Retirees bombarding our beautiful rural seaside area

I lived in London for 14 years and only moved to Dorset and then to Devon when my children were small. The reason we moved was even back then more than 40 years ago drugs were being found in schools. They are probably now found in Devon too, I don't know. All I know is that my children live in the country and we all love it.

Goodness gracious me. What an ungenerous mentality. Well done Bluebell for speaking out.I agree with all of that. Accepting people for who they are regardless of what they possess or where the come from is all part of a learning curve of growing up.
I was brought up in a smallish community where everyone lived side by side and got on well whoever they were. I moved away when I was 18 years old and went to London where the communities were diverse but nevertheless muddled along. Today I can go back to the village where I grew up and the attitude is much the same and people from all over have have moved in.
I would suggest that you look outwards and see that newcomers can enrich your environment.

Gonegirl - re sprucing up the North! Come to where I live, it's absolutely beautiful. I have returned to my homeland after an exile of 42 years living in the London area (because of work). We recently moved back up North and I have never been so happy, ever. But re the original post, our London-y area was ok for the first few years, until it was invaded by the tentacles of a nearby old-established University; whole roads became turned over to HMOs (houses of multiple occupation) aka student ghettos. It became impossible to sell houses in those areas apart from to Landlords who would immediately convert the house to students rooms. We had many reasons for leaving, mainly concerned with roots and family, but glad to escape from the creeping student population.

Sorry to say so specs, but these people have every right to live there just the same as you! And yes you should be 'blaming' the ones who are selling out not the ones buying! Although i do suspect maybe they wanted to get away from the other cliquey unwelcoming local folk thats why they sold up! You dont sound like a very nice village! As for the comittees etc why not speak out to them and make a stand! If you object to what newcomers want then say so- but also wouldnt a few new ideas be a "breath of fresh air" too.in a few years time maybe those incomers will be the settlers.Lets hope their a friendlier more welcoming lot.

So where are you, OP? So we all know where not to come?

NanaSuzy I do love the North. We used to holiday up there when we had our caravan. Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and Moors, Northumberland. I even like Newcastle!

Oh dear - what small minded people must live in your village/town- please tell us where you live? It sounds almost incestuous. I feel very sorry for the young people who live there - they should escape ASAP.

I am one of the very few in my village that was born and bred here, making me at least 3rd generation and maybe further if I could find out about my grandmother's side of the family.
The main reason I am one of the few, is that the rest of my generation moved away from the village when they bought their first home - the houses in the next county were a lot cheaper, as was the council tax and this is going back to the 1970s!
I belonged to several committees in the village until I found that working full time and then taking care of an ailing parent meant that my evenings were otherwise taken care of. I must say though that the "incomers" that were also on the committee were always productive and really good to have on the committee after many "locals " either didn't want to, or couldn't be bothered to join.
The village had several leather factories and one factory that made fire doors - all of which employed either people in the village, or people from nearby villages and towns that were literally bussed in each day. All was good until the downturn in the 1980s - it was cheaper to buy leather from overseas for the shoe manufacturers. The factories closed one by one. The door factory closed in the 1990s after the owner died, was sold to another company that asset stripped , then closed it down. The village that I grew up in was dying, the local school was under threat of closure. Thankfully ,in some ways, several small housing developments were built. New people and families moved in, a lot from London, and people that wanted what was cheaper housing than nearby towns.
The school is thriving, many local groups such as cubs, scouts, cricket club, tennis club, drama group and so on have new members. The village hall is in full use again after a major redesign to bring it up to todays standards.
No, I no longer know everyone in the village, get passed by without even a "hello" from people, new people form the committees I once belonged to but that is the way it should be and I'd like to think that anyone that moves in is made to feel welcome, for however long they stay. Each has an input, whatever I may think and quite frankly Specs, I'd hate to live where you are, having to endure the constant sniping and muttering of " things are never the same as when we were growing up" and being seen harshly as an outsider by the so called "indigenous" community for all its in breeding !

Let's start a sweepstakes...... Filey

Right I'm off out on a 2-hour walk around the sunny streets of London (it's a bit nippy though).

I promise to be nice to any rural folk who cross my path

This is happening in many areas of the UK. At some point these "local" people sold their properties initially, otherwise there wouldn't have been any available for others to buy. Nothing ever stays the same, and not everyone chooses to spend their entire lives in the same place they where born. I don't see a problem with people moving to other areas if that's been a retirement dream or otherwise.

I was very interested to see your post. We moved up to Northumberland from Middlesex twenty years ago, as my husband was promoted to a job he couldn't refuse.

It's a very popular village, with many second homes and self catering rentals. After a few years of using the 'baddy' workmen who targeted new people, I decided to design a 'Welcome to Warkworth booklet' as well as a welcome evening once a month for newcomers. The booklet contained information on our parish council, the library, local work people, what's on locally, etc.

I had opened and run the local youth club for a few years at this time, with the three tier education system here I felt sorry children would lose contact once they left middle school if they went to a different feeder school. Youth club was very popular but I had trouble getting any of the parents to help.

It was a very interesting experiment and not supported well by local people. I advertised it in the local church magazine and on the first session two 80 year old residents and one of my friends came along and met the four new people who attended. They shared their local knowledge very willingly.

On the second session only one of the 80 year old residents attended, and one young couple, both in the police force, who had just moved into the village.

On the third session, I sat in the hotel bar alone, and realised no-one wanted this service. The church asked if they could 'adopt' my booklet, which I obviously agreed, but I've not seen it on their website. It's sink or swim here!

