Relocating from Birmingham to Cornwall help..........

loubie1

Hi All,


My Dh and I hoping to up sticks and take our family to live in Cornwall this summer, our house is going on the market next week ! thankfully dh can relocate with his job.


I have been looking at moving near or around Truro or St Austell, we have been on holiday a few times to Cornwall but St Ives way.


We will be renting for a while until we get a feel for the areas, can anyone help us with our search !!


Ideally we want :


within 30 (ish) mins drive from the beach


Not too far from the main roads for Dh who will need to travel once a month or so back to the midlands, Lands End would be out !!


We would like a nice town / village where we could walk to the nearest pub/restaurant


Good Junior and secondary schools


Near to a large town for the children when they are of an age when the want bigger shops, bowling and the cinema. This could be 30 mins drive away or a train ride.


I really liked the look of St Austell but then read some bad reviews, anyone know of what areas to avoid ? Redruth/Cambourne seems to get rough reviews too ?


Can anyone give us some ideas on where to start our search ?


Lou x

whitewing

Friends of ours went to Looe every summer and had a great time. That was years ago though.

Grumpelstiltskin

Try posting on this section.


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16




Be aware Cornwall is so different from Birmingham, you need to visit now, out of season and also August when the roads are blocked with tourists to see what it's like.

Grumpelstiltskin

Click on The Edge Of Poverty link on here.


http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=22134

McKneff

ooh, Im so jealous, I love Cornwall

barbiedoll

I think that almost everywhere in Cornwall is less than 30 mins drive from the beach so that won't be a problem, at least not until high summer!

St Austell is not too bad but there is a lot of redevelopment and building work going on over the next few years. There are some lovely villages surrounding it though, Google properties for rent in the PE postcode districts.

Truro is nice but very expensive and is a horror to drive through and to park if you're shopping. Falmouth is lovely, very busy in summer though but there is plenty for the kids to do and the views are spectacular from some of the properties.

A lot of Cornish villages have fallen prey to the townies and their habit of buying second homes in the area, which means that many villages are dying a death, there are lots which don't even have a Post Office, let alone a bank, doctor's surgery or even a village pub. It sounds lovely, to live in a small chocolate-box village but it can be a shock when the local shop shuts at 4.30pm and you can't get a pint of milk without having to drive 10 miles to the nearest Asda! The kids get very bored too and public transport is hit and miss, especially if they're out after dark.

Good luck with your search and your move, you lucky things!

Counting_Pennies_2

Lots of the lovely places are a nightmare in the summer to get in and out of.


I agree with you about renting first of all.


When we holiday in Falmouth, I think what a nightmare it must be to commute in and out for daily folk in the summer.


If you come from Birmingham, you might even find Truro despite being a city is a great base for you. It is central, all the main routes run out of it, there are lovely cafes etc, and is half an hour from the North Coast and the South Coast. There are also good primary and secondary schools situated there.


If you are wanting to do village, I would not go any deeper into Cornwall than Truro due to the nightmare gridlock in the holiday season.


Redruth is indeed poor and with that comes social issues, however it is still perfectly liveable and have relatives living there, and you can get a reasonably priced house. It is close to the major roads, and also within easy reach of the beaches

mwa

Hello,

I live in Cornwall, between St Austell and Truro :0)

Nowhere in Cornwall is further than 20-30 mins from the beach. Cheapest places to live are St. Austell, Camborne, Redruth. They are rougher than other areas but this is all relative- all these places have nicer and worse areas same as anywhere else.

Personally I'd not venture any further West that Hayle, reason being the roads get gridlocked in summer and the further towards Penzance you go the worse it gets as the A30 stops and goes into smaller roads at a certain village and it's a nightmare in season if commuting.

There are cinemas in Penzance, Redruth, Truro, Falmouth, St. Austell, Helston and Wadebridge.

St Austell is being redeveloped with plans for lots more housing and retail. There are some smaller villages around the area that might suit- Bugle, St Stephen, Penwinnick, st. Dennis, Nanpean, Foxhole & Roche. All of these will have a village lifestyle but are close to the main town and great access for the A38 which is the main road out of Cornwall (that and the A30). The Eden Project is wonderful for kids and you could get a Locals' pass for £12 a year for unlimited entry each.

Truro is lovely but houses are expensive. Outlying villages that are more reasonable would include Threemilestone, Trispen, Chacewater, Shortlanesend and Probus. These are all a 10 minute drive.

Feel free to PM me if you want any more local info!

sacha28

Hi don't know if you saw my thread (bitter/sweet job offer) but Cornwall is where we have dreamed of living for years!! We go to Cornwall 4/5 times a year so have quite good (albeit unlocal!) knowledge.

I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a 'home town'. We went down on Sunday to scope some areas out, just in case I was offered a job, and were somewhat surprised by what we found. We have been running our BB to maximum capacity doing research on areas close to Truro. Amazingly one of our favourite areas Chacewater, 5 mins drive to Truro, was a huge disappointment and not what we expected at all!

We spend most of our time up on the north coast and this is what we prefer, but everyone is different. There are some amazing villages along the main route from Newquay to Truro. Summercourt, Goonhavern, Cubert, Ventongimps to name but a few. Having been around all of these I can honestly say that they have all the things you need for good but quiet living.

TBH it doesn't matter where you live in Cornwall, you are NEVER 30 mins from the coast. But I would strongly recommend that you visit and get a real feel for the place. Quite rightly someone has suggested doing it at peak time and now so you can see how bad the traffic can get. It can be truely awful as there are many bottle necks that, unless you live there, you wouldn't know about!!!

HTH XX

jaylee3

Cornwall?!!! People actually want to live there...now???

Am I the only one who has a recollection of what happened in the last 3 months? :cool:

loubie1

wow.


Thank you all for taking the time to reply !


We are planning on a couple of visits before the move, but wanted a few areas to research before we arrive. It will be good to have a list of places to visit.


It looks like we are not far off the mark with Truro, St Austell and surrounding areas.


Thank you all again, I will be spending the next few hours/days looking at all the suggestions.


Lou x