WITH its pretty turquoise waters, perfect sands and fine dining, it’s easy to see why the fishing village of Rock has become known as the St Tropez of the UK.
Nestled on the rugged north Cornwall coast, it shot to fame as the favourite holiday destination of Princes William and Harry in the Nineties.
More recently it’s achieved fame as the home of Gordon Ramsay, wife Tana and their five children, and is also dubbed “South Kensington-on-sea” by locals.
The rise of posh outsiders desperate for a second home is so huge that even the local church feared its 120-year-old building would become one when it struggled to make enough money to fund a new roof.
But at the final hour last week they secured a loan for £34,000 and are now trying to raise the cash to pay it off.
John Godwin, 90, is the organist and treasurer for Rock Methodist Church.
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He said: “The fear was that if we couldn’t raise the money, it would be bought and turned into one of these mega mansions to be a second home.
“The likelihood was it would simply get converted or it would just be knocked down. We have had lovely iconic buildings and little cottages bought, but they don’t buy it for the property.
“The property is of no use, what they are buying is a plot of land for a larger property to be built on. It hurts a little bit because that’s their ‘spare’ money they’re spending on it.
“But in this community people don’t have ‘spare’ money, we’re not a rich area. The school might have to reduce staff because there are not enough children to go there.
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9“The prices for shopping and eating out here are astronomical even if you could afford to eat out. A fish and chips takeaway is £15 a throw.
“It’s always been a holiday area but over the past two decades the number of second homes has crept up to 40 per cent."
Further down the street from the church, imposing properties, with polished glass fronts, balconies and manicured lawns, line Rock Road as it slopes down to the bay, which is overlooked by similar-looking glass-heavy holiday flats.
But across the street from the James Bond-mansions, hedgerows hide the council homes of some of the poorest residents in the county.
And many locals have had to move to other areas, having been priced out of Rock.
Sleeping on sofas
Ishqa Sodhi-Miles, 21, is the manager of ice cream shop Tuckers on the row of beach-front shops and restaurants.
She said: “Personally, growing up here, it’s always been a struggle for my family to find a home. I’m still living at home now, in Polzeath, and I can’t even imagine being able to move out.
“I don’t agree with all the mega-mansions at all, they’re bulky and take up a lot of room, the plots they’re on could fit four or five houses on them.
“Many of the bigger ones have a husband and wife living in them when they could house six or seven people. But it’s all about the money round here, so people sell their land for these places to be built on.
“But when you’re living somewhere that 90 per cent of the houses are second homes, it’s ridiculous.
“I’ve looked at house-shares with friends, but it’s ridiculously expensive, and people want families in the properties, not young people.
“There’s nothing for young people down here and it’s a massive struggle. I have friends who live in caravans in other people’s gardens or in their vans, people who are sleeping on other people’s sofas.
“I know people who’ve managed to get flats in Newquay but what they can afford are derelict, one-bedroom mouldy places for a ridiculous amount of rent. I don’t understand how we’re going to manage.”
'In the winter it's dead here'
Emma Kelly, 49, is the manager of Four Boys restaurant and has lived in the town for 20 years.
Since moving there she has part-owned and part-rented a house in the village.
Emma said: “The property prices have gone way up so it’s very difficult for young people to get on the ladder. The fact staff can’t afford to live here is always an issue.
“Some houses are not vacant because they’re being used for Airbnb or holiday lets, and some are empty. In the winter it’s dead here, many of the houses don’t have lights on.
“It’s a beautiful place. We were lucky enough to get one of the few affordable housing schemes available at the time.
“But it’s jam-packed one minute and dead the next. It’s always been South Kensington by the sea. It’s difficult for our businesses to survive because there’s not enough local people in the area to keep things going.
“Rock’s like a bubble, not a reality.”
Celeb mega-mansions
Tracy Wilkinson, 59, lives in Wiltshire and owns a static caravan in the neighbouring village St Minver, visiting the beach in Rock regularly.
“I prefer the old-fashioned houses and architecture, but there’s a lot of these glass-fronted buildings.”
Gordon Ramsay’s house, which overlooks the beach and is visible from the main route to the beach, is one of the biggest of those types.
He bought the 1920s five-bedroom house for £4.4million in 2015, which was the most expensive property ever sold in Cornwall at the time.
After an eight-month battle to get planning permission to bulldoze the house, Ramsay was given the go-ahead, and built a sprawling glass-fronted property in its place.
Tracy added: “He’s a nice chap, I’ve met him a few times and he’s really tried to blend in with the local people, but I was quite sad that he knocked down that lovely house and built what I would call a monstrosity in its place."
Poverty-stricken locals
In stark contrast to Gordon Ramsay, some local residents are facing their own battles to pay bills and even put food on the table.
Four miles away, in the town of Wadebridge, Jacqui and Arthur White, 72, run the local Foodbank.
It provided for 4,565 poverty-stricken residents of north Cornwall last year; more than twice as much as ten years earlier in 2012.
They also provide nappies, toiletries and furniture.
Jacqui said “People see Cornwall on the television and think it’s this beautiful, wonderful, glorious place, which it is – but it’s a county of two halves. It’s got mega-money, but it’s also got a lot of areas of deprivation. There are terrible areas around the north Cornwall area and Rock is no exception.
“The number of people using the food bank is slowly creeping up all the time. We have high rents, low wages, and terrible transportation, which means if you live in any of the outlying villages you have to have a car.
“People are really struggling, including people in Rock. We have a lot of social housing there, but we’re also seeing a difference in the people coming here.
“We’ve had people coming in who are professionals but with interest rates going up they can no longer afford their mortgage. The stress levels people are under is enormous.
“People are coming in for a food box, but it’s not only a food box, we want to help people get out of the situations they’re in.”
Citizens Advice, the Christians Against Poverty and a debt relief agency are also on hand to offer help.
The Foodbank’s volunteers are trained in using a benefits calculator to advise people who visit what they could be entitled to.
Jacqui is also keen to sing the praises of the kindness shown by some second homeowners.
She said: “Many of them have been very generous. When they got money from the Government during Covid some came to us and said, ‘we don’t need this money’ and donated it to us.
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“But the downside is if they’re not buying the mega-millions homes, they’re buying the smaller homes, with landlords selling because they can get more money, or evicting because they want to use it as a holiday let.
“They’re quite entitled to do that, but it then means the prices are pushed up and they’re not available for the younger generation.”
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