Retirement village welcomes its first residents
30 Apr 2007
Taunton's retirement village - Blagdon Village - has welcomed its very first residents.
John and Thelma Hobbs have moved into their three bedroom cottage and now look forward to neighbours joining them as the village starts to grow.
The couple - John a retired area director for Lloyds Bank, and Thelma, a former nurse - left behind what was their family home for the past 23 years in Tavistock, Devon.
“Very often, people in our time of life, get stuck in their ways and leave it too late to move. We were determined this wasn’t going to happen. It was time for us to move on,” explained John, 74.
John and Thelma have swapped a large four bedroom detached home with rambling gardens on the edge of Dartmoor for a three bedroom chalet with managed
landscaped grounds along Middleway, close to Vivary Park.
Location was vital, according to Thelma: “In all respects Taunton is a very attractive town - we have every kind of amenity virtually on our doorstep here, and there’s also good train connections and the airports aren’t too far away. On top of all this, we have our daughter and her husband close by and three of our grandchildren - we’ve never been so busy!”
A retirement village is still a relatively new concept - but reaction from friends and
family has been overwhelmingly positive.
John explained: “Once the village starts to come to life, and as more people move in and the main clubhouse facilities and services open, we will start to appreciate our new environment even more.
“There will be a natural social life which we can join as and when we want to. Thelma is looking forward to coffee mornings and making new friends. As for me, I have never had so much spare time. This has allowed me to get back into writing more articles for Old Glory and other vintage steam and heritage magazines.”
Once fully operational, Blagdon Village will comprise 85 privately-owned properties set around the new Blagdon Lodge, the central clubhouse with its own restaurant, bar, library and function room. There will also be a fitness room. The village will have a team of staff, including maintenance team to take care of the landscaped grounds. A weekly housework and bed linen washing service will also run.
“You can create your own luck in life and we both feel extremely lucky at the moment,” added John. “We became slaves to our old home and all the chores which needed doing. Here, we have peace of mind and the time to really enjoy ourselves doing exactly what we want.”
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