Helston renowned for its flora day on the 8th May is in Panic.
The town is traditionally dressed in spring flowering plants from the local countryside. Lilley of the Valley, Bluebells and rich orange gorse make up the flowering plants with laurel as a backdrop.
Spring 2004 has created a few problems for the organisers of Flora day this year, why? Well many of the spring flowers are already over! The blue bells have flowered and yes, have almost all gone. The town is desperately trying to resolve this problem that has never occurred before.
Towns folk are blaming the very warm spring we are having at the moment, with summer time temperatures. This has caused the flora to become confused and peak to soon. Some locals are blaming global warming on this as there can be no other reason in their eyes.
I will report as to how this issue is solved and on the day its self when the time comes, but until then let me know if you have blue bells flowering near you – HELSTON might need you!
We will be making a revenue from third party advertisers and marketing schemes. We are also investing in flyers and magazine marketing in the Cornish region of our market place married together with our improved SEO we are now getting great results for search terms in the 3 main search engines.
Cottage holiday accommodation is our main stay of current available property but we will be hoping to broaden the base of our holiday accommodation, including more hotels, B&B, apartments, hostels and caravans.
The holiday season in Cornwall and Devon is almost upon us so I hope you are all ready to make the most of what promises to be a hot summer.
This holiday destination in West Cornwall should soon start to get busy with an influx of holiday makers heading towards the area for the Easter holiday season.
Only 2 months and the county will see tourists back on the streets. Having recently spoken to a shop owner in St Ives he stated that he will be delighted when the dust is blown from the tables of cafes closed out of season and the ice cream parlors open all day everyday, as this is when he can sigh in relief knowing that money will soon be back in the area.
Again I was lucky enough to speak with a couple of owners of Self catering cottages in the St Ives / Carbis Bay area. They are delighted that spring is on its way. After a good season last year and a busy Christmas period, the properties are now having the last finishing touches to ready them for the 2007 spring season. The smell of Gloss paint and furniture polish made the air heavy in one property I visited!!
All that is left now is the Lawns to be mown and the windows to have there last polish, then the roads to fill with eager tourists to Cornwall.
Last year was a good one for the area and people are hoping to build on its foundations.
Well according to according to the Channel 4 programme Britain’s Favorite Holiday, Devon and Cornwall is beating Spain and Greece as the top Holiday destination.
I have read that last year 6,300,000 people visited the two counties, almost 500,000 more than the second place destination. This trade bought Devon and Cornwall £2bn.
It seems that the beaches, cottages, hotels and quality bed and breakfast accommodation are not all people want. Memories are driving people to the region. Enjoying an ice cream thinking about the old times and revisiting the old haunts is the driving factor.
We need to keep this up know and cash in on this making Devon and Cornwall the top location for years to come.
This article is meant as a guide only. Advice should be taken from a qualified person.
Letting a fully furnished holiday home in the UK may mean the income made is treated differently than other rental income. Holiday lets are considered a business, where as other property letting income is classed as investment income.
The are some tax incentives for holiday lets, but your accommodation must comply with inland revenue rules, referred to as “QUALIFYING TESTS” which are:
* Based in the UK.
* Furnished rental accommodation.
* Available for holiday letting to the public for at least 140 days a year.
* Actually let as a holiday let for at least 70 days a year (and
these must be commercial lets, not at cheap rates to friends and
family).
* Your occupier cannot stay for more than 31 days in any 7 month period.
* Lets must be at the full market value. This means letting your
cottage to family for £2 a week will not count.
And holiday lets must be (both):
* Short term lets of not more than 31 days.
* The only lets over a period of at least seven months.
Your income from you holiday let is subject to income tax, but you can off-set expenses for example:
* Repairs and maintenance.
* Decorating.
* Heating & lighting.
* Legal and letting agent’s fees.
* Management fees and cleaning costs.
* Insurance.
* Mortgage interest payments.
If you make a loss, you can off-set this against your other income to reduce your tax bill. You can avoid paying capital gains tax on the sale of the property if you roll-over the income within 3 years to another holiday letting property.
There are other advantages, and as stated before, take professional advice before heading into holiday letting. There are many mortgages available for the buy to let market and spending some time with a well regarded mortgage advisor would be in your best interest
Visitdevonandcornwall.com is now able to offer free property marketing. We have added to our popular accommodation rental web, site a facility to market your home at no cost, on the internet.
With the rising cost of estate agents fees self-promotion of residential property is becoming the norm. The average house price in the UK is around 190,000, and a common estate agent fee is 2% of sale price which equates to £3,600 plus VAT at 17.5% totalling £4,230. By using our free service and other similar advertising on the web, as well as investing in some advertising in your local papers, you can sell your own home and save thousands.
Valuation
Search your local papers, and the internet to find similar homes to your own. Consider the location, condition, and other desirable factors of the comparable properties, and use this to value your own home. If you are honest with yourself, you probably have a better idea of the market value than anybody else. An estate agent will go through this same process and generally, when they visit they will talk about the possible value of your home, and judge your reactions to their comments, and use this feedback to find a price you are happy with without you knowing about it.
Details
Create, using your PC, a set of bright, clean, property details. Keep the information accurate and factual. Explain enough to get somebody interested. Use your camera to take bright colourful images of your home (a picture paints a thousand words), and lay the information out in a way that’s easy on the eye, a nice amount of white space on the page, so things are not crammed. Don’t forget to add your contact details.
Free Marketing
You then need to consider the likely purchaser, a family, a single professional?. Use this information to target your marketing; let’s consider a family. Visit local day care nurseries and ask to see if you can put a set of details on the notice board. The local shop that sells milk and nappies, you often have to make a small donation to add things to the for sale board but it’s usually a nominal amount. Find out if the local school produces a magazine, and see if you can add your property for a small charge, schools are often grateful for contributions towards the production cost. Use your imagination, there are lots of outlets for your property. Golf clubs, sailing clubs, village halls, the list is endless.
