Gail Stubbs, whose family has run the Start Bay Inn, Torcross, since 1977, said the village had been battered by storms over the winter, adding the closure of the A379 had severely reduced passing trade from visitors travelling along the South West coast.
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“We’ve become a bit of a dead end, like a cul-de-sac,” she told The Morning Advertiser (MA).
“Visitors to Dartmouth and Torquay would have done that drive along the coast road, which is really iconic and really beautiful.
“Now they get to Strete Gate but they can’t get further along the Slapton Line to Torcross and all the businesses here. It’s affected trade massively.”
On Christmas Day last year, the pub lost power and seawater came through one of its extraction fans as staff scrambled to get the pub open for drinks at midday.
“January was just storm after storm and more and more damage was sustained by the village,” Stubbs told The MA.
She added the pub regularly has to monitor weather conditions and be prepared to act quickly.
Ongoing disruption
“We have to move all the furniture off the seafront, put up all the shutters and storm gates and decide when to evacuate, when to get the people who live in the pub out safely, when we think we might be able to open and when we have to close early because of the tide. It affects the business enormously,” she continued.
The pub has also previously been damaged by water entering around the chimneys as well as having to vacate two front rooms because of damp, a wall being knocked down near the car park and a large section of the patio being torn up.
Stubbs said the building can “shake quite violently” when the beach level is low, adding the situation had been particularly bad over the last two winters.
The impact of the storms and the ongoing disruption has continued to dampen trade throughout the year, as reflected in the pub’s year-on-year sales.
In February, food sales were down 20%, rising to 33% in March and April, 37% in May and 27% in June. July and August saw downturns of 16% and 11% respectively.
The storms have also affected the pub’s local customer base, with Stubbs stating many properties along the seafront remain building sites following the damage.
“There’s just not been the people living in the village to support the business either,” she said.
The family-run pub has responded by lowering staff levels and introducing new events, including live music.
“We’ll be tweaking our opening hours and lowering staff levels, which is a shame but necessary,” Stubbs continued.
Difficult winter
“If there’s less customers, there’s less people needed to serve them.”
She warned ongoing uncertainty over the road closure and future repairs continued to weigh on businesses ahead of another potentially challenging winter.
Coastal defence work is due to begin in October, but Stubbs said the months ahead remained a concern.
A bid has been submitted to the Department for Transport for the road to be repaired, although work is not expected to begin until 2028.
Despite the impact on her business, Stubbs said she understood why policymakers were reluctant to spend an estimated £20m on repairs to a road that could be damaged again in future storms.
Instead, she suggested a more practical interim solution could be a transport link, such as a tourist train or shuttle service, to help visitors travel between Torcross and Slapton while the long-term future of the route is determined.
“People should support us because the winter is going to be really difficult,” Stubbs continued.
“We need people to come and see us and all the businesses in the village along the A379.”
Summing up the past year, she added: “It’s been hellish.”
