Beautiful little UK village so friendly visitors end up abandoning old lives and moving

Cornwall attracts tens of thousands of visitors from across the country every year - but there’s one village that people like so much that they choose to move there permanently.

St Neot sits on the edge of Bodmin Moor and has around a thousand people living there.

However the villagers say that thanks to its community spirit there is so much going on that you’d think it was a much larger town.

Adrienne McCormack had been visiting her mum in the village for around five years when six months ago she decided to take the plunge and leave Essex to move to the Cornish village.

Speaking to CornwallLive, the 38-year-old said: "I decided I didn't want to leave anymore and decided to stay for good. The community in the village is special.

"They are so welcoming. Everyone here is excited about the village and has a common purpose to make St Neot a better place that embraces everyone."

The village boasts a 15th century church and each year celebrates Oak Apple Day - which sees an oak branch paraded through the street and to the top of the church tower where it remains in place for the year.

The event, which has been going on since the mid-17th century, commemorates the escape of King Charles II when he did up an oak tree to escape capture by the Roundheads following the English Ciivl War -  St Neot had been a fiercely Royalist village during the conflict.

Adrienne said she had no regrets about leaving Chelmsford and that the village had been "incredibly generous".

She told CornwallLive: "There is always someone in the village who's happy to help. It's a beautiful place to live. 

"My partner and I have loved the change of lifestyle the move to Cornwall gave us. No more business suits for me. It's all dungarees now."

Like many small villages, the St Neot post office is now long gone and the shop was also at risk when the owners retired in the summer.

However, the villagers rallied together and a new shop opened - with four people working there part time.

Shopkeeper Karen Bunt told CornwallLive: "Everything we sell we try to source locally. We have a lot of local people come in, especially the older generation as it is very handy for them.

"We try to support local producers as much as we can but we try to stock what people want too. So we do requests."

Speaking about the village, the 53-year-old added: "You can go to a ukulele club on the Monday, gardening another day, and the church is open for more than just religious services.

"There's a youth club and something for older people. I think the playing field and garden are really good.

"Newcomers want to get involved. I think that's part of the attraction of the village too. People get involved."

Rhiannon Smedley, her partner, her mum and step-dad took over the village's only pub, the London Inn, at the end of 2019 - just weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

However the family say this gave them the time they needed to bed down in the community and get the pub ready for reopening.

Rhiannon, originally from Sheffield, Yorkshire, said: "Everyone is so selfless and supportive.

"My parents have been in Cornwall for 10 years now and always wanted to take on a pub. We've never seen so much going on in a village. 

"The locals are so friendly. The church is well supported. The pub is well supported. We may see some tourists in the summer but it is the locals that keep this pub going throughout the year."

Stepdad Chris added: "We brought Rhiannon and her partner down because we wanted it to be a family business and pass it on to them. We certainly have not regretted moving to Cornwall and to this wonderful village."