Ringmore and Shaldon have origins as a permanent settlement for over  five hundred years and Teignmouth across the estuary for a thousand years. There is evidence based on church relics that a church existed in Saxon or early Norman times.

Shaldon was first mentioned in the reign of James 1^st in the early 1600’s when it was mentioned in the Chancery proceedings. It would appear that Shaldon (then in the Manor of Ringmore, a much older settlement) were party of a Saxon Estate owned by a Saxon Thane called Britric Meau and after the Norman Conquest by the Sheriff of Devon, a certain Mr Baldwin!

Ownership or control seems to have been passed from family to family over several generations with Stephen, The Lord of Haccombe and then the Carews of Haccombe, until 1671 it was sold to Lord Clifford of Chudleigh. In 1741 this family created a map of the Shaldon area including fields and houses. As years passed the country became more formally divided between Shires, Hundreds and Parishes. 

The following is summarized and extracted from “White’s Devonshire Directory” in 1850. Ringmore was part of the “Wonford Hundred” (a subset of the shires), but a hamlet of the Manor of Combeinteignhead and this area had 425 people living there (souls) and over 2000 acres of land.

Also within this catchment area were of Netherton, Haccombe and Rocombe hamlets. Part of Ringmore was, at this time also part of “St. Nicolas Parish” which also included its better known neighbour, Shaldon, but Ringmore also had acreage in the Parish of Stokeinteignhead. This Manor was owned or held by the Earls of Bath (the Bourchiers) but was sold in the 1820’s to a number of purchasers and split into Estates. This resulted in a more diverse arrangement of community activities and a restructuring of the areas as the years progressed.

Access to Ringmore is primarily from three directions, from Torquay along the coast road, from Combeinteignhead (Newton Abbot Direction) and Teignmouth across the Teignmouth and Shaldon Bridge, which is where all roads end up!

The bridge was constructed in 1827 of wood and iron and had a swing bridge and was one of the longest bridges in the country (1,671ft). The wood was however replaced shortly after in 1838-40 and again replaced by steel and concrete in 1930-31 and is now Grade 11 listed. The bridge had an antiaircraft gun positioned on it in WW11. Ringmore now, as many hundreds of years ago has a limited number of properties, some with river frontage and is a 3-5 minute walk into Shaldon village. Some say Ringmore was a better location and first populated to avoid being seen from the mouth of the estuary and spotted by marauding pirates!

There is a well hidden holiday village further toward Newton Abbot with river frontage, called Devon Valley and is popular with people who love chalet and fixed caravan parks. The nearest pub is the Clifford Arms just inside Shaldon and close to the Post Office. In the opposite direction is Combe Cellars a large riverside pub, just outside Combeinteignhead or head further south inland to Stokeinteignhead at The Church House Inn.

The Ringmore area has some great walks, places to sit and relax an estuary location, it has good winter and summer fishing and Teignmouth & Shaldon are only minutes away.  The bigger towns and tourism centers of Torbay are only 15 minutes by car and 10 minutes by train from Teignmouth and Dartmoor 25 minutes.  Ringmore is a great location to stay and explore! LOOKING FOR SOMEWHERE FABULOUS TO STAY AND MAYBE DO A COOKERY CLASS?  THEN TRY THE RINGMORE GARDEN HOUSE

[

Ringmore and Shaldon have origins as a permanent settlement for over  five hundred years and Teignmouth across the estuary for a thousand years. There is evidence based on church relics that a church existed in Saxon or early Norman times.

Shaldon was first mentioned in the reign of James 1^stin the early 1600’s when it was mentioned in the Chancery proceedings. It would appear that Shaldon (then in the Manor of Ringmore) were party of a Saxon Estate owned by a Saxon Thane called Britric Meau and after the Norman Conquest by the Sheriff of Devon, a certain Mr Baldwin!

Ownership or control seems to have been passed from family to family over several generations with Stephen, The Lord of Haccombe and then the Carews of Haccombe, until I 1671 it was sold to Lord Clifford of Chudleigh. In 1741 this family created a map of the Shaldon area including fields and houses.

As years passed the country became more formally divided between Shires, Hundreds and Parishes. The following is summarized and extracted from “White’s Devonshire Directory” in 1850. Ringmore was part of the “Wonford Hundred” (a subset of the shires), but a hamlet of the Manor of Combeinteignhead and this area had 425 people living there (souls) and over 2000 acres of land. Also within this catchment area were of Netherton, Haccombe and Rocombe hamlets.

