For a young family the Surrey town was ideal – good schools, good commuter links, close to airports, and handy for trips to the south coast.
But after Eddie, 69, retired from his job in the printing industry the good local transport links became less important, and they started to find Bagshot simply too noisy and busy.
“We didn’t really notice the aircraft noise and the buzz from the M3 until Covid, when it all stopped,” said Eddie. “Then we thought, we are retired, we don’t have to sit here and listen to this anymore.”
They decided they would prefer a more peaceful, rural area and Eddie was keen on the idea of a brand new home.
“Our old house needed work to the windows, to the roof, redecorating,” he said. “I thought: ‘Do I want that aggravation and cost, or do I move out and let someone else deal with it?’,” he said. “It was not worth the cost, time, and effort for the return. I liked the idea of moving somewhere that was all clean and light.”
He also wanted to release some capital from the Bagshot property.
The couple began house hunting in the summer of 2021 and settled on the Cross Trees Park development in the village of Shrivenham, Oxfordshire.
They put their house on the market that December, and moved into a house at the Legal & General Homes development in August 2022.
Their new home also has three bedrooms but is more compact than their Bagshot house, which sold for £550,000 less moving costs of around £10,000.
They paid £420,000 for their new home which has allowed them to add to their pension pot and give some money to James and Samantha.
“It is like giving them some of their inheritance now, rather than them waiting until they are in their fifties,” said Eddie.
Eddie and Jayne, 55, also believe the new house is cheaper to run than their Bagshot home although Eddie says that utility companies’ insistence on estimating bills means they aren’t completely sure how big the savings are yet.
“They keep on coming down,” he said.
Leaving Bagshot was an emotional wrench for Jayne in particular, but Eddie said they have been delighted by the steady stream of people wanting to come and visit them in their new country home.
And since all of Cross Trees Park residents moved in at roughly the same time and are a similar age group, they have found it surprisingly easy to build a new community.
Eddie has joined the local golf club, Jayne is a member of the gardening club, and they find that people want to stop and chat as they take their miniature poodle, Harry, for walks.
“Everyone has moved here looking to enhance their lives,” he said. “We have made the effort, and we have probably got a stronger neighbourhood network than before.”
