WORDS JANE CRITTENDEN PHOTOS DAVID BARBOUR
When Simon Watkins took a new job at a hospital in Jedburgh, Scotland, it proved to be the catalyst for He and his wife Alison’s decision to self build. For the first 18 months Simon lived in Jedburgh alone, commuting back to the family home in Norfolk whenever he could. Alison needed to stay put until the couple’s youngest son finished his A Levels. “It was stressful living apart, but we knew we liked this area as we’d been on a hill-walking holiday here in 2006,” says Simon. “We love the outdoors and I wanted to join the mountain rescue team. I rented a flat and then later a house when Alison joined me here in January 2010.”