How it all began...

Whilst on holiday in 2019, i questioned whether we could run our own holiday home. This question stemmed from a card left in the holiday cottage that we were staying in and simply said that a company ran the home for the owners and they would deal with every question i might have.

I thought that it sounded so easy, buy a house, furnish it and then sit back and watch the money roll in. (I am now sniggering to myself at how wrong i was.)

Within minutes, we were scouring Right Move, looking for the perfect property, seeing the price as just Monopoly money due to my previous misconception of the ease going forward.

Within days of returning home, we had booked to see numerous houses in Anglesey, one with a pool, one with Pheasants in the garden, one that was, to be honest, falling to pieces and finally a modern bungalow on an estate by the sea.

We excitedly viewed them all, imagining how our future would be. But none of them fitted quite right.  And when the business plan was put together it suddenly started to seem impossible to break even, never mind make any profit.  What was the point?

So we had a chat with Sykes Cottages, and they were quite helpful, pointing us towards Cumbria and aiming for 5 bedrooms.

We began our search but my methods were not exactly scientific...they involved following the coast on Google Earth and then searching on Right move for every town I came across.

We eventually found a small town on the coast and a huge house overlooking the sea. Our offer was accepted and all seemed great until the sale fell through and our plans were shattered.

When people tell you that things happen for a reason, it often seems that they say this to comfort you, but in this case it was true. The house wouldn't have been right and now 4 years later with all the experience we have of running a holiday home, I know it would have been a disaster.

We decided on one last look, one last search before we gave up and that was when we stumbled across Silloth...

In the beginning it wasn't specifically Silloth, well, not Silloth at all to be honest.  We booked to see a house in Flimby with all the mod cons, even a golf simulator. We also arranged to view 2 houses in Skinburness, one not far from the Big Fella and one right towards Grune Point that overlooked the sea.

The last house we arranged to see was in Bowness on Solway.  But just a few days before the viewings, I knew this last house wasn't right, just a nagging feeling telling me to cancel it.  I called the estate agent and somehow they managed to persuade me to go to see one in Silloth. Bridge View.

They were very forceful, thank goodness, but i had already decided this wasn't the house and I only agreed to get them off the phone.

The house in Flimby wasn't right, even though Gary wanted it to be the one.  The two in Skinburness didn't fit either. I gave up as I knew the last one wasn't what we were looking for...until I saw it.

Standing outside Bridge View took my breath away.  Sue, the owner, sold it to me with all her love and passion and then the first time I saw the beach, I was completely hooked. There was no going back.  Gary was sold as soon as he saw the golf club next door but I didn't need any persuasion either.

With 48 hours, we had placed an offer, it had been accepted and we were on the road to our dreams.