After two decades living in London Helen Croydon had picked up certain prejudices about what life beyond the M25 looked like.
But the pandemic forced her out of her urban comfort zone and she discovered the joys of more simple pleasures like long walks in the countryside, dogs at her feet, and time spent relaxing in the garden.
Three years ago Helen packed her bags and swapped Limehouse for Brighton – she wasn’t ready to go right out into the sticks – where she has made new friends, scaled back on her working hours, and spends as much time as possible in the sea or on the South Downs.
“I could never imagine living out of London, it was the place to be when you were partying in your twenties,” she said. “I always thought that everyone outside London would be a little bit small minded, I thought there would be no creatives and entrepreneurial spirits. That has proved to be simply not true.”
Helen’s conversion to life on the coast happened slowly, and by increment.
Before the pandemic she was living in a one bedroom flat in Limehouse and running her own public relations firm.
She met her boyfriend through friends in 2016. He was based in Horsham, West Sussex, and lived in a house surrounded by fields with his three daughters and three springer spaniels. Spending weekends with him allowed Helen to dip her toe in the country lifestyle and she discovered – somewhat to her surprise – that she rather liked it.
“Before we met I did like dogs, from afar, but I also thought they were a bit smelly and would get under your feet,” said Helen. “But the dogs quickly became the apples of my eye.”
Helen loves running and cycling and she also enjoyed the freedom of being able to get off road in Sussex.
When the first lockdown began Helen decided that being in Horsham was infinitely preferable than being stuck in a small flat, and spent around six months there. “My life took a new direction,” she said. “I just got into the lifestyle and I started looking online to see what I could buy outside London.”
Helen returned to her flat in the summer of 2020 but found it hard to simply return to her old life. “I felt like I had moved on and being in London was like going backwards.”
Brighton made sense to Helen because she loved the idea of being by the coast, and it wouldn’t be too much of a culture shock.
Moving out of London was complicated when Helen discovered her flat was in a building which had been affected by the fire safety crisis. Its cladding needed to be removed and replaced and until the work was completed it was unmortgageable and therefore almost unsellable.
Undeterred Helen stretched her finances, and borrowed money, to fund her move to Brighton. In May 2021 she paid circa £500,000 for a three bedroom flat half way between the beach and the South Downs. Sorting out the issues with the Limehouse flat are ongoing.
“I love Brighton,” said Helen. “It is so friendly, and there is a sense of community which I didn’t even know I was missing in London.”
Since she moved Helen has reframed her career too. The former journalist decided to wind up her PR company and concentrate on writing again, as an author, ghostwriter, and writing coach (www.helencroydon.com).
“It was very stressful running a business, and the whole vibe of moving to a town like Brighton where there are lots of freelance and gig workers rubs off on you,” she said. “I fancied having a slower pace of life.”
