The Original Salcombe Blog...

Salcombe Second Homes Not a Recent Phenomenon

2008-05-14T08:17:00.003+01:00

Seventy % yes 70% of Salcombe's homes now belong to second home owners and you can often hear die hard Salcombe locals bemoaning this fact (who can blame them!?), however, it appears that this isn't a new trend...Salcombe has apparently been a second home haven since the Victorians first started to build their holiday retreats there. In a neat twist of fate it's these houses that are now Salcombe's most sought after with huge price tags attached.

Salcombe is in the top 4 and probably number 2 of the most sought after seaside venues to buy a second home or indeed a home. Sandbanks still eclipses Salcombe price wise, although Salcombe, for me anyway, makes Sandbanks look dull and over priced.

Amazingly one Salcombe estate agent said that he has, at any one time, 50 interested cash buyers with budgets in excess of £2 million(!!!!) just waiting for the right property.

It looks like Salcombe will be immune from the current property slump due to the majority of it's buyers being stonkingly rich! If nothing else it will be interesting to watch...and be assured I will let you know about anything interesting!!

More Property Madness in Salcombe

2008-04-30T08:44:00.010+01:00

Just when you think house prices can't go anymore loopy along come another rash of hugely priced houses! These are surely pushing the boundaries of what is possible!

Batson House

The most expensive one is in Batson, acorss the creek from Salcombe, so it's a good 30min walk into Salcombe town centre. The pictures look lovely but in reality you only get 2.5 hours either side of high tide so there are going to be long periods sat in your garden looking at mud!

Anchor Watch

I stayed in this apartment years ago when some relatives rented it, the views to the entrance of Salcombe Harbour are truly spectacular! Since then the current owner bought the top 2 apartments and knocked them trough into one huge open plan apartment...it's pretty special.

Monstrosity!!

And as for this ?!?!?! Who the hell is going to buy that and who the hell agreed the planning permission. What aspect of Salcombe does it actually fit in with? The Salcombe Town Council should be ashamed!

Rugbt Great Martin Johnson to move to Salcombe?

2008-04-25T08:19:00.003+01:00

I have from a reliable source discovered that none other than Martin Johnson is looking for a house in the Salcombe area!

He recently viewed this waterfront property on Curlew Drive near Kingsbridge. Nice if you can afford it!

He would join the local rugby list of Clive Woodward (old Methodist Church Salcombe) and Salcombe's own Julian White, who seems to own half of Kingsbridge!

It's also another great opportunity to show my favourite YouTube clip. It's what England have been missing since he retired....perhaps now we will get back that winning mentality!

Salcombe, Britains 6th Richest Town!

2008-04-19T10:45:00.003+01:00

So we managed number 6 in the Telegraph's top 50 richest towns in Britain! Pretty amazing for a once sleepy fishing/boat building town in Devon. What is quite incredible is the average income for Salcombe residents can't be much over £12k a year! The boom in second home owners has bought wealth to the town but at the expense of local industries and people...I suppose the question is would Salcombe have survived without this injection of wealth??

Who knows....

Salcombe, One of Britains Richest Towns

2008-04-15T07:59:00.003+01:00

Salcombe is officially one of Britain's top 50 richest towns, according to a survey by Savills and the Daily Telegraph. The richest towns 50-41 were revealed today and by Saturday we will know the top 10.

I'll keep you updated and lets see where Salcombe comes out! With an average house price around the £400k mark it must be near the top, although, as yet we are some way off Sandbanks prices!

Red Arrows Salcombe Bound!

2008-04-08T08:09:00.004+01:00

The Red Arrows are due to perform in Salcombe this year! The date is the Saturday between Salcombe Town Regatta and Yacht Club Regatta week, which is the 9th of August - this is now confirmed.

This is what we have to look forward to:

It's about time we had a big event to compare to Dartmouth! We used to get the guy in his world war 2 plane doing stunts over the estuary but he seems to have disappeared, then we had a Chinook helicopter for a couple of years, which was quite good but lasted about 2 minutes and last year the Battle of Britain planes which were great but the Red Arrows are another thing altogether!!!!

