Jeremy Vine has been making regular trips to one beloved coastal retreat for more than two decades. It even featured it in his book series, Sidmouth Murder Mysteries.
In his debut whodunnit novel, Murder On Line One, one seaside stretch along the English Channel takes centre stage: Sidmouth in Devon, where a “massive wave” sweeps a couple of his characters out to sea. In a piece for The Guardian last year, the 61-year-old BBC Radio 2 presenter shared what first drew him to the Devonshire town. On the cusp of marrying his then fiancée, Rachel Schofield, Jeremy first came to Sidmouth to pay a visit to his future in-laws.
Having tied the knot at the church of St John the Evangelist in Tipton St John, Devon, the newlyweds began returning to Sidmouth every summer.
“Over the years we came down summer after summer, Christmas after Christmas, for R&R in the muddy Devon air,” he shared.
Before long, the couple’s two daughters, Martha and Anne, were joining the family’s annual seaside escapes. “It became their go-to bucket-and-spade location,” he said about the seaside town.
Nestled along Devon’s stunning Jurassic Coast, Jeremy was keen to share what makes Sidmouth so special to him.
“It feels like a town going places,” he noted. “It’s chintzy in places, drab in others, but it feels real; and real by the sea is a different kind of beauty.”
Recently awarded an “excellent bathing water quality” rating by the Environment Agency, both residents and holidaymakers can look forward to a refreshing swim in its waters.
While “it’s not a classic sandy beach”, Jeremy painted a vivid picture: “[There’s] a single triangle of brown sand [that] is revealed at low tide, and that’s your lot.”
He went on to say: “But you feel you’re facing proper sea, with heavy weather triggering waves that crash against rocks by the promenade.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
