hidden gems paul and pam
We take you to some stunning homes and places around Dartmouth that you would never normally get to see.
Pam Braakenburg is chairman of the Dart Music Festival, a trustee of the Flavel Arts Centre, a magistrate and occasional actress in the Dartmouth Shakespeare Week. Her husband Phil is a GP in Torbay, working long hours in his vital job.
Pam and Phil both consider their two bedroom flat, which overlooks the harbour, as their bolthole, and they have crafted it to be the best place for them to relax, have fun and entertain.
“I had a small inheritance from my grandfather in 1978, and I wanted to buy somewhere to allow me to get away occasionally,” said Pam. “The flat was exactly that amount of money – it seemed meant to be! It seems strange today but the fact it had an incredible view was not factored into the price, or I never would have been able to afford it.
“For ten years we visited Dartmouth as often as we could, and really fell in love with the place and the people too. In 1988 we extended it out and created a small balcony, which gave us somewhere to sit and watch the harbour in the open.
“Then when Phil and I decided to move here permanently we looked at it again and wanted to do more to make it a home we could stay in forever. We extended the balcony, made the front all glass and had new floors put in.”
The flat is just right for two people – and their dog Lucy – to live in comfort.
The sun shines into it for most of the day and Pam says that their uninterrupted view and glass front means they get to sample the different moods of the river.
“We can just sit there and watch the river for hours on end,” she says. “It is a place we are truly happy – it’s just right for us.”
First Published March/April 2013 By The Dart