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!

muddledmidget Hehe if I move to either, I forsee my friends and family suddenly being very keen to come and visit me for mini breaks! It's a good point though, thanks. Will bear it in mind.

fastliving Sadly not

lovelyupnorth and reefedsail Those sound perfect! Would you be willing to say where, either here or via pm please?

As you mentioned October, is this because your child/children are going to university? You might need to factor in how they are going to get backwards and forwards to a rural area with all their stuff using public transport.

I live in the West Country and my family is Cornish. Is your role hospital based? Do you work shifts especially night shifts? If so you would need to be within walking distance of the hospital. That narrows your search down somwehat. You can then use public transport for days out etc which are less frequent than work (sadly). In this area you will be able to access a lot of lovely places, some of the more remote areas and beaches are very difficult to access by public transport however. We live on a rail link and it would be possible to do everything via train or bus if pushed. We would have to make some changes, different GP, change times at work etc but it could be done.

Skipton and Ilkley have good train links.

I would not move anywhere more rural without being able to drive.

Also think forward to when using public transport becomes a problem. You are better off in a town.

It depends very much where you live. I live in a village in north Cornwall and driving is a must. There are four buses a week to three different places, and they return a couple of hours after they left, so useless for anything but a quick bit of shopping. The community transport bus has just withdrawn from this area.

Having said that, the community here is brilliant and will help out whenever they can...taking people to hospital, shops etc and there are plenty of online grocery companies (no Ocado!) and our Hermes person and postman are both brilliant.

For us it is definitely worth it for living in the beautiful are we do, with al the outside activities available to us.

Cornwall is probably better for non-Drivers in my experience as it is smaller and tends to get more tourist congregation as a result. During peak season buses are fairly plentiful but you would need to live somewhere enroute to a tourist destination.

Fjreflycaramel No, no children. My current contract will be coming to an end in late September.

As others have said, it's perfectly possible if you live in one of the villages between, say, Leeds and Skipton or Leeds and Ilkley that are on the train lines. Lovely countryside within walking distance but regular trains into Leeds/Bradford. The trains get crowded at rush hour but I don't think cancellations are usually such a problem as a previous poster has suggested - they have recently been a problem, but apparently that's because of the new trains that have just been introduced and a shortage of drivers trained to drive them - as more drivers have been trained, the cancellations have gone down.

I don't drive and manage just fine. Supermarkets within walking distance, including 24 hour ones. Big hospitals in Leeds and Bradford and smaller ones all around. Trains run until after 11pm and they are half-hourly at least, depending upon which station, except on SUndays when they are one-hourly. You should come up and have a look - visit Skipton, Saltaire, Shipley (cheap but good rail links), Keighley (cheap, good walking in the area), Ilkley, Ben Rhydding (last two are expensive for houses but the moor is close by). It can be done but you need to visit for a week and try the trains out.

Doable if you do your research first. I live in a small village near Exeter, I work at the hospital in the city. There’s a bus every 39 mins from my village to hospital from 6am til 12am except sundays when it starts later (?8am). There are a couple of shops in the village for essentials. The bus also runs to the coast a couple of miles in the other direction. We’re also a mile away from a train station which connects us to Exeter and from there THE WORLD! I do drive because it is easier, but it would definitely be manageable if I didn’t.

Worth bearing in mind, bus services tend to be good in coastal areas where there is a lot of tourism, the services are well used therefore profitable, so unlikely to be significantly reduced any time soon.

I think your choice of location will depend on where your work is based, so you need reliable transport links from home to work.
Yorkshire has a lot more to offer than just the touristy areas.

This has a small list of some of the less well-known market towns and villages in North Yorks. xyuandbeyond.com/yorkshire-market-towns-villages/
Helmsley, Malton and Pickering are the market towns featured, Thirsk and Northallerton are another couple to consider.

East Yorkshire is less well-known but is definitely worth considering. Have a look at Beverley, Driffield, Pocklington, Market Weighton, Cottingham and Howden.

You could look at some where around Harrogate in North Yorkshire, there's good transport links to Leeds / York hospitals, as well Harrogate's own hospital.

Knaresborough is a beautiful little picturesque market town, and you'd be fine not driving, as it's not that rural.

Expensive houses around those areas though.

My sister lives in a tourist village in the Lake District. The public transport is ok. But very very expensive.

If you lived in Truro, you'd probably be OK getting to Treliske and to the shops etc but how would you enjoy the more scenic bits of the county? Places like Newquay and St Ives are accessible but take hours to get to but you can't get to many of the other beaches, coastal footpath, National Trust places, smaller villages etc.

I’d earmark Richmond, northallerton, thirsk and Ripon for investigation; I’ve lived in and around all 4 with and without a car and found transport links very good.

Do not venture to the borders. We have one bus a week to the nearest city and it departs the city before it’s counterpart arrives so you just can’t do it!

I'd consider West Devon over Cornwall. Plymouth, the South coast (Torbay, Totnes, Paignton) all have decent links plus access to Dartmoor. ££££ though... Road from Plymouth to Tavistock has good buses until pretty late - Yelverton might work?

Probably want minimum 10-15,000 people for decent facilities without a car.

Other option might be Scotland- around Glasgow seems good for public transport!

Will you need regular trips to a hospital because of your health condition? Could you afford taking a taxi? Access to medical facilities would be my biggest concern. Ideally you'd live somewhere with a rail link and other amenities.

I don't live in Yorkshire or Cornwall but I do live in a rural area and without a car it would be a complete nightmare. There is one bus that goes through our village per week and taxis are extortionate.Do your homework very carefully.

No, not Yelverton. The only bus at night is at 8pm, 10pm and 11pm.

No chance of getting to Derriford in time for work until the Tavistock roadworks finish, either. They've been digging up various parts of it for years with no end in sight (especially with all the new building planned). Or if it snows. You're screwed, then.

Plus, the furthest cabs go from Plymouth on a Friday/Saturday night is usually Crownhill - and that's pushing it.

I live in a village 10 miles away from a city with 2 big hospitals. I wouldn't say we are rural but we have plenty of open countryside and walks on our doorstep. You could get a bus and tram to one of the hospitals with quite a walk as well but only during 7am - 11pm so shift work would be difficult. Our village is well known for being inaccessible with snow and I have a few snow days a year. I have lived in a very rural village at the other side of my city and wouldn't have been able to do anything without a car. Transport was few and far between

I've lived in both for 5 years each. I wouldn't consider Cornwall as a single non driver. It's a complete no. The only exception I can think of is Truro if you're prepared not to get out much. Yorkshire would be ok if not really rural. Harrogate area maybe?

I live in a Cornish village and don't drive but my village has a train station as well as a bus stop 20 minutes from my house. Buses and trains are every 30/60 minutes depending on the time of day. The village where I was born (about 20 miles away) has no train station and a infrequent bus service so I'm glad I'm not living there anymore.

That should say a 20 minute walk

Cornwall has a main railway line right through it. If you choose a nice little town with everything within walking distance, including the station, it could work. Not Bodmin; apart from anything else, the station is out of town. Lostwithiel is a nice size. Truro is gorgeous. Avoid the towns on a spur line like Newquay (you don't really want to live there anyway!). Penzance is lively and interesting, if a little remote! Avoid the Camborne/Pool/Redruth conurbation, it's quite grungy. At Austell has bus and train stations adjacent and could be a handy jumping off point for some of the nicer south-coast small towns.

You need to come down in the spring and try it out, I think.

Skipton is a good bet, or villages along that train line, good links to Leeds/Bradford for large hospitals, a close to Airedale hospital too.

St Austell