A hunting we will go!

Frome

Over the following year we visited Frome (very hilly - see picture - and with a great bead shop), Ilminster, Trowbridge, Taunton, Cheddar, Glastonbury (lovely place, but just too many magic crystal shops) and Wells (small, but perfectly formed little cathedral city) in Somerset. We fell in love with Corsham which reminded me of a miniature Stamford where I had lived for ten years before marrying Ian and has the lovely Corsham Court and gardens nearby, Salisbury and Shaftesbury (of the famous Hovis ad from the 70s). We explored Sherborne (beautiful cathedral-like church, but sadly too expensive), Blandford Forum and Tolpuddle (of the Martyrs) in Dorset. But, time and time again, we were drawn back to Weymouth and Dorchester.

At the same time Ian, with his new free time had been doing most of the work redecorating our hall, landing and stairs, clearing through six years’ worth of ‘stuff’ in the garage and the attic and we both had a serious de-clutter in every room that would have made Kirsty and Phil proud.

Finally, we were ready and, having had the house revalued by three estate agents, we finally signed the documents to get our house on the market on 30th April 2012. And received an offer at the right price just three weeks later!

A very special day

29th April 2011 was a very special day. Whilst I was in London attending a certain high-profile wedding, Ian was spending his last day in gainful employment. This new freedom meant that we were able to step up a gear in our search for a new home. We had our house valued to give us an idea of our budget and gave ourselves a year to get the house ready for sale and to finally decide where we wanted to be.

We had over the previous two or three years spent many long weekends and some weeks exploring our search area, ticking or crossing boxes along the way.

The 'Chemist' at Blists Hill Victorian Village, near Ironbridge

In Shropshire we spent a week self-catering near Ironbridge, visiting all its museums, following the town trail in Shrewsbury (a place I had been to many times as a child on shopping trips but had no recollection of it being such a pretty medieval town), hiking along Wenlock Edge, and having lunch in a charming café in Stafford (Ye Olde Soup Kitchen). In the end, although we liked the area very much and will go back again for holidays, we felt that whilst there was plenty of countryside, it just didn't feel right for us, it gets very cold in the winter and yes, it was too far from the sea!

Herefordshire and Gloucestershire are much like Shropshire with beautiful countryside and lovely villages. Hereford itself, however, where we stayed for a long October weekend couple of years ago, was spookily quiet in the evening. We walked from our B&B on both Friday and Saturday evenings and had meals in the centre of town. At Pizza Express on the Friday only two other tables were occupied. Walking back through the centre of the town there were just a few other people ambling about.

Gloucester, like Bath – another favourite place of ours – was just too expensive for what we wanted. It does have a lovely cathedral, though, and a very smart former docks/quays area which is being done up and converted into a smart residential accommodation.

Slowly but surely we were being drawn towards the south west and search area narrowed to Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset.

So, that's Gloucester, then or...

You may well think that having almost no restrictions on where you can live is the ideal situation if you want to move, and in a way it is. With a husband about to embark on a career break (ok – retire early) and a wife that works from a home office, we realised a few years ago that there was nothing to keep us in our current location. So, where to go? We made a list of wants for our new home:

• In the country, but within half an hour of a decent size town, shops and facilities
• A good local community
• Lovely views
• No constant traffic noise
• Not overlooked
• With an office, room to extend or space in the garden to build an office
• A decent broadband connection
• A good local pub
• An active church
• Within a couple of hours of London by car or train

Simple! So that’s near Gloucester then, or Shrewsbury, or York, or Bath, or… potentially half the country, so time to cut it down a bit. Time to start exploring.

A childhood by the sea

When I was growing up you could just see the sea from our house in Taliesin in west Wales. Mum, Dad, my little sister Jane and I, along with Bilbo our golden labrador, spent many happy outings building sandcastles on the beautiful sandy, beach at Borth, paddling in the shallow water, exploring the golden dunes at Ynyslas and searching for crabs and tiny shrimps in the pools of the submerged forest in between. And the sunsets – well you could hardly ask for a better view than that across Cardigan bay (see right).

Near Aberystwyth harbour in January 2011

Having said that, lured by the bright lights of London—and the appeal of a college course that didn't involve a foundation year in Carmarthen—I then left home at 18 and spent the next 30+ years living miles away from the sea. I lived in various addresses in London, moving away from the IRA bombs in the late 80s to work in Manchester (living in Bolton) only to be followed by the IRA and their bombs a few years later. I next spent twelve years in Stamford, Lincolnshire and then – after meeting Ian in Madeira followed by a year's long-distance courtship travelling between Stamford and Reading and a 15-month engagement – we got married in October 2004 and I moved into Ian's house in Lower Earley. We moved to our current home in Shinfield in April 2006. But the sea and the fresher air away from the M4 corridor are calling, and in just a few weeks we'll be moving on.