So get booking your restaurant places now as I imagine it will be a popular night!

Also after last years disastrous fireworks from Snapes it has been confirmed that they are back on the barge this year - good decision.

Salcombe Restaurant Review...

2008-04-01T12:58:00.002+01:00

This Easter I managed to visit 2 of Salcombe’s restaurants; The Galley and Dusters.

The Galley:
I have to say I was surprised on many accounts! The interior is pretty basic but pleasant, unless that is you can get a window seat as I did. This transforms the entire experience. Even though it was dark the moon was shining over from East Portlemouth church across the water, lighting up whitestrand pontoon and the few moored boats that are on the water in March, and seemed to end when it reached my table! It was perfect!

The food whilst not being outstanding was pretty good. I had crab linguine followed by monk fish. The crab was landed at Salcombe and the fish at Plymouth so all very local. The linguine was average and could have done with a bit more taste but the monk fish was very good and worth every penny of the quite reasonable £17:95.

All in all 2 starters, 2 mains, 1 desert and a few glasses of wine was £63, a perfectly acceptable price for the food and view. Although I have to say had I been sat in the corridor part of the restaurant I would not have been impressed! Definitely worth a visit but check when you book that you are not going to be sat in the corridor.

Dusters:
Overall I was very disappointed with Dusters. Back in the heyday of “Dusters Bistro”, when it was owned and run by Mike Hicks, it was unthinkable that you didn’t go at least once on a Sunday night during the summer! The jazz was great, the lights low, the food simple but perfect bistro food, the whole placed buzzed with a relaxed but energetic atmosphere, the bottles of Sol flowed and the napkins were actual Dusters hence the name "Dusters" Bistro….

So back to the present…first of all let me just say the jazz was superb! Harry seems to get better with age! However it was more mainstream jazz and not the ragtime that Harry used to belt out at Dusters. I much prefer the new music but not at Dusters, it needs that energy and punch and not to blend quietly into the background as the new stuff does. Harry used to perform by the door and the music would carry out into fore street, now he is pushed to the back of the restaurant like he is just another part of the place and not the main attraction.

The atmosphere was awful, the lights were too bright and the tableware too silver service, which the actual service was far from! We waited an age for our starters, at least an hour and then we waited so long for our deserts that they had switched the coffee machine off! I was stunned……it was also more expensive than the Galley by at least 20%. The steak was £22……what’s the mark-up on that!

The food was good but not memorable; I had Spinach Risotto and Sea Bass for my main but I can’t actually remember what my starter was or my dessert for that matter. Although I do seem to remember that the ice cream on the menu said "Dusters home made ice cream" but the waitress seemed to think it was actually Salcombe Dairy! The risotto was above average and I have to say cooked perfectly and the sea bass was as sea bass always is, brilliantly tasty.

The wine list was a total joke, one bottle of wine form 5 different countries and the wines were at best average.

So all in all it was pretty disappointing to say the least and I wont be rushing back. Dusters needs to decide if it’s a posh restaurant or a bistro type restaurant, at present it is stuck in middle somewhere. This is a real shame as it has the prime location for a restaurant. If only someone had a video of Dusters how it used to be they could learn a thing or 2.

Salcombe, Simply the best...

2008-03-27T08:22:00.005Z

Is there anywhere better than Salcombe? It doesn't matter if it's winter, summer or spring it's still an truly amazing place. Click on this image for the full size photo....

Another Bargain Property in Salcombe!

2008-03-17T08:26:00.004Z

Arrun, set on the hillside overlooking the Salcombe estuary is available for the small fee of £2 million!!!

The property web site Prime Location says about Arrun: "In a wonderful position with glorious estuary views an early 20th Century detached house with its own sandy beach, slipway and 2 moorings - accommodation including 2 receptions, kitchen/breakfast room, 4 bedrooms, bathroom and gardens."

OODevon Says: Pricey at £2m but with a beach and 2 moorings, and with Salcombe's ridiculous property micro market in mind, this seems like a good value buy. Especially when compared to the price of the Salcombe Hotel apartments opposite.

