To move to Plymouth?

[PaintingOwls]

I'm sick and tired of my job in London. Someone said getting up every day was like a cheese grater to the soul, and that's exactly how I feel. I don't have time to do things like I like (without sacrificing sleep) and I live in a mouldy flat with DP. Every stereotype you can think of.

DP was looking at jobs (NHS) and saw a hospital in Plymouth was advertising and is thinking of applying for it. I'm not sure how serious he was, he said it in a kind of, fuck it, let's pack it in and live by the sea kind of way.

I've been looking at houses and they are SO AFFORDABLE! In theory we could survive on his salary alone, which is very exciting. Obviously I will want a job, but the idea is still incredible, given that we can only afford a tiny shared ownership flat in London if we were to buy.

Only trouble is, I've only ever passed through Plymouth in the train and coach to Cornwall, so I have no idea what it's really like. I don't know where to look, which areas are nice, good for schools, etc etc. No DC yet, but definitely in the pipeline for the next 5 years.

Can any MNtters (especially if you relocated to Plymouth) shed some light on what it's like to live there and which areas to avoid, etc?

I grew up in Plymouth, moved to Exeter to go to Uni, returned briefly and have now lived in London for 18 years. I have a an 18 month old and am expecting my second so will be moving back there in the summer.
TBH part of me is a bit reticent, I was desperate to leave when I did but my life has changed and so have my needs. All me family are still there, I remember calling them from work in the summer at 6pm and they would be at the beach.
If you want to bring your kids up in an outdoor environment it's the place to be. The Moors are beautiful, beaches are close by but you need a car. It's not like London where everything is on your doorstep. The best bits of Plymouth are what surrounds it. I was bought up walking on Dartmoor every weekend at at beaches all summer.
The South Hams have gorgeous beaches like Bantham, Wembury, Mothecombe but you will have to drive 30 mins or more to get there.
The surrounding villages are very quiet and can be quiet isolated. If you live on Tavistock your husband may have problems getting to Derriford in the winter as snow regularly happens in the high grounds of the moor even when there is none in Plymouth.
As people have said Peverell is nice (mainly late Victorian,no pubs though as it was gifted to the city from the Quakers and parking is a bitch). Derriford and Woolwell are more pricey with modern housing. Hartley is 1920/30's semis and spacious. Stoke seems to be on the up and is closer to town. Plympton has its own little high street and is close to the South Hams
Like people said it is not very diverse (although far more than it was when I was young) and there are some very deprived areas - but so has London! There can sometimes be a bit of tall poppy syndrome but you make friends with people who share your values and interest.
If you need any more info you are welcome to PM me, I have friends who are teachers and work in the hospital, some who have never left and some who have been to London and moved back so they have a good range of experience.

@Crispbutty you have rose tinted London Googles on. There is crime, it's just another sort. Like I said before, highest rates of domestic and sexual abuse in Plymouth and Torbay areas...

The op is obviously a similar age to myself and it sounds like your quite a bit older if you've already lived in London for 20 years? It's safe to say I'm more aware of the lifestyle she may be after, and I don't mean 'trendy' restaurants and bars, i mean bringing up children (which she did say) and having a cheaper and better quality of life. She also mentioned she would be looking for work. Un-employment is so high in the south west, especially Plymouth!

She asks for advice on her Specific situation and like many many others , i say Plymouth is a No.

Others who like it are married to military, or have connections to the area, or brought a house 8 years ago... unfortunately those experiences are just not at all going to be relevant for her. Isn't that obvious? Others have slated it far worse then me.

Frankly though, when your born and bred, your aloud to truth tell and if you want, slate, a place. I lived in the south west for longer or a similar amount of time to most people on this thread so I think my opinion is very valid.

People who actually grew up in these places have all said it's a no no for her. And as she's wanting to raise a family there potentially and look for work, become part of a community, there opinions are the most valid

@scaryteacher Totnes is an even bigger no! We can definitely agree there!

@scaryteacher you arnt really reading my posts are you as I have mentioned my mother lives in Cornwall and I live in Bristol quite a few times. Others have literally called Plymouth a grime hole, I have just been very honest about it from a 30 something perspective. Your at the age I may even want to move back down to Devon. But the op is not in her 50s. I was a child raised there, south Brent, Plymouth, Totnes, kingsbridge, ivybridge... these are LITERALLY they surrounding areas of Plymouth. Arnt you moving to Cornwall anyway from Brussels? It's hardly the same as what the op is doing

I grew up down here before moving to London so I know what I’m talking about. The op has not returned to this thread and has given scant info about her needs and the lifestyle she likes.

