Two years after escaping the rat race of a daily newspaper, Martin Kirby, former deputy editor of the Eastern Daily Press, has revealed why their definitely is No Going Back.

Martin left the EDP in January 2001, after working for the paper for 22 years, and headed for Spain with his wife Maggie, and children Ella and Joe.

The family swapped their Norfolk home for a stunning 100-year-old rustic Spanish farm, complete with vineyard and lush olive groves in Catalonia, and with just £10,000 in savings to their name, they aimed to live self-sufficiently.

Last year the familiy’s adventure was featured in the first series of the Channel Four documentary No Going Back, about people who had made life-changing decisions.

And last week Channel Four made a return to Spain to see if they were still ‘living the dream’ or if it had turned into a nightmare.

The documentary found the family managing to make a living from the grapes, almonds and other various fruits they had managed to grow on their land – named Mother’s Garden – despite a very hard winter which all but destroyed their olive groves.

Extra income has also come from monthly 2,000-word Mother’s Garden articles Martin writes for the Yorkshire Post, Eastern Daily Press and East Anglian Daily Times, and he has also been teaching English to some of the locals.

Martin’s two children have also settled in well and are now both fluent in the local language of Catalan.

Martin said: “There is no doubt that we have found what we were looking for at Mother’s Garden – more time for family life, space, the chance to grow our own organic food, to live in harmony with the environment as much as possible, and to test ourselves.

“The key message to anyone thinking of following our example is that the timing, the place and the support all have to be right and you need to have a shared determination if you are to have the best chance of finding your dream.

“As a result of the response to the documentaries we are also considering offering ‘hands on’ breaks here for people earnestly contemplating a similar move.

“This would give couples and families a flavour of the many challenges and realities, both good and not so savoury, that they may face.”

To read more about Martin’s life in Spain, visit www.mothersgarden.org

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or
e-mail [email protected]