Derry Hill, Wiltshire

I did not live in Derry Hill, but rented a cottage there, Primrose Cottage, in 1990. I was introduced to Wiltshire in the 1980s by my husband's mother who had been based near Pewsey in the Land Army during the Second World War. When I first visited Wiltshire it was to visit Avebury and later to stay at Chisenbury with people that my mother-in-law had known in the 1940s. I fell in love with the county as soon as I crossed the border, loved the landscape, the feel of the place, as if it was a homecoming of a kind. So, in 1990 we rented Primrose Cottage. The youngest of my two sons was four and the other 14. I remember loving the quiet, loving the old houses and the little school, lying in bed in the early morning (it was August) and watching the trees at the end of the garden blowing about in the wind as it was getting light. I thought that I could live here and that it must be a wonderful place in which to bring up a family. There were two little girls living next door and my 4 year old quickly made friends with them and was in and out of their garden every day while we were there. The old houses from the Bowood Estate were beautiful and the view from the end of the road, opposite the ornate gatehouse, down the hill towards Somerset, were stunning. It was near to Calne and Chippenham. There was a large supermarket on the Chippenham road, just minutes away and it took less than half an hour to drive into Bath. Alas we lived, and still live, in London and as yet committments prevent us from leaving. Both children are grown up and have left home, but I think often of that week and still sometimes wonder if it is too late to move there. It would be the home of my choice.