Moving to Cornwall

[Cornwallwanabee]

I live in Kent and am thinking of moving to Cornwall to give my family a more relaxed way of life. I appreciate that it's best to secure work before moving to Cornwall. We currently rent our home so would rent in Cornwall and would eventually like to buy our own home. I understand house prices are rising in Cornwall. Our dream would be to run our own tea room - is this just a dream or do you think it would be possible, or is it just what everyone wants to do. I have read that people say it's best to move to a town where there is more going on - I would dearly love to live somewhere where you can can open your front door and go for a lovely walk, without having to get in the car first. We have been to Devon and Cornwall for most of our family holidays and love that part of the country. I also appreciate that life is different when you have to work in a place rather than just be on holiday, but surely it has to be a nicer way to live. I would love to receive comments, both good and bad from people who have experience in this or anyone who would like to comment. My children are 15 and 12 so we need to wait until next summer when my son finishes his exams. I currently work in an office and my hubbie drives a taxi - there has to be more to life!

Where would anyone suggest. I understand the usual tourist hotspots would be overrun in the summer, eg St Ives. My son has returned from his school trip to Bude and absolutely loved it.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

I moved from Kent to Cornwall 16 years ago and have never looked back. Yes it does get very busy here during the height of the Summer but that's only a few weeks. It is definitely a more relaxed pace of life and I felt welcomed right from the start. There is a great sense of community and the kids enjoy freedom to play in our very safe town.

On a day off, we can pop over to the beach for a walk and in the winter, watch the amazing stormy seas. The kids go surfing, rockpooling and sailing.

I wouldn't put yourself in too rural an area, as your teenagers might not enjoy that but there are plenty of small towns. I don't miss all the big shops, you can buy most things you need locally and internet shopping for anything else.

So a positive report from me, but I would suggest securing work before you make the plunge to move as jobs are not always easy to come by.

Thank you all for taking the time to read the posts and comment. I still would really love to move to Cornwall. Will be there on hols in a few weeks time so can check out the competition tea rooms and lovely little towns to live. Said to my husband today that we have lived in the same town for 25 years so it would lovely to have a change. Both my kids said today again they would be happy to move as well. Will also look at those office jobs to start off with. Am used to just being the 4 of us so life wouldn't be too different in that respect. Going to the beach from home currently takes about 1-1 1/2 hours so not really practical to pop down after school/work. As someone said earlier outdoor life beats watching TV and being indoors night after night. There is only so much you can do in a postage stamp garden every night! Have certainly taken all your comments on board, which I really appreciate.

My DH is from Bude and my PILs run a shop there (not a tea room). They earn a good living from it, but they are tied to the business - 6 days a week, plus the books and stock after it has closed. It's not easy. They have seen a lot of businesses come a go over the years. The ones that last are the ones which sell to locals and therefore survive the winter. I personally would not bother with a tea room, but open a delicatessen or similar. Local foods and high quality produce are taking off in a big way down there (same for Wales, if the foodie fairs are right).

DH did find work down there when he was a teenager, but he moved to go to uni and then to the Midlands to find work. I doubt we will go back there, as even if we could earn enough income down there, our children would probably leave the county in turn.

I think the biggest problem with running a tea shop will be that the OP will not be on the beach, she will be running the tea shop! It is a full on job when it is beach weather because all the Cornwall Mums want a good tea shop after school. The OP will be serving them. Ditto weekends when the rest of you are out at the beach, hiking, cycling, sailing and generally having fun. You won't be joining in OP. By all means go to Cornwall but running a cafe will exclude you from the good life many posters are describing. You will need to work 7 days a week to make any money and you will need to do it for as long as possible when customers are around. Are you and your family prepared for this? Are your children prepared for never seeing you or could you afford staff?

thekitchenfairy please come back and tell us what's good and bad about being a teenager in Cornwall

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And again for more Cornish peeps

Thekitchenfairy - please come back and tell us about teens!

Calling thekitchenfairy, a Cornish thread needs YOU

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Double bump for thekitchenfairy

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Bumping a thread from 3 years ago

I know it's a long time ago since this thread was live but I wondered whether you made the move. I was having very similar thoughts and wondered how it turned out

PLEASE DONT MOVE HERE!!!!
Let us Cornish have our home, by all means come here on holiday and go home after but this is our home and our children are being driven out by incomers moving here. We have nothing against holiday makers but we have traditional ways some of which are dying due to incomers bringing city life ways to our communities.
You may not get the welcome you’re expecting either as we all smile and seem friendly when we want you to spend money here on holiday but there’s no more space in our cramped county, so please come and visit but go home at the end of your holiday as our hard working traditional life is a million miles away from your fantasy dreams.

I grew up on the Lizard, and moved back but to SE Cornwall in 1990, with DH who had just taken an internal company move from overseas, and I have been here since.

Cornwall has changed rapidly since this thread was really live, but on the back of a fabulous Easter, I imagine there are other people who'd like to know what it's really like.

The first point to make is that you need to have a proper, confirmed job to make the move work. And despite everything you read in the papers about the shortage of staff in the NHS and teaching, it doesn't exist here. A teaching or NHS job will pay much the same as anywhere else in the country, but because of location pull, there will be people applying from all over, attracted by the quality of life. Teaching jobs, just for example, are much more competitive, and I understand from friends and acquaintances, that medicine and nursing jobs are too. You get paid the going national rate in a county where wages are very, very low -- which makes you among the best-paid people in most villages. Or there is agricultural labour: wages may improve when farmers can't get Rumanian pickers, but lifting spuds or picking daffs and plucking seaweed in the rain isn't intellectually stimulating. Or it's seasonal, and usually low-skilled. Think scooping icecreams, waiting in a tea room or cleaning for women.

That said, property prices are very high astronomic compared to salaries as there are so many second/holiday/letting homes which is fine if you own one, but it prices out many families with ordinary breadwinners.

However, if you are a successful freelance something (as I was) and prepared to get up at 3.00am twice weekly to be in London for a breakfast or early morning meeting so you still command metropolitan pay rates, or have a business you can move here and work online, then it's very fine.

It's better in winter than summer, because it's not so frantic, but the lifestyle is great, the coast and country are beautiful; and the food offering is improving all the time.

And I think it's much less insular and parochial than it used to be. When we went to Cornwall as a family in the early 60s, no Cornish person was friendly to my mum who was 27, knew no one, and was a 10 hour drive from her family, with two small DC. She hated it, but was sentenced there for 12 years. She would tell you she loathed the place.