Salcombe Local wins British Marine Federation Training Award

2008-03-11T08:18:00.004Z

Trainee/ Apprentice of the Year Award

Robert Hitchen, who studied at The Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis won this award.

Rob worked as a Fisherman in Salcombe but wanted to work as a Boatbuilder. He renovated and sold his fishing boat to finance his Boatbuilding course and went on to complete a City & Guilds Level Three certificate in Boatbuilding at Boatbuilding Academy. Since completing the course he has set up a company to build Salcombe Yawls and within twelve months expects to be in a position to employ another boat builder to work alongside him.

I went to School at the same time as Rob (a few years above) and he was an excellent sailor and a half decent rugby player. Add in the fact that he was also a nice bloke and it seems a great reward for his work.

Anyone who continues the local boat building trade deserves a reward, if only for the very reason that it means there should be one less location for a restuarant or clothes shop!

New Lifeboat For Salcombe

2008-03-04T07:44:00.002Z

Yesterday saw the arrival of Salcombe's new lifeboat, the Baltic Exchange III. Capable of 25 knots and costing £2.5m the new boat is the latest state of the art all weather version. Tamar Class Lifeboats are already on station at: Tenby, Wales - Padstow, Cornwall - Peterhead, Scotland - Longhope, Scotland - Cromer, Norfolk with a further lifeboat in the relief fleet.

The naming continues to represent Salcombe's close relationship with the Baltic Exchange in London.

Celebrity Chefs for Salcombe and Kingsbridge

2008-02-27T07:43:00.002Z

Rumour has it that not only is Gary Rhodes gong to return to the Marine Hotel, Salcombe after it's imminent reincarnation but that John Burton Race is about to take over the Crabshell! Add to this rumours that Gordon Ramsey is to reopen the New Angel in Dartmouth, previously run by John Burton Race, and it seems Devon has an influx of celebrity chefs on its hands!

Competition Time....win a Devon or Salcombe T-shirt

2008-02-11T12:17:00.000Z

Ok it's competition time on OODevon...

Win a "OODevon T-shirt" in a colour of your choice, with either Devon or Salcombe on the back. There will a prize for the first correct answer and a prize for the name drawn from a hat of all other entrants.

To enter all you have to do is email OODevon with your answer the following Question:

Who wrote this famous poem when crossing "The Bar" into Salcombe:

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and Evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

Salcombe's Rare Find - The Fanshell

2008-01-31T08:01:00.000Z

Not only is Salcombe just about the most stunning estuary in the UK it appears it is also home to some extremely rare creatures! Staff form Plymouth Uni & Salcombe Marine conservation found a Fanshell which is one of the most threatened marine creatures in the UK.

Apparently it's like a huge mussel that grows to more than a foot long. This one was found in a seagrass bed which makes the find even more amazing as its the first tidal living Fanshell found for more than 50 years! This seagrass bed in Salcombe could become a prtoected area under a bill proposed to protect finds such as these.

Read more about Fanshells....

New Speed Limits for Salcombe Estuary?

2008-01-24T08:06:00.001Z

There was proposal on the table of the harbour Board which has been passed; to reduce the speed limit in the Salcombe & Kingsbridge estuary to 6 knots (from 8 knots), there has also been comment that the people are speeding in the "Bag" - the part of the estuary form Snapes to Saltstone. There are also concerns that the speed limits aren't being being enforced.

This proposal seems kind of mad for a few reasons:

1. Lets face it who really knows exactly what speed they are doing anyway?
2. Who can actually tell the difference between 6 and 8 knots?
3. When the tide is ripping out or in and you are going in the opposite direction speed is almost impossible to judge.
4. If no-one is really enforcing the limits now what good is lowering them going to do?

Surely 8 knots isn't too fast, people aren't stupid, no-one goes 8 knots past Whitestrand, its about common sense. Are the harbour board just looking for things to do to make them look important? I can't think of any other reason? It's true some people do go over 8 knots in the harbour but 99% of people don't and 8 knots is a perfectly safe speed.

Also, if there are 28% less visiting yachts then there must be less estuary traffic anyway! The estuary isn't anywhere near as busy as it was back in the early to mid 90's.

