Live home and away
wellness centre and spa, award-winning restaurant, delicatessen and activity room. One-bedroom apartments are still available from £239,000 (0808 102 4177; anchor.org.uk).
Eileen Davey, 84, is an energetic member of the choir there, having performed all over the North East: “I even met Morecambe and Wise on one of my adventures,” she says.
“I have never been someone who stays still for very long. When I was younger I’d be travelling the country as a pillion passenger on the back of my husband’s motorbike.
“Nowadays I spend a lot of time on musical trips and holidays listening to different genres of music and meeting people. It is reassuring to know that at Bishopstoke Park my apartment will be looked after when I’m gone and it enables me to continue to travel as I always have.”
Colin and Joyce Greenfield live at Renaissance Villages’ Durrants Village but holiday frequently: “The village management team will organise for a cleaner to come in whilst we are away,” says Colin, 81. “Gatwick and Southampton are both fairly easily accessible by taxi so we are well situated for departures.”
Durrants Village is set in 30 acres, four miles from the market town of Horsham, and has 174 properties, from two-bedroom cottages starting at £510,000 to new-release three-bedroom cottages from £535,000 (01293 851935; durrantsvillage.co.uk).
As Howard Phillips, CEO of luxury retirement developers PegasusLife, says: “The modern retiree has an active, jet-setting, lifestyle. They hop on planes for a weekend trip to see friends and family or just to enjoy free time in the sun.”
That is why PegasusLife has built Chapelwood in Wilmslow, 15 minutes from Manchester Airport (01625 569492; chapelwoodwilmslow.co.uk) and Carriages in Purley, 20 minutes from Gatwick (020 3308 2550; carriagespurley.co.uk).
“Downsizing to an apartment in such a location not only offers an easy-to-manage home for when owners are in the UK but they are conveniently located to allow them to escape to the sun easily,” adds Phillips.