Most years we look for a UK house-swap of 2 -3 weeks or so. Any location really - good walking possibilities available locally would be an advantage. We are just posting our last child off to university in 2008 and from October are keen to do some extra swaps - anywhere, tempt us.
The house has a
rather special view from the living room, big windows all looking at the
river. The house sleeps eight people in five bedrooms with two
bathrooms.
Our garden is very nice to sit in because it has the river adjacent. The house faces east and south and is very sunny for most of the day. It is overshadowed by a hill to the west so we lose the sun at the end of the afternoon.
Things to do
It is two minutes walk from our house to the centre of Dartmouth which is full of interesting shops and restaurants. Devon is a very beautiful part of the UK and our area has a lot of tourist attractions and places to visit. There are swimming beaches a short drive away and excellent walks straight from the house. There are two National Trust properties within 2 hours walking distance of the house. It is quite possible to spend many active days without using a car at all. In these days of full roads this is a very nice option to have. For instance starting on foot from our house you can make a day trip out of the following:
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take a boat trip to Totnes which is a very pretty town and a lovely journey,
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walk upriver to a pub at a village called Dittisham catching a small ferry boat back,
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take our motor boat upriver for a fry up on a beach or a meal in a pub or cafe,
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walk around the coast to a nice pub called the Green Dragon for lunch,
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walk to Coleton Fishacre (National Trust) for lunch.
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walk to Greenway House (once home of Agatha Christie, also National Trust - but only the gardens are open as the house is being renovated) for lunch then return by a small ferry boat
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go on a guided tour of Britannia Royal Naval College
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catch a steam train to Paignton or to Goodrington beach and waterslides complex.
www.discoverdartmouth.com www.discoverdevon.com
In summer we keep a small motor boat on our mooring which you may use. We have a set of instructions for dealing with the boat which has photos of everything you need to do - quite a few people have used it without previous experience of boats. The boat is sometimes very messy thanks to the seagulls - so its not as easy as jumping into a car!!! We also have a laser sailing dinghy (if you have a dinghy sailor in the family you may be able to use it). We have some kayaks available for your use if you wish. Do note that all boats are used at your own risk. We have various wetsuits which can be used for swimming in the river from our garden (it is quite cold without a wetsuit but if it is really sunny you can swim without one). Jumping into the river off the walls from our garden is possible and good fun. There is always a hot bath not far away for warming up again.
The nearest boat is our motor boat
If you want to be entertained then a day or two on a course learning to dinghy sail is possible at Dittisham, or there are lots of yachting schools that will take you out to sea and teach you how to be a competent crew. There is golf, diving, a RIB school which teaches driving fast inflatable type speedboats. Fishing trips and accompanied kayaking are also possible. If you tell us what might interest you we can make enquiries locally.
Dartmouth has several minor attractions like a castle, a Victorian gun battery, a museum and a very large Newcomens Engine (these pre-date James Watts steam engines and were the first ever coal powered engines with pistons). There are five different ferries pedestrians can use and lots of short walks can be made up which make use of them. Fun for children staying here is fishing for crabs with a piece of meat on the end of a line which you can do from the garden or the town quayside. At low tide there is a stony beach to explore - you can turn over stones to find small fish and crabs hiding underneath.
By
car one can visit Dartmoor National Park (1hr), Torquay (45mins), Plymouth
(1hr) or Exeter (1 hr) and a host of visitor attractions.
Parking
Parking in Dartmouth close to this house is possible but not straightforward. At the top of the steps to our front door is a road with on street parking but there is a 2 hour time limit in the summer. This is fine if there is a space, if not there is a place where one can always park (and no time limit) about 10 minutes walk away. If we have shopping to unload we park at the top of our steps to unload it and then take the car off to where it can be parked longer term.
Our house is accessed by a flight of steps down from the road above. In total there are about 50 steps, (yes really) so when you arrive its a good idea not to bring large heavy suitcases, lots of small bags are easier to carry down. If you are worried about moving in we have once or twice arranged for a friendly teenager to help you with the carrying down. The only other way into the house is by boat. The house is best avoided if you have very small children who are not safe going up and down steps on their own - children aged 5 or over usually don't need help. The steps and parking are a nuisance but are a price worth paying. This is a really remarkable location, perhaps it is one of the most interesting houses on the house swap circuit.
Us
We are a family of four - Christine (47), Tim (46), Nicholas
(21) and
Matthew (18). Tim runs a small property development business from an
office within the house. The business builds houses and bungalows in North
Devon. Christine works part time
as a counsellor in a local doctors surgery. Tim also runs the local Canoe Club
and sometimes if someone there is ill he will help out teaching Maths at the Naval College. We have around 38 successful swaps behind us (we've actually lost count) spread over
20 years or so. If you want we can easily give you names of other people who have
come here so you can get an unbiased opinion of the property.
link to more page 2 with more photos
tel 01803 832663
timfreeman61@googlemail.com
Tim & Christine Freeman