Do I stay or move to Cornwall.

Always go with heart I think.

Is there a possibility of you renting in Cornwall on a fairly long term basis, to see how it feels?

If you return to Cornwall, will you miss the grandchildren more than you can bear? There will be holidays (after lockdown of course).

Will you be lonely? Do you make new friends easily?

You need to study the idea well before making a possible mistake.

I would suggest a holiday there if possible, to see if you feel the same.

I always suggest renting when you are unsure. This is a difficult time to make new friends, but you will have plenty of time to explore.
I also think that you can. knowing your family, balance being near your GCs against being a great holiday destination.

The slight downside at present is that your money will earn little interest whilst house prices are going up. However, unless you are on a very tight budget, I would go for renting, so you don't make a big mistake.

You can rent quite a small place, even just a studio, through Airb'n'b, just to get a good look around.

I can only speak from my experience. When we retired many years ago we would have liked to return to DH's home county of Dorset but all our AC and grandchildren live within 10 miles of us and family won! It has been delightful to watch all the grandchildren grow and I would not have missed it for anything. Additionally we have had to provide a lot of support for one family due to illness and I would have been extremely worried had we been a long way away and unable to help. However,your situation will obviously be different and Cornwall is indeed a lovely place !

Thank you all for your comments, I am going down to Cornwall next week so maybe a few walks and looking around will give me a better idea of what I want, not easy being 64! Good friends are hard to make wherever you are, but going to a new area I do try to join a few things so I’m not worried in that respect. Yes it’s the grandchildren, coming round to thinking maybe stay local and rather than sunny holidays spend more time in Cornwall holidaying off season.

Be prepared for rain!!

We moved to France around your age Awesomegranny left our families in UK. We have loved living here and families have been able to visit. My grandchildren were teenagers at the time. However with the advent of Brexit and Covid things have changed, can't imagine Cornwall will divorce its self from UK but stranger things have happened.
I would go with the renting option for a year then see how you feel. Good luck.

I had a friend who was in exactly your situation; ; she moved to Cornwall and I am sorry to say it did not work out. She had no connections there, her children were in a different part of the country, it was very expensive, and she found it hard to make friends. Eventually she moved back to the south, met someone and married again, but she had some painful times first.
Think long and hard about why you want to go.

I came down to WsM determined to make new friends, etc. Started out well for a couple of months, then all came to an end with Lockdown. Okay, I did also come here to be close to my No.2 daughter and four g.children, and my other children and g.children are rather spread around the UK.

Okay pandemics are not something to be expected, but there are many variables, illness, etc. I would not go far from friends and family.

I can understand that you feel that, at this time, you want a brand new start - but you can do that and still stay local enough to be close to those friends and your family. As long as fifty percent of the house sale will be enough for you to purchase something local.

Think you are wise about using Cornwall for an escape for holidays.

Whatever you decide GOOD LUCK

You may want to consider the age of your grandchildren. In my experience once they hit their teens you don't see much of them even if they live only a short distance away. Cornwall is not exactly the other side of the moon. In normal times there are trains and even planes, so take that into account too - you will be able to visit and they will be able to visit you. I think I'd go (I love Cornwall too) and see how you get on. Renting may be a good idea but don't use up your capital in rent to the point where you can't afford to move back to where you are now. Best of luck.

Awesomegranny

Thank you all for your comments, I am going down to Cornwall next week so maybe a few walks and looking around will give me a better idea of what I want, not easy being 64! Good friends are hard to make wherever you are, but going to a new area I do try to join a few things so I’m not worried in that respect. Yes it’s the grandchildren, coming round to thinking maybe stay local and rather than sunny holidays spend more time in Cornwall holidaying off season.

A friend of mine moved to Dartmouth a few years ago. Ok, she doesn’t have children or grandchildren that she would miss but she has a great social life. I’ve always dreamed of living in Cornwall but hated the thought of moving away from my family. However, since the pandemic I don’t see them anyway and I’ve realised that we all get on with our lives and keep in touch without being near to each other. You could write a book/do a blog about your move.

Greenfinch

I can only speak from my experience. When we retired many years ago we would have liked to return to DH's home county of Dorset but all our AC and grandchildren live within 10 miles of us and family won! It has been delightful to watch all the grandchildren grow and I would not have missed it for anything. Additionally we have had to provide a lot of support for one family due to illness and I would have been extremely worried had we been a long way away and unable to help. However,your situation will obviously be different and Cornwall is indeed a lovely place !

More or less our situation too, and so glad we left the West Country to come back here and be near family including DGC and have a hand in looking after them and regularly seeing our AC.
Cornwall is a long way from anywhere and needs a lot of thought about moving there.
All depends on, how old you are, how you feel about very long drives for the future ( and the price of petrol) to visit your family, how much you will miss the children ( how old are they?) and how outgoing you are as a person, because you will have to make friends and join clubs etc.It’s a big decision so make a list of pros and cons.

I agree with you, MayBee70.