Torridge fears 'catastrophic' impact of new national lockdown

While the autumn gales have been battering the coastline for a few days, the Atlantic storms are something the people in North Devon have come to accept and even welcome.

But on Friday as storm clouds loomed on the horizon in the shape of a national lockdown, people in Torridge, the area with the lowest rate of Covid in England, were dreading new restrictions.

With a weekly case rate of about 30 per 100,000, Torridge, which includes the seaside resorts of Westward Ho! and Appledore as well as the historic port town of Bideford, the area is a far cry from Covid hotspot areas in the north west and Midlands.

But many will now feel that the Government has now used the sledgehammer to crack a nut technique to deal with the virus and left Torridge to deal with the “catastrophic” consequences of a national lockdown.

Despite being a magnet for holidaymakers from the Midlands and beyond, Torridge has avoided the worst of the pandemic primarily because of its rural nature - of its near 1,000 sq km, the district is classified as 95 per cent green space. Which means that there’s plenty of space to self distance and subsequently the numbers of Covid cases have been kept low.

Even before the pandemic struck, Torridge was reeling from the loss of more than 120 jobs at one of its major employers, cosmetic company Swallowfield. And with tourism and the hospitality industry central to its economic well-being, the area has suffered from the economic impact of restrictions.

Businessman Rob Braddick, 48, is one of many who implored the government to turn away from a national lockdown.

As the fifth generation of his family to run a holiday resort in Westward Ho!, he's already had to transform his business since the pandemic began and another set of national restrictions will spell disaster for the 125 people he employs.

"It will be the same for hundreds of other businesses in the area," he said sitting in the Pier House pub overlooking a foam-flecked sea at the mouth of the Bristol Channel. The fact is that we don’t need a national lockdown because the economic impact will be greater than the health impact.

"We recently took the view that if we have guests coming from areas with high rates of Covid we have been ringing them to offer them a full refund or a holiday at the same time next year at this year’s prices.

“We've been proactive because we want to protect our guests, our workforce and our community and that has gone down well. Only a couple of people have disagreed but I can live with that."

His views are echoed at many places in Torridge with others claiming that the measures for the area should not be the same as those used in Manchester, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Shirley Seatherton, landlady of the White Hart pub in Bideford, has only just got back on her feet financially after the first lockdown. "I lost thousands of pounds when I had to throw away 32 barrels of beer in March.”

In Appledore, the village was given a reprieve this week when the closure-threatened shipyard was saved by Harland & Wolff, the company that built the RMS Titanic in Belfast.

But even that piece of good news is being overshadowed by a second lockdown. Peach Shaw, 53, a metalwork artist from Northam who helps to run the Appledore Crafts Company, is pessimistic about the village’s future. "We cannot simply pull up the drawbridge. Life has got to go on otherwise the whole country will grind to a halt and that won’t be good for anyone.”

It’s not just businesses which are viewing a second lockdown with fear and apprehension.

Assistant bar manager Pete Smale, aged 35, from Northam, is married with two young children and a mortgage to pay. He simply cannot afford to be put on furlough again if the worst comes to the worst.

“Like many people in the area, I’m reliant on people continuing to come to North Devon for holidays and breaks. If they stop coming I will probably have to be furloughed and that will cause me financial and emotional grief," he said.

“We have to remain open for the economic good of the area bearing in mind the incidence is so low.”

Mr Smale’s colleague, 21-year-old Sarah Prentice from South Molton, Devon, is adamant that more stringent measures aren’t needed.

“In Torridge a second lockdown is totally unwarranted," she said.  "I would feel so much more anxious this time around because of the time of the year.”

Despite fears about the economic and social impact of further restrictions, no one appeared to be opposed to further restrictions if cases started to rise.

“The health of the community comes first and if that means another lockdown then so be it,” said agricultural sales manager Neil Hayne, aged 63, from Bideford as he prepared to head out onto the links at Royal North Devon Golf Club.

“People’s lives are more important than businesses. You can rebuild a business you can’t bring back a loved one.”

Linda Pittman, 63, from Bideford, works at the Old Bridge Antique Shop on the quay in the historic port. As she puts it: "We’re not Manchester or Liverpool are we? Personally, I would dread another lockdown period and as far as I can see it’s not needed."

As the Covid clouds continue to build across the country, there are many in Torridge hoping that they will be able to find shelter in a safe haven and ride out the storm.