Down but not quite
out around Teignmouth
Alan first came to Teignmouth on a family holiday. The town
reminded him of a wild west ghost town in the middle of Siberian
winter. Obviously the stuff of dreams. So in 2003 he bought an
old Victorian terrace house here in South Devon and has nearly
finished its renovation. Or, it nearly finished him! Alan left
Teignmouth in October 2007 and moved back to his old stomping
ground of Eyemouth in the Scottish borders.
Teignmouth (pronounced, curiously Tin-mouth) is a bustling port
and nestles in the sprawling hills and rocky coastline. Its small
town is full of character and characters. The beach areas –
main beach and back beach – are pretty well looked after
and are attractive to locals and visitors alike. But much of the
rest of the town is suffering a bit from street litter, graffiti,
and like many places, from too many mindless acts of vandalism.
But looking on the bright side, it has some lovely countryside
including Dartmoor national park in easy reach and pretty good
public transport links.
When not writing, researching and editing, Alan enjoys some cross
country running and the coast paths and inland hills offer a challenging
variety of terrains. All seem to be more or less vertically up,
or down. So, you could say Alan is often ‘vertically challenged’
even without his daily intake of scrumpy cider, which helps him
end the day in traditional west country style! 
He’s also been taking quite a few photos of the local places
and faces and a few are included here.
At the local book launch for
Battle of the Beanfield
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