DARTMOUTH History Research Group has taken a step back in time looking at businesses of a bygone age – and has found the heart of the town is as robust today as it was half a century ago.

It has produced a new book, called Dartmouth Then – Dartmouth Now, which describes how the town’s shops and retail trade have changed and developed during the last half century.

The book has been researched and written by two members of the history group, Hilary Sunman and Peter Prynn, and will be launched next Tuesday at 6pm at Dartmouth Library.

‘In the mid-1960s, Dart­mouth was a small, self-contained town, based on fishing and maritime trade with a few tourist boats and the Britannia Royal Naval College,’ say the authors.

‘Some 50 years later, the fishing has all but gone, the number of tourist boats has exploded and there is still the college.

‘There are also two supermarkets, 16 art galleries, but only one butcher and one green grocer.’

The book compares the numbers and types of shops and businesses that existed in the mid 1960s with those of today – 50 years on – and finds that while there are many changes on the surface, the overall number of shops is roughly the same, about 400.

Although more of them are concerned with leisure – particularly clothes shops and gift shops – the heart of the town is as robust as ever.

In this booklet, the authors take the reader along the main shopping streets – Fairfax Place, the South Embankment, Duke Street and Foss Street – looking, shop by shop, at the changes since the 1960s.

The authors found that Dartmouth has retained its sense of quiet self-sufficiency and they reflect on how the town has preserved its vitality.

Dartmouth seems to have fared better than neighbouring towns, such as Salcombe where nearly 40 per cent of its homes are empty in the winter, abandoned by second homers; or Totnes, which for all its vibrant high street still has over 10 charity shops in the town centre.

The essence of Dartmouth has always been its relation with the sea and the river – from the earliest trading days to modern times. And the authors conclude that the town continues to thrive because of this relationship. The river continues to be at the heart of Dartmouth life.

The book costs £4 .

It will be on sale at Dart­mouth Museum, the Dart­mouth Community Book­shop and the tourist information centre.

Proceeds are in aid of group funds.