Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Devon / Cornwall

Timely thread, one not expecting to find here. I have toyed with the same idea and still do, we go to North Cornwall every opportunity we get, which means two lengthy stays each year one in April and one in December with a couple of long weekends if we can manage it. I'd move down as soon as I could but SWMBO says it is too far and too cut off and will not consider it, it's a bone of contention between us, thing is she's probably right and I am not being realistic. Having read the posts above I thought I would google Taunton and got....'Taunton park death: Man charged with murder'....

Brilliant advice, thanks to all who have taken the time to respond. Its certainly not a whim on my part, have been thinking about it for some now, its just that all my planets have aligned so to speak that it now demands serious investigation. Yep the advice to actually spend some time there to get a feel is something I'm going to do this year and I do have an old work colleague who lives in Tavistock and she's a big fan of the area. As some have mentioned, the weather does seem to be a regular "negative" and for sure I'm no fan of the rain. I went to Bude virtually a year ago to buy a motorcycle from a nice little outfit called North Cornwall Motorcycles, had a chat with guys there a couple of whom were ex London boys who had been down there for about 10 years. They highly recommended it and said it was like going back to the 1980's which is fine by me as liked the 80's ! Again, thanks for the comments / advice. Regards Steve

I split my time between Hampshire and West Devon (near Okehampton). The pace of life, traffic and community spirit in Devon is wonderful compared to Hampshire. The one word of warning I have is to consider where the rest of your family are, particularly grandchildren. When we were house hunting to buy in Devon about half the properties we viewed were for sale because the owners wanted to return to Midlands/South East/etc because they had become cut off from the family.

What period would be the cornwall "tourist season" be? Beth and i will be over 2 weeks before Goodwood. (End of August)

July and August are the busiest months in the Southwest.

We came to live in Devon 40 years ago and enjoy the lifestyle and the people. It has provided a wonderful platform for our 3 offspring all of whom thrived on the good educational opportunities, environment and great friendships.

As they grew up and spread their wings it can on occasion make you feel a little remote as it's about a 3 hour drive from the South Hams where we live to Bristol and you are still in the Westcountry. So you have to be happy driving fairly long distances to get back into the main body of the country.

It certainly is a lot wetter in the West it has to be said but this balances out against the far milder climate down here.

We have some wonderful Morgan drives down here especially on Dartmoor and along the coastal routes.

Most proper traditional villages have thriving supportive communities with lots of choices of interesting things to partake in.

Try and avoid the purpose built retirement areas as you will find yourself in wrinkly land with a very unbalanced community age range which serves nobody well really.

As has been said rent a place for a year if you can and see whether you cope with the influx of grockles and the long wet warmer winter would be the best advice I could offer.

Good luck with your choice.