long stretch of horrid traffic and is also well used by kids cycling to college and RLS. There are no specific cycle paths through town but lots of good short cuts and there are some great trails nearby - Camel, Bissoe, Pentewan - and fantastic mountain bike trails at Cardinham and Roche (look up Cardinham if this is your thing, it is amazing, such a lot of work went into getting it up and running and it is a spectacular trail).

I know what you mean about the threads that always say "don't move to Cornwall" there were certainly a few last couple of years (always after Truro gets to the Times top 10 places to live in the country there seems to be an influx of enquiries ). I will be honest and say that cornwall isn't for everyone, some find it hard to settle but for quality of life it is hard to beat. Especially if you live in Truro where you have the benefits of a larger town and yet we are only 15 minutes from either coast.

I had childhood in a small town in the other end of the county and never intended to come home, and indeed it is very different to my childhood place- but in so many ways so much the better for it. The county is changing, developing, and despite the logistical difficulties we will soon have Waitrose and John lewis (though I am sure many of us will still head to exeter or Bristol for a retail fix!!). And of course there is a growing movement to champion all things local - so much more than pasties and clotted cream and the odd bit of pottery

I could go on but I don't want to sound like the tourist board but I remember so clearly the panic we felt trying to buy a house from the other end of the country, pack up a life and prepare for a new one. If I can help you out by being a sounding board or by just giving you an honest opinion if you think a property might be too good to be true (it probably will be) then I am happy to do so. And feel free to PM me, that is cool too.

I think you asked about Shortlanesend ^^ and I would say your biggest problem would be bus to secondary school and the traffic that comes into town from that side is a,ways horrifically congested and that is even before the building works and summer traffic are taken into consideration. If you liked the look of Chacewater take a look at perranwell, and maybe Ponsanooth (it would be Penryn not truro for secondary school out here though which may be tricky if the rest of you are going in the opposite direction).

[Wailywailywaily]

Thank you so much for your help, I hope that if anyone ever asks about moving to Penarth I can be as helpful also in the top ten or twenty I believe. I am from Southern Ireland though and if anyone asked about moving there I would probably say don't do it . I have been to Cornwall for a few summer holidays and always loved it I just never imagined that I would actually live there :).

Right, so I get the impression that it is far better to be east or west of Truro than north, and from most responses probably west. Though I am very happy to live in town for pure simplicity sake I do want a fairly large garden and location near nice walks and cycle paths as one of my conditions for this move is that we get a dog .

DH did find a house in Perranwell and he likes that location because of the train line, its a lovely house but his budget seems to be a little bit different to mine . Having said that I have found this and I think I am in love

[thekitchenfairy]

Hi Waily
Yes I would head that direction, and I see a couple properties for sale on Daniell road that are within your budget - quick walk to town and easiest place to get to kea school, I think the drive is less than 10mins and the good Truro schools are oversubscribed ATM.

I see why you like that house it looks fab but u will be honest... I have several friends on that development and they all drive to town although it doesn't look too far it is a good 5-10 mins walk from the road to get to that development depending on where you need. You would also always pay to park in town as it's no residential parking there.

If you want to give me a budget/desirables etc I'll do a search for you if you like

Are you relocating with work?

[thekitchenfairy]

Hi Waily
Yes I would head that direction, and I see a couple properties for sale on Daniell road that are within your budget - quick walk to town and easiest place to get to kea school, I think the drive is less than 10mins and the good Truro schools are oversubscribed ATM.

I see why you like that house it looks fab but u will be honest... I have several friends on that development and they all drive to town although it doesn't look too far it is a good 5-10 mins walk from the road to get to that development depending on where you need. You would also always pay to park in town as it's no residential parking there.

If you want to give me a budget/desirables etc I'll do a search for you if you like

Are you relocating with work?

[Wailywailywaily]

Yes work, we are buying a business based in Truro.

Its because of the parking that I'm thinking a house in town would be better, we are happy to walk and cycle to school and work I just hate being reliant on the car and expensive parking. No parking at work and although I hate relying on the car we do have two of them so need parking at home at least.

Just did a street view of Daniel road and it does look perfect and close to Kea and town :)

I'll be as honest as poss about what we are looking for if you happen to spot it that would be amazing but otherwise you really have helped us loads already and I'm ever so grateful- The budget is between £250,000 and £300,00 it does depend on what we get for our current house but we are asking for £275,000. It would be good if the house had 4 beds though we could manage three with an office it must have a good size garden, preferably well fenced, for a dog and boys to run around but also because I love gardening. A garage would be great as we have five bikes and a lot of paraphernalia. Neither DH nor I do DIY in a big way so we would prefer not a project though we can stretch to decorating. I don't mind semi or terraced as long as it is fairly large and airy - I don't like small rooms and windows.