Leaving the suburban belt: why we bought a house in Alderney without even seeing it first

before the pandemic, Stella, Simon and Leah Hewerdine had barely heard of Alderney.

The couple had raised their daughter, Leah, now 26, in the suburban satellite town of Didcot, which they had chosen in part because of its fast train connections to London, which meant that Simon, 56 years, director of software development, could get to the office quickly. But Covid-19 has made travel times irrelevant.

The couple have started looking for homes in Norfolk, where Simon and Stella have family. “We always planned to retire there someday,” said Simon. “The problem was, half of London had the same idea, and the prices went crazy.”

The couple decided to take a more left-wing approach. They began to study a map and stumbled upon Alderney, a 3.5 square mile Anglo-Norman island with extensive beaches.

Importantly, it also has its own, tiny, airport, with half-hour flights to Southampton and the ability to fly directly to Norwich, via Guernsey, the neighboring island.

“We had vacationed in the Channel Islands before and started to get excited about living there,” said Simon.

“Time wise, we were no further from Oxfordshire than if we had moved to Norfolk. It was a real eye-opener. “

They agreed to buy their three-bedroom home without even seeing it, in part because of its location just minutes from Platte Saline, a wide crescent of beach dominated by a Victorian fort.

The post-war property cost £ 300,000. The mortgage on their family home has almost been paid off and they are keeping it for now.

It was last September and Simon, Stella, 59, a retired teaching assistant, and Leah, who is finishing a doctorate, enjoyed exploring the island’s beaches, the great outdoors and the cobbled streets of her town. principal, St Anne.

“He has everything you need,” said Simon. “There are half a dozen pubs and restaurants, shops, and we get a supply boat from Poole twice a week.

“If you dig below the surface, there’s a lot going on, sports clubs and so on. We’re not going to be bored. “