It is an exciting time of year in Sidmouth at the moment with the Sidmouth Sea Fest having taken place last weekend and The Sidmouth Jazz Festival taking place this Bank Holiday weekend.

The jazz festival has been extremely well advertised and let us hope that the crowd numbers are what the organisers hoped for. The sea fest drew large crowds to The Ham which was great to see.

It was also good to see that the footpath beside the river was back open in time after the smart new railings had been installed.

On the commercial property front Mycas Restaurant has taken over the wine bar premises in Fore Street. I understand the owners have had a very busy start which is great to hear. Just down the road from there I notice there is still no sign of activity in the old HSBC premises in New Street. Perhaps this might be a good place for the new banking hub? And well done to local MP Simon Jupp for persuading Lloyds Bank to stay open for a further six months if the new hub isn’t open by early September.

There is now a commercial agent’s sign outside the former M & Co premises in the High Street. I went on their website to see what the rent is and there was no sign of the property on there. I did notice a couple of other Sidmouth shops on there so if you are looking for commercial premises in the town it’s worth looking on the Gerrard Matthews website.

On the residential property front some of the early 2023 completions are now on the Land Registry website. A fine detached property in Redwood Road has just sold for in excess of £1.4m and a house in Convent Fields has sold for in excess of £1 million. Other notable sales include a detached property in Cotlands, a detached bungalow in Woolbrook Park and a house in Winslade Road that is the first of the completions on the newly renovated properties there. You can also view all property sales through property portal websites, such as Rightmove and Zoopla.

The email property alerts are showing a high percentage of reductions at the moment. A sure sign that asking prices are optimistic on occasions. The other side of the coin is some sales are being agreed very quickly which shows the buyers are out there waiting for the right property at the right price.

The bicentenary season at Sidmouth Cricket Club is now in full flow. On the playing front the league teams have made promising starts but unfortunately all three lost last Saturday. Overseas player Bryce Parsons has made an excellent start to the season. He can be seen in action this Saturday at The Fortfield when the 1st XI take on Plympton. A date for your diary is Sunday 11th June when former Australian test player Merv Hughes brings his Wattlespriggs team to Sidmouth as part of their UK tour.

Tickets for a number of the social occasions celebrating the bicentenary are now for sale on the club website. There is a regency ball on Saturday 8th July, a cricket dinner on Wednesday 12th July (with former Somerset and England player Vic Marks speaking), a Steve Knightley concert on Thursday 13th July and various other events that are listed on the website. You can also buy commissioned prints from local artist Andrew Lewis. There are a limited run of 100 of each size. One print features a sunset over Peak Hill showing the pavilion and the view looking west. The other print shows the pavilion with a view over the ground to the east. See the cricket club website for further information.

Finally if you are a member of Sidmouth Cricket, Tennis and Croquet Club do come along on Thursday June 22nd to ask any questions of the committee at an open forum about the club and its future.