Moving to Cornwall...will everyone hate me??!

[KateD83]

Hi everyone, I'm thinking of buying a home in Cornwall and wondered if there are any Cornwellians (or anyone at all actually) who can ease my fears (or give me a reality check) about being an 'outsider'. I have found the house of my dreams, I've been looking for a long time and will live there all year round and contribute as much as I can to the community. But I am not a local, I'm a single female moving on my own and I won't know anyone. I hope my fears of being treated like an outsider and 'shunned' are unfounded, but if anyone has any views, I'd love to hear them! The location is in South East Cornwall. Thanks so much

Proving my point nicely, Sunglasses.

Good luck wherever you end up OP 🍀

Proving my point nicely, Sunglasses.

Hmm, maybe if you knew more about me, possibly.

In the meantime you just sound incredibly smug.

Nothing 'nice' about it.

I moved to Cornwall as a child, moved out in my 20s.... glad I did. Its just so bleak, absolutely amazing in the nice weather but busy, if it rains nothing to do. Also just so far away from anything.

When I was at school in south Devon we had a boy move from Cornwall - he said he'd expected to be hated because he was Cornish! No one actually cared at all. Personally I find London and big cities far more unfriendly than devon and cornwall, people can be a bit wary of 'city folk' being entitled and over bearing but it's like any where if you make the effort then chances are you'll be fine. There'll always be a few odd balls though that hate outsiders and blame them for everything, they're just angry, miserable people and you get them everywhere.

Personally I wouldn't move to Cornwall because although some of it is very pretty it's very far away from anything - especially an airport. The roads are also hell during the summer.

Hello from South East Cornwall! I moved nearly 3 years ago. It is fabulous here, winter and summer. It has totally changed my life being here. I happen to like the winter because I live on the coast and like the crashing waves and cosy pubs with log fires. Also, when you get some sunny weather it is just amazing. Spring comes earlier and there is no miserable having to de-ice the car for months on end as frosts are rare.

As to being welcome it depends where you are and who you talk to. There is a resentment towards second home owners and people who buy holiday lets at the moment. There probably always has been, but the huge hike in house prices means that in my village for example most people buying are from ' up country '. There is the odd- very odd- person who hates 'emmets' but that really is the exception. Most people who move to the village are welcomed and quickly become part of the community.

As I see it the main problem in Cornwall is not housing alone, it's a lack of decent jobs, so people are stuck in low paid seasonal work or they are tradespeople or NHS/ teacher/ solicitor. Or they run their own business which I do. It is a complicated situation that some people see as black and white.

I moved to Cornwall 4 years ago. Totally on my own. I've never been happier! The people are lovely - I've made loads of friends- lots of people here have also moved from "up country" as we call it.
Also the winter is the best time of year down here; it rarely snows, rarely gets freezing cold and the beaches are empty. Seriously, it's a great place to live!!

My friend moved to Cornwall a couple of years ago. She and husband are happy and have made lots of friends as they have actively made an effort to get involved with beach cleans, walking groups, etc. Where she lives is lovely but it's not for me. Everyone knows everything about what's going on in the village, I like a bit of anonymity. No different to many villages though, I don't think this is particular to Cornwall.

I moved here ten years ago. It's fab and I love it. We live in St Austell. There are amazing schools, both primary and secondary, my children are happy and settled. On Friday after work we went into Charlestown for a coffee. It's such a beautiful place. People are friendly. They say hello as they pass you, if you're walking the dog, and I know of Romanians, Lithuanians and Slovakians who live here. I am Jewish myself. There is no Jewish community, but I decided to live here and that's that. I never voted for Brexit, and my neighbours come from Devon and Birmingham.

On these types of threads there seems to be a lot of hatred towards, and judgements of, the Cornish. I don't know why. Just people being horrible I suppose. The Cornish people I know are just like any other, though to be fair I now know fishermen and farmers, and I never did up country!

It DOES rain a lot. But at my place of work I have colleagues like you, and me, who decided to move because that's what they wanted to do. And from my experience, the people who we joined living here just accepted is because, well, like someone said upthread, it's not like you need a visa to buy or rent a house here! Go for it.

We are very happy and would not live anywhere else. Despite the mizzle!

Moved back to our house here in the Tamar Valley in 2019 after a couple of stints abroad, and are happy to be back. Waves at Xing.

Our village has been quiet since lockdown started, but is beginning to come back to life. What was lovely was walking back into the village shop after 13 years away and being greeted by name, and asked if I wanted the same newspapers ordered as before.

Yes the commute into Plymouth is a PITA at present, and work on the tunnel starts after the bridge is done, but it will improve. There are jobs here if you don't mind going into Plymouth; the Civil Service always seems to be recruiting.

