[Zebra]

We did a tour of Devon and west Cornwall recently looking for a place to relocate to but we didn't manage to see Launceston or the surrounding area at all. Anyone here have any insight into the area? What's Launceston itself like and the villages around? Prices seem relatively cheap.

[Reluctant Heretic]

Zebra, on 26 July 2010 - 02:38 PM, said:

We did a tour of Devon and west Cornwall recently looking for a place to relocate to but we didn't manage to see Launceston or the surrounding area at all. Anyone here have any insight into the area? What's Launceston itself like and the villages around? Prices seem relatively cheap.

I haven't been there personally but I know the South West as a whole very well (presently living in Truro). Where are you relocating from? I ask that because the hard cold facts of the rural idyll can come as something of a shock. Many Londoners move over here see a few farmhouses and think they are going to have the Archers for neighbours. Scratch under the surface and you often find worse horrors than you left behind: obnoxious, NIMBY 'blow ins' (at the top end of the scale) along side teenage gangs, poverty and deprivation (at the bottom end of the scale). The reality of no industry only hits home when you need a job quickly and your only option is the supermarket or picking organised oops! organic vegetables.

I think Launceston is mostly regarded as a deprived area and houses are cheap. I would live there if I found a ramshackle 5 bed farmhouse going for a song (one like this currently for sale in sozzle/St Austell), if travel to work was not a problem and/or I could find a good school for children nearby (if that is relevant).

This post has been edited by Reluctant Heretic: 26 July 2010 - 02:06 PM

[Zebra]

Reluctant Heretic, on 26 July 2010 - 03:05 PM, said:

I haven't been there personally but I know the South West as a whole very well (presently living in Truro). Where are you relocating from? I ask that because the hard cold facts of the rural idyll can come as something of a shock. Many Londoners move over here see a few farmhouses and think they are going to have the Archers for neighbours. Scratch under the surface and you often find worse horrors than you left behind: obnoxious, NIMBY 'blow ins' (at the top end of the scale) along side teenage gangs, poverty and deprivation (at the bottom end of the scale). The reality of no industry only hits home when you need a job quickly and your only option is the supermarket or picking organised oops! organic vegetables.

I think Launceston is mostly regarded as a deprived area and houses are cheap. I would live there if I found a ramshackle 5 bed farmhouse going for a song (one like this currently for sale in sozzle/St Austell), if travel to work was not a problem and/or I could find a good school for children nearby (if that is relevant).

Thanks for the response. We'd be relocating from Brighton and I'm from Hampshire originally. We have 2 children and are currently renting and work from home so we're flexible on location. I'm not looking for rural idyll although I'm not looking for teenage gangs either! If I had half a million quid I'd probably stay in Brighton but I don't. I'd like a house with a garden with a decentish school in the area. Launceston seems to do ok on secondary school and have good primaries dotted around in villages.

I'd welcome any recommendations for places down your way....

[kenny dalglish]

Would concur. Finding work down here is not easy. Jobs going in Exeter and Plymouth, but if you are not careful you can end up with a commuting horror that you left the big smoke to avoid. Choose wisely of you can. Agree there is defintely deprivation down here, but after living in London for 15 years I wouldn't change it and I feel that it is a different kind of deprivation (I have a theory that people living in a densely populated environment behave worse than those in more spacious environs , as eveything becomes a battle)

[Reluctant Heretic]

Zebra, on 26 July 2010 - 03:21 PM, said:

Thanks for the response. We'd be relocating from Brighton and I'm from Hampshire originally. We have 2 children and are currently renting and work from home so we're flexible on location. I'm not looking for rural idyll although I'm not looking for teenage gangs either! If I had half a million quid I'd probably stay in Brighton but I don't. I'd like a house with a garden with a decentish school in the area. Launceston seems to do ok on secondary school and have good primaries dotted around in villages.

I'd welcome any recommendations for places down your way....

