6. Moving to Harris

Having now lived in Harris for over six years we feel very much like this is home, however Nick and I are always surprised that so many people we meet are interested in our story. Hardly a day goes past when we are not asked where we are from and why we moved here. So this blog is for anyone who has wondered about us and anyone who has dreamed of a new life in Harris.

Nick and I grew up about five miles apart and first met at secondary school in Bicester in Oxfordshire. After school Nick started a plumbing apprenticeship and I stayed at school to study for my A Levels. We met up again in 1989 at a party when we were seventeen and we have been together ever since!

The first time I introduced Nick to Harris we were nineteen years old. Nick had a very old and temperamental mini pick up which against all odds made the six hundred mile trip up the M6. After a very rough crossing of the Minch on the old "Heb" we were met in Tarbert by my Grandparents. I remember nervously showing Nick around the island on our first trip together. I really wanted Nick to love Harris and luckily he did!

Anyone who knows us well knows that we are terrible at making decisions so it was ten years after that party that we got married. The same year we moved to a small victorian cottage in the village where Nick grew up. Charlie was born four years later in 2003 and Sarah followed just 14 months after. We were surrounded by family and friends and the kids were thriving in the village primary school where Nick and five generations of his family had been pupils. We worked together running a plumbing and electrical company with Nick's stepdad and in our spare time we ran beer festivals with our friends. Every school holiday was spent in Harris. We loved our life.

We knew how lucky we were but we also knew that 'one day' we would move to Harris. The problem was how could a couple who never plan make such a life changing decision. In 2009 we came up with a solution using reverse psychology. We told ourselves that in five years time we would be living in Harris so the kids could start secondary school in Tarbert. This meant we would have to make a decision not to move!

In July 2014 we sold our cottage, our business and most of our possessions and headed North. My cousins lent us my uncle's old house in the bays and we settled in straight away. Nick bought his Land Rover and started picking up plumbing jobs on the island and the kids made new friends. The kids (and Nick) had always wanted to get a dog so three months after we moved we surprised the kids with a scruffy little ball of fluff who we named Spud. We missed our family and friends but we knew we were building a great life for ourselves and our kids.

Just before the move we bought some land in West Harris. Unfortunately, we had wildly underestimated the costs of building a house in such a rocky and/ or sandy spot and all of the quotes were beyond what we could afford. We knew we didn't want to be struggling to pay a huge mortgage so this time we had to make a decision. We sold the plot and started looking for a house to renovate. Houses for sale in Harris are as rare as hen's teeth and it took nearly four years to buy our house and croft in Borrisdale. As soon as we moved we built the brewshed and we're slowly working through the renovation of the house, fingers crossed we will move out of our static home and into our new home in the next few weeks. Our family on this side and the other side of the Minch have supported us throughout.

Six years after our move we love the way our life has turned out and we honestly believe that we couldn't have planned it any better!