From messing about on boats, to where serves the best posh fish and chips, here’s how to make the most of a staycation in the British Riviera hotspot.
What’s your favourite destination and why?
Salcombe in Devon. It was first introduced to me by my wife who used to holiday down there as a child. Before I’d been completely oblivious to it. She suggested it about 10 years ago, so we threw everything in the car and drove, and I fell in love with it instantly. Some people call it Chelsea on Sea, but when the weather is amazing down there it’s like the English Riviera. We try to go every year for a couple of weeks to recharge. It’s a place I feel so connected to. With the hectic life of an actor in London and everything else going on, I get there and I feel instantly more relaxed and chilled. It’s like a spiritual home for us.
Daniel Mays at a premiere in London
Dave Benett
When was the last time you went and who with?
My wife Lou[ise Burton] and our two kids, Milo, who is 19, and Dixie who has just turned 12. They’ve grown up going down there. We love how it has a very quaint village feel to it and the locals are incredibly welcoming. We’ve really got in with the boating community at Whitestrand Boat Hire. You can get a boat and go beach hopping up and down the estuary, which is what we love to do. Over time we’ve got a bit more adventurous and anchor the boat and go from North Sands to South Sands, over the other side to East Portlemouth.
Where’s your favourite place to stay?
We like to hire a cottage so it’s private and make day trips out to Kingsbridge on a boat.
What are the best places to eat?
The Winking Prawn
There are two places we really adore: The Winking Prawn, which is near North Sands Beach. We’re very friendly with the owners now and it’s just a lovely spot, marooned in a sort of small valley where the beach is. And over at East Portlemouth you can take the coastal walk around the peninsula, which takes you all the way to the rather zhuzhed-up restaurant at Gara Rock, which is a five-star spa retreat hotel. You can do about an hour’s walk and then go there for some really stand-out food.
The best meal you’ve had there?
Some prawn linguine or good old-fashioned fish and chips at Gara Rock.
What’s the one unmissable thing you recommend doing?
Going from pub to pub down the estuary on a boat. Just cruise down and tie the boat up and then go and have a pub lunch. My son and I have got really into it and got taught by an expert. We have licenses to manage a small vessel now. You can also go seal watching and be taken out to sea and all the way around the coast.
Is there a hidden gem you’re willing to share?
There’s a guy down there called Squirrel, go and find him and his boat Anglo Dawn to go out on a fishing trip. He’ll set up the rods for you. I’ve got this great picture of Milo who caught this really long eel and as we came back into the harbor — there’s a great pub called The Ferry Inn — and he held up the eel and the whole beer garden got up and gave him a massive clap.
Building you would love to live in?
There’s some jaw-dropping properties. The higher up in town the better. There’s one house which was designed by a pair of architects that was on This Morning and takes in views of the whole of Salcombe.
Where should you go to let your hair down?
The Ferry Inn
The Ferry Inn is good for youngsters!
Who would you call for a good time?
There’s a lot of celebs you can end up spotting in Salcombe. David Tennant goes down there with his wife Georgia. Patricia Hodge has a gaff down there. I’ve seen Anton Du Beke. And there’s a huge house over on the East Portlemouth side which is pink, and Liam Gallagher stayed there one year when we were there. I didn’t say hello, but I’ve met him in Highgate Woods. People love it for a bit of calm and feeling like you’ve gone back in time. The tranquility is hypnotic.
The one thing you should bring home as a souvenir?
I’ve got an amazing print which I’m looking at right now on my wall — it’s quite a famous photograph taken in the late afternoon and all the boats are moored up. To me it’s the quintessential English Riviera. I bought it from a framers in Salcombe.
Well the boating community will be out there in their jackets and moccasins, but I don’t really go in for all that!
Have you ever had an emergency incident there?
When we first went boating in the Salcombe Estuary I jumped in off the boat to anchor it — like a complete townie — and the water basically came all the way up to my waist. I’d forgotten that my mobile phone was in the pocket of my shorts. So that was it! I proceeded to put it in a box of rice, which of course didn’t work. Once I’d gotten over my tantrum (“There’s the irate Londoner who’s lost his phone!”) it was pretty beneficial to be without it! But now whenever I go beach hopping I always make sure that my mobile is in the top pocket of my jacket.
What’s your packing essential?
Your crab catching kit! You can buy bait from the local butcher. The kids used to love it.
What song reminds you of the place?
I’d have to say ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers.
As told to Hayley Spencer
