North Devon coastal property

[Winniemango]

I’ve read through some of the other threads regarding moves to North Devon but they seemed mainly about family living. So here’s my something of a cliche question!

Retiree wants to move to north Devon with dogs and no kids, wants to future proof so needs public transport to not too far GP and hospital, absolute must be walking distance to beach that allows dogs. Also public transport or cheap enough for taxi to allow train travel.

Can anyone suggest where I should look? Does such a place exist? I’m away up north currently so not easy to bob around. TIA

Definitely suggest that you do this - & take several trips, summer & winter. You need to see the area at it's best & worst.

Although I haven't been for a long time, Barnstaple is a decent sized town with lots going on. It used to have a lovely pannier market with stalls selling locally produced veg, meat etc, but I don't know if that still exists. I have a colleague living in Westward Ho! (famously the only town with an exclamation mark as part of it's name) & I understand has lots going on in terms of arts, theatre etc.

I never really understand those homes shows where the retiring couple wants a couple acres of land!

Me neither. I suspect that they don't know what an acre looks like or how much maintenance that amount of land needs.

I was brought up on a small farm. We had about 25 acres & the garden surrounding our house was about 1 acre. We had an orchard, veg garden & a garden with flower beds, pond etc. My father used to say that looking after the garden area was more hassle than the fields as we had animals in the fields & he only needed to cut hay which could be done with a tractor. Cutting the grass in the garden & orchard (with a ride-on mower) was stop/start/reverse/forward to get around the flower beds & trees, then he'd have to get the strimmer out & would take half a day to do. My mother & us children used to do most of the veg gardening, weed flower beds etc.

The acute hospital for north Devon is still Exeter, as far as I know. It's a long flog on less than ideal roads.

I wish everyone here aiming to move a great outcome. We are moving out of SE Cornwall. We like it, and will stay happily if we don't find anything we like better in the area to which we plan to move.

My grandfather has been dead over 20 years, but he moved from clovelly rd, Bideford ( where he’d lived for 40 years) to Swanswood gdns, Westward ho! As he wanted a bungalow and flat walk to the shops

he lived it but was always making friends with new neighbours, they’d move down from The Midlands etc and last 2 years. They’d realise it was far from family, struggle to make friends, feel lonely and move back.

just be aware that it’s a mental soon to make friends, join clubs, get involved.

I live way up country, still have family there and love westward ho!

Unfortunately the market is not what it used to be.

not sure what happened, but it had a decent refurb, and does host a food fest once or twice a year, but I walked through the other Saturday and it was basically empty of stalls.
long gone are the days of it being heaving on a Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

the high street isn’t amazing either, lots of shops are going elsewhere, and I don’t tend to feel comfortable walking along it during the darker evenings.

Oh wow that’s amazing I hope your move is going well and you will love where you’re going!

Thank you for those tips. Yes I must admit the thought of an actual move is a bit scary and I need to declutter. Unfortunately I amassed more than I needed when my parents died. I’m gradually reducing. Any garden downsizing will be tough as I have loads of stuff. Actually it will be tough to leave my garden full stop.

Was it really difficult to sequence everything from a distance?

Happy new home ❤️🏡

Thank you. A winter trip is going to be a must I agree. Actually I love a bit of wild weather and rain on a beach when you’re all wrapped up. But I appreciate that it’s the mundane, day to day living, that’s so important.

I haven’t got Barnstaple on the list but definitely Westward Ho! is looking likely for a visit!

I absolutely get that and so true what your father said! It’s the near retirement time of life doing that horrifies me, but I suppose if it’s always been a dream and you get the chance you won’t know till you try - bit like me with my beach dreams I guess 😆

Thank you and wishing you well wherever you’re planning!

That’s so interesting! I think that’s why I want somewhere that I can walk a lot - just simple stuff like shops, cafes, etc. I think it’s really nice when shopkeepers start to know you and you can have a bit of a chat.

Oh I love this!!!

There is a penthouse apartment for sale presently in a block we rented for a holiday - it was an ideal location and the views were great. Lift down to the garage and we didn't use the car all week - apart from going up on the moor. We could walk down to the sea pool and swim, then walk back up with our towels round us, also went on the beach and didn't have to drive or worry about getting changed - just popped back to the rental and changed out of soggy swimsuits.

I do think though you need to really work at settling anywhere and make sure there is enough for you

Have you thought of joining the Facebook groups for westward ho!

We get keys tomorrow so not in yet and have a few hurdles to climb.
What I would say is that the sequencing is equally as hard as finding the area. In fact probably harder… You have to be realistic about your current home. Unless it’s up for sale or nearly up for sale you might not get to view homes in your chosen area. I’d get a couple of EAs in soon to give you a ballpark figure if you are dependent on getting a good price. The other thing is to work out whether your existing area is in a faster or slower selling area than your chosen new location and whether the supply of houses in your new area is reasonable. We eventually were in a 3-way race to sell our house with others interested in our intended home. So selling first is really the most likely way to go - but it’s risky.
Decluttering is key. I set myself a goal of ‘losing ‘ 1 square metre’ in volume every day. The cost of removal is ££ so you don’t want to transport furniture or items you will eventually send to charity.

Then there are all the downsize and future proofing considerations- near public transport, near shop for basics, downstairs’ shower and wc, hospitals etc.
It is like taking on a part time job!

Personally, I’d look at places with good rail services over bus services. We looked at East Devon but also got lots of recommendations for south wales. I’d also consider those in your first trawl. You can do it.

Another one for ilfracombe!

There are some lovely areas, Hele has a great beach for dogs and a lovely community. Over to Slade and Lincombe you have some beautiful wilder beaches over the point and some lovely walks down to Lee Bay. In fact look at the west (Slade) and east (Hele) areas.

The wellness and art communities are v strong and welcoming and there are some gorgeous little shops and cafes. It also has an award winning butcher and several supermarkets. The buses are fairly regular and go from both sides of the town. Look at Combe Martin too.