Couple flee Spain for a new life at Lime Tree Village
For years Trevor and Jenny Marlow had dreamed of living abroad. They even had a location in mind – Tossa de Mar, a picturesque resort on Spain’s west coast where they’d spent many happy holidays.
Once Trevor retired from his engineering business and with their children settled in their own lives it was crunch time.
“We’d lived in a village near Rugby for eight years and had a beautiful garden which we were fastidious about,” said Jenny. “But the garden was becoming too much of a chore and our four bedroom house was too big. We realised if we didn’t buy abroad now we’d never do it.”
After months of careful planning the couple swapped their village home in the heart of England for a three bedroom apartment with oak floors and wrap round balconies just 500 metres from the Mediterranean.
“The apartment was beautiful and, at first, everything was idyllic, like one long holiday,” said Trevor. “We moved to Spain in September but even then the weather was warm and we’d take long walks on the beach with our Jack Russell dog or head up into the mountains. The wine was free flowing and the lifestyle was very relaxed.”
Determined to throw themselves into their new life, the couple applied for residency and shunned the English cafes in favour of traditional Spanish haunts.
But before long the first pangs of homesickness hit.
“When we tried to speak Catalan – the local language – people quickly realised we were English and spoke to us in English,” said Trevor. “Spanish people spend all day doing business and weekends and evenings with their family which makes it difficult to integrate.
“I play golf but I found it difficult to find people to play with. And while the Spanish people had a real sense of community some weren’t very happy about foreigners buying property in the town.”
For Jenny, it was the simple things she missed.
“It’s a cliché but I missed not being able to pop to Marks and Spencers for a new t-shirt,” said Jenny. “We missed our curries and Branston Pickle!”
And although the couple were keen to integrate into Spanish life and enjoyed wandering round the markets in neighbouring Lloret del Mar, they missed conversation.
“Sometimes we’d go a week without having an English conversation with anyone but each other,” said Jenny.
“Within six months I was beginning to wonder if we’d done the right thing. But we wanted to give it a fair chance. The town was like a ghost town through the winter but from April it was much livelier so we stuck it out.”
But by July, 10 months after they’d first arrived, Jenny was convinced she wanted to go home.
“I broached the subject with Trevor then left him to think about it,” said Jenny, now 64. “A week later he agreed with me.”
Once they confessed how they felt to other English people in the town, the couple discovered the bubble had burst for plenty of them too.
“We definitely got the feeling many of them would have chosen to come home if they could but with property prices so much cheaper in Spain it can be difficult to get back on the housing ladder in the UK,” said Trevor, who is now 68.
Thankfully, the couple did have the means to be able to move back home. And they had no doubt where they wanted to live.
“We’d been to look at Lime Tree Village before we’d moved out to Spain when Cawston House was still being refurbished and the office was in a cabin,” said Trevor. “We loved the idea of a retirement village and knew if we were coming back to the UK that was where we wanted to be.”
It took several months before a suitable property was released for sale on the site in Dunchurch, near Rugby. But Trevor and Jenny were persistent.
“We faxed and rang the sales office every week checking the progress of the building work,” said Trevor. “We had our eye on the two bedroom cottages overlooking the fields.”
As soon as the property they wanted was released, Trevor flew back to the UK to secure it. Eighteen months on the couple haven’t had a moment’s regret.
There are people to talk to, views out the window and a Marks and Spencer just a short car journey away.
“Spain was lovely but, in the 14 months we lived there, it never really felt like home,” admits Jenny. “We are happy living in a place with security and facilities. Of course the weather isn’t as good and we are miles from the sea but we recognise you can’t have everything. As far as compromises go this is a pretty good one.”
Lime Tree Village, exclusively for the over 55s, is now in the final phase of development. The village, set in beautifully landscaped grounds and boasting an Edwardian mansion featuring communal areas, bar and restaurant as the centrepiece, has two bedroom apartments and the last remaining cottages and bungalows available with prices from £175,000.
Lime Tree Village is located off Cawston Lane in Dunchurch, near Rugby. Tel: 01788 812846 for more details or visit www.retirementvillages.co.uk. The show properties are open for viewing seven days a week from 11am to 5pm.
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