Tell me about moving to Cornwall?

[Seasider6]

My DH’s family is from Cornwall and we spend a lot of our school holidays there. DH is now talking about moving (working from home is now standard in his company) and how good it would be for the kids.

There’s no doubt the kids would love that lifestyle, but I don’t know what it’s really like to live there! although his family is from there, he didn’t grow up there either (they moved around a little and then back when he was growing up).

Did anyone relocate from London to Cornwall?

What is it like for kids? Teens especially? Which areas would you go for? I’m drawn to places like St Ives, but perhaps that’s because they’re lovely to visit?

I don’t know how it’d feel going from London to Cornwall, although we do have a lot of family there. Anyone got any experience with that?

And I’m concerned that as an “outsider”, I’d never properly belong...

[HanPanPeg]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but it can be hard to move back due to property prices (although who knows what the property market will be like). I have a family member who relocated to Cornwall about 10 years or so ago - the Cornish property has not risen in value but the London property that was sold has gone through roof.

Now they are stuggling to move back to the SE

[My0My]

Thats another good reason for not moving. You will not get back!

Yes, I do think Plymouth and the Exeter University campus in Cornwall suffer from beiong less demanding of their strudents.

[Tollergirl]

I'm sorry I misquoted you @Zhampagne and I am well aware of my privilege in having had a good education and all that that means for my DC. However, the OP was asking about experiences of living here and raising DC here and she may also have had a similar background to mine - therefore my experience is relevant.

Having spent many years working with teenagers in more deprived areas of the county I completely acknowledge that they face lack of aspiration and opportunity. This is a simple fact and yes, it is unacceptable and should have more attention and funding than it does.

I wanted to give the OP a viewpoint as someone who has moved here from London as she is considering, not as someone who has grown up here. A such, being aware of the socioeconomic issues here is undoubtedly important but perhaps not quite as important for her situation. My DD has friends at her comprehensive who have limited aspirations and we discuss the possible reasons for this and she is growing up with an understanding of the societal influences that contribute to these. We all want the best for our children but it is no bad thing for them to rub along with people from different walks of life and hopefully it will make them a more rounded person (rather than leading them down the wrong path).

I am not trying to be wilfully obtuse but one thing in Cornwall's favour, in my opinion, is lack of "keeping up with the Jones's". Again, a sweeping generalisation but I don't think people are that bothered about material things or "status" (unless you live in St Mawes or Rock maybe!! . So many threads on MN, including recent ones about holidaymakers paint it as some backward hillbilly place where "outsiders" are immediately recognisable and unwelcome, we are all 30 years behind the times, and along way from civilisation. In reality most people are just living their lives and as long as you are respectful to each other and the natural environment they are quite happy and laid back. All depends on what your definition of civilisation is I guess.

[wentawaycameback]

We moved 17 years ago when the children were babies. My first thought is do not move preteens/teenagers. Our children grew up here - swimming, surfing, the beach - it's all part of the lifestyle. Which is my second thought - it is a total lifestyle change and do not go into that lightly. I also need to say our children went to 'Ofsted outstanding' (if that is relevant) primary, secondary and further education providers. From a pp - what does 'education is 'back in the 90's' really mean? - visit schools - make up your own mind.
You will miss your friends, eating out, theatre - but that is not the fault of Cornwall (or the locals). You can't compare house prices to London - that doesn't make sense.
Think really carefully - it is a huge decision. If you have any doubts- don't do it.
My children are now moving away to University - unlikely to come back because of the lack of jobs - but that is how it is (it was the same for my partner 30 yrs ago). However they have had a happy, very healthy childhood and that is what we wanted for them.

[Tollergirl]

@My0My - your post is actually quite offensive! That people and schools here like to be "backward" and "retro".

It's true that we wouldn't afford anything like our house here for one in the SE but yet again on MN, the SE is the only place with culture blah blah blah. Coming from generations of Londoners and living in London for the first 30 years of my life I know full well that many Londoners don't spend every waking minute involved in cultural activities (unless you count hours spent in sweaty tubes, slogging around shops and going home to watch tv!!) How many people on average wages living in London can afford to indulge in cultural pursuits these days? Yes there's much more on tap in London, I grant you but you couldn't pay me to spend another twenty years commuting by tube every day.

