To want to move to Yorkshire/Cornwall without being able to drive?

[Firefretted]

Come October, I will have the freedom to move wherever I like. No responsibilities in terms of mortgage or kids etc. I've spent the past few years in big cities and am absolutely sick of pollution/constant music and noise/concrete jungles etc. I can work anywhere (frontline NHS role in a field experiencing severe staff shortages) and my main priority is to move somewhere beautiful!

I would love to move to either the Yorkshire Dales or Cornwall as both are stunning but am aware that public transport isn't brilliant in either place. Learning to drive isn't an option due to health reasons, unfortunately. If you live there without driving, how do you find it? Are there particular areas you would recommend, with good trains/bus links etc? I know these threads tend to get posters warning that rural life isn't all it's cracked up to be but I'd love to try for a year or two - if it doesn't work out I can move on again. All suggestions welcome, thank you!

I live in rural Yorkshire

My best friend lives nearby and doesnt drive. It's a pain in the arse for her.

I often take her to appointments, but when I cant it's tough. She has to sort herself. We arent as rural as the Dale's either. But buses often skip cant go the way they are meant to etc. She is leaning to drive because I cant and wont be her taxi service.

Doing a big shop has to be by taxi. And being rural you would need stock of food in as often roads are closed in snow and ice.

I can't answer about Cornwall. But moving to the Dale's with no independent transport isnt great. Theres a reason lots of people move to less rural areas if they feel driving is an issue as they get older

I live in a Yorkshire coastal town, so not entirely rural, but I lived in a city before and am finding it much quieter and less stressful. Public transport isn't amazing, but buses run at least once an hour, depends where you want to go I guess. There's also a train station. The town itself is small enough that I can walk just about everywhere though, whilst still having two supermarkets and a hospital.

I live in a part of rural yorkshire with very little public transport but i travel all over yorkshire for work. Would large mill villages such as Silsden, Addingham, Cross Hills, East Morton appeal? There are fairly close to Keighley and Skipton and Bradford and always seem to have plenty of buses, they are also not far from the dales. There are quite large populations in those areas and they are in West Yorkshire rather than North Yorkshire so public transport is less likely to be cut.
Might be worth taking a holiday and trying a few places out.

Hi OP. We left London years ago wanting, among other things, to live somewhere beautiful. DH stayed working in London. I didn't/don't drive so during the week I was on my own and stuck working v locally. Pretty much hated it straightaway. 15 years later am moving back to London and cannot bloody wait!!
If you don't drive how are you expecting to access all the things you like about the area? We only lived a 20 min drive to either coast or moors, but with practically NO public transport accessing either almost impossible and we may as well have lived 100 miles away.
If you really can just change your mind and come back then by all means give it a try... Best of luck.

Not driving in proper rural will be very isolating and inconvenient. However you'll definitely find a small town or large village with good transport links on the edge of good countryside such that you can walk to isolation while still maintaining easy access to civilisation.

An off the top of my head example is Saltaire, but there will be endless other places, Hebden Bridge is another one but watch out for flood risk.

I moved to a small village in somerset and can’t drive and it’s a real pain in the arse. At first therecwas a decent bus service but that’s gone now and my life is curtailed and expensive because of it. Taxis are very costly

Don’t even consider Cornwall if you can’t drive unless you want to live in a town like Truro for example. The public transport is hopeless and everything is very far apart. It’s absolutely beautiful but without a car, I really wouldbt

I would be wary of moving to a village without being able to drive, to be honest - even if it seems to have a reasonable bus service, they can often disappear with budget cuts, I've seen it happen before. Or you end up with one bus a day and can't get to work.

I would pick a small rural town with enough amenities within walking distance, and plan to get a bus to the depths of the countryside rather than the other way around.

You could look at Settle. Bus and train service to Skipton, Lancaster and Carlisle, amenities in the town itself, stunning setting but not totally isolated.

Small town. Perfectly doable.
But you absolutely must find somewhere with most services in walking distance. Hourly buses are fine for your occasional big shopping trip or cinema but not if you need them every time you want to get to the post office or pick up a prescription.

Yep small town with doctors, chemist, shop, takeaway, post office all walking distance is the answer. We moved out from London 15 years ago and initially thought we wanted to be very rural, little village etc. Soon became clear to me that I needed a bit more around me than that (although I do drive), so now we’re in a small town and actually walking distance to a bigger town as well, with train to London etc. perfect for us.

Although I have to agree with pp who said how are you going to access the beautiful countryside you crave if you can’t drive? If you’re in Cornwall and struggle to get to the beach, or Yorkshire the equivalent, you could be anywhere...

