Slough and Sidmouth do not, at first blush, appear to have much in common. One is the epitome of the featureless concrete conurbation, the other a delightful Regency town at the mouth of the River Sid on the coast of southeast Devon. Both, though, were immortalised by Sir John Betjeman. The poet may have called for bombs to fall on Slough but he took a considerably more benign view of Sidmouth, eulogising its “broad crescents basking in the summer sun” in Still Sidmouth.

No wonder, says Martin Lamb of Savills' Exeter office. “Sidmouth belongs to a stretch of coastline which is blessed. It's a gateway town on the Jurassic coast and situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Over the years access has held it back, but this is also part of its charm. Like Beer, Branscombe and Lyme Regis to the east, and Budleigh Salterton to the west, little has changed in the area for decades.”

Sidmouth's salubrious air has drawn a high proportion of pensioners: 40 per cent of its population of 15,000 is estimated to be aged over 65. But Lamb says that it is also a town with a thriving younger professional community, one which, if not exactly secret, may be one of Devon's few remaining up-and-coming areas.

“Sidmouth has always had a healthy second-home market, but we are seeing a growing number of people who commute to London, using the Honiton to Waterloo or Exeter to Paddington rail links, the M5 or Exeter airport. Broadband has also enabled professionals to work from home. We're starting to see a discernible rise in younger people with families moving into the town and its surrounding area.”

It's easy to see what brings them to Sidmouth, for centuries a small fishing village until its metamorphosis into a resort town thanks to the Georgian and Victorian fashion for taking the sea air. Elegant Regency villas and mansions abound, many of which are now hotels or guest houses; so too do sculpted tributes to floral Britain such as the Connaught and Blackmore Gardens. The town's golf course has views of Lyme Bay, there is an active sailing club and each year, in August, Sidmouth plays host to a popular folk festival. And there is a Waitrose (due for expansion within the next 12 months). The town remains relatively affordable, however: the average price of a property in Sidmouth is £285,615, an increase of 10 per cent over three years, figures from Home.co.uk indicate. Prices have been flat over the past year.

Julie Perryman, of Humberts' office in the nearby market town of Honiton, has lived in Sidmouth all her life. She welcomes the arrival of Waitrose as much as she enjoys the newly refurbished Radway cinema in the town centre: “Being largely unspoilt is the secret of its charm. What changes there have been - like the improvements to the cinema - are discreet and in keeping with the overall feel of the place. You can still go down to the beach at Jacob's Ladder ... and feel as if nothing has changed.”

To stroll along the esplanade at Sidmouth is indeed to take a step back in time. The western beach, at Jacob's Ladder, lies at the foot of Peak Hill, a strenuous but rewarding climb beyond which is Ladram Bay, a discreet swimmers' paradise. To amble east is to reach Port Royal, with its working fishing boats, and the River Sid. At low tide the pebble beach gives way to sands tinged with the hue of the red sandstone cliffs stretching to Budleigh Salterton and Beer. The aura of congeniality is as deftly encapsulated by the local cricket club's beachside thatched pavilion as by glimpses of Betjeman's “Mansions for admirals by the pebbly strand”.

“Sidmouth is a rare town,” says David Gwillim, the manager of Bradleys' Sidmouth office. “It's attractive to retirees and younger people in equal measure. It has a mild climate year-round and doesn't close down in the winter. For its size it's remarkably well-blessed with facilities, from the sports centre, cinema, theatre and swimming pool to the cricket, rugby and sailing clubs, not to mention its schools.” Simon Cooper, of Stags' Exeter office, agrees. “Sidmouth has

a comprehensive school, Sidmouth College, and, in St John's School, a private preparatory school. But increasingly families are drawn to the area because Sidmouth is close to quality fee-paying schools in Exeter, while in the other direction is

the country's top grammar school, Colyton Grammar.” The mixed coeducational school, founded in 1546, is only eight miles away in Colyford and has a fine academic record.

Betjeman's celebration of Sidmouth was written as the commentary to a 1962 television film of the town by Jonathan Stedall, then a 23-year-old director. “Our brief was to create portraits of places which were close to Betjeman's heart,” Stedall recalled in his introduction to Still Sidmouth: The Lost Poem, published in 2000. Sidmouth was the first place the pair visited, but the documentary was shown once and then forgotten for almost 40 years, until it was found in a rusting can of film.

Despite its appearance in book form, Still Sidmouth remains decidedly one of Betjeman's lesser-known works, while his condemnation of Slough as not “fit for humans now” is notorious. Sidmouth's aficionados will say that this is less a testimony to our predilection for controversy and more an endorsement of the discreet charm of the town they love.

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