Sorry that was a bit of a rant, but you know what I mean.

[TLIMSISNW]

I’ve always lived here in Cornwall (well, mostly. I lived elsewhere for 3 years as a child).

I love it. I’ve got three DC and almost every dry evening we hit the beach just as most people are leaving. We take our little BBQ or gas stove and cook up some dinner, take a flask of tea and snuggle up and watch the sunset. Sometimes we meet friends, sometimes we go just us but it’s just what we do of an evening and it’s great.

The DC are all surfers, DH is a surf instructor which helps! He and my eldest are part of the surf life saving club and do club night, BBQs, aquathons etc.

It’s a brilliant way of life. I may not suit everyone as it does have downsides. Cities (apart from teeny Truro) are really far away, shopping isn’t great, sand gets literally everywhere (my house and car are constantly sandy), it takes almost 2 hours from where we are (West Cornwall) to get to a motorway.

On the other hand, there’s loads to love about Cornwall. I love living here and raising my family here.

As for schooling, there are good schools here too. My friend has just chosen to move here from Oxfordshire where she was a primary school teacher. Surely if the schools in Cornwall were so primitive she wouldn’t move her DC here? My DCs primary school is Ofsted outstanding and the secondary school is Ofsted good, so hardly all quills to write with and hoops with sticks in the playground.

OP, there’s pluses and minuses but there is a great life to be had here.

[WyrdSister1]

I am looking into a Cornish move too. In our case, we have family down there, both of us WFH and we are well aware of how bleak it gets in winter. The plus side is you can get the best of both worlds if you stick near a larger town or city; rural living is always fairly quiet, no matter where you are in the country.

My key concern are the schools; SEN provision is patchy across the UK and I don't want to move to somewhere worse for DS. I am also aware that the DCs will need move for tertiary education; DH had to and I can't see Cornwall getting any better in that regard.

I would welcome suggestions for good primary and secondary schools in the North Cornwall/Devon area. There's only so much you can get from the rankings.

[Zhampagne]

I'm going to bow out now. This is very personal for many of you. I was asked to justify my purely factual statements about schools and I think I have done so.

Good luck with your decision, OP.

[wentawaycameback]

@cornishandbored. You have made some very disparaging remarks about education in Cornwall. To get some perspective- in one of your posts you compare a Further Education College offering Foundation Degrees (as many other FE colleges across the country) with lower entry points aimed at a wide range of learners to a Russell Group University. This is not an appropriate comparison. Sorry you had a bad experience. Other providers in the county do this really well - I hope you complained. Congratulations on then getting the grades for Exeter.

[GoldilocksAndTheThreePears]

I grew up in Cornwall and gladly escaped in my early 20s when I finally saved enough to go. I only moved back as I became disabled and needed to be closer to my family and find cheaper rent. It isn't cheap here, just cheaper than London. It has changed a lot since I was younger, there are now cheaper shops like Wilkos and Poundland, when I was in my teens the only option was going to Plymouth on the coach!

It's worth looking into the healthcare options before considering a move, I definitely see a major difference between what I had available in London. There is one major hospital, with a few minor ones dotted around. I've been back for over 3 years and I still haven't got a space at a dentist. 3 years! On a county-wide waiting list. Maybe it's different if you use private, but I don't know how that all works.

Public transport is appalling compared to London, I really miss my Oyster. The bus system is terrible, you often end up taking hours when in a car it'd be a quarter of the time. Train is very limited. It's all so expensive compared to other places. Travel in season is a right pain, it's not just the extra traffic created by tourists its the tourists who don't know where they are going, don't know the roads and of course stop or slow to look at scenery. It's an attitude you get used to, people are on their holidays so act that way and don't see that people actually live and work here.

I also hate to say it but this isn't a very multi-cultural place. As a child I moved from a very diverse area in the midlands to a school with no non-white faces. It's quite jarring, or it was for me. I'm not saying this is an unwelcoming or racist place, just different to what I was used to. I'm honestly not sure if the place is generally racist as I rarely see other races here. It's weird to say.

