To want to move to Cornwall so badly

[Musicinthe00ssucks]

It's an impossible dream though. DH and I both live and work in London we have DDs 2 and 4 and grandparents around the corner. We have an average income in London (probably good everywhere else) and our own home. I just can't get the idea out of my head and I feel like we would have such a fantastic standard of living down there. Only problem is lack of jobs, too far from family etc.

Someone please tell me I am being totally unreasonable and that Cornwall is actually a crap place to live - please!!

There is very little work there unfortunately I am Cornish and it's beautiful but in a skilled proffession you will need to travel and Cornwall only has truro as the city

Yep, me too. But have been suspecting what pink confirms re work.

well I haven't been to Cornwall for about 40 years but my sister has and she said she was shocked at how busy and crowded it was and she wasn't staying anywhere mainstream.

Does that help?

I'm probably not the best person to ask, reckon I'll be out of London as soon as my parents are gone. I used to think I couldn't leave my friends, they are effectively my family along with sis, but London has become so horrifically overcrowded I might head to the Hebrides or something.

Cornwall is beautiful and I'd love to live there too! But when you're on holiday you're not really seeing the reality of it, the bad weather, the lack of jobs etc.

It really depends what you do - if you are a techie web developer or database administrator then the high speed broadband in Cornwall would mean you could easily transfer your job down there. It's not that remote either - you're 3 or 4 hours on the train from Plymouth to London, and you can fly from Newquay to Gatwick or Stansted.

It doesn't have to be an impossible dream, but you need to do lots of homework into the employment and housing situation.

Yes me to and confirm what the others have said.

It is so far away, like really , really far. The weather is mostly shit, interspersed with nice weather. Not great on the job front. Very, very parochial.

Ridiculously busy in summer/during holidays.

Quite an active dislike if 'outsiders'.

There, does that help???

It's a different kind of life and perhaps not for everyone but we moved four years ago and would never return to the south east.

We have both found good jobs. Children are at excellent schools. And we live 50 yards from the beach.

Cornwall is crowded during summer half term and the six week summer holiday. The rest of the time it's not.

It rains more here but the bonus is no snow and it really doesn't get that cold in winter. We've had ice twice in four years.

The air is clean. The local produce is abundant. It's a relaxed laid back way of life.

Be prepared to drive everywhere though!

Average salary in cornwall is around £18,800. that's the average salary. could you live on that?

loads in the news recently about house prices and relative to salary they are horrendous.

No motorways. fine when we are going there on holiday because who minds pootling along or getting stuck in traffic but would I want to do that drive every time I wanted to go somewhere. NO!

I grew up there and most of my family are Cornish. Finding decent paying work is an issue, unless you have a skill that fits well into the local economy or can work remotely from home (not sure what the broadband quality is now though).

It is batshit crazy busy during the summer if in a touristy area and dead and can be quite miserable in winter. There are lots of towns/villages away from the pretty spots that are rather grim in my opinion, though these tend to have the more affordable house prices.

If the beach and countryside is your main thing and you won't tire of those, and you are happy to drive a lot it may suit you well.

A lot of it is very beautiful, but apart from that I didn't really enjoy growing up there and wouldn't go back to be honest, though other people will have different experiences.

Your problems of lack of work and family are pretty major. I wouldn't be tempted.

We had this dream once even going as far as looking at property. Dh is a plumber and we were assured by a builder from the area ( we were on holiday at the time and renting one of his properties) that work would be in abundance, he could offer dh plenty of work, etc.

We didn't do it, we're not risk takers but the dream is still there.

Alot of my friends DHs work in London and come back at weekends. It keeps that London paycheck but obv cost if accommodation in London to consider too.

I find this so interesting. I can't imagine anywhere in the UK I would rather NOT live. It is so very remote, grey and impoverished and overrun with tourists. What are the upsides?

Plumbers are in demand down here!

I think I'd prefer to retire somewhere like that than to raise kids there.

I'm not sure I'd fancy having to drive everywhere and I'd worry about the kids finding work/opportunities when they're older.

Also, I believe it's not particularly ethnically diverse and I'm not sure I'd choose that for my kids either.

I don't get the Cornwall thing either. I grew up in Devon. Unless you fly, you have to go through Devon to get to Cornwall. So why bother? Devon is on a par, if not prettier. And barring Salcombe, not so full of tourists, it's easier to get off the beaten track.

Cornwall in the summer months sounds like my idea of hell. And then grey and wet in the winter. I suppose it's nice in May (not half term) and September, but no nicer than Devon.

Why Cornwall?

Poor employment prospects and low wages. Miles from anywhere. Expensive housing relative to incomes.

Plumbers are in demand everywhere! Didnt Norman Schwarzkopf say he could order the world's biggest army but still struggled to find a good plumber? If I was a plumber - or is it "were"? - I would live where the hell i liked.

I did it. I left after four years. Impossibility of career progression, too quiet in winter.

Also 18 miles to a supermarket.

It takes ages to get anywhere in Cornwall, growing up in a touristy seaside resort I know the underbelly well - the majority of jobs are seasonal and underpaid. Impossible for teenagers to get around as public transport is limited.

You can't eat the scenery was a mantra I grew up with.

It's is beautiful, the jewel in the crown of England. I reckon though that pull of living there is an illusion because I'm only ever there when I'm on holiday and not worrying about homework and work and bills and housework and all the stuff that gets in the way of relaxing.

Can undertake why you would want to

I definitely do get he Cornwall thing😀

But I can only echo other posters thoughts
Wages are low, work can be hard to come by, business income can be seasonal so you could waste all your summer working to fund yourself and have all winter when the weather is miserable off- lots Depends on your job prospects

• also if you are used to having family support close by then it's going to be an enormous shock when that disappears - yes many of us (me included) live without it - but if you have it and have gotten use to it I think it would be a real shock to lose it

• meant can understand