Relocating to Cornwall

Soldato
Joined
16 Jan 2010
Posts
8,529
Location
Cumbria
the reason you so called locals cant buy a house down there is because one of you so called locals sold a house to an outsider and scooted with the loot,so wind your neck in and stop moaning.if it wasnt for outsiders there would be no cornwall.

Are you some city dweeb from London or something, wearing headphones with your suit my guess:rolleyes:
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Nov 2003
Posts
5,286
Location
St Breward Cornwall
when we bought 3 years ago ours was totally ignored by local buyers , overgrown garden ,doors jammed in the outbuildings and a bit of paint needed .
biggest regret is not doing it earlier in life cornwall does feel like a permanent holiday that feeling dosnt go
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
29,300
My entire close family has moved to Devon in the last 5 years, which is like Cornwall but with electric. I have to say I love the area, always have and am currently looking at buying a 2nd property down there this year.
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,899
Or villages with 200 people and 11 faces.

My entire close family has moved to Devon in the last 5 years, which is like Cornwall but with electric. I have to say I love the area, always have and am currently looking at buying a 2nd property down there this year.

^^^ this is why we need a like button :D :D

careful with that second home chat though - you'll 'trigger' certain posters on here
 
Associate
Joined
13 Nov 2019
Posts
1
Made a huge mistake moving to Cornwall in 1990, managed to escape back to civilisation in 2002, I now live in Hertfordshire. PROS: warmer winters, people think you're living the dream.
CONS: Winters are gloomy, miserable and wet, summer days without clouds are rare. A lazy laid back attitude where outsiders are not made welcome, job situation and pay are very poor, I took a 10k pay cut to move down and it crippled me, places like Camborne, Redruth, St Columb major and St. Austell are full of chavs and are poverty stricken. Life seems 10 years behind the rest of the country, there is no get up and go, an appalling road infrastructure, getting around is hard work and the standard of driving generally appalling, getting out of cornwall during the summer is very stressful and once took me 7 hours to get to Hertfordshire. Very rough council estates, Harmony close, Murdock close, close hill in Redruth. The town centres in both Camborne and Redruth are like the land that time forgot, boarded up shops, rough pubs, charity shops and pound stores..avoid! The locals don't like any negativity regarding Cornwall, but constantly moan about there plight. House prices totally out of line with the pathetic wages, petrol expensive and second hand cars. Rotten work on offer, food processing factories such as Roach foods which are mainly a last resort for the huge influx of foreigners. High suicide rate, regular jumpers off of Trengweath bridge Redruth. Life seems to stop at about 16:30 for Cornish tea, when the rest of the country is still working. The only decent areas to live are very expensive and have very little to do. Dead in the Winter and packed with holiday makers during summer. AVOID unless you want to take a step back.in time in a bad way and have sufficient funds to keep afloat. Try visiting both Portreath and Porthtowan during summer and the winter, in Summer you won't be able to move or get parked, during winter Beirut is more appealing, empty, desolate and thoroughly depressing.
 
Caporegime
Joined
13 Jan 2010
Posts
32,495
Location
Llaneirwg
I'm glad I went to Wales rather than Cornwall.
Cornwall has a lot, but it is so far from everything. And the cities aren't big. Cardiff is big (to me) and 6 months in have struggled to make any friends. But to be fair moved over in summer and didn't really try.

Id say go for it but be realistic. For me it's 3 hours to see friends back homeso it's no longer an evening obviously .
However, if I had moved here 3 years ago I'd have made friends here.

You can make friends anywhere if you are near a population centre. If you value geography, that's one thing you need to move for.

I'm glad I moved, but it's been tough at times


I don think I'd move to Cornwall now. Its just a little too many compromises

Oh, summer is great, winter is not so fun (first winter!)

