ΜY HΑΡΡΥ PLACE

Her garden slid down a cliff. She broke her ankle. All before lockdown. But author Lesley Pearse found a home that's brought new joy to her life

- Lesley Pearse

I see it as fate that the rather grotty upper floors of a Victorian house I viewed for a holiday home, had a huge magnolia tree just inside the rusting iron gate. I had always wanted such a tree and I knew come the spring it would be gorgeous.

I didn't care that the rest of the large garden was completely buried under brambles. The flat was big enough for my whole family to come and stay, and it was just 500 yards from the seafront.

I love a project, and just as well, as almost everything was wrong with the flat. But what I didn't know then was that this was kismet, and I was going to find a second, very special, family in Torquay.

Barry, the first one of who I now call 'my boys', stopped to speak to me about dogs; we both had two. He lived next door, running a small, very stylish hotel.

We became firm friends and he soon introduced me to other people, all of whom I liked a lot. Soon, I wasn't just coming down for the odd weekend from my cottage near Bath, but whole weeks at a time. Before long, I sold the cottage and moved to Torquay.