Location advice - Cornwall

warehouse

Cakeguts wrote: »

Don't go to Falmouth. When that dreadful university finally closes there may not be anything there. Please will someone close it soon it is conning the least able of our young people out of a lot of money and 3 years of their lives on nothing courses.

MSE ignorance at it's best.

Contessa

Do encourage your wife to get a driving licence-narrow roads but she won't be going fast in much of Cornwall!

My negative opinions of those areas are just from passing through, never having lived there. They seem quite bleak and the beaches (I'm told) aren't good for swimming (because of the China Clay?)

There are some more reasonable areas in and around Newquay which as you know has fantastic beaches but I call it "Blackpool with surf"

Perhaps it would help you to come down and explore some areas in the next couple of years?

Muttleythefrog

Contessa wrote: »

Do encourage your wife to get a driving licence-narrow roads but she won't be going fast in much of Cornwall!

My negative opinions of those areas are just from passing through, never having lived there. They seem quite bleak and the beaches (I'm told) aren't good for swimming (because of the China Clay?)

There are some more reasonable areas in and around Newquay which as you know has fantastic beaches but I call it "Blackpool with surf"

Perhaps it would help you to come down and explore some areas in the next couple of years?

lol.. yep... watched a few videos from cyclists flying between the villages along some of the 'main roads'..lol.

I watch these videos of #manonabeach regarding Par... one guy was a local farmer out on the beach giving his sheepdog the free run of the place.. but he seemed to think the quality of the beach and water had improved a lot with the receding industry and cleaning of rivers at the location. (He talked also of the housing development planned for part of port too). But it's something I'll take note of if we visit.. to check and see how much it has improved... used to pretty clean sandy beaches being a 'sanddancer' by birth. Mind you... last time I went swimming was in competition at school over 25 years ago... more likely to find me lurking in the dunes looking for birds... perhaps that'll send prices down locally..lol. I did find scrolling through (and watching car videos etc) St Blazey sort of quaint but with some indicators of some deprivation... while Par more quaint and more indicators of wealth. Everywhere in Cornwall probably would look quaint to me to be honest..lol... I'm used to living in locations the Luftwaffe had a go at.

Newquay..'Blackpool with surf' haha.. I don't think you're the first I've heard call it that... nor am I probably the first to describe Benidorm as the Blackpool of the Costas (I lived there for 6 months so I do have a bit of feel for living in a holiday town).

With disabilities etc tricky to come down (or go out anywhere).. but we'll have to... I've figured out all the routes and methods... and we'll tentatively pencil in a trip next year I think... probably have to be summer season to catch the Newquay flight with those propeller planes. We'll see... planning has begun... maybe a couple of short breaks over next couple years... see how the land lies... no doubt I'll end up in the pubs where the locals will be care free about their joys and tribulations.

Contessa

"Newquay..'Blackpool with surf' haha.. I don't think you're the first I've heard call it that... nor am I probably the first to describe Benidorm as the Blackpool of the Costas (I lived there for 6 months so I do have a bit of feel for living in a holiday town)."

Oh dear! I really thought that desrciption was my original!!

If you want sand dunes then the North coast is good.

Would it be worth you looking at National Express coach for a long but cheap journey down?

Muttleythefrog

Contessa wrote: »

Oh dear! I really thought that desrciption was my original!!

If you want sand dunes then the North coast is good.

Would it be worth you looking at National Express coach for a long but cheap journey down?

lol.... north coast sand dunes.. noted.

I'd have to test my travel sickness tablets again (they worked for road trip to Paris and back over 1.5 days)... I tend to get travel sick on roads after about 5 miles..lol... and train after about 20. I've only ever flown 1 return trip and I was sick before boarding due to alcohol...lol. But yeah it would be cheap(er).. long.. but could perhaps mix and match with a rail connection in Plymouth or the like. Impressively can get direct train to Par (Penzance one).. the disabled railcard would get value there..lol.. just 8 hours of having to watch the wife 'check in' at every stop on foursquare or whatever it is. What I may do is something cunning... parents or friends to drive us there.. rent caravan on Par Sands for 4 for week... free journeys for us.. free caravan for them on 5* site with swans and indoor pool...lol. Just have to figure out what to do with the boss... the cat.

