Cornwall!!

[P0larexpress]

why do people pay stupid amounts to holiday here?
I nearly spat my coffee out in work today. A co worker has paid £1600 for a week in st Ives, last week of June!

she showed me it! It’s a pretty basic, one bedroomed cottage. Wtf!!

i have booked flights and an Airbnb in greece for just over £1000. I’ll admit I never holiday in the uk, because it just doesn’t feel like a proper holiday to me, but if I do it’s always a deal/ bargain Airbnb type thing.

what’s the attraction of Cornwall?
By all accounts it’s overcrowded cost a fortune to park , and eat out, and a pretty mediocre experience all round!

Why on earth did you come? Did you think it was an empty subtropical cheap paradise?

We were hoping to go in August with our toddler but OMG the price of cottages in St Ives! 2k for 7 nights. I mean, they're beach front and the views look absolutely stunning but still!

Spending large amounts of money on anything is a such a personal choice. I think spending lots of money on flash cars is pretty stupid but hey if that's what makes people happy, each to their own and all.that.

@lancsgirl85 St Ives is silly prices. I really do think that is a special case and owners take the proverbial p@ss there! Look in places like Porthleven, Mousehole, Newlyn, Marazion (I only know the south coast well so can't comment on other N coast places). All have sea views and most have beaches. or Looe or Fowey. Or almost anywhere! St Ives is crazy, and the crowds will drive you crazy too.
Friends in the holiday business say this year will be quieter than last because people are flooding abroad. You may yet get lucky at this late stage. Good luck!

DH and I looked at the cottage we stayed in last year in St Ives, it had been sold and it is now on AirBnB for £700 a week more than last year, fantastic location, amazing see views, but was very much in need of some serious TLC and still is.

@lancsgirl85 with a toddler would you consider somewhere like this

www.rivervalley.co.uk/

It's a great site, not far from Marazion and Penzance. Have stayed there a couple of times and it was lovely.

If you aren't confined to the school holidays yet, I'd suggest going in June - the weather will probably be better & prices cheaper.

It definitely is far quieter this season. All the tourism businesses are saying it

Back at the start of April I heard of a holiday park near Porthleven who cancelled loads of their longstanding bookings at the start of the season so they could resell them at much higher prices. Only they didn't sell so now they're heavily discounting them 😂

Greedy bastards.

Having travelled extensively throughout Britain I found Cornwall amongst the most geologically interesting, with some of the most beautiful coast, but it's let down by the hype and some local's outspoken dislike for tourists IMHO.

When I visited 2 different groups of Cornish friends, both slagged off tourists (or "emmets" as they call them!). They also told me about how some deliberately set out to wind-up tourists by advertising a fake, gorgeous, beach with travel directions sending them on wild goose-chases. And when these confused and lost tourists asked locals for help they'd be sent on further wild goose chases! Apparently set up by a local cousellor (or similar - maybe someone can clarify?) and was a huge source of amusement. Well fuck that, I just can't get passed the biting the hand that feeds them, and as there are other equally beautiful places in Britain I won't be going back.

When I visited 2 different groups of Cornish friends, both slagged off tourists (or "emmets" as they call them!). They also told me about how some deliberately set out to wind-up tourists by advertising a fake, gorgeous, beach with travel directions sending them on wild goose-chases. And when these confused and lost tourists asked locals for help they'd be sent on further wild goose chases! Apparently set up by a local cousellor (or similar - maybe someone can clarify?) and was a huge source of amusement. Well fuck that, I just can't get passed the biting the hand that feeds them, and as there are other equally beautiful places in Britain I won't be going back.

I am quite shocked by that. I grew up in Brighton (perhaps not somewhere that people do a fortnight's holiday but lots of stag / hen dos and foreign students). It's not cool to live in a place that needs tourist money and be horrible to tourists.

I hate that word.
I have never used. But occasionally see it on social media. You're right. It's vile. Not funny. Just vile.

It's not cool to live in a place that needs tourist money and be horrible to tourists.

Agree

I live in Cornwall. On a sunny day where I live could be mistaken for the Mediterranean. I took some photographs of Porthminister Beach in St Ives and people genuinely thought I had gone to Barbados. We went to Carbis Bay Hotel in March and swam.in the amazing infinity pool in glorious sunshine. It felt like a proper holiday!

Things I miss since I moved here are balmy evenings ( we get about 5 a year here) Waitrose (we would have to drive an hour and a half round trip) and my friends.

Ooo the Carbis Bay Hotel - aren't they the ones who ripped up habitat prior to the G7 and claim to be 'eco'?

