I probably shouldn't but I had to laugh at this letter penned to The Telegraph:
Published: 12:01AM BST 04 Jul 2009
SIR – I have just returned utterly exhausted from a much-needed family holiday in Salcombe. The apartment was beautiful, the view idyllic and, during daylight hours, our neighbours were pleasant and friendly – everything a quintessential Devonshire holiday town is renowned for.
However, each night not one of us was able to get to sleep before 2am owing to anti-social and drunken behaviour by people in the town. I am well aware that binge drinking is a problem in Britain. However, I always felt this was an unfair generalisation and associated it with busy towns and cities, where clubs and pubs are prevalent – not a family-oriented holiday destination with a fairly expensive price tag.
Fortunately, we had only booked a long weekend otherwise we would have had to curtail our holiday after an extraordinarily awful final night which involved shouting, swearing, fighting and the setting off of bangers into the early hours.
My narrow-minded view on anti-social behaviour has sadly been broadened; it cuts across all levels of society.
Anna Taylor
Martin, Hampshire
OK Salcombe can get a bit rowdy at times during the warmer months or around Christmas but it is generally good natured and raucous as opposed to aggressive and anti-social.
Maybe this lady was unlucky and she caught Salcombe when the rugby club were out on a social or there were old Salcombe summer chaps having a reunion?? There are pubs in town and people drink so the noise is bound to be quite loud come chucking out time at the weekend, if you want complete peace stay in East P or up the hill and not in the centre of town, surely that's obvious?
Good job she didn't know Salcombe back in the late 80's early 90's when it was a real party town during the summer months! She would have been scurrying back to Hants quick smart with her pearl necklace and Burberry luggage thrown in the back of the Range Rover. Whatever next? People having fun! How awful...
Saturday 4 July 2009
Salcombe Binge Drinking Capital...of errr Salcombe?
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10 comments:
No one enjoys the antics of binge drinkers, no matter what their origin.Boozed up rugby playing yobs are no better than the summer underage Hoorays. Perhaps the pubs should take more responsibilty in serving these idiots who ruin everyones pleasure, not just think about profit as their customers get pi....? Anti social behaviour should be stamped on immediately by the police.Bring back the birch. I sympathise with this lady - why should her holiday be ruined by a thoughtless minority? As a Salcombe property owner trying to attract visitors this sort of publicity does us no favours.
People having fun! One persons fun is other peoples pain in the arse?!
I don't live in Salcombe but I do take a holiday in the town once-a-year and nearly always in August.But I have to admit in 20 years I don't recall seeing or hearing truly excessive loutish drunken behaviour. Yep, there are the over exhuberent rich kids who sometimes can't handle their cider, and they often give the imppression they own the bloody place when they're in town, but all-in-all, the 10 pints pee up-the-wall brigade I haven't seen. But there again I don't need reminding that I dont witness the other 351 days of the year I'm not there !!
....The pee on the wall brigade live in Kingsbridge!!!!!!!
......A town where the council allowed large amounts of cheap affordable housing estates..........
uh oh, I see a pattern forming of an insubordinate inadequate council
I think Anna Taylor from Hamshire needs to remember that she was young once and if she is going to grow old grumpy then Salcombe is not the place for her.
Ah - I missed this blog.... here is the letter that I put to the Telegraph in reponse AND they published it!! Not quite in it's entirety but almost!
''I write in response to the letter 4th July – ‘Salcombe - a resort ruined by binge drinkers’. As landlords of one of the public houses in Salcombe, we were saddened to read that Ms Taylor's holiday was spoilt by 'anti-social and drunken behaviour in the town'.
We along with other landlords work hard to ensure that customers are served alcohol within the guidelines of responsible drinking, and that opening hours are reasonable - with the bars in Salcombe closing most weekends no later than midnight. It is pertinent to add at this point that much of the anti social behaviour Ms Taylor may have experienced would have come predominantly from visitors on holiday in Salcombe, as is witnessed sadly in Newquay recently with young people with money in their pocket and a new found freedom when on holiday.
We have lived in Salcombe for nine months now and the only fireworks (bangers) we have heard are during the holiday periods when one would expect to hear them - and even then, as en ex 'Big City' girl they are miniscule compared to my own City experience. There is no escaping that young people can (and do) purchase alcohol relatively cheap at supermarkets and frequently do this before entering into the land of public houses for a night out. There will always be some noise and high spirits from pubs emptying at closing time, and it is also a fact that as responsible as we are as landlords we are not responsible for behaviour away from our premises.''
Liz
Liz
I'm the respondant on this page posted 16 July at 08.48. I Don't know which pub in Salcombe you run, but I'm in town for what me and my family and friends are hoping is 9 anti-social free days from 07 Aug, so look out for a 40 something guy with a yellow Lab dog with him, that'l be me.
How utterly sad that once again the old gits on FB are bemoaning this time the Chelsea set, and I wonder do they include Cheska Hull? They should get out more, look at other towns where youngsters binge drink. Its not unique to Salcombe. I'd like them to tell me how the town proposes to survive if they rid the place of visitors? Miserable beggars, bigotted and short sighted.
I feel i have to respond to anonymous for his post starting the pee on the wall brigade the inference that people living in affordable housing are somehow the sole perpetrators of rowdiness it needs pointing out that by strange coincidence unsocial behaviour and petty crime plus vandalism is always more prevalent when the hooray henrys are here staying in mummy and daddies houses and while decent visitors are welcome his/her sort of bigoted scum are not wanted or welcome down here
Seems to me the bigoted Salcombe residents are blind to the wider world. The shops and pubs would be closed within a very short time without the visitors.
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