Carol Parkinson, 80, is a resident of Bramshott Place, in Hampshire and moved to the village three years ago after losing her husband, “It’s the best move I ever made” she commented.

Carol spent much of her life as a Chemistry and Physics teacher and moved to Manilla with her husband in the early 70s, where he worked for the Asian Development Bank and she continued to teach at a British primary school. They returned to England in 1983.

When Carol’s husband passed away in October 2016, she moved to Bramshott Place the following year: “If I hadn’t moved, I would have been quite lonely, we had a large house and garden and when my husband passed, I decided it was the best time to move, I’ve never looked back.”

Carol’s 3 children are extremely supportive of her move, she commented: “They can’t praise it enough; they know mum is ok. They used to ring every day to check on me but now we Facetime once or twice a week.”

During lockdown, Carol has been keeping busy reading and is part of the local U3A reading group. She has also taken German lessons since her Daughter and grandchildren moved to Switzerland. 

Carol commented: “I’ve certainly not felt lonely, the village grounds are 50 odd acres, so I like to go for woodland walks with a friend and look at the baby ducklings on the pond. You can go for a 40-minute walk but you end up seeing a dozen people and stopping to chat so that walk turns into an hour and a half!”

“There’s usually lots of activities at the village, I’ve volunteered behind the bar and at the village shop and there’s line dancing and Scottish dancing. You’d have to be a very strange person if you couldn’t find something to do here!

“My advice for not being lonely is you’ve got to put yourself out there, volunteering and taking part in activities is a big help. A lot of residents here have lived and worked overseas as part of the military or business, so there’s a lot of likeminded people and we have a lot to talk about.”