I miss Waitrose too but it's become in an ironic way. And my London friends. But I go on holiday with one of them once a year now - just a short walking break - and visit when I can. And have new friends here in Cornwall.

Honestly, everywhere I went on my last visit to St Ives (recently) everyone was super polite and helpful. It’s like a theme park in that regard, not quite real life, with staff who can’t afford to live nearby having to travel into the town to work. This idea that the Cornish are rude to tourists is untrue and unkind.

Locals do use the word emmet though - it’s Cornish for ant, and it’s no coincidence that the tourists tend to arrive in earnest at the same time as the ants. I grew up in west Cornwall and the contrast between winter and summer in terms of people is insane.

Cornwall and the Cornish are a bit stuck though. Most people have been priced out of buying where they grew up because of the tourist trade. Some families have made considerable money cashing in, but most of the holiday lets are owned by the non-Cornish, and the rental fees are not staying in the county (the agents take a small slice but it’s not much). Porthemmet Beach was a spoof website set up about 15 years ago as a joke, but if you read it it’s very obviously not a real place. People don’t actively misdirect tourists to fake places: www.porthemmet.com

I was shocked by how many businesses were struggling to recruit staff (waiting, bar, shop assistants) this time. I guess it’s just the hassle and cost of getting into St Ives for work doesn’t make it worthwhile. There is a bigger knock on effect coming too: the RNLI station is volunteer run and the fire station is reserved, the lack of affordable housing nearby means that the people who used to do those jobs are not available nearby.

So I think on balance, St Ives is a perfect culture clash of people who are spending a fortune to be there being served by people who can no longer afford to be there. The tourist trade is worth something like £85m/year in St Ives (I read in CornwallLive a while back), but hardly any of that wealth is distributed in the local community. Most of the business in the town are owned or backed by a handful of families and most of the accommodation fees go up country.

I do like Cornwall but not in the school holidays, it's far too busy. I do prefer holidays abroad these days because of the cost. You can easily get a beautiful 4/5 star hotel with lots of meals/drinks/facilities included for less than a caravan in the UK. Next year we'll both be retired so we'll probably do a few of both.

I’ve never been. Would like to, but put off by the risk of paying a lot of money for a crowded holiday in bad weather. I understand that people like different things, but to me the idea of a long, slow, congested drive to a place that’s heaving with people, some hostility from the locals and the tourism industry itself responsible for the huge inequality in the area… it’s a bit like using “people like different things” to account for when you find out that John next door likes licking his wife’s feet while having a pineapple shoved up his bum.

Small point - all lifeboat crew are volunteers nit just in St Ives. Well, apart from the coxwain and first mechanic.

@CaptainBeakyandhisband I think you're right about st Ives and the wealth being concentrated in a few families. I don't live in St Ives but know a few folk there. And it's like a weird little enclave! Those that have mix with others who have, but the vast majority have not.

Love Cornwall. Loved Cyprus but not really keen on Greece anymore. Having yt put loo roll in am open bin by the loo on the ferry was enough to put me off tbh. Thst snd same but clised bin on accommodation. Obviously this may have changed

@HesterShaw1 absolutely, this issue will affect all RNLI stations to some extent, but St Ives are already starting to see that.

Also - wages are so low! I saw a job advertised recently for a local firm, it was back office and involved some management/leading a team, record keeping and governance, taking responsibility for a bunch of stuff and it was sub £20k per annum. I remember reading the JD and thinking oh that’s quite an interesting job and being shocked at the wage. I earn more than 3x that and I was shocked at the level of responsibility for so little pay.

I live there and have on and off since a child but most who come here on hols are being taken for a ride.
Some of the holiday cottage owners i know think people who pay their charges are 'quote' "Soft in the head"

Yes parts are pretty and if you know where your going and when, crowds can be avoided but everything is so expensive, fart and someone will say "Have you paid for that?" a local holiday camp charges for baby chairs!!!

Then there are the roads down here, pot holed tracks that wreck your car and destroy your bicycle, Devon's are far better, luckily we are on the border, so avoid heading West.

Just come back from 2 weeks in Mallorca, beautiful weather, scenery, cheap restaurants, lovely apartment inc flights and transfer ALL for less than just 1 weeks accommodation in Cornwall.
Plus the local Lidl nr Pollensa was much cheaper than the Lidl here, Mallorca being an Island also has the expense of having to ship in most things.

As UK isn't that expensive, its pure greed by the people down here, i don't have to deal with these sharks, so its a lovely place to live but holiday? nope.

They do have an airport in Cornwall.

It's has two airports! Lands End only flies to Scilly tho!
Newquay goes to a decent variety of places.