You mentioned Looe, well I live in Polperro and my dad was from Looe, so I know Looe pretty well. It still has quite a good large local Cornish population, fishing is still VERY big in Looe second only to Newlyn, but apart from that there isn’t much. The shops are dire, a very small Somerfield no butchers several bakeries but it still has 3 banks (might be 2 now). It has quite a good bus service to Liskeard and to Plymouth and it does have a pretty good train service. Nearest supermarket is Liskeard 14 miles and that’s a crappy Morrisons otherwise its Bodmin, St Austell or Plymouth (both 25 miles). If you’re after any form of entertainment nearest cinema, theatre, decent shops, etc Plymouth.
Looe school is VERY good, ranked third in Cornwall only the two public schools in Truro come a head of Looe.
Your home sounds good anyway, you live in a very small village, I expect your daughter has already made friends at school, your husband is in work. You've many advantages - jobs will be better paid, facilities will be better, you've constructed a social network (probably), summers will be hotter and winters drier, you're near international airports and other transport links and things like shopping and sports facilities are probably loads better.
Down here jobs are very short and wages low, the health service is on the point of collapse (seriously), house prices are extortionate, your kids will move hundreds of miles away when they are 18, a lot of incomers move down because they want to 'get away from it all' and are not so friendly, the Cornish find it difficult to constantly integrate more people and are ambivalent about doing so.
Why not put effort and energy into where you live now? Stability is essential, especially for young families.
I have to hand it to Kerrow a good point well made, living and working in Kernow is a far cry from the idyllic picture postcard concept.
But if you really do have to move here, please stay away from North Kernow, we’ve got enough self-righteous downsizers here already. And before you say it yes I do put extra effort into making their welcome into Kernow as hostile as possible, why should I feign pleasantries to the very people making it virtually impossible for me to stay here.
Perhaps the people flaming away at "incomers" on this thread should take a step back and bare in mind that Shaz & family want to move down, not buy a 2nd home. By the sounds of it, they will live in Cornwall most of the time thus supporting local shops, pubs etc. and her kids will more than likely goto a local school.
Don't be put off by the hostile reception in some quarters... You've just been a bit unlucky in that this is about the worst place possible to have asked for that kind of advice! There's a lot of economic problems in Cornwall, and a lot of it is caused by rich people from "up country" buying holiday/2nd/retirement homes, which forces up the house prices so local people can't afford them, and causes perfectly good villages to die in the winter.
Cornwall's changing - getting a lot busier, etc. - and many of the native Cornish blame incomers. Maybe they're right to in some cases.
However - For what it's worth, I moved down from Essex 5 years ago, and I'm loving it. I've encountered this kind of response online, and in the newspaper, but never in person in the pub! (well, rarely, anyway). If you're working and contributing to the economy and the community, people are mostly OK with that.
But it's not all roses. What SHOULD give you pause for thought is the other stuff people are telling you here. Cornwall is POOR. There are not many jobs. It's no picnic. Major food companies seem to be going bust all the time. For starters, if your husband DOES find a job here, he can probably bank on getting paid only about 60% of what he gets for the same job in Essex.
(And the house prices here might not be much different... Depends which part of Essex you live in I suppose! We're higher prices than Halstead, lower than Chelmsford).
My advice is this - DON'T move unless you're sure your husband has got a good, secure job here already. Finding work is NOT easy, and you won't be able to pick and choose... So that will give you a radius to work in, and will naturally narrow down your home search. Bear in mind that Cornwall is big and long, and the roads get slow (especially in the summer) so once you find the job you will only have a few towns to chose from - many of which (if you're looking at places like Padstein) you won't be able to afford anyway (unless your village is in the posh end of Brentwood or something).
...But don't be scared by the "Kernewek Winters". Cornish people think they're bad because they haven't lived anywhere that gets REALLY cold! They're great fun - wild and windy and wooly, but also quite mild. I scrape ice from my car as many times in a year here as I would in a February week in Braintree.
But Cornwall is different. Not just another county. Tread carefully.
Airport closure was 'responsible'
The Civil Aviation Authority says the decision to close Newquay Airport was difficult but responsible.
Christmas tree is really rubbish
A giant Christmas tree made from recycled plastic bags and bottles goes on display at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
NEWQUAY AIRPORT CLOSURE: “HEADS MUST ROLL”
Stephen Gilbert, the prospective local MP for Newquay, has said that “heads must roll” over the unexpected closure of Newquay Airport and has called for a full enquiry into what went wrong.
Important Information regarding Air Southwest flights to/from Newquay Airport.
We have been advised that Newquay Airport will be closed from 1 December to 19 December 2008 inclusive. This is due to issues with the handover of air traffic control from the RAF to the airport authority.
English Heritage get one thing right at least
English heritage have joined with a variety of other organisations in opposing the planned incinerator in St. Dennis on grounds that they have failed to recognise or address the impact that the proposals will have on the wider landscape of St. Dennis.
MANX GOVERNMENT SUFFER WORST HUMILIATION BY THE UK IN LIVING MEMORY
The Isle of Man government and its Chief Minister have been shown to be inept and marginalised following comments from the United Kingdom Prime Minister and his Chancellor Alistair Darling over the past few weeks.
Population is older and lonelier
People living in Devon and Cornwall are generally older and lonelier than elsewhere in the UK, a BBC survey finds.
Grey majority rules in Cornwall
Cornwall has the highest proportion of retirement age residents in the UK, according to a BBC survey.
