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Sarah's Place in the Sun
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| Sarah Lawson, right, and Amanda Lamb |
A financial expert from Embsay has swapped money matters for olive groves and flocks of sheep.
Sarah Lawson used to spend her days advising vicars on insurance matters, but now passes her time chatting to the locals in a small, rural village in Portugal.
"I last worked as a financial advisor in Leeds for a company called Ecclesiastical Insurance giving financial advice to vicars and priests. I now spend my time marvelling at the scenery and attempting to speak Portuguese with my neighbours," she said.
Thirty-five-year-old Sarah got itchy feet after an extended travelling holiday and last year applied to Channel Four's A Place in the Sun to find her a new life in Portugal.
The show, hosted by property expert Amanda Lamb, came up trumps and in September Sarah moved to her new home.
On Tuesday, Sarah's hunt for a new life was highlighted in a special property hot spots edition of the programme.
Sarah sold her house in Horsforth and with the money bought two properties in a forest in rural Alentejo - one to live in and one to rent out.
She says her new life could not be more different and compares the village to the old Yorkshire Dales.
"It's a very different life from being a financial adviser. However, I think the life I lead in the tiny village I live in is possibly like the Yorkshire Dales was 80 years ago.
"Everything is delivered to the village, from bread to a man who sharpens knives on a bicycle," she said.
She has recently bought a dog and spends a lot of time discovering the forest where she lives.
"Every man wears a flat cap, which they doff when they see me, I am invited to parties and meals, although I can only speak a few words of the language and they don't speak any English," said Sarah.
"Everyone has been so welcoming to the only foreigner in the village and although I know they all gossip about me, as I don't yet understand Portuguese I don't know what they are saying!"
| I think the life I lead in the tiny village I live in is possibly like the Yorkshire Dales was 80 years ago." | | Sarah Lawson |
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When she is not walking, Sarah is whitewashing walls and making jam, marmalade and lemon curd from her own fruit trees.
"The shepherds still watch their flocks and come up each day to graze their sheep and goats on my two acres of olive trees. I also had some retired people come from a neighbouring village who picked my olives in November and gave me 10 litres of extra virgin olive oil from my own trees."
Sarah's parents, Clifford and Rosamond Lawson, who live in Embsay, have been to Portugal to visit their daughter and are due to fly out again next month.
"She's in a part of Portugal that is very undiscovered. It's in the middle of a forest in a national park. You could say the word is rustic," said Mrs Lawson.
Sarah's new home is a two-hour flight from Liverpool airport to Lisbon and then another two-hour drive on quiet roads.
"Sarah has been very lucky and her neighbours are really nice and have taken her under their wing. It has been a big undertaking for her, but she's used to big undertakings," said Mrs Lawson.
Sarah is planning to rent out one of the two properties to holiday makers to fund her new life.
"The property has been done up and even has a swimming pool. It's a lovely getaway for walkers and is only seven miles from Spain. There are nice places to eat nearby and there's a big town just 20 minutes away," added Mrs Lawson.
At the end of filming for the television show, Sarah made a meal for 15 of her neighbours, including one of the shepherds.
"I made him a shepherd's pie. He thought I had cooked a shepherd, and then that I had cooked a German Shepherd," said Sarah.
Details of Sarah's property can be found at casadossonhos.co.uk
12:44pm Friday 21st March 2008
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