Part of Ringmore was, at this time also part of “St. Nicolas Parish” which also included its better known neighbour, Shaldon, but Ringmore also had acreage in the Parish of Stokeinteignhead. This Manor was owned or held by the Earls of Bath (the Bourchiers) but was sold in the 1820’s to a number of purchasers and split into Estates. This resulted in a more diverse arrangement of community activities and a restructuring of the areas as the years progressed.

Access to Teignmouth is primarily from three directions, from Torquay along the coast road, from Combeinteignhead (Newton Abbot Direction) and Teignmouth across the Teignmouth and Shaldon Bridge, which is where all roads end up!

The bridge was constructed in 1827 of wood and iron and had a swing bridge and was one of the longest bridges in the country (1,671ft). The wood was however replaced shortly after in 1838-40 and again replaced by steel and concrete in 1930-31 and is now Grade 11 listed. The bridge had an antiaircraft gun positioned on it in WW11. Ringmore now, as many hundreds of years ago has a limited number of properties, some with river frontage and is a 3-5 minute walk into Shaldon village.

Some say Ringmore was a better location and first populated to avoid being seen from the mouth of the estuary and spotted by marauding pirates!

There is a well hidden holiday village further toward Newton Abbot with river frontage, called Devon Valley and is popular with people who love chalet and fixed caravan parks.

The nearest pub is the Clifford Arms just inside Shaldon and close to the Post Office. In the opposite direction is Combe Cellars a large riverside pub, just outside Combeinteignhead or head further south inland to Stokeinteignhead at The Church House Inn.

The Ringmore area has some great walks, places to sit and relax an estuary location, it has good winter and summer fishing and Teignmouth & Shaldon are only minutes away.  The bigger towns and tourism centers of Torbay are only 15 minutes by car and 10 minutes by train from Teignmouth and Dartmoor 25 minutes.  Ringmore is a great location to stay and explore!

This can be one of the hardest choices you can make when considering renting your holiday home through an independent agency. There are a raft of questions that need answering and for very good reasons. As a home owner you may want to maximize your income and keep spend to a minimum. The two are not always mutually compatible.  

Many owners wonder why their properties do not book as well as their competitor’s and some of these points are covered in other pages on the site, but keep in mind that facilities, location, decor, date flexibility and price are all key to a successful rental. The market is flooded with properties and companies representing owners so consider carefully.

The following are some considerations you may like to address when choosing one of these companies (and Devon has a lot).

1. How many properties does the business currently market in your area?  Too many and you get diluted, too few and you may not be seen!

2. Does the company allow non-exclusive marketing? Many will try to tie you into an exclusive deal and restrict personal weeks and summer bookings.

If a company believes in itself and has good owner/visitor communication, then as an owners, why not spread the booking risk and then choose one, when they have proved themselves. The counter arguments are all about investment costs, marketing fees and administration costs. If they insist on exclusivity then why not insist on a guaranteed number of bookings and income! Agreements can also come with financial exit penalty clauses. These are not very pleasant, especially if they have not made any bookings for you.

3. Commission levels:  This is obviously key to your income and can range between 10% and 30%!!  The agreed amount will invariably depend on the property exclusivity, the potential income and your ability to negotiate!  If you have a good well presented and positioned property then it will book! Its will also become a desirable property for an agency. If your property rents at £28,000 per year and you are charged 25%, then that’s £21,000 before other expenses.

If on the other hand a comparable company charges 12.5% then you will make a further £3,500! You will need to address cleaning and management charges as well. Most rental companies will organize this for you as well, but check the fiscal relationships between the two.

The reason some companies charge a lot more is that they use the commission to pay for adverts online, rather than rely on reputation, brand and organic webs positions. Ask the company how well they are positioned locally for internet traffic and exposure!

4. Upfront and ongoing costs:There are often hidden costs here. Any property will need “professional” photography. This means people with a degree in photography, years of experience and the correct equipment and computer skills afterwards! The following are some of the costs that you may be billed for:

• Photography - This can costs hundreds of pounds. See if its offered for free!
• Set up fee to add your property to the system
• On going retainer fee for system maintenance
• Consultancy to advice on your how best to present your property
• Installation of key boxes
• Payment for inclusion in brochures
• Payment for writing content
• etc.

If you have a property that will rent well, then find a company that offers this all for free and you feel comfortable with. They will make money from bookings!

5. Discounts: You need to be very careful with discounts. It is quite common for visitors to negotiate and try to get discounts and as the market is so competitive, quite common for companies to offer blanket discounts with care and consideration.

