Could You Live on the Wilds of Dartmoor?

Home , Haytor, Sheepstor

Source: The Daily Telegraph {Property} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 19, October 2019 Page: 8,9 Area: 1886 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 310586 Daily Ad data: page rate £46,000.00, scc rate £214.00 Phone: 020 7931 2000 Keyword: Stacks Property Search

WEST COUNTRY Could you live on the wilds of Dartmoor?

Famed for its remote beauty, life on the moor is not as harsh as it once was. For starters, there’s Waitrose delivery, writes Graham Norwood Abbi and Dave Openshaw to Prince- ake a 30-minute drive town a decade ago, when they moved from busy Exeter, and from the Cornish town of Launceston. you will find yourself This village – it’s not officially a town, on Dartmoor, one of despite its name – sits 1,430 feet above T England’s most iso- sea level. It is the highest settlement lated areas. The statis- on Dartmoor and as such is exposed tics tell part of the to more extreme weather than the rest story: Dartmoor Na- of the national park. It is also home to tional Park covers 368 square miles, of the iconic and forbidding prison that which 90 per cent is farmland, much of was the inspiration for that hound it wild pasture. Most of the 33,000 resi- imagined by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. dents live in a handful of towns – Tavis- “People think it’s out in the sticks tock, Ashburton, Okehampton, and the poor public transport is a dis- Chagford and Moretonhampstead – advantage for residents and tourists. meaning the vast bulk of the moor is We get some extreme weather, but empty, the closest you get to wilder- only once or twice a year. However ness in England. everything else about it is wonderful,” But to get a real feel for the place, explains Dave, who with his partner you need to visit the abandoned medi- runs the Fox Tor Cafe, which has eval village of Hound Tor, the cascad- become a focal point for the Prince- ing waters of Venford Falls hidden in town community and tourists alike. dense woodland, the amazing granite “There’s no fencing on Dartmoor, ani- stack called Bowerman’s Nose or the mals wander into the road and the stark lakes and quarries of Haytor. Go landscape is amazing. There’s a feeling there by night, on a foggy day or when of space that would be hard to find any- snow falls, and the landscape is more where else. Cycling is wonderful and bare and beautiful – and the mythical you can really be yourself.” Hound of the Baskervilles seems Their business combines a café with uncomfort ably possible. a bike hire service and a 12-person So what attracts someone to live in bunkhouse, a place where you can such a remote, wild area? The answer, bring your own bedding and sleep for it seems, is the collective sense of as little as £13.25 a night. This friendly community and kinship, accompanied combo is a microcosm of what life is by a feeling of space and freedom. like in a tightly knit community that, Those were the qualities that drew because of the weather and location, sometimes has to be self-sufficient.

Reproduced by Gorkana under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 1 of 7 468580484 - System - A25564-1 - 153963138 Source: The Daily Telegraph {Property} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 19, October 2019 Page: 8,9 Area: 1886 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 310586 Daily Ad data: page rate £46,000.00, scc rate £214.00 Phone: 020 7931 2000 Keyword: Stacks Property Search

