Relocating to Cornwall!

[Coastaldreamer88]

Hi All,

I'm after some advice and or experience from others who have moved to Cornwall or born and bred Cornwallers Cornish! (My bad! 😬🫣!

Me & DH have been together for 15 years and nearly 13 years ago we very nearly made the jump to move to Cornwall. We absolutely adored everything about Cornwall. But 22 year old me, allowed my parents selfish views to make me question our dream to move and we never did!😟
We also always knew we wanted children and basically i was guilted into not leaving. And because of this, I convinced myself that staying would be essential for any prospective children to have a relationship with my family and be near by!

Fast forward to now, we have 3 boys under 7 and over the last year to 18 months, I've slowly come to the realisation that actually the reason we stayed (family support) is flakey at best and I we feel very let down at their lack of interest in us or our children.
My lovely sister is the only consistent "support" we have and if I'm honest she's the only reason I feel tethered to where we live now.
During this period of realisation, the urge to escape and follow our dream has got more evident and I've finally come to terms with the fact that it is something we really do want and would benefit us and it's time to put our "wants" over everyone else's, before it's too late and our DS's get older and don't want to move!
As my sister is emotionally our only anchor to where we live now, we've spoken to her about our potential plan to move and she is very much thrilled at the prospect of our exciting new future and the idea of free holidays for her & her children 😅!

So, I'm essentially here asking for advice on locations and considerations that we may not have thought of!

We want to move somewhere coastal-ish.... no more than 15-20 min drive away, that has a community we can hopefully integrate into and be a part of, as we don't know anyone there! We like the N/W coast (roughly Redruth up to Bude).
However, super touristy, busy places in the summer aren't really our thing, we tend to actively seek secret gems when we visit, but easy enough access to them if we wanted to go to places like this would be nice. We'd much prefer to find the quiet places away from the summer busyness where we can explore with the kids and dog (we love the ourdoors).
Due to having young kids, we do want some amenities near by and good schools, but we're not interested in big city vibes.

My husband is a remote worker with the view that he only has to go the office on occasions and I'm a wedding florist, so we need to be somewhere that I can access wedding venues and locations for weddings up to an hours drive away give or take!

(Wow! That's a right shopping list! 😅)

Any thoughts, advice or considerations for us to consider would be muchly appreciated!
X

I've got to ask. Did she go to Penrice? My mum was born in one of the cottages on the edge of the harbour. We used to have to run down to the harbour and jump into the sea when the tide was in, then run back up the hill again.

How about the Wadebridge - Camelford area? Good connectivity (for Cornwall anyway), near the coast and Bodmin Moor but not super-touristy. Decent amenities. There are more rural options along the A30 corridor between Launceston and Bodmin, which are generally not as eye-wateringly expensive as the coast or popular towns like Falmouth. Quick look on Rightmove produced this one: 4 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in Camelford, Cornwall, PL32

Yes Cornwall is lovely, but worth thinking ahead. Where are your family based? Cornwall is a long way from a lot of the UK, so family visits may be rare.
MIL is in cornwall on her own now, and tbh, it's a real pain (and expensive) to go and visit her.

Literally just got back from the beach with my grandson and whilst I agree with lots of advice I don't agree with some of it and don't recognise my home county in some of the posts!
Some areas of Redruth and Camborne are dire but not all..2 of my adult kids have had to move around that area because they've been priced out of their home village..
The more people who have (no choice) to do this are bringing those areas 'up'. Not snobbery just fact..
St Day used to be the pits...now... unaffordable for locals...
I really would suggest renting in the winter for 6 months or so.. it'll give you an idea of what it's like... and you can explore areas you might never have thought about..
All three of my DC moved away and all came back.. and proud to call Cornwall their home.
The age of yours is probably ideal.. it's a beautiful place to live all year round.
Just something to consider.. I've just lost both of my parents within 18 months of each other. (I moved from Surrey after meeting a Cornish man over 40+ years ago)
It nearly killed me travelling the 500 mile round trip (sometimes every weekend) to support them and my brother's for the last 5+ years.
Done willingly but very hard...

@bumblecoach I live in Bideford 😊

Thank you I’m gonna have a little look on Rightmove for somewhere nice

I'd be checking out Hayle/St Erth (and Lelant but that'd be a stretch on your budget).

Fantastic beaches. On mainline. Close to A30 for access out of Cornwall. Close to St Ives and Mousehole to visit when the tourists have gone. Close to Penzance for big town facilities.

Good luck in your search. I'd prepare myself (rightly or wrongly) for 10% of the locals hating your guts for taking another home away.

^ Just to add, if you're sociable and/or thick skinned then the minority locals shouldn't be an issue. But if you take comments to heart or find it harder to make new acquaintances then I'd think twice. Some friends of mine went to live in Scotland for a few years. He found it funny that some locals were "off" about the English but she found the digs very hard to handle.

Thanks so much for everyone's super helpful messages!
We're actually in the county this week, so I've made a list of several of these areas and we plan to take a look around and hopefully get a bit of a feel for the areas and see if any of them could be potentials!

@StarryGazeyEyes funnily enough, this property jumped into my favourites box on rightmove! It's right up our street!!! 😍

@XVGN logs of people have mentioned this to us! I suppose I can see there point of view... when we make this move we really want to make a concious effort to integrate into a community and hopefully pay back into the area and the businesses! Hopefully in time they'd come to accept us! 😬☺️

I grew up there and was desperate to escape...