[OrangeSamphire]

Agree 100% with everything @Tollergirl has said.

Our experience of schools in Cornwall has been rounded education, with plenty of outdoor pursuits and arts. Academic sausage machines they are not, but that's not to say academic standards have been low either.

Don't move here if you enjoy shopping centres and travelling on public transport. You won't find that here. Nor, really, the conventional niceties and trappings of typical middle class Britain.

And it may not be multicultural but it most certainly is diverse. Our community and social circles contains people from a huge range of places, economic circumstances, types of lifestyle. Far more so than it did in London where we might have been surrounded by many colours and cultures but our actual social circle was very homogenous.

Cornwall is the antithesis of that. And for that reason, it isn't for everyone. And that's why I love it so much.

[OrangeSamphire]

@WyrdSister1 I don't know what type of SEN your children need support with but if you're looking at North Cornwall/Devon, there are a couple of alternative provisions in and around Holsworthy.

They are not 'schools' as you might typically think of them, they offer something quite different, and accommodate SEN with an approach that seems to work brilliantly.

Highgate Hill House is one of them. I can't remember the other, but if you google you'll find it.

www.hhhschool.co.uk

[Tollergirl]

@WyrdSister1 - I used to work within SEN but stopped for personal reasons about 8 years ago so my knowledge of the current provision is not very recent. Things did start deteriorating after the Tories got in in 2010 with cutbacks to support services but this was probably nationwide. My experience of SEN provision elsewhere is limited but I saw some examples of excellent practice and not so excellent practice in schools. I think a lot depends on the SENCO and leadership of the school. Some were fantastic and forward looking and others not so much. I would think this is true in other parts of the country too.

Re school suggestions I wasn't working in North Cornwall schools but Wadebridge is usually considering pretty good and my DC have friends and family who have been or are there. None with additional needs though.

@GoldilocksAndTheThreePears - you're right in that it's not very multicultural here and I was taken aback when I first moved with that aspect of life but I don't necessarily think that equates to racism. My DDs school has a minority of children from BAME backgrounds but you would have to ask their opinion on that to get a genuine view.

[Tollergirl]

Thanks @OrangeSampgire - nice to get some acknowledgement that we aren't living in a cultural and educational vacuum and haven't condemned our DC to a life of underachievement and misery.

To the OP as others have said if you want shopping, multiplexes and round the clock food outlets then don't come. If you want fresh air, beach life and a more 'dreckly' attitude then give it a go.

[thegcatsmother]

Rural and coastal schools struggle to recruit and retain staff. Ime, once you got that coveted teaching job in Cornwall, you stay there til you retire. Had I not moved abroad to follow dh, I would have stayed at the school at which I taught for the rest of my career.

We moved back to Cornwall in October after 13 years just outside Brussels, (dh worked in Brussels). It is a relief to be back; there isn't that much I miss and I have access to all the things I need and want (apart from steak roquefort and frites, IKEA being a bit further away than 15 minutes, and the myriad of chocolate shops). I have no plans to leave for the next decade, and when I do, it will be over the border to Devon, or to Saltash.

There is no sense of competition here, and that's a good thing after the cut and thrust of Brussels, and you can just be.

I'm close to the Devon/Cornwall border, so getting out of county isn't an issue. I grew up in Hampshire and am horrified at how built up it has become over the years, unlike here, where it isn't one huge urban sprawl along the coastline.

[Fressia123]

I'm a double minority (although me and my children pass as white) and I don't think there's any proper racism. We're Jewish and have always felt welcome in that way (there's also a very tight Jewish community down here). I don't think my daughter has been singled out per se at school but it was hard for them to understand that my daughter didn't feel comfortable with singing about Jesus during the harvest festival. I might be just her school but they also gave her a hard time when she pointed out she isn't a Christian and doesn't believe in Jesus. This is not a CoE school btw and just our experience.

[Tollergirl]

@Fressia123 - have to admit that wasn't aware of a Jewish community down here - are there any Jewish delicatessens or bakeries? I grew up in a part of North London with a large Jewish community and many of my childhood friends were Jewish and one thing I do miss is some of the food - M&S now sell Gefilte Fishballs which I always buy when I go. Are there any good bagel bakeries hiding anywhere?