Id you aren't an outdoors type, don't do it
 
Permabanned
Joined
29 Jan 2019
Posts
108
Location
Midlands
Penzance is my home town and do miss it occasionally. Sure for the couple of weeks of sunshine we get then its the best place in the country but after that its as wet and miserable as anywhere else. But id still go back, if im going to rained on anywhere it will be cornwall as you have the anticpation of the awsome summers :)

So if you have a job lined up that will cover the insane house prices then go for it. I wouldnt live anywhere east of Truro mind but thats just me.

Lovely part of the world, especially now that they are bringing the choppers, back :)
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Sep 2005
Posts
4,299
Made a huge mistake moving to Cornwall in 1990, managed to escape back to civilisation in 2002, I now live in Hertfordshire. PROS: warmer winters, people think you're living the dream.
CONS: Winters are gloomy, miserable and wet, summer days without clouds are rare. A lazy laid back attitude where outsiders are not made welcome, job situation and pay are very poor, I took a 10k pay cut to move down and it crippled me, places like Camborne, Redruth, St Columb major and St. Austell are full of chavs and are poverty stricken. Life seems 10 years behind the rest of the country, there is no get up and go, an appalling road infrastructure, getting around is hard work and the standard of driving generally appalling, getting out of cornwall during the summer is very stressful and once took me 7 hours to get to Hertfordshire. Very rough council estates, Harmony close, Murdock close, close hill in Redruth. The town centres in both Camborne and Redruth are like the land that time forgot, boarded up shops, rough pubs, charity shops and pound stores..avoid! The locals don't like any negativity regarding Cornwall, but constantly moan about there plight. House prices totally out of line with the pathetic wages, petrol expensive and second hand cars. Rotten work on offer, food processing factories such as Roach foods which are mainly a last resort for the huge influx of foreigners. High suicide rate, regular jumpers off of Trengweath bridge Redruth. Life seems to stop at about 16:30 for Cornish tea, when the rest of the country is still working. The only decent areas to live are very expensive and have very little to do. Dead in the Winter and packed with holiday makers during summer. AVOID unless you want to take a step back.in time in a bad way and have sufficient funds to keep afloat. Try visiting both Portreath and Porthtowan during summer and the winter, in Summer you won't be able to move or get parked, during winter Beirut is more appealing, empty, desolate and thoroughly depressing.
Jesus that was a dark first post!
 
Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
56,452
Location
Cornwall
Made a huge mistake moving to Cornwall in 1990, managed to escape back to civilisation in 2002, I now live in Hertfordshire. PROS: warmer winters, people think you're living the dream.
CONS: Winters are gloomy, miserable and wet, summer days without clouds are rare. A lazy laid back attitude where outsiders are not made welcome, job situation and pay are very poor, I took a 10k pay cut to move down and it crippled me, places like Camborne, Redruth, St Columb major and St. Austell are full of chavs and are poverty stricken. Life seems 10 years behind the rest of the country, there is no get up and go, an appalling road infrastructure, getting around is hard work and the standard of driving generally appalling, getting out of cornwall during the summer is very stressful and once took me 7 hours to get to Hertfordshire. Very rough council estates, Harmony close, Murdock close, close hill in Redruth. The town centres in both Camborne and Redruth are like the land that time forgot, boarded up shops, rough pubs, charity shops and pound stores..avoid! The locals don't like any negativity regarding Cornwall, but constantly moan about there plight. House prices totally out of line with the pathetic wages, petrol expensive and second hand cars. Rotten work on offer, food processing factories such as Roach foods which are mainly a last resort for the huge influx of foreigners. High suicide rate, regular jumpers off of Trengweath bridge Redruth. Life seems to stop at about 16:30 for Cornish tea, when the rest of the country is still working. The only decent areas to live are very expensive and have very little to do. Dead in the Winter and packed with holiday makers during summer. AVOID unless you want to take a step back.in time in a bad way and have sufficient funds to keep afloat. Try visiting both Portreath and Porthtowan during summer and the winter, in Summer you won't be able to move or get parked, during winter Beirut is more appealing, empty, desolate and thoroughly depressing.

Worst of all, we have no enter key on our keyboards, definitely avoid.
 
