To move to Cornwall?

[RockpoolPeriwinkle]

Background - I live in rented, but I have had a promotion, and can now wfh, so looking to buy my own place (mortgage arranged in principle). I’m just finishing a week’s holiday in St Ives, and found out the tiny, but cute as a button place I’ve been staying is for sale. It’s a long way from where I live now in the midlands, but I think it could work.

Do you live in St Ives or similar tourist destination? What’s it like to live there year-round?

I live SE Cornwall so not as touristy as St Ives, but still busy enough to cause a queue to the shops at the weekend summer. We love it - I swim in the sea most mornings, the kids have grown up having an amazing long and safe childhood. There's space. There's a sense of community. We are close enough to a train station that the kids can travel to good schools. BUT..housing is expensive, wages are low, there are poor job opportunities, poor public transport, people know your business. If you have a good secure job or private income, its amazing. Otherwise, I wouldn't move here.

Remote, boring, unambitious, small-minded, mean spirited. The highlight of social life was a monthly bingo session. It was too far from anything meaningful - 1.5 hrs to the nearest hospital, 8 miles to the nearest supermarket. My DD moved her child away as she could see the future looked bleak.

Awful weather - windy and wet.

Very anti-non Cornish sentiments frequently expressed (my children/grandchild are Cornish). It felt like a closed shop, with no help or support if you hadn't been there man and boy for 300 years.

Now, I appreciate it might be me (but I've lived all around the UK and never encountered this before) or the particular place I lived (but I wasn't the only one - several other people I know moved away from Cornwall for very similar reasons). I was not in a very touristy area, or by the coast.

The biggest problem with the south west is the lack of motorway to Cornwall. Summer is a gridlock. As long as you plan for this you will be fine. But getting in or out on a Friday afternoon, Saturday or Sunay evening is a nightmare.

If you have on street parking within 15 minutes walk of a tourist hotspot you will dread using your car at the weekends as coming home after a food shop on a Saturday can be impossible to park.

"Follow your Dream to Cornwall" FB site.
I got banned from there for being too honest! :)

Follow your Dream to Cornwall" FB site.
I got banned from there for being too honest! :)

😂

It works for us - SE Cornwall, secondary school aged kids, we're both in secure jobs where we mix wfh.
My elderly parents have been down here for years and it's good to be close to them as they are getting increasingly isolated.
The lifestyle suits us perfectly but would probably be too quiet/dull for a lot of my friends.
Our kids will probably leave after school, and may not come back till they have their own families - getting to see anyone upcountry is a stressful pain in the arse, it's always a relief to get back home!

I wouldn't go near St Ives in the summer months but think Hayle is lovely.

Thank you for the comments, I think I need a visit in winter rather than jumping in too soon!

Definitely visit in Winter. And every other time of year too.

I moved to Cornwall as a young teenager. The locals were not mean to us and I had a wonderful life. If the weather was good, we could go straight to the beach after school. The only downside was really being so far away from everything. But as long as you drive, you’ll be fine. It’s a brilliant place to live. It’s beautiful and you get to enjoy it when all the tourists go home at the end of the school holidays but the weather is still good.

If you're still there holiday then you will know it's been tipping down since lunchtime. The weather can be very cold and damp at times. If you can live with that I would go for it.

To be honest as long as you actually plan to live in the house and not just for one month of year I can't see why you would experience any hostility.

Remote, boring, unambitious, small-minded, mean spirited.

I’m in Lincolnshire.
Cornwall sounds like it would suit me down to the ground.

😉😁😁😁

My good friend from Lincolnshire moved to Cornwall....and away again!

I live in Cornwall.

The locals have no issue with people moving down, they only have issues with people buying properties for them to stand empty for half the year whilst the locals can’t find anywhere to live.

St Ives is lovely and what I’d call ‘proper Cornwall’ but it’s very far down and it’s a long way to get anywhere out of Cornwall.

I would look at your lifestyle and see what you’d be giving up.
Especially if you have friends or family nearby, as I find Cornish residents can be more lonely than people in less rural areas.

Are you parents still alive?

Cornwall is lovely but it can be quite a challenging lifestyle as you don’t have the ease of living close to a city.

The fact that you WFH and have grown up children means you are in a great position to move here.

I would seriously think about it and weigh up the pros and cons but tbh you’ve got nothing to lose from trying it for a couple of years and if it doesn’t work for you then move back 🙂

The people aren't hostile I don't think, but very insular. At my old workplaces up country I used to make loads of friends, always had someone to have a coffee with, living here no one goes out after work, no one asks much apart from the bloody weather, it can be very isolating but I think if you're already working from home that might not apply to you.

I grew up in st ives
went to the local comp
bad family situation meant I had to leave
as an adult with my own family we go back to visit many times a year
the best times are October to March ,love the winter down there
we never visit in the summer ,once went early July and found it incredibly busy ,would move back there in a heartbeat,nothing beats the warmth of the lido pool in winter and a coffee after
Hayle is where I would choose to move to ,or possible Penzance,but not st ives ,I’ve a bad knee and st ives is to hilly for me
definitely go and move there op ,then do a thread so we can all be jealous x

I've been living in Cornwall for 9 years. Really looking at moving away now. It's unbearably hectic in the summers, way more than it used to be. The infrastructure is falling apart. My daughter was on the waiting list for an emergency tooth extraction for 2 years!

That's the other big issues. We need another hospital in particular elderly unit/wards to facilitate discharges but the trust here are messing about with a women's and children's hospital.

I wouldn't move to St Ives as it's so busy in Summer - but given you must have enjoyed being there, I guess that wouldn't apply.

Cornwall's a great place to live and you'd be moaning about emmets too in no time, I'm sure.

If you're there to live and work and add to the community, not to leave a house empty for most of the year, then you shouldn't be resented.

Transform - yep, I’ve been out three times & got soaking wet each time, even when the rain didn’t seem that hard! I love the wind tho, and watching the sea when it’s rough - so actually enjoying the weather 😱

Do it! I moved here 10 years ago from up London way. I live in a big village and my social life is the best it’s ever been. It’s touristy where I am which can be a pain sometimes, but a walk on a beautiful empty beach on a cold winters’ day is the best.

We’ve also got some lovely cafes, bars, shops, etc because of the tourists. Think about the kind of lifestyle you want and then look at the different areas because it’s quite varied really. You’ve got towns, villages, fancy areas, touristy areas, or you can live out in the sticks if that’s what you prefer. I don’t think I’ll ever leave Cornwall.

Life is short. Follow your heart. If you can wfh, go for it. Solitude on a Cornish beach in mid winter sounds bliss to me... however, I would hate the tourists in Summer. Sounds like you have sussed it tho. Good luck lovely.

Purple, can you please name some biggish villages you like (maybe including yours, but mixed in to keep your anonymity 😉) so I can investigate a bit more? It sounds great!

We live 20 mins from St Ives, I'd love to move there for the beaches and arty community, but husband refuses to for the summer traffic.

Would never move out of county, however.

Can drive to London in 5 hours if you time it well enough, no problem.

I live in the village next to St Ives. Locals will welcome you albeit after a bit of time, it'll be refreshing to have someone actually buy a house to move into rather than another holiday home. St Ives can be a nightmare in the summer but seeing as you've experienced it in the height of summer you'll probably be able to hack it. Most locals I know (myself included) avoid St Ives like the plague when it's silly season!
Only thing I will say is it is very expensive to live here in all aspects, the prices everywhere are tourist prices and locals have to pay them all year round 😒

Respectfully, you really need to see if you can get through a winter. It can be mentally quite challenging and relentless...