Crockham Hill September 2023 Newsletter - Flipbook - Page 9
Is It Really 20 Years?
Chris West and Suzy Roberts
We have a much-loved drawing by the hugely talented Annie Tempest, a
parting gift when we left Crockham Hill 20 years ago: it’s of Murphy, our
dear departed black Staffie, who’s asking “if they don’t have pork
scratchings in Spain – can I come home and live at The Royal Oak?”
We’re whisked back to evenings when Murphy would gallop the short
distance between our house and The Oak,
where Terry the landlord would serve him
his favourite treat, often leaving human
customers waiting while Murf spread the
contents across the carpet – of course, he
was the only dog allowed in the saloon
bar.
All those years ago, we wondered as we
packed up our worldly goods, and set off
for an adventure in Spain – would we ever
call Crockham Hill home again? Those
warnings about foolish Brits coming to
grief in far-off Spain rattled around in the
back of our heads – and we took note of
the rumour that some people (no names
here) had laid bets on us making a swift
return to the village.
Well, we’re still here. We built a house, thanks to hard work by some fine
builders; we spent winters picking olives, and summers sitting on the
terraces pondering the purple hills or watching the neighbours’ children
splashing about in our pool.
Those small children are all grown up: two are doctors in general practice,
one is a lawyer in a hot-shot bufete in Seville, another has been working as
a ski instructor in Canada, Austria – wherever he fancies, really. And that’s
the modern Spain – the youngsters can enjoy opportunities of which their
parents could only dream.
We’ve moved on too: we sold the house to an enterprising Dutch couple
who’ve turned it into what they like to call a “boutique hotel”. It’s a bold
move with all the pandemic travel problems, and we wish them all the luck
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