​ 'Tis the season to spread joy and love! We're excited to announce our upcoming Christmas events:
Toy Drop-Off: Starting on November 20th, Seachange is collecting NEW toys (suitable for 0-11 year-olds) to brighten local families' holidays. Please drop off unwrapped presents by Friday, December 8th.
Gift Wrapping Service: No more excuses for not being prepared for Christmas! Join us for our present wrapping service on December 1st, 8th, and 15th from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM.
Mulled Wine, Mince Pies, and Carols: Get into the festive spirit on Wednesday, December 13th, at 5:30 PM with mulled wine, mince pies, and heartwarming carols by the Harlequin Strummers.
Christmas Lunch with Launchpad: Join us for a delightful Christmas Lunch at 1 PM on December 22nd (Booking by the 15th of December is essential).
Festive Coffee Club: Warm up with our Festive Coffee Club, including soup and a roll from 11 AM to 2 PM (Booking by the 15th of December is essential).
For more information or to participate in these wonderful events, please don't hesitate to contact us. Let's make this Christmas season extra special!

From 22nd October 2023, Co-op Members can officially support Budleigh Information Centre as part of the Local Community Fund.

The funding period will run until next year, closing on 19 October 2024.

If you are a Co-op Member, you can select Budleigh Information Centre as your chosen community cause in your Co-op app.  Present your Co-op Membership card when making a purchase and every £1 spent will help raise funds for the us.  This includes purchases from Co-op stores and Funeralcare. 
​
Please click the button below for full details about our cause.

​Several of Budleigh’s Independent High Street shops have come together and
started their own collective called ‘Shop Budleigh’ to help drive more shoppers to
our seaside town.

The last three years has seen a wave of exciting new stores join the established
award-winning retailers on the High Street, bringing a renewed enthusiasm for
putting Budleigh on the retail map.

As we approach winter, they especially want to promote Budleigh to our local and surrounding residents. They hope by making our local population more aware of what they sell, why they are here, and why they need your support, that in turn their customers will see the value of having such a diverse and independent-led range of shops in their local vicinity.

In an age where high streets are ‘disappearing’, they want to buck the trend and
help ensure the survival of this long-standing and constantly evolving set of traders – and they need local business if they are to do this. In return they aim to deliver shoppers with outstanding service that surpasses that of the big online stores, while showcasing local makers, sustainable products, and meeting the needs of customers

Alan and Jennifer Tilbury celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary on 21st September 2023.  To celebrate the occasion, they held a get together with 90 of their friends and family in the Public Hall, Budleigh Salterton. 

When youngsters, Alan and Jenny were in the same class at St Peter’s primary school, and love blossomed in their teenage years when they joined the local Methodist Youth Club.  After marrying in 1963, they moved from Budleigh to Exmouth and then, due to Alan’s work commitments, moved away from Devon before returning to Exmouth 8 years later with their children.  Another 10 years on they returned to Budleigh Salterton, the place where they had grown up and first met. 

On returning to Devon in 1972, Alan opened a greengrocers on Budleigh High Street called Tilburys, which he ran until he retired in 2004.  Jen and Alan have both been active in various clubs and societies in Budleigh Salterton for many years, with Alan having been President of both the Budleigh Salterton Lions Club and Budleigh Salterton Chamber of Commerce. 

Jen and Alan have three children, Mark, Sarah and Karen, and four grandchildren, Adam, Molly, Sam and Tom. 

Alan is part of the volunteer team at the Budleigh Information Centre (BIC) and Jen and Alan asked for no presents for their anniversary, and instead suggested a donation to help support the information centre.  £570 was raised and handed to the BIC, for which we Thank you both very much.  The BIC is a self-funding and not for profit organisation that supports the local community and visitors to the town and this donation will help us so much.
  
Many congratulations on your 60 years of marriage, may you have many more happy and healthy years together. 

Following the success of the Gala Week Traditional Afternoon Tea, Budleigh Information Centre invite you to our Winter Treat.

