To want to retire to Devon (from London suburbia)

Having grown up in Devon and Cornwall and seen thousands of Londoners arrive after summer breaks , buy, live through one winter and leave..

The weather is much, much wetter and colder than London.
It is a relatively poor county, with less of everytrhing you are used too, cool restaurants, coffee shops, gastro pubs, shoopings etc, sometimes these are non existent for many miles if at all...
Jobs are lowly paid generally and the fantasy of moving to do the the 'niche' arty work is only bought by the summer visitors, see above..
People can be insular.
It can be very bleak
It is a pig of a journey to get to and from.

Having lived in Devon, London and a few other places l think you would be better off considering the South Coast from Margate to the New forest for the transport, cultural links, accessability, variety of locals and most importantly much drier weather......

@BeastOfBODMAS @Batcountry8

See there are friendly people here!

I looked at Totnes but could only get a one bedroom teeny tiny flat on my budget. Also I did feel the wierd vibe and it's loads busier and more touristy than I could have imagined. It's my parents nearest town and despite having to queue in traffic to get into Morrisons they love it.

I didn't know Exmouth had an M&S foodhall near the seafront. I can get there by train and apparently its a nice journey. I'll give that a go! That makes it a bit more attractive than my local beaches.

Do it! Why not!

I have heard of locals getting annoyed with Londoners complaining about farm noises/smells in rural areas and trying to get working farms to stop. 🤣

As long as you go there and slot into their way of life you'll absolutely love it I'm sure.

Lovely in the summer does not mean lovely in a wet cold February.

The daft woman in the article didn't do her research. A small town far from the beach isn't the best way to uproot a family.

I'm planning on heading to Exmouth when I'm older. Train line, large supermarkets and a beach. and an M&S food walking distance from the beach

@Batcountry8 @mrsnec I know, I am not far away either!

I did this 4 years ago, though to Cornwall. I absolutely LOVE it. I love living by the sea, I love being able to live in a much bigger house. We often go to other areas for a couple of days and its great it only taking 45 minutes to travel to a holiday destination. I wouldn't go back.

There are downsides of course.

I miss my friends, although I have now made two very good proper friends in the village and know a lot of other people.

I miss some elements of my old working life- the social aspect and also using my brain.

Some of the people here can be quite parochial. Some resent 'incomers' and tourists and seem to think everything would be better with neither when the real issue is there are very few decent jobs down here. It drives me mad that so many are hard line Tories who voted Brexit but see none of the advantages of either of these things! But on the other hand the village community can be great.

I was 52 when we moved.

@Batcountry8 Hi!

Yes there aren't many of those about which was a highlight for me.

I live opposite a museum which is in an old church, and there's a huge chain supermarket over the road which I always thought was a bit rough and never shopped there but ours has a little stream running past, an equestrian shop and posh hairdressers next door and a Costa in store so I thought it was very upmarket at first! It didn't take long for the novelty to wear off but it adds to the character of the place really.

If you're local that definitely gives it away!

In my parents village there's no shop , the bus service is twice a week the pub only opens when they feel like it and they have a helicopter pad for the air ambulance on the village green. That kind of remoteness was not for me!

Totally get what you mean about London, we are in Greater London and where before you would generally feel safe it now feels like stabbings, dog attacks, theft, muggings etc are happening every week and very near where I live, this was definitely not the case pre covid/brexit. We are also contemplating a move but more likely to a country with better weather and lower crime.

I’ve never lived there but I’ve had many happy visits to Devon pursuing my musical interests - what about the Totnes/Dartington area?

Wondering where you are now!

Possibly not crazy far from me. When you mentioned dept store!! I can only think of one lol.

I've lived in Devon for a year.

My parents retired here from Surrey 25 years ago. They lived in a coastal small town before but now live in a very rural area. Neither of those are for me so I chose to live in the centre of a market town with a mainline station.

I absolutely love living here. I love the town, it has the same problems as any it's a bit run down but we have parks, a market, independent shops including a department store and trains all over the country. I'm 12 miles from Exeter and about 5 from Torbay. Which, incedently I don't mind.

It does have its negatives. I've done other threads on this, finding work has been impossible. I agree about making friends too. I have a very friendly neighbourhood, there's a WhatsApp group,everyone knows your name etc but I've not been in anyone's house for coffee or felt like I've got to the point where I could invite anyone in.

I've had kids over for play dates and my kids had a great turn out for thier birthday parties but invitations are rarely reciprocated. I just accept its just how it is and keep trying I don't want to let it put me off.

I continue to champion this town because in terms of accessibility and still feeling like I'm in Devon it's absolutely perfect.

I grew up in a rural idyll, many people retire or have second homes there.

There is a lot of hatred directed towards second home owners and people that retire there. It’s been a problem for years, as bad as Cornwall though not in the press like Cornwall. I remember when I was a kid in the 1980’s people being resentful.

I still have family there and some friends, two have retired very early and moved back. I would not risk moving to a rural area as an outsider myself. My friend was complaining about the amount of Essex accents in our little home town and how prices have been pushed up even further by the influx of Londoners since lockdown. If London is mentioned she puts on an exaggerated long burr when mentioning London in Hot Fuzz style

@Dulra The resentment is real. My parents though now dead were well known in the community, I’m in my fifties but it would still be oh yes of course she is Hetty’s daughter.

My friend is actually retiring to Cornwall but her DH is from there and still has quite an accent. I said to her you will be ok as you’re going with your Poldark.

Depends where in south Devon.

I live there.

Depends what you want from life.

My thoughts.