Come on Salcombe Harbour Board do something worthwhile!

Going back a few years (when Captain Blazeby was Salcombe Harbour Master and for a few years after) it was common practice to throttle up between Saltstone and Bowcombe. If the harbour master was about and he felt you were pushing your luck you would get a hand signal to suggest you slowed down and and smile of acknowledgment when you did. These days you get a ridiculous blue flashing light, a siren and your rights read to you!

aaaah the good old days......

40+ photos tagged "Salcombe"

2008-01-20T17:10:00.000Z

Salcombe's BIG Problem...

2008-01-14T07:59:00.000Z

So visiting yachts were down by 28% last year and Harbour Master Ian Gibson is "alarmed"....not sure why he is or why he would expect anything else when he introduces new policies such as charging for Whitestrand overnight rather than concentrating on the real issues such as; lack of facilities, nowhere to buy supplies ashore, nowhere to moor your boat very easily, increasingly less places to buy chandlery, overpriced shops and poor restaurants.

Supposedly the Harbour Board are going to introduce showers and WI-FI, just like they were supposedly going to do last year and the year before! It's not rocket science I don't see what the problem is.

If you are a visiting yachts person and come ashore dying for a decent coffee, your first port of call would probably be the Salcombe Coffee Company only to realise that it should have been the bank! Why they think they can charge more than Starbucks or Cafe Nero in Central London is beyond me. 2 Years ago they put their prices up 25p for a Grande Latte and the cups actually got smaller. If that isn't pure greed then what is? Also, don't expect any smiles or joviality form the owner, the miserable sod!

Your second thought is probably where can we eat tonight, only to find out that just about all Salcombe's restaurants were fully booked for August by June! So then you are left with the Kings Arm's, a lovely pub inside but a dive outside (minus the new balcony) with utterly stupid rules like you can only get pizza before 7pm, the rest of the menu is off limits...what about kids? Oh hang on there is Salcombe's new premier restaurant the Oyster Shack where you can get a seafood platter for £80 a head...the same price as the taster menu at one of Ramseys Michelin starred London restaurants.

If you want to stock up on supplies for the rest of your trip forget it, unless you want to go to Kingsbridge as there ins't anywhere to buy anything! If you need petrol you can forget that too unless you want to pay £8 a gallon at the fuel barge!

Salcombe is hard if not impossible to beat as an idyllic seaside town, but is quickly becoming a no go area for yachts people who can just go a few miles around the coast to Dartmouth for a far nicer experience.

But hey as long as the Harbour Board are getting their overnight mooring charges for Whitestrand and Salcombe traders can get people to pay their hugely inflated prices who cares, right!?

The UK's best 2 Holiday homes? Both in Salcombe!

2008-01-07T08:20:00.000Z

These 2 properties are quite incredible....

The first is a new build called "Underbecks" named as such due to it's position below "Overbecks". This probably has the best position in Salcombe for views.

The second is "Beach House Quay" a pretty amazing house too! This is the house you can quite often see Michael Parkinson sat outside during town regatta week.

Both will cost you c£7k for town regatta week and both sleep 12.

Underbecks has much nicer interior and a far fresher feel to it, Beach House Quay seems a bit dark and cluttered. The one massive plus that Beach Quay House has over Underbecks is the evening sun!!! Underbecks and Salcombe in general both suffer form no sun after about 4pm. So no nice evenings on the terrace in the fading sun, more like a chilly evening huddled around the BBQ! Still you could always get your binoculars out and have a jealous look down the estuary at the folks in Beach Quay House with their G&T's and sunshine!!

YOU CHOOSE!

Oyster Shack (Salcombe) Rowers Make Good Progress.

2008-01-02T08:29:00.000Z

5 endurance athletes are attempting to break the "trans-at" record, the Oyster Shack Ocean Challenger , yes you guessed it, they are being sponsored by the Oyster Shack, Salcombe, are currently about 500 miles into their row.

The Oyster Shack Ocean Challenger must make landfall in the Caribbean by 20:30 on Sunday 27th January 2008 to break the record.

Fingers crossed!

Keep up to date with their progress here.

