To want to retire to Devon (from London suburbia)

@Batcountry8 I know that garden centre well! DM covets a statue of a stag in there but can't justify spending 4 figures on a garden ornament. I go there for the quiche and cocktail pasties! But going to the one with the coach trips and the roaming peacocks tomorrow because the DC think it's heaven on earth!

Back to OP though, I have retired neighbours who have got rid of their car and moved here from elsewhere in Devon. We have a few doctors surgeries in walking distance and the local hospital is 4 miles away. (Torbay)

We could get to Plymouth in an hour it's not that bad and I go ocassionally to the theatre or cinema. I go to Exeter and Bristol for those reasons too. London is 2.5 hours from here but I never go. I suppose we also have Truro and Taunton within easy reach too.

I have loads of different options on Deliveroo and Just Eat although it annoys me Las Iguanas is collection only.

I have also lived in Dorset and I had the same problems there as I do here in terms of finding work and making friends. And I chose a very rough area where crime was rife. My DB lives in a more rural area and loves it but it takes him about as long as it takes me to get to London.

I think the positive about a big new development is there would probably be lots of newcomers around you so might be easier to fit in. We looked at some new builds a few years ago in Marldon, sort of on the edge of Torbay and they looked really nice. Used to be a nightmare to get out of Torbay at busy times but with the new road to Newton Abbot and on to the M5 it is lots better now.

Actually the hospitals are one thing I have found positive in Devon. The ones I have had treatment at are Torbay and RD&E and both have been very good. Last time I was in Torbay the woman in the next bed was on holiday from London and said how pleased she was that the health crisis had happened here rather than in London. I have heard more negative stuff about Derriford but then you hear negative stuff about most places.

Well I suppose it depends how you define large but apart from that people in Exeter wouldn't spit on Plymouth. I find it quite funny how much animosity there is between the two cities but I suppose they are very different.

I’d be worried about: poor transport links (nightmare roads, one train line, expensive buses). Basically reliant on a car. Closeness to hospitals becomes important as you get older (there aren’t many big ones in Devon). Being far away from family. No friends in the area, and no default way to become involved eg job, kids etc.

What an awful snobbish article in the DM! Disgusting woman who actually left two of her children behind
No way would I be guided by this!

I wouldn’t call Plymouth a large city and it’s absolutely dire

Plymouth?

I travelled from just a handful of miles south of Exeter to Bristol last week on the M5 and it took 2hrs 30 minutes. I don't find that very unusual but if you don't have any particular time you have to travel you can pick quiet times.

Which other large cities are an hours drive from Exeter?

How much will it annoy you if your children aren’t around all that much? I remember a thread (years ago) where the OP’s parents moved to Cornwall then moaned that she didn’t visit enough. From memory she lived in a London suburb / Home Counties and had French in-laws. I think it got to the point where they kicked off if she and her family spent any holidays at anywhere other than Cornwall.

I moved to Exeter:

A city but small enough that it retains character, good shops, restaurants.

Exeter quay has kayaking, pubs, restaurants, crafts shops.

Lovely smaller villages / towns on the outskirts.

Good University.

About 20 mins drive to beaches such as Dawlish, Dawlish Warren, Exmouth.

Haldon Forest Park a 10 minute drive from Exeter (Forestry England) there are woodland walks, cycling/mountain biking, Segway & 'Go Ape' tree climbing.

Larger cities like Bristol are a 1 hour drive from Exeter.

I wouldn't worry about that article at all- "middle class woman moves out of London and performatively fucks it up" is a standard piece in the Mail, Telly etc, there's one every other week. London stereotypes v rural stereotypes always gets a lot of clicks.

We bought a house in a rural area which is touristy in summer and very quiet in winter. Wherever you go, I'd really recommend spending time there in all seasons and not assuming it's always like it is in spring/summer/autumn/winter. Tourist traffic can be a real issue in Devon in high season, likewise in low season you may find that pubs etc stay shut.

The only other thing I'd ask yourself is how close you want to be to your children and whether that will change if they have children. But otherwise go for it, why not?

We moved to South Devon over 20 years ago, brought our kids up and now they are living in their university cities and I feel so cut off. Like most of their childhood friends they have no plans to move back. I find it quite boring and yes a walk by the beach is nice but you need more than that in life. I want to live somewhere where I don't need a car, where I can see my kids easily, where there are theatres and interesting groups to join.

We found people very unwelcoming, it isn't a diverse community and probably my husband not being white didn't help. We've found that locally people think you are probably a criminal if you come from north of Exeter (or up the line as they say) so someone from another country with a darker complexion is clearly seen as dodgy. The first 20 years were the worst, in the last few years we seem to be more tolerated by our neighbours.

