To reconsider living in a national park?

[LetSophieGo]

Mid 40's single.
Have opportunity to move to the Lake District (southern, windermere area) after having lived for years in a fairly depressed urban town.

Am self employed and able to afford it as a renter so no financial concerns. I am happy to continue renting as I like the freedom and simplicity of it, so that's just a personal choice. Curiously, many of the properties are much nicer and somewhat cheaper than my urban area, so it would be win-win in that regard.

However, I have been working on creative projects in this area on and off for years, I absolutely adore the place and fit in well there. Most of the time I have spent there has been in winter months, so not at the height of tourism. I have been very open to the possibility of moving there full time for a while.

But now the time has come and I can make the move, I am having a few doubts. I wonder if the tourism and constant traffic, crowds, etc might get on my nerves full time. Any summer experience I have had there has admittedly stressed mea little but thought it might ease off on me if I got used to it.
After sating in Ambleside for 1 month a few summers ago I was relieved to get out of there! Every day was a constant crush and it always felt like there were far too many people for the size and infrastructure of the place.

I absolutely LOVE this part of the world and can work so well there as an artist, I enjoy walking and the whole mountain/outdoorsy thing. I am happy other people love it too, and don't blame them for crowding in to enjoy it.

Anyone done this and regretted it? Would my life become an endless crush into Booths hoping my fave foods havent sold out for the weekend? Would I never get any privacy or get away from noise? Living alone I would prefer not to live too far out in the middle of nowhere so would have to keep relatively close to a town like windermere, Ambleside, etc.

Like I said I have more or less lived there for 4 years but only between Nov-Feb.

Would you do it or is it best to leave it for holidays?

I have to say these comments about grange make me laugh. I’m in my 30s and love it there. Yea it’s full of 70s upwards people but also full of younger people too. I love arnside and cartmel. Would love to buy a house in arnside but they don’t come up frequently enough and get snapped up. So jealous of anyone that lives there

We were talking about this (sort of) with friends at our village pub last week.
They moved to Cumbria thinking they wanted to live within the National Park but after a couple of sales falling through they bought just outside the Lakes and they love it; better communities (fewer second homes), cheaper housing, virtually no tourists and more amenities for locals but still within a 15 minute drive/cycle of the National Park.

@muddyboots

We were talking about this (sort of) with friends at our village pub last week. They moved to Cumbria thinking they wanted to live within the National Park but after a couple of sales falling through they bought just outside the Lakes and they love it; better communities (fewer second homes), cheaper housing, virtually no tourists and more amenities for locals but still within a 15 minute drive/cycle of the National Park.

I'm with you, but sadly there are more rentals available in the popular parts. I would absolutely adore to live on the periphery. Often, if I search on Rightmove you do see really well priced properties in the surrounding areas, but they don't come up often - so for me, it will be a matter of timing!

@LetSophieGo

Worth regsteting with the local agents rather than Rightmove. We rented for a year 2019-20 and most of the houses with that agent where never advertised as would go to people on the list.

So make sure you speak to them all.

@CharlotteRose90

I have to say these comments about grange make me laugh. I’m in my 30s and love it there. Yea it’s full of 70s upwards people but also full of younger people too. I love arnside and cartmel. Would love to buy a house in arnside but they don’t come up frequently enough and get snapped up. So jealous of anyone that lives there

Thing is you can spout about the ONS but Grange and the surrounding area is brilliant for bringing up kids. Excellent schools, excellent community, lots going on. We moved to Grange when our eldest was under 1 only moved away when DDS hit 6th form as changed jobs as well so we all where communitng away.

My sister in law still has young children there.

But if you don't look past statistics some people will never see the real place.

@LetSophieGo Try going direct to places like National Trust, Forestry Commission, Greythwaite, Lonsdale Estate, Eden Hall, H&H Land & Estates, PFK, Carter Jonas. They’ll all manage/own huge amounts of properties and having worked for one of them, we had a waiting list. We’d just go down the waiting list when properties were available because it saves on advertising costs!

As you are intending to rent, give it a go. You will probably love it once you get used to it’s popularity. If not you can move again. Try Shropshire. Beautiful, but never as busy.