Salcombe's New Official Tourist Web Site

2007-12-18T08:35:00.001Z

At last a decent web site for Salcombe. Virtual Salcombe is ok but no-one ever seems to update it. Hopefully as this is the Official Tourist Information site it will be kept up to date regularly.

Salcombe bags ANOTHER Clothes shop!

2007-12-12T09:00:00.000Z

Where will it all end? Now Henri Lloyd have opened in Salcombe...

Can anyone remember when "Crew" was "Salcombe Chandlers" and actually sold shackles and rope??? Seems an age away now. I have heard a shackle can be bought on Island Street but be quick as the clothes shops are spreading there too!

Soon you wont only not be able to buy food in Salcombe but also chandlery...It will be a trip to Kingsbridge. Anyone visiting in a Yacht will up the creek! Literally!

Salcombe feels bite of "City" bonuses.

2007-11-29T08:12:00.000Z

As if by magic there was an article on "Times Online" yesterday outlining exactly my last post!

Apparently the huge reduction in city bonuses expected this year, down from £5.5 billion to £2 billion (a 60% fall) is hitting the property market of trendy seaside towns like Salcombe, nicknamed "the red trouser belt", very hard...

Over the past 10 years the average house price rise in these seaside towns is a staggering 287%!

The Times goes on to say:

"Top-performing towns in the red trouser belt are seaside resorts, such as Padstow and Rock in Cornwall and Salcombe in Devon, that are within a four-hour drive for a Friday night commute, typically made by City husbands visiting families left in the holiday home for much of the long summer holidays. The areas have also earned some notoriety by attracting hordes of underage drinkers from public schools."

I think the under age drinking tag that they have given Salcombe is a bit unfair, it's nothing like it was in the summers when I was growing up there and the average age in The Ferry was 15 & the average number of pints of "Tally Ho" consumed was also 15!!! Good old Bob.....

Salcombe House Prices Fall

2007-11-27T08:26:00.001Z

I am quite amazed by this, it is the first time I have seen any significant drop in house prices in Salcombe for 20 years?? (I could be wrong?). This data is accurate as it is from the National Land Registry and covers the last year. Strange how terraced houses have bucked the trend by rising.....flat prices have dropped by a quarter!!!!

Detached House
Price £641,999
Annual Price Change -15.16%
No. Of Sales 11
National Average £352,484

Semi-Detached House
Price £511,500
Annual Price Change n/a
No. Of Sales 6
National Average £204,306

Terraced
Price £384,666
Annual Price Change 16.7%
No. Of Sales 3
National Average £181,863

Flat/Maisonette
Price £413,000
Annual Price Change -24.49%
No. Of Sales 8
National Average £209,042

Could this be the end for the Salcombe property market?

Lasers in Salcombe

2007-11-23T08:56:00.001Z

Lasers in Salcombe
Originally uploaded by oo.devon

ooops....not the best place to capsize!

Come and see all my Salcombe photos over on "flickr"...

Feel free to download for wallpapers or whatever you want.

Salcombe & Totnes, Parallel Universes

2007-11-12T08:30:00.000Z

I have never really thought about it before but just how opposite are Totnes and Salcombe!! Both great places and I could happily live in either, but when you look at it there is a huge difference!

Totnes is all about alternative living, eco-friendly life styles and self sufficiency. Salcombe is all about MONEY, second homes and designer shops!

This weekends article in the Telegraph gives you a great insight into Totnes and what it has to offer.

You have to admire Totnes for the way it is embracing a greener lifestyle and showing the rest of the country up, however the free and easy lifestyle does mask what many locals know is a underlying alternative lifestyle that involves drugs and an acceptance of drugs in the "alternative" way they live.

The ONE similarity between Totnes and Salcombe is HOUSE PRICES! It always comes back to the same thing in the UK and especially Devon. The proliferation and blatant grabbing of celebrity residents is hilarious with Totnes boasting the same residents as Salcombe/East Portlemouth....where do these people really live? Actually who really cares anyway....

If pushed to chose?? Give me Salcombe any day, it may have it's pompous side but it's rural/seaside living at it's ultimate best!