Truro is great - fantastic schools but you do feel really 'cut off' from the rest of the world. I haven't caught a train up to the smoke all the time I've been here. Now I think about it house prices and schools are probably the best indicators - go for the upper middle bracket. As a general principle I would stay near to the coast or at least within striking distance - if anything gets you down at least you have a beach and the children would love that.

I used to live in a deprived area (although it was also a tourist spot). It wasn't all bad but I moved because a teenage gang was victimising my eldest son - otherwise most of the community was great.

[pac-man]

Hi I grew up in Launceston, so feel fairly qualified to reply. Still visit regularly. It's a bit rough 'round the edges and there is poverty, particularly the Ridgegrove Coucil estate always had a bad rap. However, there is a community providing you make the effort. It's slap bang between the coast and a trip to the nearest beach at Bude takes about 30 mins. Likewise edge of Dartmoor can be acheived in a similar time. Trips to Exeter and Plymouth (Nearest bigger towns) are 45 mins by car non rush hour. Public transport is poor. There's I think twice daily buses to these cities. A lot of the locals are disparaging about the town, saying it's dead end. There's not much going on. There are weekly farmers markets ans in the past a music festival called 'castle rock' which was held on the casle green, but not sure that is going to happen again.

The castle on top of the hill gives lovely views of the surrounding rolling countryside. There's one large comprehensive school serving the town and surrounding villages. It has an OK reputation and you certainly never used to have to worry about safety (eg knife crime). There are some drugs around (as there are in most places I think now a days), but I never heard of harder drugs being used. I used to trundle home on my own in the middle of night with no concerns for my safety. Everyone knows everyone.

Primary Schools are:

St Catherine's C of E - Used to have a good reputation, not sure about now. Has good facilities, plenty of space.
Windmill County Primary - has a good reputation with the locals, no green area for sports - tend to go to the local park and leisure centre. Bit crampt.
St Stephens Primary school - Catchment area is more deprived and did have a reputation for bullying.

There is also St Joseph's (the Convent) which is a pubic school for boys and girls. All in all I think it was quite a good place to grow up.

[qazwas1]

Launceston is a good place, we live nearby and regular take the kids swimming and we love shopping in the town centre and the out-of-town malls. Concerning the relatively cheap prices... yes thats true compared to Tavistock and all those coastal hotspots but Launceston is probably under priced, compared to all those over-priced places. It is well worth another trip down to check it out. For the schools you must update yourself by visiting them. Also Callington could be an alternative secondary school.

Also have a read of the Tavistock thread

This post has been edited by qazwas1: 29 July 2010 - 10:52 AM

[Reck B]

Dull, grey, boring, tatty. oh, did I mention dull?
Dull as ditchwater.
Seagulls fly upside down over launceston becasue it's not even worth sh1tting on.
Dull.

[Zebra]

Thanks for all the comments. Think I need to pay it a visit.

Does anyone have any inside knowledge on Bude? What's it like to live there etc. Coming from Brighton I like the idea of the beach, but what's life like there day-to-day. I work from home so can move anywhere so work is no issue.

[Flatdog]

Zebra, on 06 August 2010 - 08:37 PM, said:

Thanks for all the comments. Think I need to pay it a visit.

Does anyone have any inside knowledge on Bude? What's it like to live there etc. Coming from Brighton I like the idea of the beach, but what's life like there day-to-day. I work from home so can move anywhere so work is no issue.

Bude...I don't live there but know it well.

North coast Atlantic weather (almost invariably lousy), mickey mouse town centre, long drive to any of the main roads.

Makes Launceston look positively peachy IMHO

[juvenal]

Have spent time in Bude. Scenic, but a very small town with very little going on. In a week you will have seen everything it has to offer. It is also quite a long way from anywhere. Surfers like Widemouth Bay a couple of miles down the coast.

[porca misèria]

juvenal, on 11 August 2010 - 06:29 PM, said:

Have spent time in Bude. Scenic, but a very small town with very little going on. In a week you will have seen everything it has to offer. It is also quite a long way from anywhere. Surfers like Widemouth Bay a couple of miles down the coast.

