Ilfracombe Devon

[hedgehogscrossing]

I have been looking for a house in Devon since selling mine in June with no luck. Can anyone tell me why Ilfracombe is so much less expensive than other areas in Devon? I have been to visit once last October and we had a nice day wandering around. Some parts looked a bit scruffy but the same can be said of most places? I have seen a house 100yds from harbour in my budget. I have googled it but would like some up to date info from anyone with first hand knowledge. Thanks .

I went to college in Barnstaple and it used to be called Ilfrascum. I’m not entirely sure why as I have always thought it nice when I visited but perhaps it is different in the winter.

@tealandteal yes I thought exactly the same, especially reality of spending a day versus living there in winter. Im thinking are most houses near the harbour actually B and Bs/holiday lets. Also if it shuts shop in the winter like old school coastal places.

I live in East Devon so I'm quite far from there. The transport links in North Devon are pretty useless. There is the Tarka Line from Barnstaple to Exeter but trains aren't very frequent, when they are running. I lived in Exeter and commuted to Barnstaple by car which took an hour on the link road. Colleagues who lived in Ilfracombe commuted by car and took 30 minutes. It snowed one day; 2 of us made it from Exeter but nobody did from Ilfracombe.

It’s pretty out on a limb location wise (not that the rest of ND is well connected really!), which I think is a factor. It has a poor reputation - people will tell you about drug addicts being rehoused there in the 80s…

i do know quite a few people who have moved there from up country, attracted by the seaside location & cheap prices, who love it & have quite an artsy little community going on.

We went last year for two days and I was shocked at the obvious levels of deprivation in parts of the town. The part round the harbour looked better.

Because it's a shithole.

I went there once on a trip when staying in area. I work in area with high levels of deprivations. It takes a lot to put me off. I HATED it. I’m no snob but it was grim.

@DistrictCommissioner I like the idea of artsy Community. I agree about being out on a limb .

@CornishTiger was this recently? Was there anything in particular that you saw?

@FourChimneys I agree about deprivation I thought the same. I think the thing that puts me off is that although I drive it does seem somehow cut off, mentally in my head I have that image if that makes sense?

I visited for the first time this summer.

I thought it was very run down and there seemed to be a lot of deprivation.
I know a lot of seaside towns have that faded glory air about them, but Ilfracombe seemed to be a level down from that. It made me feel quite sad.

There are a few nice restaurants, the Tunnels beach is great and you can get to Lundy. They are the only positive things I could say about it.

Yeah we liked the idea too. We ultimately didn’t move there as 1) no suitable rental property available 2) really didn’t like the secondary school (it may have just been our tour guide/our particular wishes in a school as I have a friend who is perfectly happy with it)

I’m so disillusioned! I thought of Ilfracombe as a pretty little harbour town filled with quaint thatched cottages and pubs called Ye Olde Something- or -Other.
I don’t think I’ll bother booking a holiday there. 🤣

@ThreeKneeRepeater thats round the corner from Ilfracombe- Croyde Bay!

@ThreeKneeRepeater 😂😂you should book in or near Clovelly. Thank you everyone I think its a no to Ilfracombe for me. Ive been looking for a while now so am just exploring any faint possibility .

I quite like Ilfracombe but it suffers from relying on tourist trade and geographical inaccessibility, scant opportunities in terms of employment and education and a friend who lives there says that they do still have a problem with antisocial behaviour and drugs/vandalism.

It just hasn't developed, changed or evolved in decades and its Victorian glamour faded a long time ago.

It also has the shittest Lidl I've ever visited and I got vertigo trying to trek to Tesco each day when I camped nearby recently.

I'm in S Wales and there's been renewed talk of a Swansea to Ilfracombe ferry recently.

I was keeping my fingers crossed it goes ahead because I fancy a trip there...but like a pp, I thought it was probably an expensive, cutesy rural place with big farmhouses and generally fairly well off. I have no idea why I thought this mind! I'm surprised to read it's so deprived though.

@SybilThePup thats interesting ive never heard of the ferry. Yes there a few areas of North Devon that are pretty deprived.

DH is from ilfracombe and MIL still lives there.

cons
it is remote public transport wise and takes ages to get to once off the motorway - the north Devon link road is a death trap.
everything shuts down in winter
lots of pub culture and drugs as lots of winter unemployment and nothing else to do!
school is bog standard. Probably great by inner london comp comparisons but not so good compared to leafy suburb schools filled with middle classe wannabes.
parking is awful if you don’t have a drive (so nowhere in the main town harbour bit!!!)

pros
tunnels beach is lovely for kids
near other lovely beaches like woolacombe
there is a better sense of community spirit there compared to pretty much everywhere else I have lives. Everyone helps everyone else out.
lots of little shops and the very long high street which are worth a potter - few big chains.
Small theatre which has stuff going on
crab Fries
atill has lots of stuff going on like jumbled sales and coffee mornings , art shows, fun days etc which gives it a nostalgic feel

thank you @BrieAndChilli that is really useful. I did actually like the little shops, someone I follow on instagram has just relocated her Vintage shop there.

It was 2011. I’ve just checked can’t believe it was so low ago. A copper friend suggested I go camping up there recently and I explained why I hated it. So it might have improved. We through briefly in 2017 too to go watermouth castle. Still felt a bad vibe.