Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Feel really bad for Cornwall

144 replies

User158340 · 19/12/2020 21:19

They've done so well to keep their numbers down and have done whatever has been asked of them, yet the Christmas plans are now being restricted.

I've got family down there and they've said everyone there is livid and are afraid of Londoners turning up and spreading the mutated strain around the county.

OP posts:
Aerial2020 · 19/12/2020 23:37

Is that a serious question?

justgeton · 19/12/2020 23:39

Yes it is. I have a friend with a second home in Cornwall. (Not me)

She's a fairly junior nurse who's been busting a gut in the nhs. Luckily for her her parents left her enough to buy a small place near the sea which is her bolt hole. She understand infection control more than most

What's the problem

PhilCornwall1 · 19/12/2020 23:40

@justgeton

What's the problem With second home owners?
Probably the worry they'll do a Gordon Ramsay and come stay in their second home. To be fair, he got an unfair battering down here over the first lockdown. He was here before the country locked down and didn't leave when we went into lockdown, which was fair enough.
justgeton · 19/12/2020 23:43

Coming to stay in your second home
Is no worse than holidaying in Cornwall. Let's hope they welcome both.

PhilCornwall1 · 19/12/2020 23:48

@justgeton

Coming to stay in your second home Is no worse than holidaying in Cornwall. Let's hope they welcome both.
I honestly don't think the majority will care. I live in a holiday town and it was great to see people back in the summer, it felt almost normal, which after the lockdown was very welcome.
thegcatsmother · 19/12/2020 23:52

I'm pretty sure those living in Cornwall close to the bridge will be using our NHS service rather then the one in Truro!

I'm equally sure that tax paid for the NHS is for the whole thing, not the individual Health Authorities. It'd be a bit daft for someone in Saltash or the Tamar Valley to go all the way to Truro, when Derriford is much closer. I expect some of the staff in 'your' NHS service live in Cornwall too.

Aerial2020 · 19/12/2020 23:53

Non covid related-
To quote the news,
Cornwall is one of the most deprived areas in Western Europe, despite it's luxury holiday homes. With house prices beyond the reach of young locals.

There is a desperate shortage of housing. Which creates the tension between the locals and people buying down here as a 2nd home.

That's the problem.
I'm sure your friend is lovely and it is a nice escape for her. It's the locals getting pushed out, in places like St.Ives, where is it almost impossible to buy a place on the salaries down here.

Anyway, back to covid.......

Mayleez · 20/12/2020 00:02

Don't feel sorry for us - we haven't done anything "better" than anyone else. We're just very fortunate to have a small population in a peninsula. We're also extremely lucky that we have lots of lovely places where we have been able to meet up with people outside over the last nine months (though the usual winter gales and horizontal rain are making that harder now!).
Feel sorry for my in-laws, now in tier 4, who were desperate to come down for Xmas and now can't even go to their friends for the day.
I won't be seeing any of my family on Xmas day either, even though some of them are local, but I don't feel resentful towards anyone else in the country for this so please don't feel sorry for me.

justgeton · 20/12/2020 00:08

@Aerial2020

Non covid related- To quote the news, Cornwall is one of the most deprived areas in Western Europe, despite it's luxury holiday homes. With house prices beyond the reach of young locals.

There is a desperate shortage of housing. Which creates the tension between the locals and people buying down here as a 2nd home.

That's the problem.
I'm sure your friend is lovely and it is a nice escape for her. It's the locals getting pushed out, in places like St.Ives, where is it almost impossible to buy a place on the salaries down here.

Anyway, back to covid.......

You'll love the thousands she's given to local tradespeople to renovate the property no one else wanted then.
Aerial2020 · 20/12/2020 00:10

Not sure if that's sarcastic or not.
But yeah not the same thing.
I was just answering your question.

Wilkolampshade · 20/12/2020 00:13

Just fr the record, re' local youngsters 'being pushed out' of Cornwall...... I live in a pretty grotty bit of London. A 1 bed flat on my street costs £500k. My kids, now 19/20 ish, will absolutely NEVER be able to buy in their hometown either....

justgeton · 20/12/2020 00:13

@Aerial2020

Not sure if that's sarcastic or not. But yeah not the same thing. I was just answering your question.
No not sarcastic. Just if the locals can't afford them and they're standing empty, someone coming in and spending a lot of money in the local community must be better than nothing.
HateIsNotGood · 20/12/2020 00:22

You go Aerial - maybe some of these 'reconstruction' experts will buy up the Mundics in Camborne?