Devon is also being built all over, currently the fields at the back of my house are being built on. It doesn't really bother me, I will prefer the noise of people to listening to the cows and calves crying for each other when the calves are taken away so mum can carry on producing milk for people. I'm in a minority though as locally people are up in arms about it.

I know people who are happy here and wouldn't move but I know other couples like us where one wants to stay and one is desperately unhappy and others where both seem happy.

My parents moved from London and love it. Locals are friendly and they have a great network of plumbers, electricians etc.

There are really nice independent shops, twice weekly market, yoga and pilates classes, beauty salons, cafes etc. . They have to drive to these but thats as they wanted to live rurally, but its only 15 mins.

I'd definitely move. London is a good place to visit, but there's no way in hell that I'd want to live there these days. Maybe 30 years ago but not now ... So many reasons to not live there now... But I definitely wouldn't move to Devon (or Cornwall or that general area...)

Might be made more likely to move to Staffordshire or Shropshire or Cheshire or Warwickshire, something that is more central in the country. If you live in Devon, and that general area of the country, it's just such a ball ache to get to anywhere. It's really overrated too. Not really much there except multiple hundreds of thousands - and even millions - of visitors every year.

It’s right next to the train station.

Another thing to remember is if you move somewhere to retire, unless you move again you will be there when older/less mobile. A 40 mile round trip to the supermarket and 3 miles to the local shop may seem fine when you are healthy and can drive but when you can’t…. It may mean visits to family become more than you can manage, and children working and with families at school may not be able to visit all that much. My parents looked at various country properties, all within 30 miles of their current home, when they retired. None quite fitted the bill. Now one can’t drive and the other only does so in daylight (and really shouldn’t) being within ten minutes walk of town centre, train station and buses to other towns makes a huge difference to their quality of life.

I live in Devon (though didn't move from London, specifically) but have lived in other big non-UK cities when younger. I personally love it, but it depends on what you are looking for. I also love London, but only for a visit, wouldn't want to live there at this point in life.

I would think about what you need access to in terms of general areas. Do you want to be close to Exeter for hospital, shopping, theatre, etc.? If so, think about the radius around Exeter. If less of an issue, but want easier access to the North Cornwall coast and don't mind driving 40 minutes for big shops, then West Devon or further reaches of South Devon (for the coast there) might be better.

And as for specifically where to live, I'd give a lot of thought to the life and culture of a village (assuming you want to live in or just outside a village, not in town). Some are quite quiet and insular with not much going on. Others are lively and active with loads of groups and activities and very welcoming. We moved to a lovely village in West Devon. There's so much happening, book clubs, women's group, volunteer activities, a theatre group, a monthly bacon baps at the hall, and we actually have more friends here after a year than we did in our previous home where we lived for 10 years. See if you can find a copy of the village or parish newsletter if there is one, look at the village hall website to see if they list any events or groups, etc.

Everyone has been so welcoming. I think some of that may have to do with the fact that the village is a mix of people who have lived there forever and newcomers (but not second home owners). So there is a lot of interest in meeting new people and community activities, etc. and not just everyone keeping to themselves.

That said, I've lived in the SW for about 12 years after moving from a big city and in Devon specifically for 1.5 years and I love it. I have no plans to ever move.

Lived in Devon my whole life, what I will say is it is very underfunded. Our local town has had 900 new houses built recently but there's no infrastructure to support. One Docs surgery only. Local hospital shut 5 years ago & so now all hospital trips are roughly an hour away from us (Exeter) the roads are awful, pot holes everywhere 🤣 I'm very lucky to live on a farm on the Devon/Cornwall border so half an hour to the beach, half an hour to the moor. I do feel it is a lot more crowded than it used to be since lockdown & again wouldn't be an issue if everything wasn't so underfunded. You'll need to be able to drive as there is so little public transport. The nearest village to me is 2 miles away & there is a bus twice a week 🤣

My friend who lives in London also finds it hilarious that when I put my location in to 'Just Eat', only one result comes up & we still have to drive 2 miles to meet the driver to collect our food 🤣

YABU to think that an article written for the Mail by Shona Sibary is going to be a balanced reflection of real life. Or any kind of reflection of real life.

Why not look at a city like Exeter so you get best of both worlds.

If you can afford it, I'd try and spend more time there in rental accommodation. I'd also want to have an idea where your DC may live. I grew up in Dorset, it's lovely but I couldn't cope with the lack of public transport, the lack of diversity, the insular nature of it.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · Today 08:28
Just spend lots of time down there, you will be retired you can spend weeks down there at a time.

The being isolated if anything happens would be my biggest concern.”

This. We’re retiring to a city centre because services, facilities, good reliable public transport when we can no longer drive and people around us will become increasingly important.

@mrsnec I’m from the village on the way with the garden centre

I think Totnes must be best if you can live and work there and go everywhere on foot.

Exmouth is a great day out, I think the food hall is attached to the station and it gets sun late into the day unlike Torbay