EXCLUSIVE: Enfys Malone left the Welsh countryside behind after turning 18 but she recently returned with a husband and two kids after bravely leaving her life near the city behind
A mum swapped her “predictable” life in the city for something completely different – but within 30 minutes disaster struck.. Enfys Maloney, 40, is originally from Wales but left at 18 to go to the University of Manchester where she met Rick who is now her husband.
The pair had been living in Bedford since 2018 where they had two daughters together who are now seven and nine. But braving change last year, they ditched their semi-detached modest townhouse for a sprawling farm and historic smallholding in Eryri National Park (aka Snowdonia) in Wales.
They are located by the beach and the mountains. Their slower pace of life involves their kids being in a tiny school with just 15 children in total where they learn Welsh – having previously been surrounded by 400 other pupils.
The family also have 20 sheep and a river at the bottom of their garden – but their life-changing move had a rocky start.
“We were really happy,” Enfys told us. “I don’t want to paint a negative picture of Bedford because it was lovely.
“But we decided it was very predictable and a very conventional setup and we decided to trade that predictability for the unknown wild rural life in Wales where actually there would be a lot of question marks as to how life would look as opposed to doing that town living thing indefinitely without much change.”
Enfys lost her travel company during the pandemic before launching a new venture offering sales training to business owners.
Rick meanwhile was an engineer and the trigger point for the move was when he asked his employers to reduce his hours so he could work four days a week for a better family balance.
However, Enfys said: “They said no to the reduction and we swore then. We thought, ‘Sod it, we are quitting and we are going to move to Wales’ – and that was a very instant decision.
“That night we went on RightMove and the house we wanted to buy was back on the market at a reduced price – let’s do it. And honestly, it was completely terrifying. Are we mad? It would be stretching us financially. Would my business be able to support two full-time salaries because it was still a junior business?
“That decision, you are giving up the known for the unknown and that is always going to be a scary thing.” Thankfully, her business – Sales Training With Enfys – has triumphed, hitting six figures last year, and Rick has become part of it. Despite this, the first few days at their new home did not go as expected, as the mum-of-two reveals below.
“You think you are going to skip into your new life like those idyllic postcards and that is going to be all roses – and it was that for the first few seconds,” she laughed.
The sale took a long time and by the time they got the keys the house had naturally deteriorated and the windows were boarded up.
And just 30 minutes into their new world, after turning on the taps for the first time in months, Enfys said: “I was stood in the kitchen and there was a massive flooding noise all of a sudden. Underneath the aga something had rusted and the whole cylinder floor flooded the kitchen and the water was going everywhere and there were no towels, no mops.
“We had a massive lorry arriving any minute with all of our stuff and Rick’s parents and the kids arrived and the whole place was flooding. It was like, ‘Oh my God, idyllic life?’”
Being 400 years old, the stunning stone house, one of Wales’ traditional longhouses that has been extended, did not come with a manual.
But despite the chaotic beginning, Enfys is now entranced by the beauty, and although work still needs to be done, hiccups no longer panic her, because she knows it is an ongoing project.
This month she enjoyed her 40th birthday where she was gifted chickens and she gave an insight into what she now wakes up to.
“We have 10 acres here,” she said. “I can step outside and see the sun rise over the mountain. We are not overlooked, there are no neighbours. We have 20 sheep; I am looking at them now and they are lovely.
“At the end of the day we can see the sunset, it is just beautiful, it is greenery, hills, and then at the bottom of our field we have a river we can go and swim in.
“We can go down there and throw rocks into the stream with the kids and there is just a lot of space, it feels really expansive, and it is just awe-inspiring here the natural beauty, it is just wonderful.
“There are a lot of birdsongs and the stars at night are just unbelievable. People always think of daytime views but if you step outside in the night and there are no clouds – it is insanely beautiful.”
She continued: “It feels extremely safe and I think that is another part of it – it doesn’t feel isolating.
“We are not lonely at all and that can be a big scary thing about moving to the country but I was brought up here and I went to see my oldest friend and her mum yesterday and I see my family.”
As for missing old parts of her life, Enfys said they are still in contact with pieces of her past existence, and still sometimes travels to London for work where she runs events.
However, as for what it is returning to urban areas, she said: “I visited Bedford and I was like, ‘Oh my God the traffic is relentless’ and the feeling of when I got to London now, like I hold my handbag and you don’t even realise that you are behaving cautiously until you realise you live freely I think.
“You hold your kids a bit tighter, like in the park I am always watching them, whereas here it is like, well the kids will turn up.”
Enfys and Rick have absolutely no regrets about the move and last year it was revealed grants were being awarded to Welsh speaking and young families to return to some areas of the country.
Up to £5,000 was being offered for help with “pay for transport costs, rent or mortgage costs, childcare costs, or even Welsh lessons”.
The scheme was not something Enfys was involved in for her move but she encouraged anyone considering it to take the leap.
She said: “You only live once and you need to pursue a life you want to live and you can always move back as well. For people considering the grant, go for it. What have you got to lose? North Wales has so much to offer. It is beautiful, it is friendly, the towns are nice, the landscapes are beautiful, and you can just integrate with community.”
And offering advice, she concluded: “I think there has to be a lot of self trust. You make a big decision and you figure out the rest when you get there. You don’t have to know everything before you arrive.
“There is a lot that is going to be unforeseeable but you have to trust that things tend to work out if you pursue it. Why stay with the predictable when you can have the unpredictable?”
