EXCLUSIVE We live in the cheapest seaside town in the UK - it's in the middle of nowhere and it rains all the time - but we love it

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

It's a town so adored by locals that Paul McCartney dedicated his hit song to it in 1977.
Located along the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland - 140 miles from Glasgow -Campbeltown sits on the coast and largely inspired The Beatles star's famous folk number 'Mull of Kintyre', which topped the UK charts for nine weeks straight.
McCartney owned High Park Farm just outside the town and, like many of the 4,500 residents still living there today, loved the area for its idyllic setting and quieter way of life.
Campbeltown made new headlines this week when it was named the cheapest coastal region to buy a property in the whole of the UK - much to the surprise of its adoring residents.
The average home in the area is just £103,078, research by Lloyds Bank found, compared to the £965,708 you'd have to fork out to buy in Sandbanks, Dorset, the most expensive seaside town.
Audrey Jopson, who moved to Campbeltown seven years ago to experience its small town charm, told MailOnline: 'It's lovely. It's peaceful, quiet, and everybody's friendly.'
One shop owner, who was born in the town, said: 'It's just a different way of life. It's so relaxed, so beautiful; the beaches, walks, fresh air, the whole atmosphere of Campbeltown is lovely.
'It's a beautiful place to live. I don't understand [why it's cheap] because the properties are beautiful, absolutely stunning.'
The shop owner travels between Edinburgh and Campbeltown and rents his seaside home of 30 years as an AirBnb - a phenomenon becoming ever more common within seaside towns across the UK as holidaymakers flock to the coast to escape city life.
Emilia McMillan, proprietor at estate agent Kintyre Property Co., said the growing number of holiday lets in Campbeltown are making it harder for locals to rent.
'The properties are great, especially for those who are looking to invest, Buy To Let, it's very good return,' she said.
'Holiday lets are very good return, because quite a lot is happening although it's a small town, in the summer especially.
'Flats are ranging from £30,000, even less, to £60-70,000; it depends on the area, the condition and the size of it.'
Ms McMillan added: 'The actual houses are very popular; unfortunately there is a shortage of those, for renters, because there are quite a lot of people buying to put them through AirBnb, so that's creating a shortage of housing.
'[So it's difficult] maybe not to buy but to rent.'
Containing two primary schools, one high school, a police station, Post Office, health centre, leisure centre, churches, several pubs, cafes and a vets, the town arguably has everything one would need to happily live there forever.
Additionally, the area even boasts the tiny Campbeltown Airport, which offers twice-a-day, 17-seat flights to Glasgow taking just 45 minutes - by far the quickest way to travel to the nearest major city.
But for the younger members of the town, settling there for the rest of their lives seems unlikely given the limited career and social opportunities.
Millie West, 19, who runs second hand shop Campbeltown Supplies with her family, adores Campbeltown but has dreams to one day go off to college.
'I've lived here for nearly 18 years. I really like that it's a lot quieter, because in the bigger areas there's a lot more violence and everything. Here, you kind of know everybody, at least by face, so you know what's happening.
'Also, everyone kind of flocks together. Here we did all this on our own. Everyone helping out, everyone chipping in, everyone helping each other, it's a really good community for that.
'Obviously with it being so small, you can walk about a lot so it's not always that you need a car to get here, a car to get there.'
Ms West said the nightlife is 'decent' for youngsters, with a few pubs and a DJ night on Saturdays.
'There are a couple of pubs that people tend to flock to, like The Feather and The Commercial,' she said. 'Because you can get the DJs in there on a Saturday night in The Feathers, and there's a pool table and everything in The Comms.'
Information signs at Linda's memorial garden in Campbeltown, which explain what she did for the town and its surrounding areas
On whether she wants to stay in Campbeltown forever, Ms West said: 'Probably not, but while I'm young I'm enjoying my time here.
'Eventually, hopefully, I'll go off to college or something because I've not done that yet.
'But it's something in the pages for me - I'm not quite there yet - but hopefully, eventually, I'll get there, and I'll be able to do my own things, and get a job that I'm wanting to do. Obviously I'm wanting to do this [run the shop]; it was my idea.'
