Moving to Cornwall from London

[Giadar]

Hi everyone,

we are thinking of moving to Cornwall, looking in the area of Liskeard, with 3 teens and 2 younger children.

Looking at different threads online, there seem to be quite of a negative image.

On the threads lots of people will say that people are not friendly, that teenagers struggles with boredom or start using drugs..
That the weather is actually worse then London...

I really don't want to believe this..
Are teenagers luckily to find it difficult?
Are people no accepting of 'new comers'?
Can I have some advice please from people that has made the move and also from local people?

Thank you in advance
Giada

I am local, although not in Liskeard. Do you know Cornwall at all? I used to live in London (though have Cornish family) and I will warn you that life is very different down here! It will be a big lifestyle change and it's not for everyone.

That said, I wouldn't live anywhere else! I can't speak for life with teenagers but in Liskeard you have easy access to Plymouth for shopping, the beaches at Looe/Kingsand etc are nearby. If kids are of a mind to try drugs they'll do that anywhere. The weather is different to London, it's much further west and therefore it rains a lot more and for days at a time. Winters are long and grey. Traffic is horrific in school holidays although you will be less affected in Liskeard.

It is a poor county despite the second homes around the coast. There is resentment towards incomers in some places because locals are being priced out, but the same goes on in London! But if you're moving here to live, you get involved with your local community etc, you will be welcomed. I would normally suggest renting before you buy, but the rental market is as bonkers as the sales market!

Have you fully examined your reasons for choosing Cornwall? Why not be open to other parts of the West Country - for example Devon or Somerset?

I know the Liskeard area well and have family there.
Although some of the surrounding areas are lovely, all the things you have mentioned are true. The weather can be awful (wet), there are drug issues, it can be very insular and it will take a long time to be accepted (if ever). I know of people who live around Liskeard who are struggling to buy/rent and there is understandable resentment of second home owners. Also specific to Liskeard is the lack on infrastructure to support the rapid building of large numbers of new homes. There are only 2 supermarkets for a big population, no additional GP surgeries, schools etc. Roads out of Cornwall to Plymouth A38 are frequently congested although there is the train line.
Personally I wouldn't move there with teens without a strong reason to.

Thank you for the detailed 'report'. I never been to Cornwall. I am basing the decision purely to a better quality of life.
Appreciate the time you took to write this, it all helps!@dubyalass

@cosmiccat
Thank you for your honest opinion, which reflect most of the threads I have read, sadly. My reasons maybe not strong enough. But I should be there Saturday to have a look around.
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post!

@DaphneduM
Investigating options really, in need of better quality of life. Not sure Liskeard is the place now😅
Thank you for your suggestions.

It's actually a handsome town, with some beautiful buildings. But, as with the rest of interior Cornwall, when the mining went, it fell on hard times. Mary Portas featured it in her efforts to revive high streets in the UK.

With teens, Exeter is probably a better bet. Near the sea and the moor, but fairly quick to London too (4.5 hours plus from Cornwall). Although no shortage of drug and alcohol problems there, either.

Enjoy your visit!

@dubyalass
I was really hoping for more positives.
Been checking the weather daily to compare and at the moment only one day was raining there but not here (assuming it was raining there).
I love the quiet of country side with added bonus of being close to the coast.
You are right, teens will do drugs if they decide that to be their path(hopefully blinking not!), at the same time the picture of Liskeard sounds very grim now, I didn't want it to be.
Are there cinemas, bowling alleys, skates park and other things for teens to do? How are the parks- infested with syringes or beautiful places to walk? Playgrounds?
When mentioning half term, is the main roads to Plymouth that get very busy or it is impossible to access anything?

I'm coming without the car, so hopefully I get a good understanding. Is not half term over there is it?😅😅

My dad’s side of the family are in and around Liskeard (he left, I grew up elsewhere).

I don’t think it’s a good place to grow up. Cornwall in general is just lacking in infrastructure and too far away from the action. I like visiting but I wouldn’t move there.

I think that you should visit the place that you want to move to first, Op.

I was going to suggest Exeter area too.

Liskeard is a very impoverished town. Why are you looking there? Have you been there?

"Are there cinemas, bowling alleys, skates park and other things for teens to do? How are the parks- infested with syringes or beautiful places to walk? Playgrounds?
When mentioning half term, is the main roads to Plymouth that get very busy or it is impossible to access anything?

I'm coming without the car, so hopefully I get a good understanding. Is not half term over there is it?"

No, no cinemas, alleys, skates parks etc in Liskeard. You'd need to go to Plymouth for the cinema or bowling or down to Bodmin to their little cinema. There's a council swimming pool etc.

www.stayincornwall.co.uk/handbook/locals-guide-Liskeard - You'll need a car for most of the things in this guide for example.

