During the 20-or-so years they spent living in London Tina and Andy Worboys had a classically urban life.
Tina was a graphic designer, Andy a filmmaker, and they lived in a terraced house in Ealing with a long skinny garden. “We loved London and never thought we would leave,” said Tina.
The first stirrings of discontent were work related. Tina began to tire of helping big brands market themselves, and yearned to do something more worthwhile. She retrained as a garden designer and found she loved working with nature.
Then Andy got a job working on The Serengeti Rules, a film about the scientists whose work underpins our understanding of ecology, and was inspired by what he learned.
“We wanted more of a connection with the planet, and with nature,” said Tina. “We wanted to have a bit of land and maybe to do something to make a bit of a positive impact with it.”
The couple began house hunting just before the start of the pandemic and fell for the glorious landscape of the Wye Valley on the border of England and Wales. “It was also affordable,” added Tina.
“We wanted to have a bit of land and maybe to do something to make a bit of a positive impact with it.”
In February 2020 they had an offer accepted on a five bedroom detached Grade II-listed Georgian house with a couple of acres near the town of Tenbury Wells, some 130 miles north west of London.
The start of the pandemic delayed the deal, but in July 2020 the couple, both 47, and their children Layne, now 11, and Daisy, eight, made the move. Their London house sold for circa £930,000, and their new home cost some £785,000.
The between-lockdowns move ran smoothly — the children were so used to being at home by this point that they barely blinked at leaving London — and Andy was already working from home most of the time.
“People here have a lot more space, and that is exciting.”
“It took me a bit of time to reestablish myself, and for people to get to know who I am and what I do, but I found I also had a renewed sense of purpose,” said Tina. “People here have a lot more space, and that is exciting, and I also still have some clients in London.”
When not working on other people’s gardens Tina has been working on her own space.
So far she has planted an orchard (with the fruit of her new cider apple trees earmarked for a future attempt at brewing), a wildflower meadow, and an allotment for food growing.
Over the year she picks wild garlic to make pesto, uses elderflowers to make cordial, and is loving watching the seasons unfold. “We are not using any chemicals, and letting nature come back,” she said. “We are just allowing plants to be what they want to be.”
“We're loving life here and have found a renewed sense of purpose and joy.”
Despite the relative isolation of their new home Tina doesn’t find living in the country lonely. Nor does she really miss her old life.
“We're loving life here and have found a renewed sense of purpose and joy,” she said. “We'll always love London and visit regularly but our heart is here now.