Amazingly, when my husband died on our front lawn in 2016, the young police couple were passing my house - and stopped to help me. Fate lent a kindly hand to me that day


Amazingly,

Interesting thread. So it is not just the 'foreigners' creating problems then.

People have always moved and no-one in particular 'owns' a particular part of the country.

I do think it's sad when people buy second homes in rural or seaside towns and villages and rarely use them, so that a coastal village may seem deserted for most of the year.

friendly people and very little crime
friendly with each other but suspicious of incomers?
are you saying that these outsiders are bringing a crime wave with them?
Friends are quite different from acquaintances.
It seems obvious that they will not be allowed to make friends in their new community

paddyann - quite a few of my friends here are Scottish - they are lovely but they are the ones who left Scotland and have lived in several different places so perhaps they are more broadminded than some.

I expect that indigenous populations have felt the same over the centuries.

This is happening in lots of areas. But times have changed. People have to move to areas for work that they would not necessarily choose to live in. By the time they retire they often don't have parents still alive and children may have moved, again for work. So they have lost connection with their birth areas and are free to choose where to retire, which they are entitled to do if they have worked hard all their lives. But I do understand the issue of locals struggling to find affordable housing.

We live in London, bought our house 40 years ago - and no way could we live here now. It’s not just rural areas that are becoming difficult to find affordable housing in.

Rather than blaming individual people moving to an area for causing a housing shortage, why aren’t we all demanding that the government (if it could take its mind off Brexit for half an hour!) builds more truly affordable homes for rent and sale to local people? With strict criteria about not subletting or selling except back to the council.

And do let us know where you live, please! ?

It is just the way it is sorry but you cant dictate who lives where. People with long traditions in cities cant afford to buy either.

Can you imagine how some French people feel in Dordogneshire- where the incomers do not speak the local language, and get food vans delivering English food ordered on line from Tesco, and workers arriving with white goods, etc, in vans from UK- working under the radar...

Yes, It's an interesting thread. I can see both sides of the story as we live two miles from our local village which is on a main route into Cambridge.

House prices have rocketed because of this but thanks to the 'incomers' we have kept our pub and shop and the school is thriving.

The downside is we're a meeting place for car sharers who drive in from neighbouring villages so for every car with maybe four passengers, there are three parked in the village streets and clogging up the pretty, cobbled square.

A friend of mine is struggling to sell her house because the quiet lane outside is now difficult to drive along as you have to weave in and out of cars parked on both sides. Her driveway is often blocked.

It's nigh on impossible to park outside the village shop if you want to pop in for a pint of milk, ditto the pub. At least the church escapes this nuisance because there are no commuters on a Sunday. The school, thank goodness, has double yellows.

A new large estate is nearing completion. The 'affordables' are down on the main road - horribly dangerous for small children whereas the posh expensive properties are further up the hill conveniently far enough away from pick up points so they won't be bothered with cars parked outside their properties.

I'm all for car sharing but for every plus there are minuses.

All I can say to 'you' over-privileged who've led your lives in close communities immune from the difficulties experienced by people who get on a tube every morning for thirty years of their lives or more, squashed like a sardine to go to work to make the economy thrive so as to then disperse the money made to the pleasant rural idyllic settlements 'out there' is don't be so bloody selfish - it makes my blood boil to hear of the 'them' intruding and hoping to enjoy some of the peace and quiet of an environment that others have had the good fortune to live in all their lives. I'm sure this post won't be popular, but to everyone one who things Londoners should stay where they are in their old age, I challenge you to a month living and working in London - you wouldn't last a week!

Like so many unwelcoming villages yours suffers from the problems associated with incest. As so many of your villagers are "related", cousins marrying cousins means inward looking attitudes from all the inbreeding. The real pity is that the incomers are older people. What you need are a few young families to inject the area with a new gene pool. Maybe the older incomers will have a family network that may decide to move to the village and, over time, change the decline that has obviously been going n for some time. Use the same seed for too long and you get weak plants.

So in the Sunday times today a magazine about the 48 best places to move to and live in Britain.. be very afraid if you live in one of these places ?

One issue which no-one appears to have raised here, is why on earth older people choose to move to the country - especially to isolated rural areas and/or villages. I am flabbergasted when I see (in "Escape to the Country" and similar programmes), people well over 60, wanting a house/garden/land, often quite large and in the middle of nowhere. What on earth do they think is going to happen to them in the not-so-distant-future, especially when they can no longer drive, and/or one person is left living alone? I have an aged relative living in such a situation, in a village, with minimal access to support services. On a brighter note (for the young people who can't at present afford housing) in the next ten years or so I foresee a glut of properties on the market all over the UK, as the "oldies" die off in droves, and their homes are sold. Surely then the house prices will drop?

Paddyann agree with you completely on this. I remember working for civil service in Glasgow in 1980's and jobs moved up from South of England. House prices were much higher in England and as a result it skewed the house prices in and around Glasgow. No one's fault just circumstances and there has been a steady influx ever since. Also the Highlands and Islands have significant numbers of what is termed 'incomers', and local people cannot afford to live there. I have been fortunate as I sold a small bungalow in England and bought a 4 bed house in Edinburgh and got my son on the housing ladder (he is 40) for the first time. I did have to do the 'London commute' which I hated and it was great to come back to Scotland.

Golden age, I totally get where you’re coming from. We live in a rural community, and every time we travel to the south east (quite often) I am so grateful not to be spending so much of every day in traffic jams, and the crowds everywhere you go can be daunting. On the other hand, everything you could possibly want or need is right on your door step, so it’s a trade off, I don’t mind my village having a mix of people, one side we have northerners, and the other side welsh! All you harassed Londoners are welcome as far as I’m concerned, but I must warn you, there’s not a lot to do!