Papers
The free papers in your area are another source. Small lineage ads with images are very affordable and generally cost effective. Include brief accurate bullet points about your home, and clear contact details. Again don’t cram the advert, use the space available to you.
The Web
The internet has a whole range of solutions for you. We offer a free service for you to add your property. There are fantastic sites that charge a small set fee like thelittlehousecompany.co.uk who market your home online for a flat fee. Add the basics of your property to your email signature, you would be amazed of the results this can deliver. Surf the internet for blogs about house sales, and add something worthy but include your property, or a link a page where your property is being marketed.
Cost effective
Following this basic guide, and doing some research on the internet, you can create a very cost effective marketing package for your home, which will get results fast. Most importantly it will save you thousands.
Start today
You can start today by going to www.visitdevonandcornwall.com clicking on advertise, and following the simple online instructions. All it will cost is your own time but it’s a valuable investment.
Event in Stithians - Cornwall Volkswagen Owners Club.
Come to Stithians and meet owners, discus mods and ideas you hace for your VW! There will be a cruise around the cornish country side. There is live music every evening as well as food from a BBQ! Camping facilities with shower blocks and plenty of toilets.
There will be VW suppliers there selling parts and accessories to pip your BUG! as well as other traders. Its a family event so please all come along and enjoy the event.
More information below
http://www.cvwoc.co.uk/jamboree.html
It has become a very popular past time for the beach goers amongst us to want to hire equipment when we are at the beach. There is a massive trade in hiring out wet suits, surf boards, body boards and kayaks by beach traders. All the traders I have met offer a top class service and tuition before hiring and at the very provide recommendations on safe practice with the equipment. Sadly these companies are having to cover their arse, as if something goes wrong they will be liable in the eyes of many, it’s the society we are living in!!
Having spoken to many of them this weekend it seems that the hiring of sea kayaks may become a thing of the past due to a huge rise in insurance premiums for the hire of Kayaks. I spoke with one owner who stated that she had been to over 25 insures before she found a company who was affordable enough to be a viable proposition. She has had to increase the cost of her hire by 20% to cover the new costs.
I know that this isn’t the most important thing in the world, but I feel it’s a sad reflection of things to come and the fact that we are no longer able to decide for ourselves what is or is not safe to do!!
I would like to add, please check any equipment you hire for its functionality and integrity and ensure you have an understanding of what to do if things do go wrong – the sea is an unforgiving environment. Please take responsibility for yourselves!!
Morwellham Quay, the well-known tourist attraction in the Tamar
Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is set to become a key
gateway site to the newly inscribed Cornish & West Devon Mining
Landscape World Heritage Site.
The popular living-museum and Victorian village is due to undergo a
major facelift to restore tired areas of the site and enhance the
visitor experience, to ensure Morwellham Quay is ready to take its
place on the World stage – World Heritage Site status means the Tamar
Valley and West Devon are rated alongside places such as the Taj
Mahal, the Great Wall of China and the Grand Canyon.
Director of the Morwellham & Tamar Valley Trust, Anthony Power,
explains; ‘Visitors will soon see major changes being made to
Morwellham Quay, including improvements to the Great Dock, the latest
technological audio visual interpretation equipment, wildlife and
habitat enhancement including refurbishment of the hides at the
nature reserve, and much more.
‘We will be using the future to enable our visitors to explore the
past in a more interactive way than ever before. This is a very
exciting time for the whole of the Tamar Valley and I am looking
forward to Morwellham Quay being a major part of it.’
World Heritage Site status is great news for the Tamar Valley. While
direct financial benefit is not attached, it is highly likely to
assist funding bids in the future. The mining heritage of the Valley
has already attracted £11.5 million in recent years, through the 1999
Tamar Valley Regeneration Project and the two current major projects
– Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project (working on the Devon side of
the Valley, managed by Tamar Valley AONB & West Devon Borough
Council) and the East Cornwall Regeneration Project, led by Cornwall
County Council.
Tim Selman, Manager of the Tamar Valley AONB, explains; ‘It is
important that we use our heritage asset for enjoyment and
recreation, not only for visitors, but for the residents of the Tamar
Valley, too – it helps this very rural area, and acts as a driver for
the local economy.’
Tavistock looks set to benefit from World Heritage Site Inscription,
too. As the only town to be completely redesigned on mining money,
Tavistock will be a key service centre for the World Heritage Site.
The World Heritage Site, inscribed only two weeks ago, consists of 10
separate areas throughout Cornwall and West Devon, recognised as
having heritage and cultural importance on a global scale. The Tamar
Valley is different to the other nine areas due to its unique
character – the rich heritage of this special area is tucked away in
woodlands, rather than exposed on cliff tops, which has resulted in
the mine remains being very well preserved – isolated chimneys and
revegetated mine dumps scattered through this treasured landscape are
only part of the story.
The Valley also used waterpower, rather than steam, more than any
other area. Look out over the coming months for information on the
Tamar Valley’s heritage, as work begins to provide greater access,
physically and virtually, to this once thriving industry.
Membership to Morwellham Quay for a year is available at £15.00 for
an adult, £10.00 for child age 5-16 (under 5s free), £12.00 for
students and seniors, £40 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children,
allowing you to visit as many times as you like to check on progress
at this exciting time. Normal admission prices available on the
website www.morwellham-quay.co.uk
If you would like to be kept up-to-date with news and activities
throughout the Tamar Valley, please call 01579 351681 for your free
copy of The Valley newsletter, or email info@tamarvalley.org.uk