To sign away a sizable discount in a contract can be financially quite damaging. For example: A booking of £1000 offered through a company that takes 25%, will bring you £750, before other expenses. If this is offered at £800 (20% discount) then you will receive 75% of £800 or £600. The agency drops its income by £50, you by £150.  They also need to spend less to get a booking.

If its a last minute booking or a shoulder period or you are keen to know the income for a pre-determined date then discounts work.

6. Booking Periods:  Once upon a time everybody booked Friday to Friday or Saturday to Saturday and these were fixed! This was convenient for cleaners and simple booking procedures. The world has moved on and short and late bookings are prolific and expected.  If your agent and management can do this and you are prepared to accept 3 day bookings, provided the bookings are carefully knitted together, then you can make more money, as you can charge a higher rate per night per stay! This means you get more guests, more money, more word of mouth stays and more repeat business!

7.  Online payment systems:  Many people who book holidays like to pay by credit card, especially in the UK and the USA. It gives some security and can be used to get loyalty points and as a loan for the holiday. Many companies have “Card Present” terminals, but not true online booking facilities. Some use PayPal professional (which many people and owners don’t like) some take cheques (still) and some use Google checkout. The agencies that can take all of these and the full card compliment including Amex, will see more actual bookings!

8. High Street Shops:  This may sound an odd one, but 90%+ of bookings are made before arrival and online. Footfall past a shop is unlikely to generate many extras bookings. Their costs however escalate and commissions may follow.

9. Technology: This is a really understated element of the business and growing daily. Technology is driving the business from a marketing perspective. Channel feeds to sub-agents, multiple websites to attract various demographics, multi-language, social networking on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr etc, owners own generated websites, mobile apps and more all form part of the marketing mix. Ask your agent what they do!

10 Large Conglomerates: This industry has now attracted corporations who have acquired a lot of smaller business, cut out costs and diluted the personal touches. You need to ask the questions as many home owners are now very disillusioned with their new large agencies and have seen a serious drop off in business.

Luxury is a very subjective word and well worth looking at closely!  

Applying it to your own particular property means that you, or an authority on these things, consider it to be  elevated above other holiday homes in the area.

Having a quick look at dictionary definitions exposes certain rather definitive needs for it to be called Luxury: ” “A state of great comfort or elegance, especially when involving great expense” Origin: Middle English (denoting lechery): from Old French luxurie, luxure, from Latin luxuria, from luxus ’excess’. The earliest current sense dates from the mid 17th century So we can come to the conclusion that being in the luxury bracket involves “Great Expense” associated with “Great Comfort or Elegance”.

Both are intrinsically synonymous with the word of course, but all these words are again subjective. For example if you took a poor refugee from a third world country and gave him a tenement flat in one of the worse parts of the UK he would think he was in luxury!

However if you took a multi-billionaire, such as some of the Russian Oligarchs and put them in some of our Devon luxury properties, they probably wouldn’t see the luxury! The refugee however, after a while, when he observes the living conditions of others close by or in the newly discovered media, may also elevate his idea of luxury fairly quickly.

The media:  papers, the Internet and TV are all guilty of highlighting the very wealthy and exposing their lifestyles to the common man and woman. This has led to a much higher perception of what luxury is and it is now different by larger degrees to many people who holiday in rentals and hotels.

We would love to give some examples of what is being promoted as luxury in Devon, but I fear some potential complaints, again due to the subjectivity of the word. So I have added a few pictures and descriptions of non-Devon luxury holiday homes that probably fit the average “luxury” term bill. You will of course now need to assume this is my idea of luxury! or maybe a bedroom So how do we analyse how we use the word luxury. The search engines are awash with the term and yet every time you land on a page the results are always much the same!

So the search engines can’t tell the difference when it relates to images or content!  A shame as it may deter some marketing merchants and let the people who have invested reap the rewards!  

You have probably heard of the people who have gone the extra mile on buying, furnishing, decorating, personal touches and extra facilities and you know they are full all year! So what is the difference?

Location: We all know location counts for a lot and on many occasions is the discounting factor to luxury. But it doesn’t contribute to luxury in itself. You can still have tin shed with fab views.

Decor: Luxury for some people is highlighted by gold plating normal objects! This is an expression of wealth, not luxury or taste. It does tend to come with largess, space and lots of facilities however. Places of sumptuous luxury have had a lot of thought gone into the decor to give it a warmth, a feeling of reserved opulence.

There are many experts and probably Zen masters in this field who bill large sums for their expertise. Many people do it all themselves, but they carefully consider the use of the home and know what the population at large require! Not necessarily what they like or would be happy with!  How many people have more beautiful and elegant holiday rentals than their own homes.

