As a twentysomething with a burning ambition to work in the music industry, moving from her native Southport to London seemed like a no brainer for Louise Baldwin.
Twelve years later Louise headed back to Merseyside as a thirtysomething, with her partner and their young daughter in tow, and for equally compelling reasons.
When Louise moved to the capital in 2010 it seemed like the only place to pursue her career dreams. “There didn’t seem to be much choice in the matter back then,” she said. “There wasn’t much of a music industry in the north east at the time, and if I wanted a job I needed to move south.”
Louise got a job with the PRS (Performing Rights Society) for Music, working on contract negotiations, and began producing music too (check out her work at @petalsinsound). And although she’d only intended to stay in the capital a couple of years, she found that she loved the atmosphere and vibe.
When she met her partner, Pete Fellows, who works as an accountant specialising in the music industry, it only encouraged her to stay put.
In 2016 Louise and Pete put down roots, buying a two-bedroom flat in Sydenham, just south of Crystal Palace Park, for circa £400,000.
Things changed when the couple had their daughter Blake, in the summer of 2021.
“Although she was only small, all the stuff you have to get for a baby, like a buggy, is massive,” said Louise. “Our two-bedroom flat started to feel very, very small very, very quickly.”
Buying a bigger place in London wasn’t an option for the couple, both now 39, and as both had been brought up by the sea (Pete’s family is from Sussex) they started thinking about giving Blake the same experience.
Louise and Pete decided that their perfect location was Crosby, a coastal town some seven miles north of Liverpool, for its long, sandy beach, and the fact that it would represent a completely fresh start for both of them.
In early 2022 bought a five-bedroom semi-detached house for £375,000 — considerably less than they sold their London flat for and headed north.
“For me it kind of feels like I have come home,” said Louise, who now works for a record company in Liverpool. “It has got the same sort of feeling as Southport, the architecture and the beach are similar, but it also feels like somewhere fresh.
“We know all of our neighbours, and everyone really looks out for us, there are lots of good restaurants and cool little coffee places — lots of the cool things about London do exist in other places too, you might just have to look a bit harder for them — and the beach is a 20-minute walk away.
“We do walk around feeling like we have won the life lottery a bit. We are so grateful. I don’t regret moving to London at all, but I don’t regret leaving either.”
