Why Camelford?
Why Camelford?
18 June 2021
This blog is written by a fairly recent resident to Camelford – Paul.
‘Why Camelford?’ That’s the question we’re most asked. And it’s a good question. We had the whole world to choose from and yet this quiet corner of North Cornwall was where we chose to live. There isn’t of course a single answer to this frequently asked question. Instead, there are a whole load of small answers, each one of them worthy on its own, but when combined together make it almost impossible to believe that we could have made any other decision.
Take your pick on those answers. We have Bodmin Moor with Roughtor 2 miles from our front door. The coast is just 5 miles the other way. A short walk to the town centre with everything we need for day to day living. And it’s overwhelmingly friendly too. From the Masons Arms pub to Peckish Fish and Chips always a genuine warm welcome and made to feel at home. We know more people here in just two years than we knew in any other place that we’ve lived. People care for one another and they look out for one another. You learn pretty early on to treat the place with respect, but also learn that if you love Camelford it will love you right back.
That decision to relocate was two years ago and since then COVID has ripped through lives and brought so many decisions into real focus. If anything though, our decision to make Camelford our home looks an even better decision because of COVID. There’s so much space – wide open spaces with nothing other than sheep or cows or horses. Peace and quiet everywhere.
Suddenly we find ourselves with friends from our previous world desperate to see us. People that we barely saw when we lived 5 miles away are now desperate to see how we’re doing. Family we’ve not heard of in years remember we’re related. Of course, it’s not really about us, it’s about where we live – but we’re ok with that. Everybody who visits wants to rebook to come again almost immediately. Our visitors love Camelford too. Not as much as we do because that would impossible in just a week or two, but nevertheless love it they do.
We’re hopeful that the proposed bypass will be successful and bring further life to the high street. Hopeful it’ll bring a greater emphasis on people, making Camelford more focused on pedestrians and allow local businesses to thrive, with facilities for residents and visitors alike,
That’s all for another day though and for now we’ll continue to be grateful every day that we made what seemed at the time a bold decision to move to Camelford. Two years on it doesn’t look bold just obvious and entirely the right one. The one single regret was that we didn’t do it earlier……
