Tony – Homes

In the forty years between leaving home at 19 and emigrating to Spain at 59, I didn’t stay in any one home for more than five years.

A bit of a nomad.

My main homes are listed here, but in total, I lived in about 30 places in those forty years, in the UK, Spain and Hong Kong.

7 HOYLAKE GARDENS, EASTCOTE, MIDDLESEX 1941 to 1959

It all started in Eastcote which is just outside London.

This is my parent’s house, where I was brought up from 1941 to 1959. The picture was actually taken in 2007 but the only change was the front door now has a porch (and that palm tree wasn’t there!)  And it never rained when I was a child.

Not many photos of those days but a few

From left are auntie Laura, my grandmother, my mum and cousin Pauline +, of course, my dog Whisky

 

 

and 70 years later in 2019, I found a map of the house!!

1A KENT GARDENS, PITSHANGER LANE, EALING

My father’s company managed a number of properties, and my parents moved to a large ground floor apartment in a lovely Tudor property converted into large apartments in Kent Gardens, in Ealing.

Other relatives came and lived in apartments on the same smart road. Further down the road was my cousin Ray Tanner with his wife, June, and son Nicky.  Next door was my close relatives, the Bussicott’s, and above them Dusty Springfield’s parents.  I sometimes used to meet her on the bus going to Ealing Common station. There was a huge field behind the properties and apparently, this is where their stage name ‘The Springfields’ came from!

It is from here that I fled the nest and went to live and work in the big exciting city.

LONDON  1959-1964

In 1959 I left home to live and work in London. I shared a couple of flats, one in Dulwich, for a year and then after a short stay alone in Balham, I found a couple of fellows looking for another flatmate in a basement flat in Victoria.

58 DENBIGH STREET, VICTORIA, LONDON 

One of the fellows was distantly related to the Royal family, and he left to get married (we weren’t  smart enough to be invited to a society wedding)

While he was preparing to leave a fellow, Dennis Cross walked into the firm I was working for in Aldgate, London – Rooke Lane & Sons. I recognised him as he had been at the same grammar school as me, but a year above me. This turned out to be my home for three years, during the 1960s in London. A great time to be in London.

I took photos of it in 2012 when it looked like this. We were in the basement. If I remember correctly we were each paying £2.50 a week rent.

One momento from those days is a photo of a huge underground poster I bought and pasted on our bedroom wall.

Life in London in the 1960s and all of a sudden I became interested in girls. In a mixed grammar school, they were more a nuisance and never a distraction from sport. So started my fascination with the opposite sex when I left home, and have managed to go out with a few casually, some less casually, and married two lovely ones.

I found this letter in my garage 50 years later inviting people for a farewell bottle party

 

 

APARTAMENTOS  MERCEDES SALA, CASTELDEFELS, NEAR BARCELONA

I was with a girlfriend, Pat Hughes when I took the job with Price Waterhouse in Barcelona and she decided to come as well. It seemed a good idea at the time.

I drove my car to my cousin Pauline’s home in Folkstone, and then the next day drove to Lydd airport and put the car on the plane, which most people don’t believe but here’s proof.

I met Pat in Paris. I’m not revealing the reason for this subterfuge, and we drove to Barcelona.

When we arrived Pat and I found a small but cheap and cheerful apartment right on the beach in the small town of Castelldefels, about 25 kilometres south of Barcelona, owned by Peter and Margaret Tedesko.

This is their business card and on the back is the rent receipt!

So less than £4 per week back in 1965.

My Mum and Dad decided to visit. Unaware of this lady friend, which would have shocked them both, Pat moved out but met them socially. We didn’t make a very good job of clearing her things out so it took my Mum about 10 minutes to conclude we were living together!

Pat’s epileptic fits became worse and she returned to the UK. I stayed for a while in Castelldefels and then at a friend’s apartment in Barcelona. I never saw Pat again.

LA RACONADA, CASTELLDEFELS, NEAR BARCELONA, SPAIN

When I came back to Spain in 1967 after my father had died in March 1966 I returned to my beloved Castelldefels and found a lovely complex of small townhouses.

It was here in La Raconada that Valerie, Jan and Don started our life together in 1968.

and a letter from Jan to me in 1968

 

Here are some more photos of La Raconada

and Valerie and Don soon after I met them

25   FIRFIELD ROAD, ADDLESTONE, SURREY 

When we left Spain in 1968 Valerie and I rented an apartment in Haines Court, Weybridge, and then, after nearly buying a huge property in Woking, more sensibly purchased our first property, 25 Firfield Road, Addlestone. At the time at an asking price of £6,350.