Davesnave

I'd say read that social deprivation index with care. Where I used to live, in Somerset, was within one of the very least deprived areas, but now I'm in one of the most deprived places in Devon, away from obvious hot spots like Torquay, with its seasonal employment and part-transitory population.

Despite this, I feel pretty good about the move. There's an excellent doctor & dentist within a 5 minute drive, an outstanding primary school, a secondary school withsome of the best results in the county,an hourly bus service at my gate, a train station under 2 miles away and plenty of local hostelries etc etc.

Crime levels are very low here.

What we don't have is a full-sized supermarket within about 20 miles, so although it might be a non-starter for you, being "24 minutes from Tesco" is hardly what I'd call being deprived! :rotfl:

For my two-pennorth, I'd say that Truro is an attractive place, with a pleasant hinterland. Devon knocks the socks off much of Cornwall when it comes to inland landscapes IMO, and some of its beaches are pretty good too, but I wouldn't want to sway you in any way!

Muttleythefrog

Davesnave wrote: »

I'd say read that social deprivation index with care. Where I used to live, in Somerset, was within one of the very least deprived areas, but now I'm in one of the most deprived places in Devon, away from obvious hot spots like Torquay, with its seasonal employment and part-transitory population.

Despite this, I feel pretty good about the move. There's an excellent doctor & dentist within a 5 minute drive, an outstanding primary school, a secondary school withsome of the best results in the county,an hourly bus service at my gate, a train station under 2 miles away and plenty of local hostelries etc etc.

Crime levels are very low here.

What we don't have is a full-sized supermarket within about 20 miles, so although it might be a non-starter for you, being "24 minutes from Tesco" is hardly what I'd call being deprived! :rotfl:

For my two-pennorth, I'd say that Truro is an attractive place, with a pleasant hinterland. Devon knocks the socks off much of Cornwall when it comes to inland landscapes IMO, and some of its beaches are pretty good too, but I wouldn't want to sway you in any way!

lol.. thanks for sharing your deprivation haha... sounds like you're well set. Yes one of the attractions of Par is Tesco superstore and Asda both in delivery range from St Austell. But I suspect I'll find the deprivation index not so useful as up here...sounds like it's made little sense in your case. Everyone does seem to like Truro huh. I certainly wouldn't rule Devon out and will be back at you if looking more broadly at region... but as my adversaries have always said.. I'm an extremist... probably they weren't referring to where I live... lol... but my mentality is one of grand gestures... a bit like a crocodile I don't really do much and then once in a while go rogue... at first I started looking at Penzance... but I'm weary of drinking with pirates..lol. I read one person remarking that the best and worst thing about Cornwall was everything goes green....the countryside... but also homes. At least the wife says she understands Cornish natives better than Geordies from the short clips of the former she's watched.

Winter_Phoenix

A lot of places in Cornwall have parking problems - either the streets are too narrow to park in and/or car parks are few and small.

Falmouth is one of the exceptions, with a very large car park near the town centre and a reasonable amount of parking in side streets a little further out.

It's a pleasant town, with a good choice of restaurants, a variety of different types/styles of housing, and (unlike some places in the county) it doesn't close down in winter.

And - while I can't speak for all of them - some of the university courses are very good indeed.

Davesnave

Well, you won't escape greater than average amounts of wind and rain in either county, but the southern coastal area is about as mild as winter gets in the UK.

Despite my distant location from the main centres of civilization, Mr T and Mr S deliver around here all the time (and probably Mr A and Mr W too.)

seashore22

My daughter went to Falmouth (take note Cakeguts) and although she loved the course, she thought Falmouth was in a bit of a bubble and was very happy to come home after 3 years. She went to the art college and stayed in the town rather than on campus, so she did have a real experience of what life was like there. It's one of those places that is lovely to visit, but I probably wouldn't want to live there.

We have family who moved to Cornwall who seem happy enough, but found it a bit of a struggle to integrate.