Kingswear – The sunny side

A lot of people have heard of or been to Dartmouth, along the beautiful Devonshire coast.  But across the water from Dartmouth is the lesser known, Kingswear.  As the locals who live there like to point out, Dartmouth is “the dark side”.  This is not a slight on Dartmouth, a quirky town with cobbled streets, unique stores and located at the mouth of the Dart estuary, with fantastic views up the Dart and out to sea, but rather a factual observation that, of an evening come 5pm, Dartmouth is completely in shadow.  

Kingswear, on the other hand, remains in uninterrupted sunshine until the sun goes down as late as 9pm in the height of summer.  So whilst the ‘Dartmouthians’ sip their beer with a slight shiver in the shadows of the surrounding hillsides, the folk on the sunny side partake in their beers outside the Steam Packet Inn, in full sunshine, with an air of smugness.  How do I know this?  I’m one of them.

Clark and I decided, not long ago, that Devon would be the most amazing place to retire (albeit some time off).  It came about on a short break, where in fact, we were staying in Dartmouth.  Although it was November and the weather was typically grey and slightly drizzly, the one thing we noticed when walking around the town of Dartmouth, was the happiness of the people.  Not just one or two, but it seemed everyone we passed had a smile and were happy to pass on mutually returned salutations.  This, having lived in London, the city of ‘do not speak or be spoken to’ was a little alien to us.  The people are relaxed and happy, and Dartmouth has amazing pubs and restaurants, with an outstanding location.  What’s not to like.  We were sold.  This was something we could plan for in the future.

So why didn’t we buy in Dartmouth?  What made us change to Kingswear?  It was not just the sun that persuaded us.  After viewing (and not loving) several properties in Dartmouth, the owner of Beth’s (Clark’s absolute favourite Dartmouth lunch spot) suggested looking at Kingswear.  As he said, “you’ll get more for your money and it’s much quieter over there”.  He wasn’t wrong.  Whereas we were looking at apartments and small houses in Dartmouth (with no views), for a similar price in Kingswear we were looking at houses, with outdoor space and fantastic views.  The other reason, it’s quieter.  It’s not “quiet” that was appealing, but the feeling of complete calm once we crossed to the other side.  Gone were the crowds of people, the small streets crammed with shops, the bars so packed you couldn’t get a seat, and here was calm, air, space, views.  This was the real reason we decided on Kingswear, that ‘aah’ feeling with an obligatory long sigh.  We are not procrastinators.  We only looked at one property, and while sat on the sofa in the front room of our soon to be cosy cottage, we knew this was somewhere we could see ourselves.  We are now the (smug) owners of Oystershell, our little holiday let come retirement plan.  To be enjoyed by lovers of Dartmouth and Kingswear alike.

The really smug bit?  Any time we want hustle, bustle, shopping, bars and restaurants we can take the most amazing 5 minute ferry ride over, and then back again when we’ve had our fill of excitement (or food). This really puts the cherry on top of any night out.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  (And we’ve got the steam train….woo woo!).