Moving to the coast

Only you know the answer. If you have family around that care and a good social life where you are now, I know I would stay put. It broke my mother's heart moving and its that that stops me from moving. However if everyone was like me prevaricating no one would move. Everything is different with a partner and you have to consider their feeling of course.

For Bluedaisy, I've found this thread again, why on earth did you move to Devon from Sussex? We've had lovely hols in Devon, but Sussex also has some great scenery, the coast isn't far, and you're so much nearer to London and prime airports if needed?

Before selling up and moving completely, I'd recommend that you rent somewhere that you're considering moving to; preferably for a period of time that would take you into the winter months when the area isn't so sunny, bright and busy. My friend's mum sold her home and moved to a beautiful cottage on the North Wales coast; a place the whole family had visited, stayed at and loved for many years and knew very well. She loved it for the first summer but, once the holiday makers and second home owners had packed up for the season, their were very few amenities still open and she struggled to meet people or socialise and became very lonely. She stayed less than 2 years before she moved back nearer family. A "try it first" approach would have been wise.

A beautiful week here in Devon. Blue skies, light sea breezes, flowers everywhere you look, lambs in the fields, afternoon tea on the lawn. 23°C today.
I'd move from the other side of the country to be here. Well, I did. I escaped from London!

Totally get where you’re coming from—moving at this stage in life is a big deal. North Devon sounds lovely though, especially if you’re near shops, a doctor, and all the essentials. It might take a bit to make new friends, but lots of people are in the same boat and open to meeting others for a coffee or pub lunch. As for one of you being left alone down the line, it’s a valid worry, but building a local support circle can really help. Hope it all works out for you! (Oh, and random note—if anyone needs a General Contractor in Wenatchee, happy to recommend one!)

I would suggest renting for six months, say from October to March, or purchasing a mobile home on a caravan park so you may visit at different times of the year You will have several years to enjoy holidays before the site owner insist you replace your existing home for a much more expensive model,

MrsMeldrew I know the Minehead property market very well and am astonished by your story. Most bungalows in Minehead are a walk from the beach. Immediately following the pandemic bungalows were more scarce and at a slight premium. That said, £150k over the asking price in an area where a small bungalow would typically sell for between £225,000 and £375,000 is absolutely bizarre to me.
£10k or £20k over asking for exceptional properties perhaps, but not £150k surely?

There are currently around 40 bungalows (all walking distance to the sea) for sale in Minehead varying from £200,000 - £500,000.

And another good point is, that if you choose an attractive area, you can easily persuade friends from London to stay while you're abroad for periods to look after the house and the cats!
Areas of outstanding natural beauty.

We had a holiday touring caravan in North Devon then moved it to south Devon. We loved it so much we decided to retire here. We spent every weekend and holidays here in the caravan looking out the areas where we would like to live. When OH retired we put our home up for sale and found a nice house here. Good job we had the caravan we lived in it for the 2 weeks gap between selling and moving. Our buyer wouldn't postpone for 2 weeks so we had no choice. We have nice neighbours, excellent Drs surgery, and very friendly people here. As we live on the coast we are never lonely as our DAC and DGC all come to stay very frequently. Good job we have 3 bedrooms lol. We joined the local U3A and they do lots of trips out, craft groups, visiting gardens of mansions, tea and chat etc. All the local pubs are friendly and there's lots of charity shops.
Do research the area well like we did. HTH best wishes ❤️

Interesting piece in The Guardian today about people relocating and then going back:

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/25/i-had-rose-tinted-spectacles-uk-city-dwellers-on-relocating-during-the-pandemic

Friends who had lived and worked in different parts of North Devon for over forty years each moved to Bristol after they retired as they felt the areas they had each lived didn’t have enough going on culturally to sustain them in retirement.

I like north Devon as a great place for coastal and country walking but It isn’t the easiest place to get around, especially if you could no longer drive and can be quite challenging when you can, in dark and inclement weather.

Comprehensive health care is a long way away; a 100 mile round trip to Exeter if Barnstaple doesn’t provide the specialty you need. The beaches (and the roads to them) are choked with tourists in summer. And don’t forget that it’s very steep in places - not great when mobility starts to wain.

I might be inclined to do it for a few years just for the sheer beauty of the place but only if I had enough money to move again when my needs changed, as my friends have done.

Consider your options regarding health. The hospitals are few and far between and the roads are tricky. Where we are near Lyme Regis, for example, is 30 miles from either Exeter or Dorchester Hospitals. You'd have an hour's journey by road or have to strike it lucky the busy air ambulance was not being used. Other places are worse off. You might be healthy now as we are but health does not improve with age.

HelterSkelter1

Where do you live Chardy? Give a nearby town so not identifying.
Winter walks are wonderful. Wild seas and bracing winds. I spent my childhood near Margate. Left home at 18 and do miss the seaside.

But the downside to coastal living can be a winter of grey, wet or very very windy, cold weather. So choose your coast with care. I would recommend spending a month during the winter in whichever area you are considering.
DD1 lives in Angleseyand the wind there can be constant, ferocious and very tiring.