I grew up in west Cornwall so can’t comment on the specifics of SE Cwll. You’ll come to rely on your car! Seriously, would recommend you visit the area you’re planning to move to over the winter as some places can be absolutely dead over winter. Maybe you’re looking for that, idk.

The people who tend to rub the residents up the wrong way are arrogant snobs. Treat people with respect and you’ll have no problems.

(Waves back to theCatsMother). The bridge re-opened today, thanks be! Cut 20 minutes off the journey.

Apologies for the derail, everyone.

@Tal45

When I was at school in south Devon we had a boy move from Cornwall - he said he'd expected to be hated because he was Cornish! No one actually cared at all. Personally I find London and big cities far more unfriendly than devon and cornwall, people can be a bit wary of 'city folk' being entitled and over bearing but it's like any where if you make the effort then chances are you'll be fine. There'll always be a few odd balls though that hate outsiders and blame them for everything, they're just angry, miserable people and you get them everywhere.

Personally I wouldn't move to Cornwall because although some of it is very pretty it's very far away from anything - especially an airport. The roads are also hell during the summer.

Yep. You get unfriendly pr~ts everywhere, usually proud of it too, as you can see from this thread. When I lived in London I found that the chirpy friendly east-ender stereotype was (cough) 'not always very accurate'.

Where I am now in urban Lancs my DH was digging the drains out in the front garden, people would just stop, lean on our garden wall, and ask straight out 'what're you doing?' They'd be most offended if you didn't give them a friendly answer and chat for a bit. A lady I was talking to in an adjacent town had moved here from elsewhere, on her own, and knew nobody. The first day she took the dog for what she thought would be a short walk, feeling a bit lonely. She got back an hour and half later, exhausted because she had had so many people say hello / not seen you before, and stop to chat. One of them has turned into her best friend. Some people out walking who had stopped because they'd met friends and were chatting in a group said hello and drew her into the group conversation.
Some people would find this intrusive or nosy. Like I said, it's just local customs. Doesn't mean people are more friendly here, in other places they may be just as friendly, but just a bit harder to get to know.

Do you enjoy eating Corwellian Pasties OP?

🤣🤣

If you call us Cornwallians we'll probably call you an emmet 😅 but depends. Where I'm from West Cornwall, some places are friendlier and a real mix of born and beds, and incomers. Down near the lizard is likely to be less friendly to outsiders if that's where your going?

@CousinLucy

You should look up Kehillat Kernow, which represents the small Jewish community in Cornwall.

They are very proud of their Cornish (and obv Jewish) roots and that there has been a small but well established Jewish community in Cornwall for several hundred years.

@1dayatatime thank you! I will look into them ✡️💕

I am a single female in my sixties and moved to a Cornish town a last year. I have experienced open hostility, and one woman even shouted 'bitch' through my window while talking to somebody else... I had never even met or spoken to this person before..Sadly though, I have experienced hostility more than once.
Admittedly it's a beautiful area with plenty to do in the summer months. But the best people here are the visitors.
However, you can't really judge by whether someone is a Cornish local or not. Some of the people who moved here from outside are pretty awful. The neighbours don't bother to talk to me either, and I have tried to build some bridges; without success.
With serious health problems, I probably won't live long enough to be 'accepted,' (whatever that means), so I now concentrate on myself rather than others, and doing things with my new home. I prefer to ignore other people altogether.
Perhaps in time I will move, maybe to Plymouth where its a least bigger and maybe a bit more impersonal!
But if I do move, it will be hard to leave behind such a beautiful place.

Where are you living, @Arthvu? I'm from Cornwall and round my way (mid Cornwall) there are a lot of people from other parts of the UK. They seem to get on well and are a welcome part of the community.

I've pmed you @Arthvu .

Looe. But it's a small town, and I live on my own, which doesn't help much. My neighbours are non communicative as well.
Shopkeepers are usually friendly though as they, obviously, like and want my custom.

I was born in South Devon as were my parents, my parent's parents etc. etc. We never went to Cornwall despite it being less than 30 miles away. According to my father "people down there are strange" 😁.

Aww that's a shame. I visited Looe when l was a kid, lovely place. Fishing town though, they are very traditional.

This made me laugh. I live in south Devon and haven't been to Cornwall in years, I had to go to a work thing about 20 years ago.

Hello. It certainly is a lovely place. Really pretty. Not everyone has been unfriendly, but sadly I have experienced open hostility.

I moved to a small pretty town in Cornwall. To be honest we could do with more variety in this lovely historic town: black, brown, lgbt, disabled, fat, thin and everything in-between. I would love to see it happen!
The town is full of visitors now and I love them all. I am just like them, an outsider who doesn't belong properly and never will.