The nineteenth century designer, poet and novelist William Morris said: "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." And that's the ethos behind Ruth Birch's shop, Georgian House.

The shelves are filled with stylish home décor items, kitchenware and cookware, along with cruelty-free skincare products, and accessories including hats and bags. The shop attracts many people in search of presents for friends or relatives, but it's not a gift shop. Customers buy things that remind them of Dawlish, but they're not useless souvenir-type items; they're both decorative and useful.

Ruth, who opened the shop in May last year, does her best to source products that are 'local-ish', so the shop stocks quality items from Dartmoor, Cornwall and other parts of the south west. She also uses an artist based in East Colyton to produce some of the designs featured on the products.

A 'ruffled' and 'manly' black swan adorns many products

You can't help noticing that the Dawlish black swan image is well represented – on cushion covers, coasters and kitchenware - and there's a story behind that. It's not just a generic black swan, it's a depiction of the male bird who was nearly lost to avian flu last month, the father of the five cygnets who died in the outbreak.

Ruth said: "Last May he was a cygnet. I took lots of pictures of him and sent them to the artist, and she created the image based on how I wanted him to look - slightly ruffled looking, he's looking quite manly.

"He's quite distinctive because they normally have their wing feathers all white, but he has them interspersed with black, like a piano keyboard, which is how I could recognise him.

"I call him Liberace."

The black swan items are popular with holidaymakers wanting a reminder of Dawlish, and also with people wanting presents for relatives in care homes who can no longer visit the town. A picture of a black swan, with the words 'How I love you, my dear old Dawlish', is very popular with people who have a historic connection with the town but no longer live here.

Fantastic fundraising through face masks

Another product that has taken off for a very different reason is the shop's stylish and comfortable Covid-19 face masks – and again, there's a story behind them. They're made locally by Pat Colkin, who has been self-isolating while convalescing from a double lung transplant, and wanted to do something useful with her time.

Ruth said: "We sell them at £5 each and we've now raised £2,000 for the Harefield Transplant unit that saved her life, and Rowcroft, one of the local hospices,because we'd raised so much we thought we'd spread the goodwlll.

"People tell their friends about them and they buy them specifically because they're for charity.

"Pat's an excellent seamstress, she's created a product that's comfortable and beautiful, it's lovely to be able to help."

Georgian House is now selling Christmas presents and decorations as well as its usual stock. The shop is at 24, Brunswick Place, and also has a regularly updated Facebook page.