Woodbridge farmers decide to sell up to fund fishing venture

The Simper family has put its entire 141-acre riverside estate at Ramsholt - including a farmhouse and outbuildings - with panoramic views over the Deben Estuary on the market.

The family is now looking to move to Cornwall - where there is a bigger industry - to expand its fishing business.

Lodge Farm Estate - described as "idyllic and wonderfully secluded" -  is on the market through Landbridge and Jackson-Stops with a guide price tag of £3.5m.

It comes with a third of a mile of sandy beach and there are two existing boat moorings at the site. It includes stables, and 4,250sq ft of stores, workshops and barn.

In October, the Simper family put their 110-acre asparagus farm with stunning views of the River Deben at Ramsholt, near Woodbridge, on the market through agents Landbridge.

But they were originally planning to retain their farmhouse at Lodge Farm with about 38 acres of farmland and woodland - including a 10-acre asparagus field.

The family has always combined farming with sailing and fishing, but Harry Simper - the youngest generation - elected early on to devote himself fully to a fishing career.

He began it 12 years ago at the age of 16 and by 2019 the venture had grown to a fleet of four small commercial fishing boats.

His father, Jonathan, felt the business should be pointed "in the direction that the next generation wants to go".

Now the 10-generation farming family is looking at extending the sale of its farm to include the farmhouse area.

The decision follows an assessment of the finances they will require to fund their planned fishing fleet expansion - and the huge interest the sale has attracted in the larger site, said Jonathan.

"Our  further investigation into the fishing industry makes us realise how much finances required to do a good job of investing well on the fishing industry for the future and secondly, a lot of interested parties in the farmland have enquired if more of Ramsholt Lodge would be available for sale possibly if we could include the beach and the woodland above the cliff and some even the the house," he explained.

"This has made us realise what a massive demand there is for such a property.

"I do believe as a family one of our greatest strengths is we make joint decisions for the benefit of our family and our business which we are hoping to expand and employ more young skippers and crews."

The business was "already very lucky" with the people it worked with a full and part-time basis, he said. Various factors also made them reassess where the fleet should be based.

"All this does make you think long and hard about whether this is an opportunity to be able to invest in the industry the younger generation of the family is keen to be involved in," said Jonathan.

"Ramsholt has been an ideal place from which to start a fishing career particularly for Harry growing up on the banks of the river he could handle a boat almost as quickly as he could walk and he could certainly walk in soft mud almost as quickly as he could walk on hard ground.

"It was an ideal place to work our small boats from - but now we’re moving up to bigger boats to be honest the Deben itself is not particularly good for.

"There was one fishing boat sunk at the shallow entrance of the river last year and this is not the first time this has happened."

Harry was keen to work from deepwater ports with their larger new boat which meant the necessity to be on the riverbank "has rather waned", he said.

"It is for this reason that we have decided to sell the whole of Ramsholt Lodge including our beloved farmhouse with beautiful views out over the Deben from almost all sides and move onto a new chapter in the family‘s business career," he said.

"This obviously represents quite a change to our plans how they were even a few months ago.

"But I'm a great believer that the only thing that's inevitable in life is change and the only thing any of us can do is try and guide change in the direction that improves life for those around us like family and people you work with sometimes last changes are necessary to move forwards.

"This of course doesn't mean we will not be incredibly sad to leave the place we love we will of course but I do believe it's the right decision."

Land agent Will Barton of Landbridge said it was a very rare sale - and a more than a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

"It's a beautiful place to be," he said. "They (the owners) have decided after a lot of soul-searching that their lift is now going to move to Cornwall. The rationale behind selling the land was they were looking to resource their fishing business."

The peaceful and private location was likely to attract a range of buyers including those concerned with lifestyle and conservation, he added.