[Fressia123]

There's only a few of us (about 40). We tend to bake our own challah and we have become huge food sharers as that's the only way to get our "fix". All of our food for Pesach has to be ordered online because there's no kosher aisle/shops. Stones in Falmouth have good bagels (when they make them!)

[Paperairplane]

I’d rent and spend a winter anywhere you’re thinking about moving long term. All these places are fabulous in - oh yes - August. They’re pretty grim in November.

[MarchionessOfMayhem]

I’m from Cornwall but live elsewhere in the South West now. Having grown up in Cornwall I thought (and still do to a certain extent) that it is the best place in the world. However, having moved away I can now see the pros and cons. Pros are definitely the idyllic beach/country childhood - exactly what I experienced. It’s also a very relaxed place to live - less pressure and hustle and bustle than other places. Cons are - expensive house prices, terrible traffic in summer and education is not that good. Primary is OK - secondary is pretty terrible to be honest. Not many independent schools in Cornwall either so not a huge amount of choice if you were thinking of independent schools - there’s also a lot of inverse snobbery against private schools in Cornwall, people really don’t see the point. I also find that there is a lack of ambition from many in Cornwall (I can say that being Cornish 😉) - there is also a lot of poverty - I didn’t really notice until I left and came back to visit. I’d say it would be a very big change from London - it really depends what you are looking for. Good luck OP!

[Cornishandbored]

Sorry if I offended anyone. Definitely wasn’t my intention I am genuinely sorry if I have.

I wonder if I’m a bit bitter. My education was pretty rough but I was in a deprived area surrounded by poverty. Imagine living in a town near the sea but knowing half of your class has never been to the beach. That kind of thing. The same thing is happening at DS’s school today and I find it very sad - admittedly in smaller social groups. But still.

It’s good to read that areas are on the up and moving ahead. It’s exciting actually. Gives me lots of hope

I’m proud to be Cornish despite how I may come across in my posts. I’ll certainly miss it and I’m worried I won’t be able to afford a holiday here!

good luck op. Go with your heart

[Tollergirl]

Hi @Cornishandbored - Please don't worry you haven't offended me at least. I do get what you're saying and I also met kids when I was working in schools who lived five minutes away from a beach and had never been which is desperately sad. I realise that our family are very fortunate to have a good quality of life and you've obviously caught me on a day when I'm feeling a bit defensive! I have many days when I can moan about Cornwall with the best of them! I just hate to think of a whole county being considered backward and a whole generation being wriitten off educationally. I agree that Cornwall isn't the most dynamic of places and isn't everybody's idea of fun but in my experience nowhere is perfect.

@MarchionessofMayhem - you illustrate my point - not all secondary schools in Cornwall are terrible, that is a very offensive thing to say. I certainly haven't encountered inverse snobbery regarding private schools - several children from my DC's primary went to Truro school - some of the parents were up their own arses and clearly didn't want to associate with us plebs, others are good friends of our family and are perfectly nice normal people who can afford to send their children privately and choose to do so.

[MarchionessOfMayhem]

Having re-read my post, I can see that it reads as all secondary schools are rubbish - totally didn’t mean that. I meant the the ones in the area I grew up in - the three main schools often came (and still do) come bottom of the league tables (if league tables are your thing) I just meant do your research if you are looking for good schools. I have personally experienced the inverse snobbery re the private schools, as have many of my friends who have chosen to privately educate. I think it’s because it’s not the ‘norm’ in the area I grew up - however it is common where I live now so maybe that’s why I notice the difference.

[Tollergirl]

@MarchionessofMayhem- I think the issue with this thread has been some of the generalisations. Imagine someone saying don't move to Yorkshire or Surrey as the schools are crap. This would clearly be untrue as much as it is for Cornwall. That's what's made me so cross (and resulted in me wasting a whole day on MN . Has been a long grey day down here in "sunny" Cornwall!!! . I actually think the lack of private schools down here is a positive but then I'm a socialist at heart so probably not that representative of your typical Mnetter!

[WyrdSister1]

Thank you, @Tollergirl and @OrangeSamphire. Will take a look...