Long-term friends relocated 390 miles to Scottish Borders home during lockdown

A pair of long term friends who met in Cyprus relocated 390 miles during lockdown to a Scottish Borders home.

The pair met and became friends when Anne (L) moved to Lapta, in Northern Cyprus in 2006 where Stella (R) had been living

Stella Coe, 73, and her friend Anne became friends when Anne moved to Lapta, in Northern Cyprus in 2006 where she had been living.

After moving back to the UK, both Stella and 66-year-old Anne, decided to relocate the Scottish Borders home after viewing property from Edinburgh-based Bield’s Fairbairn Court in Greenlaw solely on Whatsapp.

Stella, who relocated from Southampton, said: “We’ve stayed friends ever since we met in Northern Cyprus. We were both back in England when Anne told me she was considering moving to the Scottish Borders, and suggested I come too.

“Anne put me in touch with Bield. Within a week I heard my application had been accepted and it just so happened that I would be living in the same development as Anne.”

Since leaving the countryside where she grew up, Stella owned her own recruitment agency in London and opened a guest house arranging horse riding holidays in Dorset. Venturing further afield, she also spent three years in Balboa, Newport Beach, California.

Ahead of the move, the company gave the friends a thorough video tour of the development, gardens and properties to ensure that they were well informed prior to moving in.

Anne then moved to the development in July from Leeds and Stella followed shortly later in August.

Stella added: “It was all decorated for me when I moved in and engineers to help set up my TV and internet too. All I had to do was walk in.

“It feels like home even after such a short period of time. It’s got a warm and community feel to it. We’ve both said we feel as though we’ve lived here forever.”

“I’d highly recommend Bield to anybody. It’s so nice being here and having people around you. My new kitten pulled the emergency cord in my house by accident and staff were there right away.

“Although it was my cat - it’s nice to know that if anything were to happen, I’d be in good hands.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.