Ms West said it is possible youngsters will be able to buy houses one day, but it's made harder by the limited job opportunities in the area.
'It kind of depends what kind of job you're wanting to do [...] because there's not an awful lot of jobs around here,' she said.
The teenager said it rains a lot but 'you get used to it' quickly.
Like Ms West, 22-year-old Demi has lived in Campbeltown her whole life and works in the town's sweet shop.
'I think because you're used to it, if you were to come back, you'd probably see there're a lot more things to do in Glasgow, or wherever else, but it's good. Everybody knows everybody as well.'
On whether she will leave Campbeltown, Demi said: 'I don't think so. I did think about it for uni when I wanted to go. I stayed. I was going to but I decided not to.
'I don't think I would cope with the business of a different setting.
'There're two primary schools in the town, and there's one high school. There are not too many people you wouldn't know.'
Considering whether she will buy a house in the town one day, Demi said: 'Eventually yeah. I'm still living at home right now just saving, but hopefully a wee flat or something.'
Despite its small size, Campbeltown was dubbed the 'Whisky Capital of the World' during the 19th Century due to its role as a major whisky production centre.
At its peak, the town boasted more than 30 active distilleries, with three still operating there today.
But perhaps what the town is most famous for is its links to The Beatles star McCartney, who bought High Park Farm just outside Campbeltown in 1966, marking his first home with his then wife, Linda.
Before Linda's tragic death from breast cancer in 1998, the couple were married for three decades and had three children together, sharing a love for Campbeltown and its surrounding areas.
Seven years after his public split from The Beatles, McCartney released 'Mull of Kintyre' in 1977 with his new rock band, Wings.
The song details McCartney's 'desire is always to be here, Oh, Mull of Kintyre' and expresses his love for the area's 'dark distant mountains with valleys of green'.
The hit's music video features McCartney, Linda and co-founder of Wings Denny Laine, strolling through the peninsula's hills.
The clip also famously features The Campbeltown Pipe Band, made up of seven pipers and seven drummers, most of whom remain in Kintyre today.
McCartney and his first wife were so devoted to the area that a memorial garden for Linda stands in Campbeltown's centre today, featuring a statue of Linda holding a lamb.
Eunice Crook, a trustee at Campbeltown Heritage Centre, is an expert on the town's history - having been born there - and recently moved back after years away ever since attending university.
Mrs Crook said she was not surprised to see Campbeltown offered the greatest value for money on properties and described it as a 'great place to live'.
'My husband and I were living in Glasgow [...], we spent a lot of time overseas, and then after Covid we decided that we needed to get out of Glasgow.
'We were looking around and Campbeltown was one of the places on our list, and it turned out that the right house came up here and we absolutely love it; we haven't regretted at all coming back.'
Mrs Crook added: 'It's a nice community, it's a nice place to live. Although it's 140 miles from Glasgow, because it's the largest town for miles around, you've got the health centre, the leisure centre, we've got good connections. We've got everything you need.
'Given our age we wanted to be able to walk to a shop basically. We bought the house. Because I'm essentially local, and my sisters still lived here, I knew you could get good value for money in Campbeltown. And there are a lot of very nice properties.'
Kenny McMillan, a 70-year-old mechanic who has lived in Campbeltown his whole life, said the cheap property prices are a reflection of the low wages offered to workers in the area.
'We've lost a lot of people as they go to university, colleges, and their jobs are not here to come back to,' he said.
'[Property prices] are reflected in the wages. It's an attraction for people to come here and retire.'
He added: 'I like the remoteness because I go to Glasgow a lot. We don't have the same problems you have in the cities.'
Meanwhile, others were not born in Campbeltown and flocked to the area more recently for its offer of a quieter life.
Ali Nash, 32, who runs a barber shop in the town centre, made the move from Liverpool to Campbeltown last year, and said he has bought his own house.
'It's a quiet town so a safe town,' he said.
'Liverpool is a busy town; it's better for the young but here is a quieter town, for safety.'
Recent research by Lloyds found that Rothesay, on Bute, was the second least expensive seaside town in Scotland to buy a property, with an average of £111,764, followed by Millport, in Cumbrae, where the average cost was £114,008 and the Bute village of Port Bannatyne close behind with £115,421.