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Exeter born and Exmouth raised, Debra has idyllic memories of a childhood spent around the estuary. Setting up the incredibly popular “Bumble and…” cafés, Debra’s care for and involvement in the community of Exmouth runs deep. Debra believes the sea has healing properties, and – living and working so close to it – she has seen the many positive effects the water has on locals and visitors alike. In this recording, she reflects on how the sea plays a central role in everything she does, and the joy and wellbeing this relationship brings.
This trail marker is situated at the start of Camperdown Terrace.
What 3 Words: ///downsize.caveman.fools
Debra: I had the most idyllic childhood here. I think that was to do with where we lived. We lived on Camperdown Terrace, which is a spit of land just on the very edge of Exmouth but it’s surrounded by water. It’s reclaimed land. It was right by, it was at the docks in my day, my childhood, but it’s now the Marina. I wanted to bring the children back because Exmouth is beautiful. I think it’s absolutely stunning. Yes. there’s the concrete jungle in the town. Obviously because of circumstances now with lots of empty shops and stuff. You can always sit on the beach and look out up the estuary. It’s stunning. I have to be near the sea.
I think because I’ve lived here all my life, I’ve got a real soft spot for old people, for lonely people, because I’ve been a mother with young children, mums that are struggling with newborns and things like that. I think we’ve created a community so people would come, we’d talk to them, we knew their backstory, we saw them every week. We built up this repeat custom because people needed us at that point.
Because I was working at Orcombe Point, at Bumble and Sea, I used to see these kids, they’d never seen the sea before. Oh my God, their faces and that squealing. It’s just amazing. It’s absolutely brilliant. I’ve never spoken to somebody that went through that process, but you could see it on their faces, you could see that they felt free, they didn’t have all the constraints of life and the expectations of life. Because suddenly, you’re surrounded by cold water and everything else just floods away. I think it’s really important.
My son yesterday, he’s 16, he had a GCSE and I woke him up at seven o’clock. I said, “How are you feeling?” He said, “Oh, I feel rubbish.” I said, “Should we go for a swim?” He was like, “Yeah, shall we?” We literally ran out the door, because Camperdown is right on the sea, ran out the door, ran into the sea, came home, had showers, felt 100% better, and then he went off to do his GCSE and I went to work. It’s my happy place on the sea. I absolutely love it on the sea, in the sea, under the sea, I love being part of the lifeboat. I just love it, absolutely love it. I think it’s healing.
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