It's one thing to notice the impacts of 2nd Home Owners but quite another when the locals should be grateful that 2nd Homers with money come and do up the houses because the locals are too skint to.

Gawd bless MN as the gift that keeps giving.

PhilCornwall1 · 20/12/2020 00:28

You go Aerial - maybe some of these 'reconstruction' experts will buy up the Mundics in Camborne?

And then they'll fall down a mineshaft. It's like a colander over there.

Enough4me · 20/12/2020 00:33

The reason the locals cannot afford local houses is because a market exists for them to be priced higher than their wages can afford.

Affordable housing is needed with caveats for locals because wages won't increase and locals are disadvantaged.

WanderingFruitWonderer · 20/12/2020 02:14

Until about two weeks ago, people may have thought we'd been doing well where I live, in Hastings in East Sussex. We had one of the lowest infection rates in the country. At times, the very lowest. We were in tier 1 recently, though that now feels like a distant memory. Things have changed dramatically, very quickly. We've had the fastest growing rate in the country, and we're now in tier 4. It's an awful feeling. I don't think people have been behaving any differently from before. It's just a pity that the new strain has found its way here and is going wild. Nobody's fault.
I'm very happy for the people in Cornwall though. I'm glad some people in the country can enjoy a bit more peace & freedom. Having experienced both (low rate and high rate) I wouldn't wish what we're currently going through on anyone Sad

BackwardsGoing · 20/12/2020 07:10

@PhilCornwall1

I've got family down there and they've said everyone there is livid and are afraid of Londoners turning up and spreading the mutated strain around the county.

Everyone? Rubbish! It's hardly the talk of the county!!

As with the summer when the media said the Cornish were terrified of people coming down, the vast majority couldn't give a toss and just went about their day. Hell, some of us even passed the time of day with those bug ridden holiday makers!!

Yep. 99% of the people here are just normal and getting on with life as best we can understand the circumstances. I feel lucky that our geography and demographics has meant that we have had lower infection rates but I definitely don't think Cornwall is special in any other way.

BackwardsGoing · 20/12/2020 07:11

@FestiveDigestives

So bored of hearing about Cornwall. It’s sparsely populated and miles from anywhere. The people there aren’t any more rule abiding than Londoners or Liverpudlians or Mancunians.

You can always hide the thread Smile

Waxonwaxoff0 · 20/12/2020 07:15

They haven't "done well" it's population density. My DS's school hasn't had any Covid cases for weeks despite us being in tier 3, it's not "doing well" it's just luck.

Cornwall residents can live a more normal life than the rest of us so I'm sure they don't need our pity. I feel sorry for my friend in London who now has to spend Christmas alone as he was intending to come and see his family who are all here in the Midlands.

Weedsnseeds1 · 20/12/2020 07:31

I was comparing our area to Cornwall the other day ( we are tier 2 but were tier 3 until recently). Their per 100 000 is much lower, but overall cases were roughly similar and deaths about 1/3 higher

OverTheRainbow88 · 20/12/2020 07:36

I guess the major impact on Cornwall is lacking tourism, which is their main money maker.

Their following the rules isn’t the main reason they have a low rate though... oh please, you can’t compare Cornwall to huge cities

Weedsnseeds1 · 20/12/2020 07:52

I'm not in a huge city. This is a largely rural area.

BackwardsGoing · 20/12/2020 08:12

@OverTheRainbow88

I guess the major impact on Cornwall is lacking tourism, which is their main money maker.

Their following the rules isn’t the main reason they have a low rate though... oh please, you can’t compare Cornwall to huge cities

Tourism is significant but still only c.20% of the economy, although there are pockets of the county where it's higher. If anything this pandemic should teach Cornwall to not be so reliant on tourism, it makes us less resilient.

Meruem · 20/12/2020 08:28

You’re forgetting there are lots of people whose family live in Cornwall. I grew up there but now live in London. I have FB friends from school who also moved away because let’s face it, it’s near on impossible to have a good career there if you never leave.

Apart from my adult DC (I have no DH/DP) my one close living relative is my DSis in Cornwall. We are desperate to see each other again. She also lives alone with no other close relatives, other than her adult DC. We are all each other has outside of our own children.

I’m not going there for Christmas but the moment I am allowed I will be going.

Debradoyourecall · 20/12/2020 08:46

I live in Cornwall and feel bloody lucky. I haven’t heard anyone here moaning about our situation.