How about around Newquay somewhere? Loads of wedding venues in the hotels, is a 'proper' town and the new metro service means the trains will be running every hour cross cornwall which will be good for teens wanting to go out in Truro or for the mainline station for London.

You could get somewhere decent round Porth or st Columb minor for that. It is a bit busier in the summer but if you stay outside of the main town then you'll not find it too bad.

I do also recommend spending some serious time there in February when everything is closed and it rains non stop. I also find it expensive- eating out, travel, cinema etc are all a lot compared to London! You'll spend a lot on fuel.

The rain has been relentless for the last few years. It does get you down.

Also bear in mind the additional surveys you'll need on properties- mining, radon, are there still places made of mundic blocks around?

Lot of holes all over Cornwall...

I think some of the posters here are comparing Cornwall to more affluent counties. Yeah most people are on low incomes but there are deprived towns all over the UK. Did you know for example that the top performing secondary school in Cornwall is in St Austell? Rent for a year.. just send your kids to the local school.. and see how you get on..

We moved 13 years ago, lived in Camborne and now illogan which we love. I would never ever leave but I’ve seen many who have the dream do just that. It rains sideways in winter, the winds are fearsome , you won’t get a dentist unless you go private and the water costs a fortune. There’s also so much poverty which you don’t see in the holiday places, high rents and mortgages.
On the plus side your children will have all the natural activities on their doorstep, most of the people in the poorer towns are down to Earth and will accept you as long as you don’t try to change things oh and of course the beaches are as beautiful as anywhere you could ever go. Good luck.

I wanted to live in Cornwall for 30 years. Dreamed about it, had maps on my wall, visited at every opportunity.Three years ago I finally had the chance to do it along with my three small children. I anticipated Enid Blyton childhoods for them.

And now I'm done. Poverty, crime, rain, drugs, lack of opportunities, lack of child friendly facilities, house prices, lack of rental properties, distance from family. The locals are clinging on with their fingertips but it's not the Cornwall of even 20 years ago, let alone 50.

Be careful what you wish for.

Be prepared for the rain. It rains a lot, for months on end.

Things like social care and SEND provision are not brilliant either, not because they're not staffed by good people but just because the distances involved make the density of provision you might need difficult. The Dr surgery in my really quite sizeable home village almost closed down last year and the alternative was a 7 mile rural drive away, no bus service. If you can hack it, great, but all to be aware of. Only one big hospital, etc.

It’s not a bad time to buy in Cornwall right now as the property market is softening. Chain free buyers could pick up a (relative) bargain.

i know that you said that you prefer the north coast but i would say with small children you will (generally) find safer, calmer seas on the south coast, which makes beach days with small children more relaxing.

Falmouth is one of the best towns in Cornwall IMO. There’s a new rail link direct to Newquay being built.

Redruth is a bit rough around the edges but has an emerging creative vibe and lots of community spirit. Great central location too.

Stithians is also well located between the coasts but less favoured by teenagers.

Truro probably has everything a family needs. The town centre is a bit dull but the council are working on it.

I don’t know Wadebridge well but my friends who live there love it.

Bude is lovely but so isolated, even by Cornwall standards. There are some fabulous communities way down west but it depends on how content you would be there. Can you give us an idea of a minimum sized town/village or minimum requirements?

I have friends who moved to Cornwall when the first child was three. Originally they lived in a small village just outside St Ives, and moved to Helston when the kids were in secondary school and they were both teachers, one in Helston, one in Mullion.
Both kids now grown up, both left for uni, one has come back, one lives abroad.
They are now retired and don't seem short of things to do.
My friends brother lives near Penzance, he had 4 daughters, all went away to uni. Two have come back as jobs allowed. Ones a midwife, another is a county solicitor, both husbands wfh.
So not without opportunities for adult children

Maybe the stars will align! If you want any more info on this end of the county drop me a pm.

You’re never more than 16 miles from the coast in Cornwall! May take longer through the lanes though! Remember that there are very few big/chain stores (particularly clothes!) and you can’t always just pop out to buy that odd thing you need.

I second this. We have a home in St Ives and Hayle is very close but much cheaper to buy and has good amenities. I believe up and coming as well. Much less touristy than St Ives which while beautiful can be rammed in the summer.

I’m one of those who escaped Cornwall haha! It’s not somewhere I would want to live with young kids, but maybe when I’m old it’s a nice place to retire too. It’s lovely to visit but I would not want to live there again.

Also don’t recognise the Cornwall that some of these posters describe, We’ve raised two DC’s to adulthood and still have a teen at home.
They have had amazing childhood’s, and the anti social behaviour and drug issues mentioned are not something I’ve experienced. The young people I know are polite, social, well motivated and eager to achieve.

The older two moved away for uni ( as I would have hoped for) and have traveled, one moved back to Cornwall as soon as they could with their work. The other can’t, that reality is true, the opportunities for more diverse work are not as available here. But they still choose to come home very regularly for their Cornwall fix but they’re happy building their young adult life in a more buzzy urban city.

If you love rural life then there’s no where better.
Maybe consider looking at south east Cornwall , the Rame peninsular is very beautiful, tens to get overnighted in the summer so doesn’t suffer the crazy season quite like the north coast does, good local community, and Plymouth just across the Tamar, which has a couple of good grammar schools and all the benefits of a city on your doorstep( and ferry port to France & Spain ) .

Good luck whatever you decide, and enjoy your week here.

*Tends to get overlooked!