I'm actually Scottish but was born in Kendal and spent all my childhood holidays in the 70s and early 80s at my Granoarents house in Crosthwaite. I dont think the tourist crush was so bad then and the area where my grandparents lived was delightfully old fashioned to my eyes. Im another suggesting the Lythe Valley /Stavely area. I also recently had a weekend in Penrith which was much nicer than i expected and they had a Booths, very jealous why don't we have them in Scotland.
We're starting to have problems in Scotland with Tourist numbers, Skye is particularly bad, all the famous spots crowded.
My advice is likely to be well out of date as i have never felt like being a normal tourist in the lakes now my Grandparents are long gone, its not the same, but all the place names on this thread made me nostalgic.

Lake District Estates in Kendal have a load of houses as well.

If you are an artist, have you looked at Kirkcudbright, in Dumfries and Galloway?

And, as you would be renting, I think it would be good to move for a year or two. You can always move on again if it doesn't work out. Bear in mind that dye to pandemic, lake district likely to be even busier than usual this year, which may give a false impression

Also, I believe Kirby Lonsdale is attractive place to live

Can't offer much more but just to reiterate about looking at Cockermouth and Penrith. I'm from Cockermouth, DP from Penrith, so while we currently live in one, we've also lived in the other. Cockermouth a nicer town than Penrith (in my opinion), with some lovely shops, pubs and restaurants, and more people move into it from out of the area. Some of the western part of the county is very underrated in my opinion; there are some nice beaches and beautiful scenery, which Cockermouth provides easier access to.

However Penrith is still nice and nearby are places like Pooley Bridge, the beautiful Brothers Water and the Eden Valley. Moreover it has easy access to the M6 and West Coast Main Line; I can be in Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh in under an hour and a half.

Both towns are reasonably peaceful and the people friendly, even in tourist season. Admittedly there is less going on than in the more touristy areas, but the point is that they are not stressful. Both are also far cheaper.

Living here we really notice the difference in the touristy areas during the summer and it will be even more pronounced this summer. Even a few years ago, DP and I drove down to Bowness to see some friends who were staying there from elsewhere in the country. It was at the end of the summer holidays. Due to the amount of traffic, it took us longer to drive from outside Ambleside to where they were staying in Bowness (a distance of about 4 miles) than it did for us to drive the 45 minute journey from Cockermouth to Ambleside. Same with Keswick - it's pretty much halfway between Cockermouth and Penrith but in the summer season DP and I write off going there especially for a drink in the evenings. You would have to think about whether you could tolerate that every day.

I know the rental market appears less viable, but as a PP said, get yourself registered with agents, join some of the local FB groups, and maybe spend a bit of time up here getting to know the area to help you.

@LetSophieGo Northumberland has just been voted the best National Park in the country with Bamburgh voted the best beach in the country.

We have equally stunning countryside, the Cheviots, Hadrian's Wall and the best beaches but it's not called the secret kingdom for nothing - there are more sheep than people

Cost of living is so cheap compared with elsewhere and it's the least populated area in the country - there are no crowds. Alnwick, Morpeth, Rothbury all wonderful historic little towns and our weather is much drier than the lakes lol.

I lived in Ambleside for several years (many years ago) and absolutely loved it. Yes, the crowds of tourists blocking the pavements on a wet day was annoying, as were the ones that used to peer in our windows when they were passing by. But all that was outweighed by being able to get up onto the fells and away from people. Living there I got to know the quieter places and times and could still go out in high season without seeing a soul.

I'd move back to the Lakes in a heartbeat if I could, but not to Ambleside (unless my dream home there happened to come onto the market and I'd had a lottery win!) I'd choose Keswick (which although touristy has a more of a 'normal' town feeling, and a Booths) if I wanted to be actually in the national park, or possibly Cockermouth or Penrith. I'd also consider one of the smaller villages/hamlets in the south lakes, maybe somewhere south of Coniston or Hawkshead like Satterthwaite. Outside of the Lakes completely, I'd also consider the Kirkby Lonsdale area. I have friends there who love it and it's so easy for them to get into the Lakes.