A Good Scrap I Fear
A memoir of hospitality, humour, and a
long fight for fairness.
At first glance, The Cottage Hotel was just another family-run seaside hotel. But behind the scenes, it was the setting for half a century of extraordinary stories—and one battle that would change everything.At first glance, The Cottage Hotel was just another family-run seaside hotel. But behind the scenes, it was the setting for half a century of extraordinary stories—and one battle that would change everything.
The Life of a Hotel
Through anecdotes, diary entries, and family recollections, A Good Scrap I Fear opens the doors to The Cottage Hotel at Hope Cove. Readers are invited behind the reception desk and into the kitchen, where the real heartbeat of hospitality lies.
The book captures the highs and lows of hotel life: the loyalty of long-serving staff, the chaos of summer seasons, and the unforgettable characters—both guests and employees—who shaped the place. There are laugh-out-loud mishaps, dramatic emergencies, and warm memories of community spirit.
The Planning Battle
Running through the memoir is a second strand: a years-long dispute with South Hams District Council. What began as a disagreement over planning escalated into a protracted struggle marked by bureaucracy, frustration, and an eventual revelation—an email discovered through a Freedom of Information request that read:
“We shall be in for a good scrap, I fear.”
That single line gave the book its title and encapsulates the spirit of resistance that defines the narrative. It is a story not only of one family’s ordeal, but also of the imbalance of power that many small businesses face.
Why This Book Matters
A Good Scrap I Fear is more than a hotel memoir. It is a deeply personal account of one family’s life, told with candour and warmth, but also a document of record.
By bringing together human stories and documentary evidence, the book speaks to a much larger issue: how ordinary people and small enterprises can be disadvantaged when institutions are not properly held to account. For readers, it offers both laughter and outrage, nostalgia and urgency. It asks important questions about fairness, community, and the dignity of work—questions
that resonate far beyond the Devon coast.
Themes That Resonate
Hospitality as a vocation – celebrating the often invisible work that makes guests feel at home.
Family legacy – honouring the vision of William’s parents, John and Janet, and continuing the story his mother first began to write.
Humour and humanity – finding light in the mishaps, eccentricities, and friendships that colour hotel life.
Accountability and reform – using lived experience as a call to challenge systems that fail the people they are meant to serve.
A Story Rooted in Devon, With Lessons for All
This book is firmly grounded in a specific place and time, but its message is universal.
Anyone who has worked in service, run a small business, or battled with bureaucracy will recognise parts of their own story here. A Good Scrap I Fear is a memoir, a case study, and above all, a tribute—to family, to resilience, and to the belief that change is possible when stories are told.