Joined
27 Jul 2005
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13,039
Location
The Orion Spur
I grew up in Buckinghamshire stomping around lovely wooded areas, the peaty smell of the autumn soil and moss, the wood peckers, and even the sound of local cricket being played out on the green near by, I really miss Bucks, I got moved down to Cornwall with my parents when I was 14, the coastline is nice, but aside from that it's awful down here, you honestly feel dis-attached from the rest of the country, also no-one seems to support economic progress down here, they just want to stay in the dark ages.

My local Asda wanted to expand due to growing demand, people moan all the time it's too small, yet loads of people protested it's expansion proposals and it was refused planning! The winters down are are so depressing, everyone moans about the tourists, but they spend most of the year waiting for the summer to return, I absolutely love it when the tourists are here, it gives the area some life and soul, happy families with kids running to the beach with a foam body-board under their arms, you get to see new and different people everyday, but no, locals are like "******* tourists, there everywhere!", "Want my town back", yes your town full of closed shops that can't afford to sustain themselves through the winter because no-one wants any real development down here to make Cornwall a self-sustaining economy that isn't just reliant on tourism (*takes a breath*).
 
Last edited:
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,899
Made a huge mistake moving to Cornwall in 1990, managed to escape back to civilisation in 2002, I now live in Hertfordshire. PROS: warmer winters, people think you're living the dream.[...]

Damn, strong first post!

Surely a lot of what you've posted about can be avoided by moving to a nice area (village etc..) not one of the towns full of chavs etc... Granted the traffic situation in summer perhaps can't be avoided so easily (unless your transport solution is perhaps 2 wheels instead of 4).

I can't say I care all that much about town centres etc..most things can be ordered online these days. Having a good local butcher, baker etc.. can be a nice bonus though - but in various places (talking in general not Cornwall per se) those sorts of places are surviving.

I think the key thing (if you're not say a doctor, teacher etc...) would be to be more of a remote worker/keep your current job/role etc... Whether that be working remotely almost all the time (bar the odd trip to your company office), or being self employed or perhaps being in a situate where you can work from your main Cornish home in conjunction with the weekend and have some crash pad - bedsit, canal boat etc.. for the 2-3 days a week you put in at the main office down south/London etc...

I guess another option perhaps is to move to Wales instead - you can still get yourself a place close to the sea etc.. but perhaps better transport links that can get you into say Cardiff, Liverpool etc...
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Nov 2003
Posts
5,286
Location
St Breward Cornwall
awesome place ,hate going back up to yorkshire apart from seeing family ,wages are terrible thats true but for me going walking and bodyboarding is pretty cheap
also i find getting around very easy ,i can be in tintagel ,port issac ,polzeath in 30 mins or less newquay in 40 min
just a totally different lifestyle and if you love the ocean a dream cone true to live hear
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Feb 2006
Posts
29,263
Location
Cornwall
Thanks, @dowie

Made a huge mistake moving to Cornwall in 1990, managed to escape back to civilisation in 2002, I now live in Hertfordshire. PROS: warmer winters, people think you're living the dream.
CONS: Winters are gloomy, miserable and wet, summer days without clouds are rare.
Cornwall has a rather different climate to the rest of the UK; temps rarely ever get below freezing. That means we can grow some semi-tropical plants here without bringing them indoors.

The last two years running we've had a very long, dry summer with no rain for weeks on end.

Currently there is some quite bad flooding up country; we're not exceptionally rained out down here. The whole UK is a bit wet, really.

Our summers and winter temps are moderated by the ocean, so we don't have extreme cold or Spanish summer temps.
A lazy laid back attitude where outsiders are not made welcome,
Laid back? Definitely. Absolutely. It's one of the best things about us.



