It started with a yearning to move back to London after nearly three decades living in the countryside. Mainly because living in the countryside when you are single is not for the faint-hearted. I now feel I have been away from a city for so long that I’ve grown roots into the earth and that all my city-living friends are having fabulous, interesting, connected lives and I am not. This worries me.
Also, the countryside is a bit of a closed shop — it’s full of couples and it’s a very clubbable place and I am not a very clubbable person. It’s particularly difficult over Christmas as everyone gets invited to wonderful Christmas parties — the ones you see in John Lewis adverts — and I never get invited as I am not coupled up. I got divorced more than a year ago and have gone on plenty of dates in the countryside but I’ve reached the point at which I need to expand my circle. I tried apps but met nobody I really fancied. After all, it’s not easy dating in your 50s. It seems particularly difficult when you are dating in the countryside.