@Crispbutty so you spent your 30's in London then? I assumed you had moved back like the op was suggesting before having kids ect

Surly only if you have done a similar thing suggested in her question at a similar time of life can your positive experience have much baring on hers?

I went for several days a few years ago and thought it was an absolute hole. Where I'm from is also a seasidey place (much more so, sandy beaches abound) with its areas of deprivation and not-pretty-ness, so it wasn't really the fact that some bits were ugly or sad looking that made me dislike it; it was more related to the people. I was only there 3 days for a conference and obviously those I met aren't representative of the Plymouth population, but the casual and aggressive homophobia and racism made my skin prickle. There's 1 gay club, that I noticed, and yet every single taxi driver brought the conversation around to it to tell me they were being overrun by . Someone in a bar shouted to a colleague that those drinks were for 'the paki lot' outside. No one in that packed place even twitched an eyebrow (we left). Even the family running the b and b I stayed in were horrible. I really, really hated it; and coming from something of a shit hole myself, I usually fantasize about moving to every new area I get to visit!

Bit off the wall maybe, but if your partner is NHS and you can work anywhere too, have you thought about Lincoln? My mum is there, and the property is ridiculously cheap in comparison to South East. I could buy my equivalent property without a mortgage. They also have gorgeous little primary schools and some excellent secondaries. I'm not suggesting the City itself (ew, IMO) but the wee towns and villages. Depending on where you live you can travel to Peterborough, Leeds, Hull, Lincoln, so it's not limiting for work opportunities. Just a thought. Best of luck escaping the mouldy London flat!

You don't have to live in Plymouth to work there!

Callington is very close, just over the border in Cornwall.

You could go the whole hog and look at Seaton or Looe. I would!

I have just met so many people of my generation who have done exactly what the op has put to us (give or take vague details) and so many have regretted it and are now saving to leave.

It is wildly different in the south west and as she has suggested a city, the only other one is Exeter basically. As much as we may love the beaches/village life/moorland, the day to day is where you actually live and work isn't it.

Plymouth is so deprived and as much love as I have for the library and museum (such wonderful places). I am 99% sure that this would not be the right decision for most people planning on raising a family, living 'by the coast's and looking for work.

The people I know who are happy are the ones who extensively researched and knew certainly what the place they were moving to was like, warts and all.

Pottery, Have you lived in London?

DH and I both work in Plymouth but don’t live there. It is a very deprived city, still suffering the effects of WWII bombings and has some areas to be avoided. But I meet the most amazing people through my work who are passionate about their city and work desperately hard to make things better. There are some great arts and culture things happening all the time but I agree, shopping is a no! That’s what’s the Internet is for when you have Devon and Cornwall on your doorstep.

We commute 40 mins each way. Probably nothing for someone used to London commutes. For that we get the benefits of a smallish ruralish town and as much access to countryside as we could ever want. Visiting ‘up country’ takes a while, but if you can afford somewhere with guest space then you find people like to visit down here.

If you’re swayed by thoughts of Exeter, just make sure you look carefully at traffic routes as most hospital workers spend half their day in queuing traffic I think.

I was told by a recruiter that nobody commutes between Plymouth and Exeter as it takes ages and even the train is £300 a month. Exeter is nicer and there are more jobs there but houses are also more expensive.

My mum is from Plymouth and married my dad when he was in the marines. We moved from London before having DC as the houses were cheap, it’s on the coast and we could get jobs here. My parents have retired here and my brother and SIL live here too.

We are very happy here. It’s undoubtedly rough in places but the hoe is a fantastic place to get some fresh air and we’re very close to beaches. We like the proximity to south east Cornwall for beaches. There is a lido on the seafront if you don’t mind braving the cold water. Because housing is cheap we can afford more leisure activities. The theatre is excellent and there are good sports facilities. Great place to live for sailing, kayaking, wind surfing, swimming and diving. There are loads of great restaurants and royal William yard is a great place to eat out and have a wander. You can get the foot ferry to mount Edgecombe estate for great walks.

On the downside there is high unemployment and poverty due to the reliance on the dockyard and poor transport links. You can be unaware of this if living away from those areas though.

I used to commute to Exeter and found it less friendly than Plymouth, traffic is worse. It is more attractive and shops are much better but that’s not worth the premium on housing in my opinion.