Diana was born here on 7th October 1969, and where we all lived until moving to Hong Kong in March 1973.

A FOOTHOLD IN SPAIN

ADSUBIA LAND IN JAVEA 1973

In early 1973, unhappy with bringing our children up in the UK, and missing the ex-pat life, Valerie and I decided to look for opportunities to live abroad again (she had lived in France, Bahamas and Africa before we met).

Our solicitor, David Finch, was a director of a property company and they had decided to invest in Spain. They were looking to build a small complex of communal townhouses, restaurant, pool etc. Not unlike La Raconada.

We agreed to help and the whole family, Diana was 3, caught the ferry to Bilbao and then drove through Madrid and down to Motril in southern Spain. We then spent the next few weeks driving north up the Mediterranean coast looking at possible areas.

When we drove into Javea in the Costa Blanca we knew this was the place. A day which changed my life. We rented an apartment and spent two weeks exploring, meeting estate agents and finding out land and building costs.

Driving back to the UK through France we contacted David to find out the company had decided to invest in Menorca!

Very frustrated I started to look for another job and landed one in Hong Kong. The week before flying there I popped over to the Costa Blanca, and through a lovely Spanish estate agent, Maria Teresa, I bought two adjoining plots of land in Adsubia in Javea, with excellent views of the Mediterranean. This to give us a foothold back in Spain.

In 2018 Don was painting a friend’s house which was next door to the plot we sold 40 years earlier. A house had been built at the top of the plot with a tennis court on the lower level. Why I bought the plot was the view which hasn’t changed much since, although a few more houses.

LA ZORRITA, PEDREGUER 1976-1990

As part of the contract with Swire’s in Hong Kong, we had to leave the Colony at least once a year. We had family holidays in Malaysia. Thailand, Philippines, Hawaii, California but often went to Spain, where to begin with we stayed at a Hong Kong friend’s house in Jesus Pobre on the Montgo mountain, between Javea and Denia. Coincidently this is about 300 metres from where Jo and I lived from 2000 at El Garroferet.

Then we received a communication from Maria Teresa of a great opportunity to buy a house and land at a bargain price.

In brief, a company had purchased an area of land to build properties, a restaurant, pool etc. Sound familiar? Then the plans for the proposed Mediterranean motorway were released. This indicated the route would take it straight through this land. The company went into liquidation, and had already built the brand new house (for the manager) and had parcelled up the land for sale.

So in 1976 we sold the Adsubia land and purchased the house, La Zorrita, (little fox as there were foxes on the mountain) and 6,000 m² of land for the equivalent of £7,500!!!

One drawback was that although there were lights, baths, and all mod cons, there was no electricity or water.

For the next few years, we had to drain water from a nearby cave and use camping gas for light with no water or electricity connection. A far cry from the large apartment in Hong Kong with a maid, and it brought us all down to earth.

Over the years we installed water and electricity, added another large bedroom and a swimming pool and had many happy holidays there.

Where we lived at El Garroferet is only about five kilometres from La Zorrita which we sold in 1990 when Valerie and I were divorced.

The house was looked after by a family from Pedreguer, Maria Louisa, Pascual and their son, Emilio, who looked after the pool when that was installed. Pascual was the inspiration for Diana’s first novel, originally titled Pascual’s Birthday, changed by the publishers (as Pascual sounded French!) to Alberto’s Lost Birthday.

Here are some more photos of La Zorrita in the 15 years we owned it.

In 2016 Diana was coming to Spain and I traced Maria Louisa and Emilio, Pascual had died many years ago. It was a fascinating reunion after all these years. Diana gave Maria Louisa a copy of the book which had been based on her husband, Photos of our meeting with Maria Louisa and Emilio in 2016 are to be found elsewhere – so 25 years later than we knew them when Pascual maintained the garden, Maria Louisa looked after the house and Emilio the pool.

Here are some photos of La Zorrita after 25 years – it has hardly changed but needed a coat of paint!

HONG KONG

EREDINE, 38 MOUNT KELLETT ROAD, THE PEAK

The Swire Group provided accommodation for all the expatriates. Firstly we lived in apartments in Repulse Bay and South Bay, but for the last few years in Hong Kong, we lived here – on the top (7th) floor. It was a huge apartment, and the living/dining area was about the same size as our old Spanish finca.

