Wiltshire Vs Cornwall

[alistairyoung]

Hi I have been living in the countryside near pewsey wilts for a little time and quite like it but it does get cold out in the wilds. I keep looking at Cornwall as my next move somewhere like st Hilary looks nice but wonder if it's a bit remote. I have no family and don't work and I'm used to driving to the nearest shop 5 miles. Would there be a lot of differences for me as far as weather?does it rain more? Will it be any warmer? In the wilds of st Hilary up to where I am now near pewsey. Thanks

It'll be warmer, but it will also be damper, and therefore will feel colder! It can take a long time to just get out of Cornwall from down there and in the summer holidays the A30 is just a giant car park. That said, it's a beautiful part of the world and you have both Helston and Penzance nearby for facilities.

It's a long way down to that part of Cornwall. The A30 is slowly being improved with more parts becoming dual carriageway, but it will be hard to get around in the summer, even just to the supermarket!
I know of people who pretty much stay home all summer, with everything delivered, it can get that hard to drive anywhere.
What sort of employment are you looking at? There aren't a lot of opportunities in Cornwall!

What’s the area like all year round? It is a tourist hotspot, manic in season and then a ghost town when tourists have gone?

What about public services? Healthcare provision is notoriously poor in Cornwall, outside of the main conurbations. No major trauma centres (nearest is Plymouth) and only 1 large hospital, though apparently a second is in the pipeline.

As you are a lone person with no work needs, have you looked into the social scene in the area? If the area is very seasonal then that may have a bearing on what is running.

Cornwall is beautiful but tbh, I’d go with Wiltshire.

Sorry, didn't see you weren't working! It's about a 15min drive to the big Asda, but you would have smaller stores nearer.
Cornwall will get just as cold - it's not as warm or mild as people imagine!
The winters are very wet or at best damp! I'm nearer Devon but this morning was wet and windy, yesterday was awful!
When the weather's good, it's great, but it's not good that often!

It's places like Mumsnet you can get real honesty about areas. I think everyone should really do their homework before moving. And from what I read I don't think Cornwall is going to be the place for me. I was under the impression and lulled into thinking that Cornwall was some kind of tropical paradise for gardening tender plants but I think it's all about where you would exactly live. Here in devizes pewsey it is dull but beautiful especially since covid the pubs haven't recovered. I get bored and want to go out somewhere every night as I'm retired as where I live no one goes out not even to the nearest pub. It's revealing coming to a new area and finding out that no one has money to go out but at the same time it's surrounded by so much beauty. I'm starting to think that I did make the right choice moving from Woking to Wiltshire and I'm not going to find much better.

We find that it doesn’t have the extremes - so pleasantly warm in summer, pleasantly mild in winter. Our garden is full of plants that wouldn’t survive ‘upcountry’ frosts. One winter we had a grand total of 3 frosts!!

But it does rain a lot. There’s a saying along the lines of if it isn’t raining it’s going to rain!

You don't mention where you are? I can track the temps this year against where I live.

I’m in West Cornwall

Ok I won't follow you I was looking at south east Cornwall.

I grew up in Wiltshire. Beautiful in a sort of open fields/big skies way, but lots of it is very cut off and it is bloody freezing in winter for some reason. For the south it gets tons of snow. The villages can be very insular but it has some lovely towns, Bradford on Avon, Salisbury, Marlborough to name a few. You can also be in Bristol within an hour from most places, and London in under 2.

I’ve also lived in Cornwall, not St Helen’s though. Cornwall is absolutely gorgeous and the beaches are amazing, however I found it very cliquey and dull at times - and there are no nearby interesting cities, Plymouth is pretty grotty and Truro is tiny. Winter is mild and damp, you don’t get the change of seasons as well as you do up country. Which put me off as I love a proper frosty winter - it never felt Christmassy.

Ups and downs to both, as with everything I suppose.

I lived in West Cornwall for a bit and worked in Penzance and lived in Falmouth. I found it great for thr social side of things in Both areas. Lots to do . Even though it is further away I found it much more vibrant than North Cornwall which to me felt too quiet and I really didn’t like living there.

Wiltshire pluses .,.Big skies the landscapes the big sun(when it's out) flat agricultural Fields with low hedges so you can actually see the landscape Devon (take note).

Wiltshire minuses often very dull chav army towns with insular people Cornwall (take note) very cold in countryside narrow minded know it alls but friendly people generally suffers from lack of wealth and opportunities.

@alistairyoung

Ok I won't follow you I was looking at south east Cornwall.

St Hilary/Penzance is in West Cornwall - there’s not much further west you can go.

South East Cornwall would be Rame Peninsula/Looe/Fowey/Torpoint.

But I think you have decided that Wiltshire is where you want to be from reading your updates - there’s nothing that suggests you really want to relocate to Cornwall. Due to the travel times to get anywhere up country, you’ve got to really want to live here.

very dull chav army towns with insular people Cornwall (take note) very cold in countryside narrow minded know it alls

Yeah the garrison towns are a bit grim if I’m honest - you have to avoid them if you can.

Narrow minded know it all’s 😂 it is proper Brexit land to be fair!

Move closer to Marlborough (Ramsbury or Aldbourne would suit). Both Pewsey and Devizes are a bit more....insular....and down at heel than other witshire places

I've lived in both. Wiltshire is dry and cold, sometimes snow. Flat, tamed and manicured. Penzance is wetter but milder in the winter. Rarely snows but feels damp and mizzles alot. Rugged, wild and can be isolated. Take your pick!

Don’t forget the crop circles 👽

I think most people's view of the West Country is what we see in TV dramas and documentaries. I thought we were a bit more clued up as although we lived away we did have family in south Devon who we visited regularly. So, when finances permitted we moved here. For the whole of the first summer it either rained, was mizzly, and grey. To be fair when it's a clear sunny day there's nowhere that can beat it - but generally it isn't

Have you thought about Dorset? Could be an alternative to Cornwall - you've got the beaches and pretty seaside villages, but better access to facilities and not so cut off.

I would say to anyone thinking of coming south west that if your thinking of escapism then think deeply it's easy to get wrapped up in how life could be better. I love near devizes because it was cheaper. So I moved right out in the sticks 5 miles from the nearest shop/pub and to be honest things are actually the same. Better landscapes more room but people are just the same in some cases even worse. Everyone has got different wants from a seven child family to a single person just remember to do your homework before coming. And really check out your place really check out the neighborhood even knocking on doors if your spending 250-500 k. I've found resilience to change and narrow-mindedness the worse problems especially in the sticks. I've had so many problems here that I think the only move next is abroad. But would that sort any of those problems out your guess is as good as mine.

Im sure the folk in Marlborough arent too poor to be out at the pub!!

It's a hell of a lot more bleak down here in the Winter than Pewsey is!!!

I've changed my mind and Cornwall would not be my fav place to live now too many issues with living there. Wiltshire still has unbelievable narrow minded people it's cold very windy and open in the countryside and dull military towns that are quite asleep. But it is what it is. It doesn't pretend to be a gastro area it's very plain simple and has absolutely magnificent vistas of the countryside. And you can see absolutely everywhere because lack of tall hedging.

Oh! You've changed your mind? O was coming here to say I have a v good friend In St Hilary who is huge fun and not at all provincial.
And also to ask why St Hilary? Such a random place to select!

Remember when you move you get a whole new set of issues. Running away overseas won't necessarily solve them either. I would suggest you either move to somewhere more cosmopolitan or return tk where you were before. I've relocated multiple times and you have to be open minded, only one move I didn't like (little village, definitely not for me!)