Homesearch
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The only two things of great importance in my life are to be married and to walk my own land. I married in my early twenties and in my early thirties I got the unstoppable urge to walk my own land.
I told Pat, my beloved and long-suffering wife, what I wanted and she backed up the idea and said ‘no problem, let’s get looking.’
We searched for 18 months and looked at all sorts of farms in the greater Manchester area until eventually even her patience ran out and I was told in no uncertain terms ‘you want a farm, you go find one’.
I found a 20-acre disused farm in Bury, went to the auction, was outbid, went home and decided to put the house on the market and sold it within two weeks.
Oops! Nowhere to live. The farm in Bury had been withdrawn at the auction, to which I had taken great exception, and had written a few fairly nasty letters about it.
I spoke to the auctioneer, who remembered me, made him an offer at 10am one Tuesday and had the contract ready for signing at my solicitors that afternoon at 2pm.
Easy, find Pat and tell her what I am doing. Problem is she is nowhere to be found, no mobile phones in those days, so I bought the farm that afternoon and told her later that evening.
What have I done? We move into a bungalow on the farm and the previous owner has left a huge dog, half Alsatian, half mountain dog, chained to the downspout of the house. As we are moving in, this hound from hell is trying to kill everybody.
Whoever said the countryside is quiet should spend a night there. We did not sleep a wink – dog howling, owls killing things, stray cats doing what cats do.
Still no going back and I tell Pat with great confidence we will soon get used to it.
Derelict
I started work on the totally derelict house, taking about two years to finish it before we can move in, and now I am finally getting to the point. I started work on the land to transform it from an unused field into my own personal park.
Over the next 25 years we planted 13,000 trees, 135,000 spring and summer bulbs, rhododendron banks, forsythia banks and planted an arboretum with 40 specimen trees. Around the house we created a walled garden, rose garden and Italian formal garden, planted a gorgeous laburnum arch and laid Yorkstone flagged courtyards.
The garden was so big that it was obviously going to take me a lifetime to complete, if, in fact, I could ever finish it, so I thought OK, I will build a mausoleum and end up being buried there – seemed a simple enough idea to me.
Two years ago, as I was walking round the gardens, a strange feelings came over me. I tend to be more of a doer than an emotional person, so it came as a great shock that I started to feel great mixed emotions.
I felt huge affection for the garden – which had always been a labour of love – and one of great sadness that I had actually finished my work.
If I did any more it would be over planted and ultimately spoilt in 40 years time when it would be truly mature.
What to do? I have always had a grand project to work on. My three businesses, which I created, were OK, but I was getting fed up of employment legislation and was thinking of selling the two manufacturing units and keeping the property renting business.
What to do indeed. No one to blame, I have put myself in this situation.
No way can I go golfing all day. The farm has two golf courses on three sides and I can’t stand the golfers’ supercilious attitude.
Although I am a pilot, I can’t go flying all the time. We already travel and for the last five years we have only been in to work four days a week.
Project
What to do indeed but I’ll go mad without a project.
Then the idea slowly came to me. We can sell up the farm and move to central Portugal.
During the war I visited and loved Thailand and Portugal, but Thailand’s too hot and too far, so Portugal it is.
I’m buying another derelict farm, bigger this time – 40 acres. Build a new house. I think I will try Art Deco style this time.
Start a new business building small numbers of houses featured on lakes and rivers in peaceful rural situations. Learn a new language and culture. That lot should keep me busy for a few years.
Now when is the best time to mention this to Pat?
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