Tickets are £6.50
Wednesday 29th November 2023
Budleigh Public Hall
12.30 pm to 3 pm

Tickets can be purchased at the Budleigh Information Centre or on the door subject to availability.

Your Winter Treat will include a choice of homemade soup, a homemade cheese scone, slice of homemade sponge cake and endless tea or coffee.

Choice of soup will be:
Creamy Leek and Potato
Chunky Roasted Winter Vegetable - a rich tomato based soup with chunky roasted winter vegetables
Lightly Spiced Carrot

Your table will be available to you for the duration of the event, with table service so you can sit back and enjoy good food and great company.​ 

You can reserve your own table, or share a table with others and make some new friends.

Call us to book over the phone, or email us and we'll get back to you.

Tel:  01395 445275       Email:  info@visitbudleigh.com
​
Opening Times: 
Mon - Sat  10am - 1 pm 

​We look forward to seeing you!

Budleigh Christmas Late Night Shopping event for 2023 is on Friday 8th December.   The town's shops will be open during the evening from 6 pm to 8.30 pm.

Come along to Budleigh High Street and Fore Street and join in with the carol singing, enjoy the street entertainment on offer and call in to see your friendly local traders who will be open during the evening.

We are hoping for this event to be bigger than ever this year - so save the date in your diary and bring family and friends along.


Opening procession: 
Honiton Twirlstars Majorettes, Santa, Exmouth Town Crier, St Peter's School, local Clubs and Societies.

We would love any clubs or societies to join in the opening procession at 6 pm.  It'll be a great way of starting the evening and an opportunity to promote your club.  If interested in taking part, please call the Budleigh Information Centre on 01395 445275, or be at St Peter's Church by 5.45 pm.

What's On:
The expected schedule for the evening is:

6.00 pm Opening Procession from St Peter's Church to Temple Methodist
6.15 pm Carol singing and service at Temple Methodist car park
6.30 pm Exmouth Fire Engine arrives in Mackerel Square
6.30 pm Twirlstar Majorettes static display outside Rolle flats
6.45 pm  East Devon Rock Choir in the High Street
7.15 pm  East Devon Rock Choir in the High Street

Throughout the evening we also have Buskers and the Exmouth Ladies Acapella Group performing along the street, the Exmouth Town Crier and the Rollocks Atlantic boat postioned up by the taffic light.

Santa will also be there!  After taking part in the procession he'll make his way back to Santa's Grotto at Uphams Antiques in the old Post Office.  Bring the children along to meet Santa and receive a present. Entry will be £2.  

During the evening don't forget to call into the Temple Methodist who will have their Christmas Tree Festival in the Church and Quizzes and other activites for all in the foyer.

Our thanks to all the entertainers who are coming to perform.  Thanks also to James and Matthew Upham for providing Santa's Grotto, Sampson's Butchers for sponsoring the East Devon Rock Choir and Shop Budleigh for organising the Buskers......and a very special thanks to our great traders for keeping their shops open with a warm welcome to all.

Come along and visit the great shops in the town, do a little Christmas shopping and enjoy the festive spirit!  It should be a great night.  See you there!

The Late Night Shopping event for 2023 is being organised by Love Budleigh - Budleigh Information Centre. The Budleigh Information Centre is a self-funding, non-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) which exists to serve and promote Budleigh Salterton, its residents, visitors, businesses and community. 

​​Footpath users please note: as previously notified, from this point onwards some footpaths may be inundated at high tide (though there will be a reduction in the duration for which paths are affected by river flooding). Signage of affected paths are already present around the site. The various footpaths around the site are at different heights relative to sea level and will not all be inundated with the same frequency. Tide timetables are available in the form of QR codes on the signs to enable walkers to plan their routes. The frequency of inundation of both the South West coast path and the riverside path to Otterton will be unchanged. The new footpath on the former tip and the footpath on South Farm Road (which used to flood most years for an extended duration) will now only flood during exceptional flood events, following raising works undertaken by the scheme.
 
What to expect from the transition to intertidal habitat. As the site is successively inundated by waters from the Otter estuary on each high tide, silts will be deposited, and the site will begin its slow transition from low-grade agricultural land to nationally rare and much-needed intertidal habitats, including salt marsh and mudflats. This, in turn, will attract a diversity of wildlife including wintering and wading birds. 
 