The train takes under an hour and to be honest £211 (I just checked the costs) a month really isn’t too bad in comparison to London commuting from a similar distance and commute time.

*@Oblomov18 *
Where you more of the Cultural Vibes / Oz / Scream era?
If so we may have met in a previous existence....

I live in Plymouth and have all my life, except for 2 years in Hampshire which I hated. I love it here. Great beaches and Dartmoor on your doorstep.
It doesn't have a city feel, I can see swans, herons and cormorants from my window. There are lots of parks, the Hoe, woodlands and rivers.
Shopping isn't great but lots of places are struggling with that. Exeter has more shops but not ones that the average family would use that much.

I have never had a problem with crime and can't say I have ever seen a junkie shooting up on the Hoe.
As I said, I love it here and we are very happy here.

www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/daily-okehampton-exeter-trains-promised-1141277

New train line plans confirmed too which means Exeter will be even more easy to access. House prices likely to go up a bit once it’s running too.

Pottery please can you tell me what is wrong with Totnes? I grew up there also and plan to move back, has it changed dramatically in recent years? I miss it! Or am I missing what it used to be?

The £211 ticket is for 3 weekdays plus the weekend. It’s £323 for a monthly if you travel to work everyday in the week!

Firmly with TonTon and scary. Plymouth is a military city and a naval port and yes, it's poor and there are some decidedly rough areas. The City council have made some very odd decisions too. Nevertheless, I like it much more than Exeter which is also quite seedy with massive drug abuse and homelessness very much on display. Exeter also has large swathes of Coronation St houses and much worse traffic. Topsham is a bit twee, and mega-expensive.

But no city in the UK is more beautifully located than Plymouth, and where the Luftwaffe didn't get involved in town planning, it has some magnificent old buildings, as well as a few gems from the post war era. On a fine day (okay, not too many of those at this time of year), you can see what the architects had in mind with the open graceful boulevards.

To me Plymouth has SO much unrealised potential, like OCSockOrphanage said some decisions made by the local council seem short sighted.
I once heard it described as a Southern city that thinks it's a Northern town and I always thought that fitted it well.

If it helps, I lived in both Preston and Coventry and I still think Plymouth is the grimmest of the grim. And nowhere near good beaches!!

@BettyBooJustDoinTheDoo I do know a couple of people who a really successful move back to Toters, but it definitely depends on what you want (there really is very little to do there other then the pub, though the new library is way better). The barn cinema in Dartington is still up and running too but like cranks it sold out in the end (Cranks is/was owned by Nandos and the barn is not independent any more)

I hear Ashburton is the place to go now .

Personally the expense of Totnes and the supposed 'lifestyle' there just doesn't weigh up. But it depends on what you personally want and your age, whether you know anyone there still? friends/family.

Like the person who loves Plymouth but they grew up there and only have ever moved away for a few years, so hardly surprising they like it.

If you know no one and are moving to find those connections then it is very different. Hardly a shocker someone loves living in the place they've basically always lived in and where most of their family and friends are.

Back to Totnes. Personally I need a lot more space before i'd ever return. how old are you if you don't mind me asking? I think that makes a difference, if your in your 20's definitely don't do it! 30's/40's/50s....you might enjoy the life there, but it a very different place from the 80's/90's.

As regards work there too its ALL tourist industry based (sure someone will pop up and say 'i run a very successful business there ect ect) but the majority is a retirement town, full of steinerish people, the very poor, the very rich, the very velvety, so incredibly cleeky, though al lot of the older timers have gone (I referred to this in a previous post about our parents who moved down in the 80s who have now all sold up and got out again!)

But if you have family then that kind of does change things (this for Plymouth too!). My friends sister enjoys being back to raise her small daughter as her partents still live at the top of the high street.

She is of course working in a cafe (what else is there in that place?) and her parents house is now worth a million so you know, there are other benefits.

There is also a very bad heroin problem in Totnes, among the middle and upper classes as well as the door junkies ect.

Its really bad for that alone, and more dangerous in some ways then a city as its 'hidden' or a pretty, acceptable face is painted on that issue.

Miss Dartington though. I used to live on the estate when I forst had my daughter. It was bliss for a few years. and then it wasn't. It just had a time limit for me. There is literally nothing to do a lot of the time and it is also a wasteland for diversity.

@BettyBooJustDoinTheDoo Totnes really dies a death when the university moved to Falmouth too. It was the beginning of the end.