On this day in Wembury — 10 May 1974
The Marylebone Mercury, a London-based local newspaper, carried a classified advertisement promoting Thorn Lodge, Wembury, described as “self-catering accommodation in a secluded cottage near the River Yealm, convenient for Plymouth.” The listing was one of many Devon holiday lets targeting urban readers from London and the Home Counties who were beginning to discover the South Hams as a peaceful escape from city life.
The Marylebone Mercury was not a West Country paper but a London weekly aimed at middle-class professionals — precisely the audience most likely to book self-catering holidays in the 1970s. Its property and holiday pages often featured rural retreats, manor cottages, and smallholdings from across Britain. By advertising in such papers, Wembury property owners could reach well-off Londoners who might not see local Devon papers like the Western Morning News.
As for Thorn Lodge, it stood on the Wembury side of the River Yealm, close to the old Thorn estate, one of the most picturesque corners of the parish. The site had long associations with genteel leisure — from Victorian visitors taking tea on the cliffs to interwar artists sketching the estuary. By the 1970s, it had become part of the emerging self-catering holiday market, offering privacy, scenery, and a touch of rustic charm for those wanting something quieter than a hotel or holiday camp.
This small advert thus reflects a broader shift in Wembury’s identity — from working coastal village to coveted rural getaway — as the South Hams began to redefine itself as one of Britain’s most desirable corners of the West Country.
(Marylebone Mercury, 10 May 1974)