Hostile to outsiders? I've heard this a lot but I've not personally seen it. Can't really comment.
job situation and pay are very poor, I took a 10k pay cut to move down and it crippled me,
Yup don't come here to get rich. You can double your money just by moving into Devon. True story.
places like Camborne, Redruth, St Columb major and St. Austell are full of chavs and are poverty stricken.
Yeah there's some truth to this. It's not universal even in those mentioned areas but there *is* a lot of poverty in Cornwall in general. High house prices coupled with the aforementioned low wages has taken a toll.
Life seems 10 years behind the rest of the country, there is no get up and go, an appalling road infrastructure,
Roads are not the worst you'll find in the country. My Aunt who lives up near Reading says their roads are much worse.

We're extremely rural with a low population density, and lots of places have crap broadband, etc. The Westminster govt has not been seen to invest much into Cornwall, and we've had to scrape most of our funding together from Lottery grants and the EU in particular.
getting around is hard work and the standard of driving generally appalling, getting out of cornwall during the summer is very stressful and once took me 7 hours to get to Hertfordshire.
I've only really driven in Cornwall and Devon so I can't compare with anywhere else.

There are some new dualling projects coming in the next decade, to make getting in and out quicker and easier.

Personally I love driving down little back roads but I'm never really in a hurry. As you said, we're very laid back, and I'm quite happy to get somewhere "drekly" rather than instantly :p
Very rough council estates, Harmony close, Murdock close, close hill in Redruth. The town centres in both Camborne and Redruth are like the land that time forgot, boarded up shops, rough pubs, charity shops and pound stores..avoid!
High streets are dying everywhere aren't they? I grew up in Helston and it's all charity shops, estate agents, betting shops now.
The locals don't like any negativity regarding Cornwall, but constantly moan about there plight. House prices totally out of line with the pathetic wages, petrol expensive and second hand cars. Rotten work on offer, food processing factories such as Roach foods which are mainly a last resort for the huge influx of foreigners. High suicide rate, regular jumpers off of Trengweath bridge Redruth.
We certainly have social issues and challenges down here. I've regularly mentioned it on here.

Lots of drugs too! And little prospects for many.

Again, central govt doesn't really want to invest in the area...
Life seems to stop at about 16:30 for Cornish tea, when the rest of the country is still working.
Eh? That's not something I've ever seen, tbh. News to me!
The only decent areas to live are very expensive and have very little to do. Dead in the Winter and packed with holiday makers during summer. AVOID unless you want to take a step back.in time in a bad way and have sufficient funds to keep afloat. Try visiting both Portreath and Porthtowan during summer and the winter, in Summer you won't be able to move or get parked, during winter Beirut is more appealing, empty, desolate and thoroughly depressing.
Depends what you want, I guess. Epic night life? Big city? Lots of young people?

Yeah that's up country.

I live in Truro. It's nice enough. It's pretty expensive with a single room in a shared house being 600-700 pcm. Thankfully I don't rent.

Locals can't really afford to live in any of the coastal towns. They mostly used to be fishing villages but they're just 2nd homes and AirBnbs now.

Parking is pretty dire, and you normally get to pay a fair whack even to visit the beach.

So yeah, there's much truth to what you say, but I think the real issue is it just isn't what you are looking for.

We're not big stressers down here; we're not high-flying professionals who party hard on the weekend. We don't have much in the way of night-life if that's your thing. We have some lovely pubs.

People come here mostly to retire. They come for the scenery. They come to grow old and potter in the garden.

The central govt sees us purely as a place to buy a 2nd home or a quick photo op eating a pasty. That's it. The lack of central govt investment in Cornwall is telling. Even the Welsh valleys have had more money put in than Cornwall.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Nov 2003
Posts
5,286
Location
St Breward Cornwall
yeh 100k didnt get me anything ,just have to put up with this rough area .not mega exiting in the winter and the camel trail can get busy in the summer but not at my end
pic taken on sunday ,got 2 smaller gardens also

IMG-20191110-114850.jpg
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Feb 2006
Posts
29,263
Location
Cornwall
Most people here aren't saving 100k on min wage, and sorry but I'm quite sure your house isn't worth 100k today. Perhaps you bought it for 100k in 2005 or something.

I know a chap who bought a whole farm (lots of land) for something like 100k back in 1990, and it's worth well over a million now.
 
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