This transition will take time. Initially, low-lying terrestrial grasses and plants will die back due to the increased salinity of the estuarine water entering the site. Bare areas will form providing valuable feeding habitat for wetland birds throughout the year. Over time some areas are likely to be colonised by salt-tolerant species, forming areas of saltmarsh. The new habitat will eventually look similar to those already at the estuary mouth. We are not planting in the intertidal area, as experience has shown that natural colonisation is the best way of getting the right growth in the right place. We expect change to be quite rapid over the first two years, and then more gradual as the site and wildlife become ever more natural.
 
This is a very exciting milestone and will increasingly benefit people and wildlife in the Lower Otter Valley.

With carnival week now upon us, the traders were invited by the Budleigh Salterton Carnival to take part in a competition for the best dressed window.

The juding took place on Friday 22nd September at noon, with three local people taking on the difficult task of deciding which window should be crowned the winner.  The windows on display were wonderful and colourful, with obviously lots of effort taken by the various traders taking part.  The high standard made it a difficult choice, but after much deliberation Gilbert Stephens LLP Solicitors were proclaimed the winners of the Chris Coles Memorial Cup, which they will keep for a year. 

Congratulations to the team at Gilbert Stephens LLP Solicitors for coming First, and our thanks to all the other traders who took part and put on such a wonderful display.

The carnival procession will be on Saturday 30th September, starting at 7.30 pm from Seachange then proceeding along Coastguard Road, Marine Parade, Fore Street, High Street, Station Road and finishing at Upper Stoneborough Lane.

Come along and join in the fun!

Sunshine and blue skies, perfect weather for a group of BIC volunteers to visit Budleigh's Lee Ford. Our thanks to our volunteer Karen for organising this event.
 
We had a leisurely stroll around the estate, going through the semi cultivated woodland and then down to the formal gardens. We stopped for a photo opportunity at the pretty pavilion which overlooks the beautiful formal garden and looked rather enviously at the swimming pool. Then we sniffed our way round the rose garden, with a variety of roses and on to admire the vegetables and fruit in the walled kitchen garden and herb garden.  
 
By 11.00 we were ready for our tea. As we walked round the side of the house, we saw a large conservatory overlooking the lawn and pool and thought how nice it must be to sit in there - which was exactly what we were going to do!

The conservatory is full of geraniums, orange trees and bougainvillea, a very Mediterranean feel. The table was laid with bone china and our tea was poured from a huge silver teapot engraved with a picture of the house. A mini scone, luscious lemon cake and indulgent chocolate cake were all homemade and delicious.

As we sat in the sun chatting and finishing the last mouthfuls of cake, we decided this was something we should do more often. A most enjoyable morning, so nice to spend social time with our colleagues. We've resolved to organise another similar get together soon - watch this space for future posts.

The garden at Lee Ford is open on behalf of the National Gardens scheme and is
available for group bookings through NGS Yellow book.

​Vintage & Classic Vehicle event at World of Country Life Exmouth.
Join us on 17th September for our amazing Vintage Classic Vehicle
Rally 2023! 
There will be lots of classic, Ford RS concours and vintage vehicles
visiting the park for the day, and of course, our resident Hall of
Transport featuring vehicles that have appeared in Downton Abbey, Mr
Selfridge & Parade’s End as well as the Reg Imray Motorcycle Collection
and Steam Shed packed full of vintage tractors & steam engines make
this a vehicle lovers’ dream day out! The event proudly supports Action
for Children.
Not forgetting the children’s indoor & outdoor play areas, the
popular Harry the Harvester, the Deer Train Safari and all our
regular daily activities – goat walking, animal bottle-feeding, small
animal handling and the Hawkridge Birds of Prey Flying Display – this
really is a memory-making day out for the whole family – see you there!
And for even more fun for 2023, check out our brand new Rabbit
Warren!
The Vintage Classic 2023 proudly supports Action for Children.
The day is an official Ford RS Owners Club Exeter & East Devon Local
Group event, and features their concours event, sponsored
by Angelwax.
If you would like to exhibit your car on the day, please
visit www.exetereastdevon.rscownersclub.co.uk

Sign up for our free email Newsletter to get the latest updates from Love Budleigh

A new self guided walk around Budleigh Salterton using the QR code facility on your smart phone.

