1945, Two young women start a new enterprise in Exmouth
Kirstine Richards

KR-TSH-421 CS cov v3-1.indd Two young, recently widowed mothers try to find a way to survive in war-scarred Britain. Kirstine and her German friend, Gerdy, lost their husbands at the end of the Second World War. They find themselves penniless, without any extended family support, each with two very young children and with scant prospects of earning a living. A great deal of determined initiative is needed. The stakes are high with chaos threatening them at every step. The two women find a de-requisitioned building in seaside Devon. They transform it into a family hotel, which eventually becomes renowned for its excellent cuisine. This enchanting story, told with a lightness of touch, moves from tragedy, to comedy, to triumph and back again.
Published:November 2016
Paperback:234 pages
Price:£10.00
ISBN:9-781911-175421


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Kirstine Richards née Rasmussen was born in Edinburgh to a Danish father, Christian Rasmussen, and Hilda Hill-Jones, on 14th March 1912, whose mother was Mary Ann McNair. She attended Edinburgh School of Art for one year, until her father died and the fees could no longer be paid. Life with her eccentric mother became intolerable. Fortunately an aunt came to the rescue and Kirstine moved to Devon, where she worked as a poorly paid designer at the Honiton Pottery. Subsequently Kirstine opened a café on Honiton High Street, called the ‘Highland Fling’ and it served excellent coffee and homemade cakes; making it very popular. She met her future husband, Gerald Arthur Richards; a young medical student from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, at the ‘Highland Fling’. Their two children, Nicholas and Louanne, were born during the 2nd World War and their father, Gerry, was accidentally wounded in Burma and died at Imphal on the 23rd January 1945. Kirstine, now a widow with two young children, had to find a way of earning a living. She and Gerdy Ramsay, who was also a widow and mother of two, together established a family hotel; ‘The Seagull’ in Exmouth in South Devon. The hotel opened in 1945. In 1959 Kirstine moved on from being a hotelier to becoming the case worker at the newly formed Agnostic Adoption Society, which was later to become the Independent Adoption Society. On retirement, she went to live near her cousin in the South of France, where she rented a small house; paying for her keep by hosting summer guests. A secondary breast cancer made her decide to move back to England, where she found an apartment at Queen Alexandra’s Court in Wimbledon; an attractive establishment for the widows of officers who had served in the forces. Kirstine died at St. Raphael’s hospice in London on the 25th February 1989.
Reader Reviews...

Review by Richard Moss
The Seagull Hotel offers a fascinating, moving and heart-warming first hand account of the struggles of two young mothers widowed during World War II. Told with candour and humour we hear about the conditions at the time and about the characters who worked at the hotel, and those who were guests. How would you turn a semi-derelict building into a thriving business when just getting hold of linen, furniture and food needed a special sort of daring and guile?

Review by Jane Dunbar
A truly inspiring book. A story of perseverance in the face of amazing difficulties., in which the author manages to infuse one disaster after another with humour.
Oh how I enjoyed it.

Amazon review by Mrs Rivers
I have just romped through The Seagull Hotel in 3 sittings- I loved it!

What a very special woman Kirstine was, so full of determination, courage and enthusiasm, undaunted, it seems by anything. Reading her story, she emerges as a precursor to 60’s feminism; widowed towards the end of WW2, mother of two small children with virtually no money, she navigates a path through what was then very much a man’s world of bankers and builders, discovering en route the thrills and spills of the black market in order to beat the post-war rationing system. With her friend Gerdy, also a young widow with children, she battles to establish The Seagull Hotel not just as a viable business but also as a loving home for the two families. What could have been just another drab seaside hotel on the English coast develops into a truly creative enterprise and becomes widely known for its excellent gourmet food. This splendid book is a hymn and testament to these two young women who refused to let misfortune, or men, get the better of them but don’t get the idea that it is in any way heavy going or gloomy. It is written with a lightness of touch, masses of humour - I laughed till I cried over the chapter about her mother - and, above all, humanity.

Amazon review by nettiek50
This is a beautifully written memoir
About two young widows struggling in a male dominated post war era.
A very easy and enlightening read. Parts of Exmouth remain the same to this day.