The Sunday Times June 5, 2022 7pieces for their retirement
apartments.”
Another newcomer is
Alexander Pushkin, 31. He
used to have an antiques shop
in Mayfair and opened his
eclectic man cave in the
Pantiles in September. One of
his more unusual items for
sale is a £85,000 Lalique silver
cigarette lighter in the shape of
a monkey.
Barbara and William Apted
moved to Willicombe Park two
months ago. They have lived in
Tunbridge Wells for 45 years
and always within ten minutes
of the town centre.
“It’s much friendlier than
London,” says Barbara, who
met her husband when they
both worked for a bank in the
capital. Now in her mid-
eighties, she enjoys going to
the local Trinity Theatre in
Tunbridge Wells and the
Assembly Hall for concerts.
“We used to go to London,
but we don’t have to,” she
says. “Tunbridge Wells is
much better, which is
probably why people want
to live here.”Jane Slade is the founder of the
retirement property and care
home website retiremove.co.ukpublic, as well as shops.
Tunbridge Wells has the
vibe of South Kensington and
the cachet of Mayfair. There is
even a beautician’s called SW1.
It has two theatres and now a
mini “Burlington Arcade”,
owned by the Marquess of
Abergavenny and run by the
businessman Robert
Woodmansey, just round the
corner from the Queen’s
jeweller Collins.
In the Pantiles Arcade the
vaulted ceilings now drip with
glass chandeliers, some made
by Wilkinson, the Kent-based
royal warrant holders, with
little boutiques below selling
everything from Lalique glass
to Tunbridge ware — a style of
local marquetry.
The BBC Antiques Roadshow
expert Eric Knowles has
opened a glass emporium
and the toy collector Peter
Redman is opening an outlet
for his 6,000-piece collection
in the old tourist office.
“The retiree is an important
market for us,” says
Woodmansey. “They are less
affected by the squeeze on
discretionary spending. We
sell a lot to older people who
have cleared out their big
houses and want choice
10 milesEastbourneTunbridge WellsSevenoaksLondonM25Left: Tunbridge
Wells High
Street. Right:
a drawing of
Beechcroft’s
planned
one and
two-bedroom
flats. Opposite
Tunbridge Wells
Common, it is set
for completion
in 2024, with
prices starting
from £600,000