Retirement heralds new adventures for many, and for Hertfordshire’s Barry and Anita Smith it has been a time of discovery and ‘firsts’, with the couple embracing the unfamiliar and enjoying a new sense of purpose – not least when they’re hitting the pickleball court with friends!
Married for 54 years, Barry (76) and Anita (75) from Cheshunt have always been sports enthusiasts, and their interests in all things active has nurtured friendships and strengthened family ties over the years. “We really enjoy our sports,” Barry explained. “Our son is a PE teacher and also has a soccer coaching academy with links to Valencia FC in Spain. He is the manager of a local football team. The team has also been out to Valencia and we have flown out there a couple of times to show our support.
“But when it comes to sport, we don’t just sit on the sidelines and watch. Anita and I have both played badminton for many years at club level – competitively and socially. I was playing competitively right up until lockdown. We’ve also recently taken up pickleball after a friend introduced us to it. It’s a paddleball sport which originated in the States. It’s very popular over there and it’s great fun. You play it with a paddle similar to a big table tennis bat, in singles or doubles, and it’s a mix of tennis, badminton and squash.”
As well as turning to unfamiliar sporting pursuits, Barry has also picked up new musical skills in retirement. “I play guitar,” he explained. “I took it up in my mid 60s and then added the baritone ukulele. It’s slightly different to the instrument George Formby played and that most people are familiar with – the tuning of the baritone ukulele is the same as the highest four strings of a standard six-string guitar but has a deeper base tone.
“I have now joined Ware Ukulele Group. They play at a number of local social events – playing a variety of music from Folk, Pop and Blues. They have some very accomplished players, so I have a lot to learn.”
In what represents another new experience for the couple, Barry and Anita made the decision to embrace a lifestyle change in their retirement years when they downsized and moved to McCarthy Stone’s Highclere House development on Great North Road in Hatfield in early 2021.
“We’ve spent the last month unpacking boxes!” Barry continued. “We’d been living in a four-bedroom detached house in Cheshunt for 30 years and we weren’t actually considering a move, but then we saw the new McCarthy Stone building going up in Hatfield. It’s very close to where our daughter lives and we pick up our grandchildren up from school three days’ a week, so it started us thinking.
“Once we’d got the idea into our heads, we had the year-long cycle of lockdown and restrictions to do our research and to really understand whether we were doing the right thing. We decided to go for it, and it has absolutely been the right move at the right time for us.
“Although we purchased our apartment off-plan, we knew it inside-out before we even stepped inside – from the plans and watching Highclere House under construction. We made sure we considered where the sun was rising and setting, and our new apartment is very light and bright. On a sunny day, it’s like being on holiday.
Barry and Anita used McCarthy Stone’s Part Exchange and Smooth Move assistance schemes to help make their move easier. “We moved during lockdown and it was a lot easier than we had expected,” Barry added. “By the time we moved, we had decluttered and had packed almost everything up. The removal company were very helpful. They came the day before to get a feel for the job to be done and returned the next day and moved us. We were in our new apartment by 1.00pm!
“It’s worked out very well being closer to our daughter and also to our son and his family. The apartment is such a different space to our previous home, but our grandchildren came up here when we moved in and absolutely loved it. It’s great that they’re just two minutes away. Sometimes they travel up to us on their scooters – if the windows are open, we can almost hear them outside before we see them!”
“We’re in a great location. Hatfield station is two minutes down the road. There’s a pub opposite, local shops and the buses go into St. Albans and Welwyn Garden City, and there are trains into London, and Cambridge if you don’t want to drive. We’ve got a membership for Hatfield House Park and that was very reasonable. We enjoy walking there, it’s so beautiful and there’s a coffee shop too.
“We enjoy going out to eat and we’ll visit Cote Brasserie and others, particularly Per Tutti in St. Albans which is superb – it’s been a favourite of ours for many years.”
Originally from Islington, Barry spent much of his career with BT before working as a freelance business coach and running coaching workshops for RBS and many other companies. Anita worked in computing for Shell International before moving into education when the couple’s children had grown up.
Barry explained his attitude to retirement: “I didn’t really want to retire, but I’ve found that I’m really enjoying myself because of the interests I’ve been able to keep up and the new opportunities I have found. You have to have a purpose – something to maintain that energy. Sport, music, socialising, they all keep you young – as do grandchildren if you are fortunate to have them. Embracing a downsizing move and a new lifestyle has also proved exciting too.”
Designed for the over-60s, Highclere House features a luxurious homeowners’ lounge, landscaped gardens, and a hotel-style guest suite for visiting friends or relatives. A dedicated house manager takes care of the day-to-day running of the development, while a secure entry system and 24-hour emergency call points provide added peace-of-mind.
Prices at Highclere House currently start from £334,995 for a one-bedroom apartment and from £399,995 for a two-bedroom apartment. Retirees in Hatfield can also to choose from a range of flexible retirement living solutions to suit them and their personal circumstances, whether they prefer to purchase outright, rent, or take advantage of a part buy-part rent option. Rental prices currently start from £1,840 pcm. Find out more from McCarthy Stone.
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