“We’ve got our WhatsApp and Face- book groups and there’s a big commu- ing. It’s a wonderful sense of privacy moor, the place is not without a few nal spirit,” he adds. “People help each and freedom,” says Griffin. 21st-century conveniences. “One of the other out, give someone a lift if they “I’ve got interest in Dartmoor from most common questions I’m asked by need it, work out things together.” Londoners, people from Kent and prospective buyers is whether the It’s not a lifestyle that everyone as- Europeans too,” says Jennie Peterson of house they want is within a Waitrose pires to but it makes for a near-unique Garrington Property Finders, another delivery zone,” says Katie Griffin. housing market. “The eastern side of buying agency. “Older buyers want “Thankfully, many of them are – Wait- the moor is only 30 minutes from the walking, while younger ones want a rose helps many a Dartmoor property M5 and Exeter Airport, but feels very home closer to Exeter where there are deal get sealed.” remote as soon as you get off the main good private schools.” roads,” explains Christy Bartlett of There’s plenty of variety to satisfy Stacks Property Search, a buying even the pickiest of purchasers. Dart- ‘We get agency. “Remote property in very rural moor has farmsteads, typically consist- areas is prime. The value comes from ing of a farmhouse with 20 to 100 acres some the knowledge that nothing is going to plus outbuildings; there are classic change or be built on.” The western Devon longhouses, made of cob and extreme side, by contrast, has a less exclusive often split into a main property and one weather, feel with villages such as Yelverton and or two holiday cottages to let out. There Horrabridge. are light and airy barn conversions but Dartmoor, like all national parks, has with open plan ground floors and, everything a rigid planning system that staves off occasionally, a galleried first floor; most development, but a new plan un- more rarely, there are striking contem- else der consideration could see some addi- porary houses typically built on the site tional homes being built on the fringes of former bungalows. about it is of existing towns and larger villages. Prices have struggled in recent wonderful’ Numbers are small and the timescale years. Zoopla reports that values in for construction runs up to 2036. With many Dartmoor towns are around five an insistence on a high proportion of per cent less than a year ago and only affordable properties and a rigid ver- 10 per cent more now than in 2013. nacular style, many believe these pro- Even so, whatever type of property posed homes are unlikely to be built you choose may be more expensive anyway. than you think: Knight Frank reports As for buyers of the predominantly that you’ll pay a premium of 16.4 per period homes in the area, Katie Griffin cent to buy within the national park, – a Dartmoor resident and proprietor of compared to the area three miles Sawdye & Harris estate agency in Ash- outside it. This is the fifth-highest uplift burton – says that most fall into two of all national parks. categories. “Some are in their 60s, have A four-bedroom modernised farm- worked hard and now want the home house with perhaps 10 acres of land on they always promised themselves. Or the edge of sought-after Chagford, they’re younger couples with a family Lustleigh or Moretonhampstead (all who want to bring their children up pretty, with good facilities and rela- with space and fresh air.” tively easy to reach from Exeter) will Either way, acreage is important. set you back over £1 million. A family “That’s because people who buy on period house with an acre or so of land Dartmoor don’t just want a house but up at more solitary Princetown will also a lifestyle that means being out- cost you £400,000 or less. side, having ponies or ducks or quad There are some signs, of course, that bikes. That means land is a must and the remoteness that was once the hall- people are happy to pay for it.” mark of Dartmoor life is a little less Although many purchasers want to harsh than before. be within a 10 minute drive of towns or Locals say recent winters have pro- larger villages, a must-have for many is duced snow, but not in the volumes the ability to live life without drawing that used to cut off villages for days on their curtains. “In other words, no one end in past decades, and a project is else is living close enough to have any under way to bring superfast broad- idea if you’re home or what you’re do- band to around 5,000 hard-to-reach dfl f properties in the near future. And while there’s no Deliveroo on Dart- th l i t ith t f

Reproduced by Gorkana under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 2 of 7 468580484 - System - A25564-1 - 153963138 Source: The Daily Telegraph {Property} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 19, October 2019 Page: 8,9 Area: 1886 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 310586 Daily Ad data: page rate £46,000.00, scc rate £214.00 Phone: 020 7931 2000 Keyword: Stacks Property Search

FOR SALE Pick of the properties in the national park

HOLNE Stoke Shallows sits in 27 acres of land with a lovely garden. The main house has four bedrooms, though it needs updating.

Guide Price: £1.375 million Agent: Savills (01548 800462; savills.com) CHAGFORD Woodtown has amazing views towards Castle Drogo. The five-bedroom house comes with an annexe and a pool.

Guide Price: £2.5 million Agent: Knight Frank (01392 848842; knightfrank.com) THROWLEIGH Summerhayes is located at the north of the national park. It has six bedrooms and direct access to moorland.

Guide Price: £1.05 million Agent: Knight Frank (01392 848842; knightfrank.com)

Reproduced by Gorkana under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 3 of 7 468580484 - System - A25564-1 - 153963138 Source: The Daily Telegraph {Property} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 19, October 2019 Page: 8,9 Area: 1886 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 310586 Daily Ad data: page rate £46,000.00, scc rate £214.00 Phone: 020 7931 2000 Keyword: Stacks Property Search

o THE MOOR r THE s MERRIER g Dartmoor ponies, e top; Dave y Openshaw with the staff of Fox Tor y Cafe, below

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LIVING THE HIGH LIFE Yellands Farm with 26 acres of land, left and below, £1.2 million with Strutt & Parker

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Reproduced by Gorkana under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 6 of 7 468580484 - System - A25564-1 - 153963138 Source: The Daily Telegraph {Property} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 19, October 2019 Page: 8,9 Area: 1886 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 310586 Daily Ad data: page rate £46,000.00, scc rate £214.00 Phone: 020 7931 2000 Keyword: Stacks Property Search

LAKESIDE LUXURY Burrator House in Sheepstor, DART CHARLOTTE IMAGES; GETTY THE TELEGRAPH; FOR JOHN LAWRENCE main, £1.75 million including holiday lets, Jackson-Stops