Forget the traditional seaside retreat. Retirees are opting for bustling market towns with good food and café society, says Caroline McGhie.

Dennis and Joan Chivers considered moving for their old age to Bude in Cornwall, where they could watch the Atlantic rollers sweep in and be close to their only son, who moved there to be a signwriter. “But the seaside is cold in winter,” Dennis says. “I was stationed in a seaside town in the war, and I know the cold only too well.” Instead, they sought out the pretty market town of Wantage in Oxfordshire, close to the chalk downs.

Increasingly, elderly buyers are being drawn like bees to the honeypots of some of our loveliest market towns, turning their backs on traditional retirement hot spots that they feel have become over-burdened with oldies. Research by the retirement specialist Pegasus, using data from Rightmove, shows that a subtle change is being made in the choices they make, away from the coast and towards inland towns with good butchers and greengrocers, coffee shops and a social life as well as gyms and swimming pools.

So places like Hadleigh in Suffolk, New Milton in Hampshire and Dorchester in Dorset now feature among 20 areas with the greatest number of specialist retirement properties for sale, alongside old favourites such as Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton. Alternative seaside addresses are also being looked at. Exmouth, for example, where Pegasus has recently created a new development, is seen as having a younger spring in its step. “I have had many inquiries from people who want to move to Devon,” says Dianne Chinnock, sales manager in Exmouth. “But they have found the concentration of older people in some towns a bit overwhelming.”

The Chivers, both in their eighties, enjoy the vibrancy of a town on their doorstep. “I can fetch a newspaper in 10 minutes,” Dennis says. “We buy locally made sausages at the weekly market, where we also get our vegetables and our wet fish.” Small-town friendliness has embraced them. The Lamb Inn provided the catering for their diamond wedding anniversary soon after they moved in.

WANTAGE, Oxfordshire

A statue of King Alfred gazes upon the market square, where food producers bring pies and jams to sell, making this town a bit of a quiet charmer. There are plenty of activities including country dancing: the Icknield Way Morris Men (Civic Hall, Weds); clog dancing (Grove village hall, Mon); and 17th-century dancing (Charney Bassett, Tues). There is a big swimming pool in Wantage Leisure Centre, a local cinema and choral society.

Retirement choice: one-bedroom flats at £174,950, two bedrooms at £249,950, through Pegasus (sales 01235 767929).

EXMOUTH, Devon

Two miles of beach, rock pools, an indoor market and railway line to Exeter make the town a good alternative to glamorous Sidmouth. It is more of a working town than a resort, with a large community college that has more than 2,000 students. It is also a wonderland for birdwatchers. There is lots of music – pub gigs, a town concert band, an operatic society – and plenty of sport, with a seafront lawn tennis club, two heated pools in the sports centre and the famous Christmas Day swim in the sea for the hardy (or mad).

Retirement choice: one-bedroom at £174,950, two bedrooms at £249,950, at Pegasus Court (sales 0800 583 8844).

HENLEY-ON-THAMES, Oxfordshire

Picture-book pretty by the willow-draped Thames, Henley has what many older couples might look for. A number of local shops see to daily needs. There are tea rooms to meet in and a newly refurbished leisure centre with gym, dance classes and heated pool. The town bursts into life each summer for the music festival and the Henley Regatta, when it clogs up with boats, rowing teams and pretty girls in big hats.

Retirement choice: three-bedroom Grade II listed Georgian town house in the centre of town with a 150ft garden at £750,000 through Knight Frank (01491 844900).

DENHAM, Buckinghamshire

A pretty village with a terrific golf club created out of a 16th-century tithe barn, an infant school and trains into London Marylebone station (Chiltern line). It is the kind of unspoilt Home Counties village where you expect Miss Marple to pop into the bakery in the morning. Foodies are kept happy with a plethora of restaurants and gastropubs.

Retirement choice: Denham Garden Village for the over-55s. There is a health spa, café, shop, doctor’s surgery. Two-bedroom apartments from £370,000, and two-bedroom bungalows £405,000 to £450,000 (The Frost Partnership 01895 836333).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/retirementproperty/

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