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From the
https://www.kentlive.news By Brittany Tijou-Smith, 2 August 2020.
Shipbourne: What life is like in Kent's most expensive village.
The average property in Shipbourne is over £800,000.
In the rolling hills of the Kent Downs lies the quiet village of
Shipbourne.
This unsuspecting little place is home to 470, according to the 2011
consensus, and is one of the county's most exclusive locations to live.
With just a 15-minute drive to Tonbridge, the change of scene is
refreshing with the roadworks and noise being replaced with long-grassed
fields and chirping birds.
So, it is no surprise that the average home in this area can sell on the
market for an average of £846, 098, according to Savills' analysis of
Land Registry data - the highest of any village in Kent.
We went to speak with Shipbourne locals to shed light on what life is
really like in Kent's most expensive village.
Duke Chidgey is the landlord at The Chaser Inn and he believes the area
provides a great atmosphere for locals to get to know each other.
The landlord of The Chaser Inn, Duke Chidgey, has worked and lived in
the village for the last three-and-a-half years.
The 31-year-old described the Shipbourne as "a nice place with nice
people" but didn't view the area as exclusive.
He said: "It's lovely, I've been offered other jobs within this group at
other pubs but I have landed on my feet here.
"It's not a cheap place to live and I got a good deal.
"We have people come here for special occasions, we do have a local
community and we really tapped into that when we done the takeaway
coffees during lockdown so I got to know a lot of my neighbours more
than I did beforehand but yeah it's a lovely place.
"I didn't realise it was the most expensive village in Kent - but yeah
it's lovely, it's a pleasure being here."
In his role, Duke has been able to get to know locals from the
surrounding areas and said it was a place that people would buy a house
and settle down in.
"You never see [any houses] for sale to be honest. There's a group of
older chaps that come in here, you know for the lockdown coffees and
they were having a drink outside - well into their 70s and 80s and
they've lived in Shipbourne all their lives.
"One was talking about when he lived the other side of the green and now
he lives up the road.
"I guess that tells the story, doesn't it.
"It's going to take me a while to buy one of my own but yeah it's
amazing.
"It works in my favour because we get very nice customers and obviously
cyclists and walkers - it's beautiful. We've got Ightham Mote just down
the road, you've got it all around you."
He said that during lockdown locals had made the most of the opposite
the pub but the sleepy village life is relaxing and comfortable.
"The busiest time we were was when the restrictions got eased up, I
never in all my time here on the busiest Mother's Day, Christmases, I've
never seen the green as busy I think people took that as an untapped
area and then everyone jumped on it.
"We also have the Farmers Market every Thursday in one pub and that's it
so we do very well out of it.
Allan Chapman has lived in Shipbourne for 18 years and says it is calm
but the lack of transport can pose an issue for some people.
"I've only ever lived in one other place but this is a more relaxed
place to live - there's simply a lot more space and it's a lot quieter
and in the village, you get to know everybody.
"The pub is not particularly a hub for the village because its a very
popular restaurant and so it's busy all the time with people, presumably
from Tonbridge and all around so it's very, very busy but it's not
necessarily people from the village that are in there." |
