Can anyone talk about living in Bodmin please?

[Greenneonfluff]

Just that really. On a relocation to that area and would like to know anything.
Schools - infants.
Areas to avoid.
Good activities?
Nice walks?

Good and bad. Please.

Anyone? Please.

I dont live there but I'm not far away. It's a nice town, good transport connections, easy to get to the coast on both sides. Beautiful scenery and walks nearby. There's a KFC..

I'm not far from there but to be honest, I wouldn't want to live in the town.

Lostwithiel is a lovely little town and there are plenty of other nice areas nearby but there are some real social deprivation issues in Bodmin and the schools reflect this in my experience.

Good points - well situated to access the A30, good rail links from the parkway, not too far to either coast. Near Eden, lanhydrock and some lovely countryside.

Bad points - deprivation, not a lot in the way of shops in the town centre and a fair way from Truro where there's a bit more, relatively landlocked for Cornwall.

I can think of many places within 10 miles I would prefer to live. The one thing Bodmin does have going for it is cheaper property than prettier parts of Cornwall - it's not a exactly a tourist hotspot.

I have never been to Bodmin but responding because of an article I read at the weekend which talks about crime levels in Bodmin. Not trying to be negative but you asked for good and bad!

‘I agreed because I was scared’: boy, 16, on county lines ordeal

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/03/boy-x-county-lines-ordeal-cornwall?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

I was just looking at Bodmin as a stop off for lunch on the way to Port Isaac. I checked Tripadvisor and quickly changed my mind.

Have you never heard of the beast of bodmin op? That would put me off

Bodmin itself is unremarkable. A grey little town. But you will find many many lovely villages nearby and if you want to be in a town, Lostwithiel or Wadebridge are both close and I would happily live in either.

As an east Cornwall dweller, Bodmin is one of those places I just pass through on the way to elsewhere.

That Guardian article is ridiculous though. You could write that about just about anywhere in the U.K.

It’s typical of a London centric journalist writing an expose about the little provinces. And I say that as someone who worked in media for 15 years before leaving London to live in Cornwall.

@Orangesamphire
The info in the article came from safercornwall.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2019/07/Bodmin-Town-Profile-2018.pdf

I live in Cornwall.
There are plenty of lovely towns & villages down here. Bodmin is not one.

As others have mentioned, high social deprivation & high crime are huge factors. There is a reason property is cheap there.

If you like North Cornwall, I would agree with others that Lostwithiel & Wadebridge are miles better.

I grew up 10 miles away from Bodmin. I would not choose to live in Bodmin based on my experiences of having friends there when I was growing up (a lot of kids would get the bus every day to come to the school in my town). I'm guessing not much has changed over the years (I no longer live in Cornwall) but my memories of Bodmin are that that it's generally a bit grim.

There are plenty of nicer places nearby- Lostwithiel being one of them. St Austell and Fowey are only a 30 minute drive away if you want somewhere by the coast. I suspect Fowey has become expensive now though!

The stats did @Magissa but the emotive picture did not, and similar stats exist for most areas of the U.K.

Wadebridge is much nicer. Good shops, lovely cafes & restaurants, walks along Camel Estuary, nearer coast. I'd look there rather than Bodmin.

However, Cardinham Woods outside Bodmin are great for walks & lovely little play area and cafe.

I live just outside of Bodmin. Wadebridge & Lostwithiel probably are "nicer" towns, Bodmin has it's issues the same as any non-tourist spot in Cornwall.

It has lots of positives too, the Into Bodmin Project has brought some great events to the town and they have just opened a new cafe in the old library.

There's a fabulous new cinema just opened and a great little cafe/cocktail bar has just opened on Honey Street. The huge investment happening at Bodmin Jail can only bring more positives to the town too.

There's some fantastic primary schools, some people also choose to take their children to outlying village schools like Nanstallon or Lanivet, depends which side of town you will be living.

Happy for you to PM me with questions if you like!

Thank you.
We went down yesterday to look at houses.
Can’t say I loved the place not either of the houses jumped out. But hard to get an idea in one short day.
I’ll read through comments properly shortly.

Would you be happy to live in a village rather than a town? There's lots of lovely villages to choose from!

Definitely more of a village person. 😆

I’ve read comments to DH. We think Bodmin is out.

Thoughts on areas of outskirts of St Austell?

Been there once, wouldn't go back 😬

Be careful with st Austell - I wouldn't particularly want a clay village - bugle, st Dennis, Roche etc.

Charlestown, Carlyon bay, porthpean, duporth are all lovely as are villages to the west - sticker, Polgooth are worth a look. Lovely community feel, great schools nearby too. If you can get in the roseland school catchment area I would do so.

Cardinham woods. Camel trail (not the best bit of it but its a flat trail and has access eventually to the wadebridge padstow part). I agree better places to live but it has plenty of supermarkets, cheaper housing than on the coast, good college (dont know about schools), pretty sure theres a leisure centre (dragon centre).

Well I have to say thank you for all advice.
With our limited budget and the few views at weekend we are going to hold off, save up, get me back to work and try again for better areas in a few years.
Our gut instinct is that it’s not feeling right to move right now as much as we want to be down there. 🤷🏼‍♀️ 🌊

St Austell, probably similar, but depends what you mean by outskirts. Also this is relative! Where are you now? Or have I missed that...