When Robin Richards took up a position at Janet Redler Travel & Tourism arranging accommodation for our tours, it couldn’t have been more appropriate, as he has a family involvement with hotels stretching back to his grandmother, who started the popular Seagull Hotel in Exmouth.

After Kirstine Richards lost her husband in World War Two, she found herself penniless with two young children. In an effort to make ends meet, Kirstine teamed up with her friend Gerdy, also a widow, to set up a hotel in a Devon seaside town.

Kirstine Richards

Although Kirstine was a prolific writer for her own and her family’s amusement, the compelling book she wrote about her experiences running the Seagull Hotel remained unpublished during her lifetime. In fact, the manuscript lay forgotten for decades until it was rediscovered three years ago by her son, Dr Nick Richards, Robin’s dad. Nick was so impressed with the content that he and his sister decided to edit it for publication and The Seagull Hotel was finally released last year by YouCaxton Publications, 28 years after Kirstine’s death.

Gerdy Ramsay and her children

The heart-warming story highlights the determination and energy needed by these two young women in male-dominated 1940s Britain to make a success of their enterprise. Kirstine and Gerdy found a de-requisitioned former hotel building for sale at a knock down price and transformed it into a thriving family hotel – unusual at a time when hotels tended to be fusty and unwelcoming to children – which eventually became famous for its excellent cuisine (Kirstine was also a Cordon Bleu chef).

Robin Richards said: “I was delighted to find out about my grandmother’s life as a hotelier when my Dad uncovered her book. She is a real inspiration to me and I am sure, now that I am working in the tourism industry, that I can learn a lot of lessons from what she did and how she went about things.”

Our new Operations Executive Robin Richards

Janet Redler, Chief Executive of Janet Redler Travel & Tourism, added: “We were fascinated to hear Robin’s grandmother’s story and to meet his dad Nick, who brought this wonderful book back to life. Although we didn’t know it when we appointed him, it seems like it was meant to be that Robin would eventually end up in the travel business. His family background is sure to stand him in good stead when dealing with hotels for our tours!”

The Seagull Hotel was converted into private apartments in the late 1950s and is now known as Seagull House.

The book, The Seagull Hotel, is available through YouCaxton and Amazon.