I MOVED MY FAMILY FROM BEDFORD TO A 10-ACRE HOME IN SNOWDONIA FOR JUST £40,000 MORE

Enfys Maloney, her husband Rick, and their two daughters, aged eight and 10, previously lived in a four-bedroom semi in Bedford.

“It was in a very nice area and had a big garden; the school was at the bottom of the road and there was a park at the end of the street. It was a very comfortable set-up and we weren’t unhappy,” says Enfys.

But several factors have led the family upping sticks and moving across the country to the border of Snowdonia, Wales, near where she grew up, and buying a property with 10 acres for just £40,000 more.

First, the pandemic changed everything as her travel business ceased trading overnight.

To quickly replace her lost income, the 40-year-old decided to start a new business, using her selling skills, and Sales Training With Enfys took off.

“I was soon out-earning my husband who was in an engineering job. We thought he could work less so I could work more, but his company said ‘no’ to his request for flexible working.”

The couple had previously viewed a five-bedroom farm and smallholding with 10 acres and three outbuildings in Snowdonia, but it had been out of their budget and gone under offer.

As soon as Enfys’s work turned down his flexible working request, they logged onto Rightmove and saw it was back on the market for a reduced price of £615,000.

They decided to take the plunge and move, with Rick giving up his job to support her business with strategy and planning, alongside dealing with the children and house.

The previous buyers had pulled out as they had trouble securing a mortgage on the property and it was not a smooth process for the couple either.

“We had to go to a specialist lender as one of the fields floods; it’s a natural part of the river system but it makes it harder to get a mortgage on,” says Enfys.

“The flooding meant buying the house was an extended, stressful process and it did make us question whether we really wanted it.”

However, the couple realised they did want it and sold their Bedford house for £575,000 and moved into the 400-year-old house in September 2023. The children now attend a tiny school with two teachers and 15 children and are fluent in Welsh.

“We wanted to extend their childhoods as kids grow up so quickly in towns; we wanted to delay the time when they would want phones. I was brought up in a rural outdoor way, and we have 20 sheep, a cat, a dog and chickens.”

While Enfys could have focused on her business just as easily in Bedford, aside from their friends there, her husband’s job was the only real anchor.

“Everything was very predictable and adaptable in Bedford. I could foresee every day for the next 20 years and know exactly how it would pan out. We swapped comfortable for exciting,” she said.

As well as more space for the children, both inside and out, their new home offers a completely different way of life, not to mention stunning scenery.

“The kids swim in the river; we chop our own wood and get some of our water from a stream. We are in the mountains, so I can go for a walk with the dog,” says Enfys.

However, the move has come with its own set of challenges.

“This property doesn’t come with a manual. It was a bit like being a firefighter. The first day we got the keys, the Aga system flooded. It was a dramatic and not so brilliant welcome to the house – but thankfully short-lived. You can paint an idyllic picture in your head, but it can feel overwhelming.

“In an unfamiliar property, you have no little black book of tradespeople you can use and it’s difficult to even know what trades you need to use.”

She has found it helpful that she comes from this part of Wales and has extended family here to support her. “If you’re coming without ties, you could feel isolated,” she admits.

Another drawback with a property this size is that the bills are more than in Bedford. The council tax is £3,000 a year, while in Bedford it was around £1,500; their electricity was also very expensive at the beginning, as the property wasn’t set up correctly.

Tree surgery to remove five trees also costs several thousand pounds.

“There are chimneys leaking and fires breaking, it’s not all [as it looks on] Instagram,” says Enfys. “There is so much that needs to be done – it’s never-ending, you can’t get to the end.” But, she says, on the whole, it is worth it.

She regularly goes back to Bedford to run events for her business and the train to London is only 3 hours and 20 minutes. “I have one foot in a gold stiletto and the other in a welly,” she says.

Last year, the business hit multiple six figures, justifying the couple’s decision to make it their focus.

In terms of the future, Enfys wants to fully integrate her husband into her company to help it grow further, and eventually renovate the three barns into a bike workshop, music room and space for visitors.

Enfys says: “If you feel called to build a business and change a life, you shouldn’t have to stay put. People are worried about change, and you need to be brave enough to explore.”

2026-01-20T06:49:25Z