Sussex coast, HS1
An hour from London by train, an hour from M25 by car, good bus service, not particularly windy next to the sea (sheltered from SW wind by IoW?), plenty of sunshine.

It makes me so happy to read that other coastal folk enjoy the seaside in winter. The bare bones of the world on view and so much space and peace.

If you only visit the coast in high summer I think it's hard to imagine how much fun the locals have there in winter - cinema nights, all kinds of clubs quizzes raffles and groups, am dram shows, cultural event screenings from opera to lectures, winter sea swims, walking groups, park runs, WI, volunteering. To me it's like the locals come out to play when everyone else goes home.

Moved to coast 4 years ago - best thing ever. Love winter seaside! However, we stayed within hour/hour and half of family, and trains to nearest city are frequent. I wouldn't want to be further away than that in a place we knew no-one. Investigate other coastal areas as possibilities if your favourite bit might be isolating

I wouldn't do it if you have friends and family near. So many retire miles away, then something happens and it's not easy for family to get there. Also, don't expect them to visit, they will want to have their own holidays elsewhere. Apart from that, do you really want to be changing beds and cooking each time somebody visits and that's if they visit. Do you like to eat out? Go to theatre/ cinema? Visit the library etc? Think about doctor, hospital, public transport. When you can no longer drive, where is your nearest shop for pint of milk. What will you do if one of you is left on your own? Sorry to be a pain, but just trying to be realistic. I've heard the coastal places can be miserable and lonely in winter.

In East Kent, folks re- locating here are known as DFL's ( Down From London) , wherever their place of origin.

Shinamae

I was born and brought up in Mortehoe, Had an idyllic childhood my parents had a guest house and my brother and I used to do our chores and then hop over the wall run down the fields and go to the beach in the summer holidays.
I now live in Barnstaple and really like it.
Anyway about four years ago I booked a three night stay in the village for sentimental reasons really and I spoke to one of the very few locals that is left in the village and was amazed at how many of the properties are now holiday lets it made me really, really sad…

This is the beach we went to,it’s called Grunta because apparently many many years ago a ship ran a ground which had a cargo of pigs there is even a deep pool on the beach called pigs pit…
Where I want my scattered as well..🤗

We had a caravan holiday in Mortehoe many years ago. It was
lovely; lucky you!

I was born and brought up in Mortehoe, Had an idyllic childhood my parents had a guest house and my brother and I used to do our chores and then hop over the wall run down the fields and go to the beach in the summer holidays.
I now live in Barnstaple and really like it.
Anyway about four years ago I booked a three night stay in the village for sentimental reasons really and I spoke to one of the very few locals that is left in the village and was amazed at how many of the properties are now holiday lets it made me really, really sad…

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202504/medium-571yn8-img-20250424-wa0004.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202504/medium-2wcc4o-20250424-105728.jpg

Who said it rains all the time in North Devon?
24th April , sunshine and blue skies, 18°C here now. 😎
Hartland in the vale, then Instow looking across to Appledore.
I have to say, it's not as buzzing up here as back in East Devon.

Where do you live Chardy? Give a nearby town so not identifying.
Winter walks are wonderful. Wild seas and bracing winds. I spent my childhood near Margate. Left home at 18 and do miss the seaside.

But the downside to coastal living can be a winter of grey, wet or very very windy, cold weather. So choose your coast with care. I would recommend spending a month during the winter in whichever area you are considering.
DD1 lives in Angleseyand the wind there can be constant, ferocious and very tiring.

I live 100m from the sea. Walking the prom is lovely in winter. Living near the sea is lovely in winter

For the OP, Barnstaple and Bideford are both OK, the former has a good train link to Exeter (that or perhaps Exmouth would be my preferred Devon locations).

For several commenters, coastal locations do NOT have to come into the "desolate in winter" cliche. Much of the south coast is fine outside of the tourist season, and places like Portsmouth, Soton, Bournemouth, Poole, Exeter, Cardiff etc certainly have plenty of life and activities, so too Ipswich & Norwich (almost the coast!). If you can afford the Kent coast, then short trips to France and Belgium come into play, if that would help keep you occupied?!

Mojack26

Blow-ins? Is that tourists,2nd home owners?

My understanding is that blow-ins are those who move usually from a big city to a small country or coastal town. You are considered a blow-in if you were not born and reared there. Tourists and 2nd home owners are grockles.
I'm not in North Devon, but my Devon coastal town has a hospital, a surgery with 12 GPs, a swimming pool, library, Waitrose, Lidl, frequent buses and 3 vet practices.
It's one of the most expensive Devon postcodes. I'm a sort of blow-in having lived in London and abroad, but I'm also pretty much a local because my children grew up and went to school in Devon and live here too.

My sister lives in Sidbury. She bought a cottage in the village about five years after her husband died and she wanted to downsize. They’d moved there from Hampshire some 12 years before. It is very friendly, has a good bus service, a great pub, lovely church, beautiful countryside, village shop (butchers, grocers, bakers, newsagent all in one!) She is about an hour away from one of her sons, and a few hours from the rest of the family. However, she has a group of friends who all support one another and loves living there.