Furniture: Some people consider paying more than £300 for a King size mattress excessive! Its King size, so its half way there, but one of the most important elements of a stay is a good nights sleep.  Investing in real quality in this area is very important! The same goes for sofa’s chairs, coffee tables and all furniture. Quality is obvious, the feeling of being in an expensive environment stays with you and is a memory you are likely to recollect and talk about. Do not cut corners!

Linens: We recently were shown a holiday home that only used the finest Egyptian silks and cottons. This was only part of the equation of course, but the materials, the referrals and the bookings! Quality always shows through and it lasts longer! Don’t penny pinch on things that touch the skin!

Facilities: These can be very expensive, but we know of businesses that have been close to collapse even though their neighbors are successful. The reason, the neighbors invested in a pool and spa.  In an area of low traffic, only one business was going to get the bookings! Facilities can be on  a smaller scale however. If your holiday home is suitable for children and the property next door is very similar and they have free Wi-Fi and a Play Station or  X-Box, who do you think will get the most bookings?

Heating & Lighting: Warmth and light are two of the natural human attractions going back to caveman days.  Beautiful radiators, heated towel rails, underfloor heating, sumptuous bathrooms with lashings of hot water. They are all necessary to give that luxury feel!

Flooring: Old carpets will certainly not be classed as luxury. A single stain can ruin the whole ambiance. Beautiful hard wood floors with rugs are a great alternative. However deep pile, good quality carpets in bedrooms elevate the feel of luxury!

Doors & Windows etc: How many times have stumbled across a beautiful, heavy wood door. Just a wonderful entrance door can elevate feeling of luxury. There is a lot more connected with adding art, local touches etc, but the luxurious feeling is only as strong as your client base and their expectations. Devon still has a broad spectrum of visitors with children, romantic breaks, sports visitors and the baby boom era now enjoying their retirement.

You only need to consider that many of these people live in great homes and their idea of luxury is something better than exists at home!  Therefore if you want to be in the “Devon luxury” market always go the extra mile, buy the best you can afford, be thoughtful. You will see higher bookings, those that don’t will see lower tariffs and as time moves on, less repeats and bookings in general.  

Discovery is an emotive word and used thousands of times in marketing of products, especially those related to travel and adventure.

The use of the word is both historic and modern, from the famous ship Discovery which was the smallest of three ships that resulted in the founding of Jamestown in the new Colony of Virginia in 1607, to the Space Shuttle Discovery. This spacecraft is one of the retired orbiters of the NASA Space Shuttle programs operational from  August 30, 1984, until  March 9, 2011, flying more missions than any other spacecraft.

Even more famous on our UK shores is the RSS Discovery which was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain.  Launched in 1901 the British National Antarctic Expedition was its first mission carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful journey to the Antarctic;  the Discovery Expedition.

Travel companies often refer to voyages of discovery on cruise ships and car manufacturers have adopted the word for four wheel, off road vehicles, such as the “Land Rover Discovery”.

There is even a discover credit card and various trademarked slogans or strap lines, such as “Discover the Difference”. Wikipedia has the word discovery defined as: “the act of detecting something new, or something “old” that had been unknown.

With reference to science and academic disciplines, discovery is the observation of new phenomena, new actions, or new events and providing new reasoning to explain the knowledge gathered through such observations with previously acquired knowledge from abstract thought and everyday experiences.”

If you search Google for the word “Discovery” you will find a plethora of businesses, projects, charities and more which engage the word and make it part of their brand. The Discovery Channel is one of these. The following is a list of others you will find quite quickly.

• discovery.ac.uk:  a metadata ecosystem
• discovery.co.za:  a financial services provider
• discovery.org:  a public policy think tank
• discovery-project.eu: Philosophy in the digital world
• city-discovery.com: sightseeing tours and attractions
• discoverytravelnetwork.com: Geo-Portals for Tourism
• discoveryuk.com: A travel agent
• discovery-paper.com: economy vs ecology
• discoveryeducation.com: Educational website
• discoveryfoods.co.uk  Well known brand of foods.
• discoverdiscovery.co.uk: Science for all ages
• discoveryyachts.com: yacht designers
• discoverycove.com: snorkeling in Florida
• discovermagazine.com: Technology news and science articles
• discoveringantarctica.org.uk: Antartica educational site
• discoveryfilmfestival.org.uk: Film Festival info

 http://www.discoveryholidayhomes.com