A relaxing, entertaining and educational stroll around the town finding blue plaques and the stories behind them.

Call into the Budleigh Information Centre for the starting code.

The Love Budleigh team had a lovely day on the Seafront at the Lions Fayre.

It was great to see and meet so many people enjoying the beautiful Bank Holiday weather and supporting our community.
​
We sold quite a few copies of our Community Calendar, still some left at the Budleigh Information Centre.

​Featuring thirteen distinctive photographs of the Budleigh Salterton landscape and wildlife found on the river Otter.
​
Plus - two pages of extensive and useful community information for all eventualities - emergency services, local services, social clubs and local activities.

Designed and produced by two creative and dedicated volunteers at the Budleigh Information Centre.

Huge thanks to the local photographers who kindly contributed their pictures, and to East Devon Golf Club for their generous sponsorship of the calendar.

All proceeds go towards funding the Budleigh Information Centre, a self funding, not for profit company, which exists to serve everyone - residents, visitors, organisations and businesses - in the local community.

To place an order
Please call into the Budleigh Information Centre, or telephone or email us. Our opening hours are normally 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday.

Buy online - maximum 6 per order.  P&P charges apply.

Electric charging points have been installed in Budleigh Salterton by East Devon District Council, and are now online in the following car parks. ​​

Rolle Mews, EX9 6NG - 4 x 60kwh rapid chargers operated by Wenea – Contactless payment available on charging using the Wenea app.



​Lime Kiln, EX9 6JD - 2 x 22kwh chargers available, located at the far end of the car park.  Operated by Scottish Power Recharge app






The council advise on their website that in 2023 there will be no requirement to purchase a parking ticket or Ringo session whilst charging your vehicle.

In addition, the council state that parking fines will be given for any vehicles parked in EV (Electric Vehicle) bays which are not actively charging, and any non-EV vehicles parked in the EV charging bays.

​Full and up to date information, and links to download the charging apps, is available on EDDC's website here.

A few of the Love Budleigh Volunteer Team recently visited World of Country Life located at Sandy Bay in Exmouth. We sell tickets for this attraction at the Budleigh Information Centre and our visit enables our team of volunteers to better advise visitors about it. 

There were many animals to see and feed and goats walks were on offer.  Deer, llamas, and sheep could be fed from the Deer Tractor Train.  We also enjoyed a Bird of Prey Display by the Hawkridge Team - it was amazing to see these beautiful birds at such close proximity.

There were other great activities on offer too, such as a giant Snakes & Ladders game, Ferret Racing, crazy golf and bottle feeding some of the baby animals.  World of Country life plan special events throughout the year, with a Maize Maze in the summer and a Vintage Classic Vehicle Rally in September.

There are multiple food and drink outlets across the park and opportunities to refill water bottles. We were impressed with the friendly helpful staff and the cleanliness of the facilities. The park is well designed and easy to get around for everyone with wide paths and gentle slopes.

All in all, a great place to visit. There is so much for all ages to enjoy, so ideal for families with kids and for adults looking for an interesting, varied and enjoyable day out.
​
Tickets Available at the Budleigh Information Centre.

A few of the Love Budleigh team recently enjoyed a visit to Lily Farm Vineyard as part of a larger group.  We received a warm welcome and enjoyed a cheese platter, including some delicious local cheeses with a pleasant view of the grapevines.

Lily Farm – the Budleigh Salterton Vineyard – as well as offering tours of the vineyard, is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 10am to 4:00pm for drop in visits.  Guests may choose from a menu including cheese and vineyard sharing platters, sandwiches, soft drinks, tea and coffees.  There is of course the opportunity to buy and try a glass of their excellent, award-winning, wines. With the temptation to purchase a bottle to enjoy later.

