Does anyone live in Dartmouth?

[zephyrcat]

Hi all - my mum is thinking about relocating to Dartmouth and is there for a month to see how it goes. We are looking for local things for her to go to to meet people etc - are there any Dartmouth community Facebook groups or anything? She doesn't have a car down there so limited to public transport.

Why Dartmouth, in particular? It is rather isolated on the river, and quite hilly I think to go anywhere to the west.

Public transport might be limited, and if she were to relocate I would have thought a car would be essential. I don't know what shops are there; we are near Newton Abbot - not so pretty as Dartmouth, certainly, but there are numerous supermarkets and other facilities.

There could be more suitable places in the South Hams, between Dartmouth and Totnes, and the surrounding villages.

She goes every year on holiday and has wanted to relocate there for ages, she's spending the month there just to find out if the reality is very different to the fantasy. She does drive but just doesn't have a car for this time that she's there.

I used to live there. But it was years ago, so bear that in mind!

Pros:
It's very pretty, gorgeous coast and countryside
Great beaches nearby
Independent shops, restaurants etc
Definitely slower pace of life
There's quite a bit going on: music festival, food festival, regatta, Flavel centre
Community atmosphere (although sometimes split locals versus yachties / incomes when I was there)

Cons:
Property v expensive
High level of 2nd home ownership so can be v quiet in winter
Lots of people (when I lived there) moved there to escape something - a local described if to me as "6,000 alcoholics living on a cliff face"
It takes AGES to get anywhere else
Tourists, great if you make a living from tourism, not so great if you want to drive down the road in the summer
It's small so everyone can know your business if you're not careful

Not much public transport, she'll need to consider that. No train station.

www.discoverdartmouth.com might be useful

I think she will meet people if she's a joiner. I made friends easily but it was easy with children because of playgroup and schools. There are various community organisations I'm sure, here are some:

www.dartmouthplayers.org.uk/aboutus.html

theflavel.org.uk/TheFlavel.dll/WhatsOn

dartmouthinbloom.org