Downsizing move from Caversham to Harvey’s Nurseries “felt like it was meant to be”
Local couple Simon and Tina Rowland, long-term residents of the Reading area of Berkshire, have found their ideal forever home in the heart of the community where they raised a family and built their lives.
The hard-working husband and wife have just moved into EKOS Homes’s stunning residential park at Harvey’s Nurseries in Old Peppard Road, Emmer Green, and taken up their new life in a beautiful Omar Regency two-bedroom former show home.
For both of them, the move has solved a whole host of issues, as well as enfolding them in a virtual village of like-minded people who share their appreciation for the peace and tranquillity of the surrounding countryside.
“As soon as we saw it, we fell in love with it,” said Tina, 58, a former teaching assistant who also spent years working with Waitrose and John Lewis. “It was fully furnished, and all the colours – the sofas, the beds, even the vases and ornaments – were perfect.”
Simon, 62, who has lived in the Caversham area of Reading all his life, explained that they had lived in a three-bedroom house in Woodley and Tina was ambivalent about moving, but when they saw the new home, their attitudes changed.
“Our two daughters, who are aged 31 and 26, are up and away now and it was time for us to think about our future,” he said. “The decision to downsize was to slow down a bit at our time of life and to give us more financial freedom.
“The Harvey’s Nurseries home was just at the right price to help us with clearing our small mortgage & to help us with a bit more of a small amount of disposable income. It was just like a small bungalow, with our own outside space. It felt like it was meant to be.”
The park is set in the sheltered calm of the walled garden of Emmer Green, an imposing stately home built in 1850, which is just a field away. It was used from 1943 to 2018 by the BBC as a listening station which at its height, employed nearly 1,000 people.
Simon knew it well when he started work in retail at the age of 14, making his way up through a number of independent shops before setting up his own cleaning business, which saw him regularly working from 6am to 11pm, before Covid closed it down.
The long hours took their toll on his physical health and, suffering with Osteoarthritis, he had been in and out of hospital for replacement joint replacements, eventually having to give up his current work due to ongoing health issues.
“The move to Harvey’s Nurseries has really taken the pressure off both of us. I’m not waking up every day worrying about what the future holds and Tina has been able to look at new career opportunities after working 19 years as a teaching assistant.
“It’s a quieter, calmer life here. In many ways, it’s like being on holiday on a permanent basis. When you come through the gates, you breathe a sigh of relief, because you’re back in your happy place.
“The location was recommended to us by our best friends who were already established in Harvey’s Nurseries, including the park manager Cheryl and her husband Andy who have also been great with all their help.
“It’s also a bit like the way things used to be, where when you pass people, you say ‘Good morning’, and spend the time of day. Everyone knows each other, but you also have all the privacy you could want.”