FWIW, Friend used to work just outside Bude. Rather than live there, she commuted from Saltash, the main Cornish suburb of Plymouth, with access to the city life. Barnstaple/Bideford are nearer - though still some way away - and not devoid of life!

[dacosta114]

I've lived in and around Launceston for 20 years (born in Kent) and I'm now settled near Gunnislake, Cornwall. I'd have to say where I am now is far more accesible in terms of being rural but closer to amentiies than Launceston or North Devon/Cornwall ever was. I'm 20 mins from Plymouth by car and have a train station fifteen minutes walk from where I live but I'm in a rural community with the Tamar Valley on my doorstep. Having recently had a baby I've no qualms about having her grow up in this area. Property isn't 'cheap' the closer you get to Plymouth/Tavistock but there are bargains to be had.

Personally I'd suggest Launceston is better than say Callington, with Tavistock being ideal. I live about fifteen mins from Tavistock and twenty mins from Launceston, caught between the two if you like and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'd stay away from Bude. There are very few jobs with 90% of them being seasonal. It's a dive outside of the holiday season and a nightmare during the holiday season. It's a nice place to visit but I'd never live there.

If you want rural with a bit of civilisation and your Starbucks / Shopping Centres / Train stations nearby I'd go for the Tamar Valley (Gunnislake - Calstock etc)

Hope this helps.

[Zebra]

dacosta114, on 19 August 2010 - 08:43 AM, said:

I've lived in and around Launceston for 20 years (born in Kent) and I'm now settled near Gunnislake, Cornwall. I'd have to say where I am now is far more accesible in terms of being rural but closer to amentiies than Launceston or North Devon/Cornwall ever was. I'm 20 mins from Plymouth by car and have a train station fifteen minutes walk from where I live but I'm in a rural community with the Tamar Valley on my doorstep. Having recently had a baby I've no qualms about having her grow up in this area. Property isn't 'cheap' the closer you get to Plymouth/Tavistock but there are bargains to be had.

Personally I'd suggest Launceston is better than say Callington, with Tavistock being ideal. I live about fifteen mins from Tavistock and twenty mins from Launceston, caught between the two if you like and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'd stay away from Bude. There are very few jobs with 90% of them being seasonal. It's a dive outside of the holiday season and a nightmare during the holiday season. It's a nice place to visit but I'd never live there.

If you want rural with a bit of civilisation and your Starbucks / Shopping Centres / Train stations nearby I'd go for the Tamar Valley (Gunnislake - Calstock etc)

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info. I liked Tavistock when we visited and I have relatives there as well. While my children are quite young at the moment I'm a bit concerned that the secondary school there is currently under special measures and deemed to be failing. Okay, things will probably change a lot in the next 7 years when mine have to go there but I do wonder to what extent the school's issues are solely to do with the school or whether their students are not the greatest material to deal with! I doubt I can afford the rather posh looking school we saw there!

[dacosta114]

Zebra, on 19 August 2010 - 02:37 PM, said:

Thanks for the info. I liked Tavistock when we visited and I have relatives there as well. While my children are quite young at the moment I'm a bit concerned that the secondary school there is currently under special measures and deemed to be failing. Okay, things will probably change a lot in the next 7 years when mine have to go there but I do wonder to what extent the school's issues are solely to do with the school or whether their students are not the greatest material to deal with! I doubt I can afford the rather posh looking school we saw there!

I know what you mean; strangely Tavistock is a beautiful town but the school apparently isn't very good (apart from the private one of course) - Callington college is meant to be a lot better but the town isn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination.

Launceston collegge is meant to be very good.
But I'm just going on what I've been told; not the ofsted reports. You can check the ofsted's online now so a good idea to research those three schools and see how they compare.

Edited to say they're all about 20 to 30 mins of each other if you happen to live in the middle!

This post has been edited by dacosta114: 19 August 2010 - 06:37 PM