Down By The Sea
Country House Magazine, July 2007The British love affair with the seaside, immortalised in John A Glover-Kind’s 1907 song “Oh, I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside”, has long been a national characteristic. While in recent years, cheap air travel and increased mobility has led us aboard for our sun, sea and sand, there remains a certain nostalgia for the traditional British seaside holiday.
When climate change means it can now be warmer in Brighton than Barbados, and politicians and the green lobby are urging us all to fly less, more people are ditching the nostalgia for reality, and rediscovering the beauty of the British coast.
So much so that coastal property is becoming seriously desirable. Here, we take a look at some of the most popular areas, and where can you find a holiday home that’s near the hotspots, but won’t break the bank.
Wales
The North Wales coast has been a popular destination for those eschewing the southwest for a while now. Abersoch, on the Lleyn Peninsula, for example, has something of a cult following amongst the surfers, sailors and music lovers who flock there every summer, driving house prices up to about £850,000 to £900,000 for a four-bedroom house.
West Wales- particularly Pembrokeshire - however, is still largely undiscovered except by a small local few. The Pembrokeshire National Park means that much of this area is protected from development, the beaches are long, open and great for surfing, and it’s fairly easy to get to - there is a direct train service to Pembroke which takes about three and a half hours.
“St Davids, right at the tip of Pembrokeshire, is the Rock of West Wales,” says Anthony Clay, from Knight Frank’s Hereford office. “It’s quaint, pretty, not spoilt by development and it doesn’t have lots of public school boys being sick.”
Clay also recommends the Castle Martin area, beyond Tenby as being a beautiful place for a summer holiday. The army ranges in the area means there are “huge swathes of undeveloped and untouched land” that, when the ranges are open to the public, provide gorgeous walks. “It is a honeypot,” admits Joanne Owen, of Owen & Owen, “but it’s hugely underrated. You can still get away from it down here.” Prices in the area start at around £350,000 to £375,000 for a two-bed.
A little further southeast the developers Thornsett Group are following the massive financial development of the Milford Haven area with a new scheme at North Quay, opposite the medieval Pembroke Castle. Prices start at £170,000 for a one-bed apartment.