Trading London for Cornwall. An insiders...
Trading London for Cornwall. An insiders perspective....
Rightmove this month present the blog post: Swapping the capital for the Coast (Cornwall). I wanted to weigh in.
I grew up in Cornwall. As a place to raise a family, its fantastic. You will be more successful in shielding your children from today's fast moving media and sometimes horrific events. None of this goes down in Cornwall. You will be able to let your children roam free. There is no knife or gun crime problem; no terrorism. The very worse to happen is someone drowning, car accident, or someone over dosing on an ecstasy tablet.
Okay, so you don't have kids.
Hmmm okay, if you like the outdoor lifestyle (i.e nature, beautiful scenery, the sea & surf!) then yes you will be rewarded. It cannot be helped: you will slow down in your pace of life. In this day and age - it could be a blessing.
Please be aware that it rains more and is less sunny throughout the year than London. The Cornish person's humour is hysterical but you will have to develop the know how. It helps to be on the inside of the joke. You do need to earn your stripes.
The community spirit is fantastic, but its still the south. So what I'm saying is that its not on par (in my eyes) with the more friendly midlands & north of the UK. Once again, it takes time to integrate to become accepted. However, once you are in - you will be looked after and loved.
Conversation may not always be as exciting and stimulating as the cultural/intellectual melting pot that London has to offer. Oh, yes - chances are you will live remotely and at least always be a drive away to enjoy a restaurant or two. You therefore need to invest in your cooking skills.
Okay, why not have the best of both I hear you say: London and a Cornish pad. Be aware, the car drive is always a stinger. Accept that if you are going to drive out of the capital on a Friday afternoon it will hurt (7+ hours). When you return towards the end of a Sunday or Bank holiday - likewise. Did I say that if you travel to Cornwall for any bank holiday, you will go to war on the roads (leave very very early). With the temperamental weather, you could start arguing that hopping on a plane to Barcelona is a more efficient choice.
In conclusion, whilst my heart still has a place in Cornwall - I am lucky that I have roots and family there. The beaches are all sand (I can't stand the South East Coast's pebble offering). I think if you have exhausted yourself in London (then apparently your tired of life so the phrase goes 😉) then go all in and make the move to Cornwall. You will in return achieve a quality of life unparalleled in the UK. If you want the best of both worlds, my advice would be to put your lifestyle in a position where you can spend periods of weeks or months at a time in Cornwall. Dawn French (the comedian) has successfully achieved this as an example. This way, you can still become part of the community.
You can find Rightmove's story here: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/moving-stories/swapping-the-capital-for-coast/
(Jay White is owner of Jeremy Jacob Letting Specialists, based on Kensington High Street. Find/contact at E: jay@jeremyjacob.co.uk, insta: @jeremyjacobltd, Twitt: @jeremyjacobltd, FaceB: /jeremyjacob.co.uk)