Homebase, B&Q big shops, end up being a day out in themselves as car journeys involved.
I quite like that tho, gets me out and I feel like it's fun to do.

I love leaving busy places and coming home to my quiet town, as much as I like going to busy places.

I don't have a partner but if I had one or a DH and in your position I would feel pretty happy that there was that company iyswim when I moved.

I like knowing that if I walk through town I'll bump into people who I have got to know. It's never really lonely.

Of course in a busier place I'd get to know people in cafes or shops but ultimately I like the calm quiet way of life.

I do have an offspring, who is at big city university now. Life was normal for her here she was used to the quiet. So in that sense I wouldn't have made a big move whilst she was in school etc.

It really depends on what you want from life.

Disclaimer I moved from London 20 yrs ago!

Cons.

Diversity is something I miss. Within culture, arts food, that type of thing.

But I travel alot to go away for gigs, mini breaks etc.

I then love being home again. I feel very lucky to be able to live within a beautiful place. Sure it gets on my wick at times but life can get on your wick.

We lived in Somerset for ten years and as I was a bit worried about the potential unfriendliness in a village so we lived in the edge of Taunton. I found it quite tricky to make friends. I’d come from an expat background so was used to making an effort and being open and friendly but although I made some friends most were not from Somerset initially.

We then did the opposite move to most people who retire to the SW and moved to the SE. Small village in Hampshire. And hour from London.

We find it much friendlier. It’s taken time but we moved in lockdown which didn’t help.

much happier here and have the best of both worlds really I think.

I wouldn’t go anywhere until your youngest has left Uni (if they go) They are still home for the holidays for half the year, keeping up with local school friends etc, needing p/t jobs, wanting a social life.

Also retiring to somewhere miles away is hard in your kids once you become very elderly.

My parents moved to a rural coastal area with no really local hospital, no GP in walking distance, no public transport, diminishing friends and neighbours as they died off and majority properties went to holiday homes etc. It was too far for me to do as a day trip or drive up after work on a Friday. Wasn’t easy. In the end I resented their choice.

I think it depends whether you enjoy the things that are important in rural areas. We moved to the Cotswolds many years ago from Central London. We had had a weekend cottage there for quite a long time, so we knew about the area and about the advantages and disadvantages.

The most important contribution to contentment was enjoying what the area has to offer. We like gardening, and horse racing. Both these activités (especially racing) meant we met other people who shared our interests. We were also involved in the church ( DH did scut work for the parish mag, I helped with polishing brass) .

My husband is from Devon. We live in a city in Ireland. I absolutely love it there as do my kids but I could never live there. We go a few times a year and summers there are very different to winters. Just too insular for me. Ironically I also find it quite built up for a rural county I am used to far more rural areas in Ireland. Devon is busy IMO.
My advice is go off season, go in November spend some time there to really figure out what you are after because each place is very different. North Devon is very different to South Devon, the coast is different to inland. Also get involved in village life, add something to their community because there is an element of resentment with Londoners moving down and pushing up house prices. As I am married into a well liked farming family I have enjoyed instant acceptance but I do think it must be really hard to integrate into the community where my in laws live. I hear the suspicion they instantly have when someone new moves in, watching and waiting for them to put a foot wrong so they can pounce. I kid you not and laugh and pull my mil up on it all the time 😂

Good luck it and whether it will work for you or not is anyone's guess. I would rent out your place in London and rent for a year first though, hedge your bets.

If you're sure you definitely don't want to stay put, what I would do is:

Spend the next few years really sorting through your stuff, declutter like mad

Sell your house

Rent a storage unit

Rent somewhere in Devon for a few months and then really think about it

It's a really different way of life, you might love it but you might hate it. I would give it a try before buying somewhere and fully committing to it.

I lived in London for 3 years and never made any friends, never knew any of my neighbours not even the person next door. Now I live in a village where I know nearly everyone!

Although I don't live there now I certainly wouldn't say that Devon was less friendly than London!

Move to the outskirts of Exeter maybe? Easy access to lovely beaches and less than an hour’s drive to Dartmoor. But easy access to services, shops and social activities.

A lot of people retire to rural villages but it’s a big mistake. They enjoy it for a few years then they age and have a few health issues, the house/garden becomes unmanageable, they’re miles away from hospitals and shops, and they basically sit indoors just fading away with nothing to do, totally stuck.

I've lived in Devon and London and wouldn't go back to either - although out of the two London is far worse IMO for all the reasons you list, Devon on the other hand feels very far away from anything to me and a bit backwards. Personally I'd pick somewhere nice in the middle, Winchester, Hungerford, Marlborough areas, the Cotswolds maybe or I always had a soft spot for Pangbourne. That way you can get down to Devon or into London if you want for the best of all worlds.

That's a really good point. I've lived all over including abroad and never have any issues making friends but I didn't make any when I lived/worked in Devon. It was a very lonely 2 years.

Unless you have links or are an active part of a community group eg a church I think you might struggle to make friends.

My parents have recently retired to th South West, but they have family there. If you’ve lived all your life in a big city I think you’ll find it a massive shock to be honest. Everything is an hours drive away.

Could you look at moving to a quieter town than London? Where are your family?

It’s not a crazy idea, parts of Devon are really lovely to live in, and parts have some of the same problems you describe in your current area!

In your shoes I’d be looking to spend some time in Exeter, and the small towns and villages along the coastal and moorland train lines into Exeter. Sounds like you want rural access rather than proper rural.

You can easily pop on the train back to London to see family then, even if you can’t manage the drive in future years.