Life’s a beach for Jeanette and Martin at Sandcastles

The couple, who are both 58, are embracing the great outdoors after buying a bungalow at Sandcastles – a new development being built by Lovell.

As well as enjoying scenic walks along the coast, semi-retired community nurse Jeanette and retired painter and decorator Martin have tried paddle-boarding and camping on the beach for the first time in their lives.

The pair were living in a four-bedroom house in nearby Seamer but wanted to slow down their pace of life even more and be within walking distance of the beach.

“We had lived all our lives in York and moved to Seamer in 2023 as our long-term plan was always to move to the coast,” said Jeanette. “But the four-bedroom house was bigger than our three-bedroom place in York and I was still working full-time, sometimes having to drive 70 miles to visit patients in the Wakefield area.

“We both wanted to downsize, to make life easier, and I wanted to work part-time to have more leisure time to really enjoy life. An advert popped up on my Facebook page for Sandcastles and, as it was so close, we went along for a look.”

The couple went to the development and looked inside a two-bedroom Lincoln show bungalow.

“We fell in love with the place,” said Jeanette. “It was so light, so airy, so modern, so perfect for us.

“What was brilliant was that the sales advisor told us that we could use the Helping Hands scheme to take all the stress and strain out of the process and allow us to focus on our new life in our shiny new home.”

Under the Helping Hands initiative, Lovell liaises with a local estate agent to agree a valuation for the customer’s existing home and find a buyer quickly. They pay the agent’s fees and work with them until the sale is completed.

Jeanette and Martin, and their eight-year-old Lurcher Stan, moved into their new two-bedroom bungalow in February.

“We love everything about our new home,” said Jeanette, who now works three days a week. “I was not sure about the open-plan layout but realise now that it works perfectly for our lifestyle. At our previous houses, I used to be in the kitchen preparing food when friends and family came round but now I am in the same room and it’s wonderful to be involved in all the excitement and chatter.

“The rooms are so big and the doorways so wide that it doesn’t feel like we have downsized at all. However, one thing we have seen reduce is our household bills. The appliances and the bungalow are so energy efficient that we have shaved off about £100 a month from our heating costs.

“We were worried that there might not be enough room to have people here as we have three children and two grandchildren, but they don’t all come at once so there’s enough room when people come to stay. The grandchildren love coming here because they say it’s like coming on holiday – it’s lovely to hear them say that.”

Jeanette and Martin are having fun exploring the walks in the area and are determined to tackle the entire length of the 109-mile Cleveland Way, which stretches from Filey to Helmsley.

“The Cleveland Way comes very close to Cayton Bay, which is our favourite beach ever,” said Jeanette. “We’ve only done about 13 miles of it so there’s a long way to go but we’ve got plenty of time now.

“The best thing about living here is the fact that Cayton Bay beach is just a 20-minute walk away. Most days, we take Stan and we all walk to the beach.

“We’ve had a go at paddleboarding which I never thought I would do, and we have taken a tent and camped overnight at the beach, making sure we pitched just above the high tide mark. It’s great fun.

“Life is so much sweeter living here. We have slowed down everything and we go to the beach so much now that it feels like we are on a permanent holiday. It’s fantastic!”