We had decided several years previously that we would move to Criccieth as soon as the youngest was away at university and that happened in September 2007. We had put Pinetrees on the market earlier in the year but it had failed to sell and anyway Jo had not sorted herself with anywhere else to live. We moved stuff across by the carload over time. I was able to clear out spaces gradually and bully the girls to do the same. Jo, who had been so scared of the dark until her late teens, still found it difficult to arrive on her own after dark. When we finally sold the house I hired a van to collect the remainder of the stuff we wanted and our neighbours, Roger and Jenny helped get rid of the rest.
We already knew a few people having been coming here for holidays for years and anyway everyone was very friendly so it wasn’t long before we found our feet and had a good social life. One of the ways was through our love of tennis. I had previously contacted Leisha about Criccieth tennis club and soon was the new chairman trying to revive the long defunct club and bring the courts back to playable condition. Fortunately there were a few other people who wanted the same and we soon had a few people who played. Initially we just collected £1 a session but then we started collecting an annual membership fee. Terry, Colin and I repaired the fencing and Kath, Terry and I painted new lines on both courts. We were given second hand posts and centre new and purchased new ones using a Community chest grant.
Joining Porthmadog Yacht Club (MYC) gave our social lives a huge boost and I was thrilled when I found they rowed. The first time I went out at the age of 62, about 40 years since I last rowed in a coxed boat, was exhilarating and I found it was something that came naturally to me. Soon I was rowing competitively for the club in local regattas and in the second season was in a super-vets crew (Ave age over 50) that became Welsh champions and I also competed in the Great London River Race. Sue then started rowing too and was in a crew that won the women’s vets northern league Celtic rowing boats and came first in their class in London for two seasons running. The people in the rowing club are terrific. In 2010 we competed in the Celtic Challenge, a race from Arclow to Aberystwyth across the Irish Sea. It was enjoyable at times but I didn’t enjoy sleeping on the open deck of our support boat and when they came to wake me for the 5th and final row they couldn’t and thought I’d died. Of course eventually I did wake up and row but it was hard and when we finally arrived I was so tired I was unable to help clearing up etc.
We gradually adapted the ground floor flat on Marine Terrace to suit us, buying a shed to store bicycles, windsurfing gear, my tools and other stuff; installing wardrobes (after Si had removed a huge chimney breast from our bedroom) in the dressing room and bedroom and gradually replacing much of the furniture which had been fine for a holiday flat but was not nice enough to live with permanently. Over the winter of 2009/2010 we vacated the flat and moved upstairs whilst Geoff renovated it; plastering over all the artex and redecorating, laying a new oak floor, putting underfloor heating in our wetroom and dressing room, moving radiators about and putting a new granite worktop, sink, tap and hob in the kitchen. We also had the front re-painted. I spent much of that winter removing the paint from the skirting and stair strimmer on all four floors and in 2011 doing a similar job from the inner front door.
In the garden I had to smash up remove tons of concrete from the upper level so we could grow vegetables and to replace the surface of the yard with slate slabs and a new drainage system. In 2010/2011 we had the rear of the property re-pointed using lime mortar. In the summer of 2011 I redesigned the back garden and moved the garden steps from one side to the centre so we could incorporate the area behind the shed into the main part of the garden.
We have made the spare bedroom very comfortable, insulating the walls and buying a quality bed settee and do have the children and grand-children to stay. At Christmas we use the upstairs flat as well and have a large family celebration each year.
We have an active life here. Currently we do table tennis twice a week and tennis two or three times indoor bowls on a Monday, tennis on Tuesday and Sue has a pub quiz one evening and does a number of activities in the Porthmadog leisure centre. We try to row most weeks and also do a fair amount of walking. Also we make frequent trips to Bolton to visit Sue’s Dad and sister Leslie who kindly puts us up.