When Barry and Lesley Needham decided to up sticks and make a better life in the sun, little did they think they would end up in a hole in the wall............
But the couple did just that, leaving their three-bedroom detached house in Nottingham for a cave in the hills above the village of Los Olivos, Castillejar, an hour and a half drive from Granada, in southern Spain.
Lesley, 53, who had slogged away for seven days a week at her own bridal wear business, said: “We were fed up with living to work and wanted something more in our retirement. When a cave home was mentioned I was intrigued. At first I couldn´t understand how people could live comfortably in one but now I am totally converted. People thought we wre mad but our cave has all the mod cons and the walls are sprayed with concrete to stop water getting in. While people are quick to make jokes about the Flintstones or hobbits, it is not primitive at all.â€
They paid £60,000 for the three-bedroom dwelling, which has a reading room, kitchen, lounge, dining area and bathroom   although it is a world away from the home they left at Cotgrave, Nottingham.
“It is certainly quirkyâ€, laughed Lesley. “You have to get special cave furniture. It cannot be too tall as cave walls curve and it has to be narrow to fit through the doorways. Only one bedroom has a window.†Although their property has doubled in value since they bought it, they know their move was a huge gamble.
Engineer Barry, 54, said: “We sold up our house and belongings and left Nottingham on July 7 2003 with two suitcases and a little money.â€
