‘After years of waiting, I finally have my dream home and garden’

It’s a funny old world - This week’s columnist: Author Lesley Pearse

- Lesley Pearse

I bought my house because it had a big magnolia tree just inside the gate. I ignored the fact that the big garden behind it was covered in brambles. And that part of the plot went up steeply to a railway bridge.

Back then, it was to be my holiday home but, as I set to work taming the huge plot – and got to make new friends – I fell in love with Torquay. I decided to move in permanently.

An old gentleman lived on the ground floor then. I was a bit jealous of his garden at the front, as it was flat and sunny. He didn’t garden – he just kept the grass and hedges cut, and I used to imagine what I’d do with it. At the side of the house, the old stone wall had been pulled down so he could park his car on hideous tarmac. There was also a rusty tin shed.