Moving to the Lake District

[Duckswaddle]

Just after some opinions really from people who have done it, or live there already.
We currently live in the Midlands but come to the lakes regularly for holidays and are seriously talking about moving here. Probably Keswick/surrounding areas.
We’re early 30s with a 5 and 2 year old.
We’ve just spent another week here and the kids have had so much fresh air and fun running around the lakes, getting mucky and wet and not caring, and we’ve met people here who have told us what a great way of life it is.
I know it will be different and the change will probably feel awful at first. But it feels like home here!

You are so lucky, we nearly moved there years ago, too late now, wish we had. It's the loveliest place ever. And the Keswick area, to me, is the best. Cockermouth is beautiful.

It is great BUT unless you live in one of the town's or better equipped villages you need a car to go everywhere- 'local' shop, pub etc. Public transport is awful. If you want kids to have play dates you'll need a car that can accommodate extra child seats, they almost certainly won't live near enough to walk. Broadband is getting better but is still too poor to stream nextflix in some places (B4RN is helping with that though), snow can cause real issues in the higher areas. There are fewer power cuts these days than when I first lived there but they are still more frequent than in the more populated areas.

School catchments can be BIG, even for primary (or alternatively you can have a primary school of 2 classes and 40 kids total!). Some villages and towns are very cliquey.

And the tourists, oh the tourists! Summer can make you not want to step outside if you live in a town or large village (so you have that catch 22 issue).

Unless you can work from home your commute will likely be longer (and longer still in summer and snow!)

All in all I love the place though

I think the thing we’d struggle most with is feeling quite isolated as we have no family or friends here, although that would come over time I’m sure.

I grew up in Keswick. It has a few levels. A very superficial one the tourists see and wish to be part of. One that people who move into the area inhabit and the one saved only for locals. By locals I mean families that extend back a few generations. You will be lucky to be allowed into that Keswick. So yes move there it’s scenic but with a view that you’re still an outsider. Odd I know but there you go that’s the Lakes for you!

That’s another concern, I don’t want to feel uncomfortable settling somewhere that wouldn’t be welcoming. But from other people I’ve spoken to who have moved here from outside the area, they don’t seem to have found that at all. And we’ve never experienced any sort of hostility when we’ve been here.

No it’s not hostility and there is so many families moving in that you will have plenty of others in the same boat. It’s still a small town with small town mentalities that you don’t see when on holiday. Locals resent property price inflation, second homes etc etc. Shops that no longer support the community. I hear it from ex school mates all the time that I keep in touch with.

Friends of ours moved from Manchester to a village near Keswick, and they were made very welcome, as the residents were relieved they were not second home buyers. They were apparently always very pleased when young families moved in, too.

That’s nice to hear. It definitely wouldn’t be a second home situation!!
I really think we’ll do it. Need to start job hunting!

A friend of ours has lived and worked in the Lake District for years. He still gets charged visitors prices not locals prices in his local pub.

Not a fan of the Lake District at all. A really unpleasant incident with some locals in a pub with my girl friends when I was a student put me off for life. Unfortunately DH really likes the area.

People are always pleased when families with young children move in. There's a really serious problem in the Lakes with second home ownership and well off retirees pushing up house prices and pricing local families out of the market.

You will get far more for your money if you look at the slightly less touristy areas, on the edges on the national park in particular, without having to compromise too much on the rural dream.

Job hunting may prove to be a problem. In Keswick itself there is obviously lots of (usually) low paid and seasonal work but not much else. As said above it is a small town with, for example, just one secondary school, a couple? of doctors surgeries, not much in the way of local government administration etc
More variety of employment opportunities can be found in places like Workington, Penrith, Carlisle and out on the West Coast - mainly Nuclear industry out West.
I hope all goes well with your search - I’m fairly close to Keswick and would love to live there but there are many reasons as well as work opportunities that mean it would not work for us.

Yes it looks like Penrith and Carlisle would be the most likely places for work, based on our job roles/skills. Jobs very thin on the ground, but continued searches and hopefully within the next couple of years...

We recently moved from a touristy area. I'd say think long and hard before doing it. Tourism made our lives miserable. On a sunny day we were effectively trapped at home as the roads into town would be backed up. It was almost impossible to nip to the shops (or anywhere). Bear in mind that the days you want to be out and about because the weather is nice will be the busiest tourist days too.

Living somewhere like this might not be the perfect life we all imagine when we go somewhere lovely on holiday.

We did this a few years back. Moved from a city to a tiny village in the Lakes. Best move ever. Our kids have a wonderful outdoor lifestyle and it’s completely safe, everyone friendly and welcoming and looking out for each other’s children. Stunning countryside on our doorstep. I’m trying to think of some negatives, one would be it tricky to access cultural stuff without driving a fair way, you can’t just ‘pop’ to the cinema or theatre. Kids getting older now so having to ferry them everywhere like a taxi service! 😂 sorry me parts of Cumbria are heaving in the summer and best avoided but you learn to stay away!

Whoops! Some parts...not ‘sorry me’!

That’s really useful thank you. Where did you move to?
I do understand going somewhere for a week is a lot different to living there, but we are both needing a big lifestyle change and we go there again and again. Being there this week with the kids having so much fun has really made us believe we could actually just do it...

We are outside Penrith and technically just outside the Lake District boundary but only by 3 miles, bit does make house prices slightly cheaper! Our quality of life is so much better and our kids spend a lot of time outdoors playing with the village kids/climbing trees etc. It’s lovely. If you are going to do it would recommend finding a village with some central hub, a school/pub/cafe or shop really helps to give some vibrancy! Please PM me if you want any more info. All the best.

Hi, just wondering if you managed to move to the lake district in the end? Myself, husband and our 5 year old are looking to relocate from Essex. We are trying to work out the best plan to do it. Thanks.