Will you want to leave Yorkshire/Cornwall to go and see friends and family? I'd look at the practicalities of that journey as well as the day to day journeys as well. Not sure about Yorkshire but Cornwall takes so long to get anywhere and trains are so expensive

I don't drive. I live on the outer edge of S.W. Sheffield. It is very quiet. There are lovely country walks from the doorstep and buses into the city (3 miles) every 15 mins. I can go to the theatre, restaurants, cinemas, lectures etc. and also walk regularly in the Peak District. It is the best mix of country and city living, but property is pricey in this neighbourhood.

Loon at Ilkley/Skipton. You have good public transport links to Leeds and Bradford and yet you can be in beautiful moorland in moments. Same applies to the train lines between those towns and Leeds/Bradford. I lived near Ilkley for years as an adult and never missed the fact I couldn't drive (then I moved and had to learn)

Agree with pp you will need to find somewhere where you can access local
amenities without a car - doctors / dentists etc.

The bigger problem is a social life and getting out to see the countryside - sounds very isolating, especially in the winter.

You definitely 100% can't learn to drive?

In a front line NHS role, would you need to work shifts? If so, I think that would rule out anything smaller than a medium to large town. I live in a large town near a big city, (Yorkshire/Derbyshire border) and our public transport isn't bad, but shuts down past 11/12 pm ish. You'd struggle to get to a hospital in the middle of the night on public transport.

How will you get to work in rural areas if you don't drive?

Most hospitals are in bigger towns and cities so that would be a major consideration.

Agree you need to live in walking distance to everything you need, work/shops /doctors/hospital etc as even large towns do not have the public transport of city's.

What about somewhere like Marsden in Huddersfield? Beautiful rural village on the edge of the Moors, great walks etc... but half an hour from Huddersfield on the bus and a train line to get into Leeds/Manchester. It's all lovely in the Colne and Holme Valleys.

We are retiring to the west country and in the years to come don't want to rely on driving ourselves. Newquay and Bude are our favourites so far although obviously very touristy. The town centres are right by the beaches and Newquay has rail links as well. Good luck!

What about Plymout? Or plymton? Next to dartmoor, next to north Cornwall.

How would you get to work if there isn't a bus service? You'd need to be in a town/within walking distance of the hospital - so definitely in the concreted bits.

Bus services can be two hourly, especially after 6pm. Do you fancy waiting until 9.15pm for your bus home if you've missed the 7.15pm one by thirty seconds? And then it might not turn up, it could snow, you could find yourself cut off overnight or stuck halfway across the moor because the bus can't travel any further. Roadworks cause horrendous traffic because there aren't any other ways to get where you're going. Taxis won't leave the city at night or in the morning because it's not worth their while to travel ten miles out and ten miles back. You can't get to the next village because they don't have a bus service at all. So it might as well not exist, along with 99% of the beautiful scenery.

I love the West Country and we will move back there one day, but public transport is not a viable option if you're outside the city/large town/student areas and need to work.

I live on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border. We live in the middle of nowhere but can also walk to the local large village in 20 minutes. It has everything you might need small supermarket etc. Good bus service to city about an hour away or to towns in other directions.

Big supermarkets- Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA all delivery here for much less than it costs to get to them.

Rail service - west coast mainline either available after bus to city or taxi to other nearer station

Could happily live without a car here.

any reason for those super-wet parts of the country? There are other not-London places that have a much better climate.

You'll need a large village or country town to have any chance of getting around.

I've lived almost all my life in Cornwall. It depends what sort of rural you want - if you mean in the actual countryside, don't do it without driving, it's a total pain. If you mean a rural town, there's lots - the ones that are nearer to the sort of walking etc that you like are more expensive. Lots of run down areas with good transport links - I live in one! Good as in Camborne, Redruth, St Austell are all on the mainline to Paddington/each other but are all scuzzy. BUT you can get buses to villages, or just walk a bit out of the town and get nice countryside. Buses not too bad, but very expensive. You will probably notice not just the inconvenience of the public transport, but how expensive it is.
Truro might be a good option if your work is in the hospital. If you're community based, I don't think you could manage without a car.

Meant to add, cost of living is also expensive down here compared to income levels, so need to factor that in. Happy to answer more if you have any specific questions.

Grew up in Cornwall, in a coastal town. I think it’s possible to live without a car if you live somewhere well connected. Most properly rural locations would be out. I went to college by bus and it’s very doable, but public transport in Cornwall is slooow. I’m not going to lie, getting my driving licence was a huge relief. It’s why most Cornish teenagers start learning the minute they hit 17. You would want to think carefully about where to live in terms of making the most of your days off. I think I’d want to live near the beach, but that would probably make your work commute longer