RURAL HAVEN IS EVERYTHING WE WANTED
Vanessa Emery, 32, works in public relations and lives in Eastbury, Berks, with her husband Joel, 32, and their daughters Nola, three, and seven-month-old Romy
As I sit in a cosy pub having a delicious Sunday dinner with my husband, our daughters, and our French bulldog Bilbo, it feels as though life couldn’t get much better.
During the pandemic we swapped our busy London life for a beautiful village in the Berkshire countryside.
Before the pandemic we owned a two-bedroom flat in Ealing, West London.
I work in public relations and was in and out of the city for meetings and glamorous events. Joel, a podcast writer, trekked all over the city too.
In the evening after work we made the most of what London had to offer.
Then one day, just before lockdown, we were taking a drive in the car and took a detour as Nola had fallen asleep.
We stumbled across the most beautiful village in Berkshire, with chocolate box cottages and beautiful views.
Joel grew up in the countryside and we always dreamt of giving Nola a childhood like his, so we started looking online at houses in the village. But they were way beyond what we could afford.
Then in the pandemic I began working from home and our old London life felt as though it no longer existed.
Our dream village was still out of our price range, but in the nearby village of Eastbury there was a three-bedroom house on the market which we could just afford with the money we’d save from the stamp duty holiday.
It looked like a postcard, with a thatched roof and a stream running through the garden.
We took the plunge and put in an offer, and we’ve never looked back.
We’ve swapped bustling bars for long walks in the countryside.
Our daughters love playing in our garden, and Bilbo is much happier frolicking in fields than he was doing a circuit of the local park.
Our dream has finally come true.
■■Joel produces True Crime Podcast Jackie the Ripper