This was our view down to Aberdeen harbour at night.

And here are some more photos of life at Eredine

BACK TO THE UK

We had purchased an apartment in Lovelace Gardens in Surbiton, while living in Hong Kong and we later sold this and purchased 20 Cleves Court, also in Surbiton.

After turning down Royal Insurance’s offer of a position with them in Barcelona I accepted a position in Liverpool in 1983.

All change once more

INGLEWOOD TRAINING CENTRE –

BADGERS RAKE LANE, THE WIRRAL

Back in the UK, we were very fortunate as Royal Insurance put Valerie, Diana and I (Jan and Don were still at boarding school in Bedford) up in their multi-bedroomed training centre, called Inglewood, in the Wirral.

Very luxurious, but a little odd when we were the only three people staying there.

STABLEWALLS, PARKGATE, CHESHIRE 1984-1986

However, Valerie and I found and renovated an old stable in Manorial Road, Parkgate in the Wirral, which we named Stablewalls, where we lived for a couple of years.

 

THE MOUNT, TATTENHALL, CHESHIRE 1987-1990

We then found a Grade II listed building in a nearby village and decided to renovate it, while we were living in it – which was a huge mistake. It was apparently originally a 17th-century farmhouse with stables which had been added to in 1812 by a three-storey building attached in front of the cottage. A huge house with two cellars and a walled garden behind with stables.

Permission had to be granted for any structural changes as it was a listed building and we made some big alterations. Shame we have no photos of this when it was covered in scaffolding. When they were complete, Tony and Valerie helped as much as we could but it was Don who did 90% of the work. He painted or wallpapered every square inch of this huge house. Here he is with Tony after cleaning the large loft.

 

It was delayed for a while when we had a fire:

 

 

but we kept going and it was transformed it into a magnificent building.

A drawing of the building

An old photo before they took the iron railings away for the war effort

 

BEST OF THYMES NURSERY, HIDDEN MEADOW, WAVERTON, CHESHIRE

One of the biggest mistakes of my life was to rent about an acre of land and set up a herb nursery, which was going to be an early retirement occupation.

A mammoth job turning an awful mess into a working nursery – massively helped by Don and his girlfriend at the time, Ann, who managed the growing business

However, having erected a large greenhouse and a huge poly-tunnel, and cultivated a few thousand herbs a bank gave us 10 days to remove everything. Our landlord had defaulted on a loan on the land.

In short, we mortgaged The Mount and bought all 4 1/2 acres of land.

I found a list of plants we had in February 1984 which was over 25,000, with over 15 types of herbs – and many varieties of Lavender, Mint and Thyme. As it was February we didn’t have the basil yet and of these, we had many types

Eventually, the nursery business collapsed (fortunately I hadn’t given up my day job). For some 20 years, Valerie and I tried to sell this damn place and eventually managed to do so in April 2012.

DIVORCE AND MORE HOMES

In 1989 Valerie and I separated. I stayed at The Mount for a while and then the company provided me with an apartment at 28 Fountain Gardens in Osbourne Road in Windsor, but then I moved down to London. and rented a one bed-roomed apartment at 6 Riverdale Gardens in Twickenham quite near Richmond for a year or so, spent some time living with my mother in Thames Ditton and then purchased an apartment in Woking – see below.

During this time I took up tennis again and at a tennis club in Richmond met Amanda and the club went to Spain for a tennis holiday at Lew Hoad’s Tennis Club in Mijas

 

12 ALWYNE COURT, WOKING, SURREY

I lived at 12 Alwyne Court in Woking for a few years, working in London.

I sold this apartment about a year after moving out to Spain.

13 GROVE ROAD, EAST MOLESEY, SURREY

While living in Woking I met Jo, and after a ‘respectable’ period of time moved in with her, in her townhouse near Hampton Court, later renting my apartment to friends.

 In the Spring of 1999, we had gone to stay with my old friends from my Hong Kong days, Jack and Isobel Haggarty, who lived in Jesus Pobre. This was a couple of kilometres from La Zorrita.

Fortunately for me, Jo loved the area. 

In the late summer of 1999, Jo and I went for it. We quit our jobs (both self-employed so quite easy), got married and emigrated to Spain. All within ten days.