The Vineyard is in a lovely location positioned where many locals and visitors walk by. Next time you’re nearby why not pause and enjoy their hospitality. (Well behaved dogs on leads welcome.)

More details are available on their website, where you can also book your tour of the vineyard.  If preferred, you can pop into the Budleigh Information Centre where we can help to book your tour for you. 

​Cheers!

Ever fancied hiring your own beach hut for the day, weekend or week?  Beach Huts are available for hire on the beautiful beach at Budleigh Salterton.

We have 12 huts in total.  Seven are smaller huts, of which 3 are available for daily or weekend hire, and 4 available for weekly hire.   Five are larger huts, with one available for daily/weekend hire and the others for weekly hire.

They are located on Marine Parade, near the Jubilee Shelter, and a short walk from refreshments, toilets and the town centre.  Each hut has 2 deckchairs.  

The block of smaller huts are the ones nearest the town and placed on the pebbles.  The larger huts are in the next block, and are on a concrete base off the pebbles and easily accessed from the footpath, so ideal for anyone with mobility issues.  The huts have been spaced a little further apart this year and have been freshly painted in lovely pastel colours of blue, green and pink.  We think they look lovely!

For all details about the huts, prices and to book them online, please go to our Beach Hut Hire page.

On Thursday 1st June during the town's Gala Week, the volunteers of the Budleigh Information Centre (BIC) held an Afternoon tea at the Public Hall.
It was a sell-out, with 74 people coming along to the event.  The volunteers made sure the Public Hall was welcoming with beautifully laid out tables and a mouth-watering selection of homemade cakes and sandwiches.
​

We'd love to hold a similar event later in the year, so we hope to see you again soon.  In the meantime, please call in and meet the team at the Budleigh Information Centre on Fore Street next door to Tesco Express - we're open Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm.  We're always happy to help, or just pop in for a chat!

East Devon Bus timetables are now available in the Information Centre.  Valid from 5th June 2023 they include times for Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Sidmouth, Seaton, Axminster, Honiton and Ottery St Mary. 

Use the Interactive Bus Map to access all routes and timetables across Devon online.  Open the interactive map, zoom into the required location and select the route number.  From the blue side pane, select 'View Timetable'.

The locally famous East Budleigh Scarecrow Festival 2023 will be held on the weekend of Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th June.

This year marks 20 years since our first Scarecrow Festival was held!

On every occasion the festival has taken place it has been incredibly well supported by the local community and those further afield making it a fun day out for all the family.

As well as providing a wonderful display of scarecrows fashioned by our village residents using their wit and invention, there are plenty of activities and refreshments to enjoy.  This will be based at the Village Hall where refreshments, including bacon baps and cream teas, will be on sale between 11am and 4pm each day along with a variety of stalls featuring local crafts and activities, cakes, pre-loved books and plants.

On Saturday there will be musical entertainment during the day and on Sunday Rock Choir East Devon will be performing.

There will be a Duck Race at 3pm in the East Budleigh Brook on both afternoons with cash prizes to be won.

There will be a Raffle run over the weekend with great prizes provided by local
businesses who are supporting our fundraising event.

In particular we thank Gilbert Stephens Solicitors for their sponsorship.

Up at the church there will be a display of knitted garments being prepared to send to Moldova with the charity CR2EE. There will also be handbell demonstrations and trial sessions as well as a chance to go up the bell tower to admire the view and try bell ringing on both afternoons between 2 and 4pm.

At midday on Sunday the East Budleigh Dog Show will take place up on the Recreation Field and Classic cars and rally cars will be on display in the village throughout the day.

Our event will close with a Songs of Praise service in All Saints Church on Sunday evening.

Come along - there will be something for everyone to enjoy.  It's a Cash Only event, so please bring some cash with you so that you can join in all the fun!

The Budleigh Runners are starting a new Couch to 5K course on Monday 15th May.  Running can seem a scary idea, especially if you've not done it before or for a long time.  The Couch to 5K has been developed for everyone and all you need is a good pair of running shoes!  Contact the club for more information.