Cicely Thompson downsized from a substantial family house to a mid-terrace three bedroomed cottage in a village, after her son and daughter left home. Now in her 70s, she is considering moving again to a bungalow

Cicely Thompson describes the experience of downsizing as “like squeezing a quart into a pint pot. I long to push the walls back.”

“Before I moved here I’d bought an old ruin to keep myself amused. It was part Norman and all these animals thought they owned it. We had owls nesting upstairs.”

Tripping over the cat and falling down stairs made Cicely decide to live somewhere less isolated (“I could have been stuck there for days”). Her current home is close to her brother’s house and near where she spent part of her childhood.

“It’s 16th Century with a kitchen, bathroom and another bedroom added, but they’ve been done very well.” Cicely describes the location as “an old fashioned village. I’ve made a lot of friends here.”

The house is big enough to accommodate her son and daughter and their families for visits. “I had ten people here for Easter Sunday. That was a squeeze. We fed the small children in the dining room first, ten shoed them out.”

Cicely recently bade farewell to a large book case (“it towered over the room”), had low cases made, but thinks she still needs to cull her library, and wishes she had a garage for storage. She still drives but shop and Post Office are short walks away and she is pleased that there’s a regular bus service to Ashford, which has plenty of services and amenities.

She would like to stay in the village and will probably move if a suitable flat or bungalow became available. “My knees aren’t getting any younger and the stairs here are rather curly.”

Written by Martin Gurdon

This article was created: 10 October 2006.
This article was last edited: 13 November 2006.

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