From Moira To Spain: How Lisa Left Norris Hill For Galicia And Wrote A Book About Her Experiences
Lisa-Rose Wright has lived in the remote northwest of Spain for 13 years - but she was born and brought up in Moira.
"Galicia reminds me of home in many ways. The area where we live is very rural. We are surrounded by fields and it is a really close knit community. The people are very friendly and always willing to help each other out, just like I remember our neighbours used to in Norris Hill," she said.
Lisa went to Moira, Donisthorpe and Ivanhoe Schools, and then Ashby Grammar School before leaving to study in London.
She was an avid reader and loved adventure stories as a child.
"I remember getting The Swiss Family Robinson out of the library at Moira when I was about eight and dreaming of surviving on a remote desert island!," she said.
But Lisa never dreamed she would one day write her own true life adventure story.
"I never thought I had a book in me but I obviously did!' she added.
"My dream was to work with animals. Twycross zoo was my favourite family outing, I adored the chimps and even wrote to ask for a job when I was 15...needless to say they turned me down."
It took 38 years for Lisa to realise that particular dream and become an Ecologist.
"It was the best job ever, I got to play in ponds and collect newts!,"she explained.
"The great crested newt is a protected species, I was paid to find and rescue them!"
It was then that she met her future husband, 'S' as he is known in the book.
"Our Spanish neighbours can't pronounce his English name, so 'S' he became," she joked.
"We got married here in Galicia in 2010, but that is a story for my second book!"
Lisa and S had both long dreamed of living the 'Good Life', after the 70s sitcom of the same name, growing their own food and being self-sufficient.
"I wanted to be Felicity Kendal and walk around in wellies, looking glamorous!" Lisa says. She was already used to gardening and the taste of home grown vegetables.
"Like many of the miners, Dad spent most of his time in the garden when he wasn't down the pit. We always grew our own veg and they tasted so good.
"There was never any doubt that I wanted to do the same. Though, I never imagined that dream would take me to Spain."
Then, in 2007, Lisa and S upped sticks to move to Galicia, a land of mists and mystery, bagpipes and witches, to live la vida dulce, growing their own vegetables, raising animals and renovating a 200 year old stone farmhouse. That they ended up living in Spain at all was quite a surprise.
"We had decided to walk the old pilgrim route, the Camino de Santiago in 2004," she explained.
"Our backpacks were too heavy so we went looking at houses instead! Property was incredibly cheap and we realised we could actually fulfil our dream of being self-sufficient here.
"Of course the house was a total wreck. It had been empty over twelve years. The roof was rotten, there was no glass in the windows and bats were living indoors. There was also no toilet but that's something you will have to read about!"
Lisa's new book, Plum, Courgette & Green Bean Tart follows her first year in Galicia through letters home to her mum in Norris Hill and Lisa's dairy which she has kept religiously since she was twelve years old.
"When I found out that mum had kept every one of the weekly letters I'd sent to her over the years, I knew I had to write my story.
"What was that first year like? It had its share of troubles! We spoke virtually no Spanish so struggled to understand anything as English is rarely spoken here.
"We were wreathed in miles of red tape and despaired of ever having windows with glass in them. Then there were the toileting facilities…"
But there were many lighter moments too. "Our first pig bone stew festival (yes really) was quite an eye opener. Who knew there were so many uses for a pig! And the Spanish really know how to party!"
The book is also something of a travel guide to this little known area of Spain where bagpipes and pig bones meet and fiestas go on all year round.
"This area is so beautiful and green, nothing like the Med which most people imagine when they think of Spain. Galicia has so much history and is so unspoilt. Our neighbours really helped us to fit in. We were invited to parties, and pig killings!
"When they found out I enjoy cooking, locals also shared recipes with me so they have gone into the book too."
"Does I ever regret the move? There were a few times that first year that I thought of giving up, but us Wright's are made of sterner stuff!"
And is there anything she misses from England?
"Marmite!," she said. "I get it brought over when people visit. The Spanish don't have a taste for it! And I miss my friends and family, though some of them have moved out here too!"
In 2015 Lisa's mum moved out to the same tiny village in Galicia to live full time but Lisa says that's a story for book three.
"Mum loves it here and was made so welcome, though it did mean we were trying to renovate two houses at the same time!"
And what message does her current book send?
"That anyone can pursue their dreams, no matter where you come from or what your background is…even if it takes you to a different country in the process."
Plum, Courgette & Green Bean Tart is available in paperback and eBook and Lisa is already working on her second book.
Read more about Lisa here: Lisa Rose Wright Author and you can buy the book here: Plum, Courgette & Green Bean Tart
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