Ren Harvieu moved from her native Salford to London when she was 25, convinced that it would be the best place to further her career as a singer songwriter.
Eight years later she has discovered that true creative freedom lies beyond the M25.
“When I moved down it was a mixture of wanting to get over a big breakup and because of my career,” said Ren.
“It was fast and energetic and exciting and at first I was overwhelmed by it, but I loved it. London is completely anonymous, and you feel like you can do anything and be anything,” she adds.
“In Manchester you can’t go out for five minutes without bumping into someone you know, and there is more of a “Who do you think you are?” attitude.”
The big downside of London life was the cost.
By last year Ren was living in a one bedroom flat in Palmers Green with her boyfriend, musician Romeo Stodart, 46, and their Shih Tzu dog, Ralph, which cost £1,300 pcm.
Renting a studio in Hoxton added another £700 to her monthly costs.
“I don’t want to be too negative about Palmers Green but it is like there is no vibe there at all,” said Ren, now 33.
“It felt like the end of the earth, but to afford to be in London I had to live there.”
The daily round trip to Hoxton took around three hours, leaving Ren exhausted and miserable, and she began to think about getting out of the city altogether.
“I was just so obsessed with moving that I was on Rightmove every night,” she said.
“I was just scanning everywhere that wasn’t too far from London.”
When she stumbled upon a cute, pink, three bedroom cottage in Colchester, Essex, she was smitten.
The journey time to London, at around 45 minutes, was quicker than from Palmers Green.
Better still the £1,700pcm cottage had space for a home studio, and because she’d never heard of Colchester she had no preconceptions.
She, Romeo, and Ralph moved down in November.
Since then Ren has found working from home a joy, and her latest single came out on February 21. Her third album will follow in September.
Since the move Ren has been recovering from surgery on her foot but has been able to start exploring the town a little.
Colchester is an army town with a rough and ready reputation but Ren is finding much to love about it.
“It is an old Roman city and there are lots of beautiful old buildings,” she said.
“And there is lots to do. There is lots of live music in the pubs every night. I can’t understand why people have a problem with it.”