Buses aren't bad, but they are pulling a LOT of routes at the moment due to costs. The 71 will get you out to Looe, Polperro etc for pretty beaches. The 11 to Plymouth (takes approx an hour). Train station at the far end of the town, takes about 25mins, at least one per hour).

There's a Morrisons and an Aldi, a large GP surgery (although you can only phone up on the day for appointments including routine appointments. ...), no NHS dentist for love not money (7+yr wait in Cornwall on the list) in the entire county but a good minor injuries in the town.

Not sure about schools.

Have a look at the crime rate - it's a strange town with a rough dynamic.

Hey OP
we recently did the move to Cornwall from London but not to where you would like. We are along the north coast in a busy tourist town that was surprisingly open in the winter (it was mainly January that everywhere seemed closed). I honestly couldn’t be happier. Kids (including teen) have all settled in and made friends and are thriving with the activities they are doing. We have made friends and been welcomed with open arms into the community. We have made a lot of effort to integrate and contribute which has definitely helped with this.

Yes it is rainy, but I didn’t notice it as particularly rainy compared to winters in london. It doesn’t get as cold but it doesn’t get as hot either.

kids will take drugs wherever they are. I grew up in london, first tried drugs when I was 14. A local girl sadly passed away from aerosol abuse aged 13, so to me I feel like it will happen anywhere.

good luck with your search!

@SilverHairedCat thank you for the details. Its hard to believe that Liskeard is so run down, not sure why. I have always imagined Cornwall to be flourishing.
Didn't expect hostility, thought the south to be 'friendlier'; and to top it all up I am Italian, I am not going to go down very well with the locals!😅
Not even a Tesco?

Am I right to assume that St Cleer is the same as Liskeard?

There's a Trago in Liskeard...definitely worth leaving London for

Oh gosh you really really need to come and see if you are expecting cinemas, bowling and skate parks to a standard you are used to.

St Cleer is a village outside Liskeard.

I really would spend a week at least exploring Cornwall in winter before even thinking about moving.

The coastal tourist towns in the summer are beautiful and bustling but the none touristy places can be dreary with little to do particularly in the winter. My mum left in her early twenties as ‘all it ever did was rain’.

Liskeard is rough and rundown. I have family who live down the road, the area feels homely to me as it’s where my Mums family has come from for hundreds of years and you couldn’t pay me to move to Liskeard (sorry anyone who lives there).

A lack of a car will also limit how much you can explore as buses will be infrequent and taxis can be hard to come by.

What type of lifestyle are you hoping to get by the move? Have you looked at places like Falmouth or St. Ives?

St Cleer is a small village nearly 3 miles away from Liskeard, so you've no chance of cinemas, bowling etc.... There are barely any buses so it will be MUCH more difficult to access anywhere - approx 2hrs to Plymouth alone.

Why are you looking at St Cleer of all places???

Your nearest Tesco is in Callington - 11 miles away and 40 mins each way by bus.

Cornwall is a VERY poor county. Crap wages, massively expensive housing, a serious lack of availability of housing and appalling public transport (as you'll see).

Why are you looking at Cornwall, let alone a specific rural Cornwall village? Will you or a partner be working for the military at Torpoint or something?

2 things…
liskard is barely cornwall
cornwall is full of Londoners. Which is why there are no houses for locals.

@Beachbreak2411 it's definitely part of Cornwall though. I'm actually closer to the border than that - DH is Cornish and gets shivers going to Devon.... 😂

We have family friends in Cornwall, their ancestors can be traced back in Cornwall for a couple of hundred years and they have always lived there.

The generation in their 20s and 30s are finding it almost impossible to stay there as house prices are being pushed up by incomers and 2nd homes. They understandably resent the situation although they understand the importance of tourism to the local economy.

The tourist hotpots appear well to do but the level of poverty is very obvious in many inland towns, the contrast can be quite shocking. Lovely though the coast is, there are many reasons I wouldn't want to live there.

I think the train tickets are non-refundable!😫

I grew up in inland Cornwall, half my ancestors are from there and I have family there.
Love visiting and to a degree it feels like home, but I left as a teenager and you couldn’t pay me to move back across the Tamar. My school friends either never left the town or moved to major cities outside the SW as soon as they left uni.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer my questions. I am so disappointed, I don't mind rural with a decent close by town, but doesn't look like this is the case.
Also the idea of not making friends is the saddest thing...I need accepting people in my life!

Minehead any good?😂

THANK YOU ALL!