And so we have the first glimpses of the end of summer. A chilly night last week, and blackberries starting to ripen (late this year).

Yet here in East Devon, summer never seems to run out of steam much before the first week in October, the tourism business is at full tilt this week as much as back in June. And while our plucky hospitality trade endured the most unfavourable possible circumstances for the last 18 months, it has dug in and done all it can to flourish.

The government has done well here. Of course some businesses sadly have gone to the wall, but there has been financial support available from Whitehall distributed by East Devon District Council which has saved far more. With that support, and furlough, most have muddled through to be able to reap dividends this summer.

A tribute is deserved here to all those who manage and work in hotels, B&Bs, caravan parks, campsites, restaurants, pubs, tea shops, ice cream parlours, watersports providers and many more. They have had to consider public and personal safety on every day they have traded, and the ingenuity with which they have rearranged their offer to the public has been terrific.

In keeping the hospitality flame alive, many jobs have been provided, supply chains have been supported, and what might have otherwise been dead and dreary towns and villages have put on a great show for the visiting public.

This has perhaps been the greatest achievement of all, because almost all of these tourists will have been British, and mainly English. In another world, they may have wanted to spend a fortnight slathered in suntan lotion by the Mediterranean, and have perhaps only reluctantly substituted Malaga for East Devon.

Yet when they arrived, they were met with a professional local effort. I have particular knowledge of this as my wife and I run a very small part-time homestay B&B in Colyton, usually only four guests at a time. As I am Captain Breakfast, I have the real pleasure of speaking with an ever-changing cast of characters every morning.

Almost without exception, they divulged that they hadn’t known East Devon before, and most had never been. Their Devon holidays would be in the north of the county, or Torbay, or the South Hams, or Dartmoor and Exmoor. The idea of East Devon had never occurred, and many had only been forced this way by full occupancy in the rest of the county.

And they loved it. We are in Colyton, so the big hits were the Beer to Branscombe walk, the Seaton Wetlands, the Seaton to Colyton tramway. But here is the surprise package – although they loved going further afield to Budeigh, Otterton, Sidmouth and Exmouth, they really relished Seaton.

Yes, you heard me right, Seaton people. Historically perhaps a little neglected in an East Devon context, its unspoiled beach has been perfect for long walks, an ever-growing café and restaurant offer, and, as in the rest of the district – and from our guests’ perspective – good-humoured, warm and helpful people. It was often said that in East Devon, despite our odd troubles, there was an atmosphere of good will and positivity.

So you’ve done yourselves proud, tourism and hospitality sector, and I wonder if the real legacy of this gruelling holiday season will be that many, not all of course, will return here. To me, keeping our end up has been all about enterprise. Last weekend, the Seaton Carnival, challenged this year again like all carnivals, pressed ahead with a vintage car display. Engaging, nostalgic, fun. Further along the front a company has been hiring out paddleboards and canoes, and on Sunday I counted 50 such craft bobbing about on the water (some privately owned of course).

I leave the final word to my daughter, in Normandy last weekend, on a beautiful length of coast. “But I prefer Seaton,” she said.