45


“The main things I miss are Philly cheesesteak, big malls”


Thalie Anderson


ANDERSEN’S UPHOLSTERY In 1998 I swapped Cape Town in south Africa for London. But I didn’t stay long –it was too busy and smelly! I had my eyes set on Dartmouth after visiting friends here. I moved to the town for a short time and then went to Wiltshire to do my upholstery training and I ended up working there for nearly 14 years. But I couldn’t stay away and, in 2014, I finally got my dream of opening an upholstery shop in the Market Square! I love it. There is enough space to do my work and people can visit me and see my pieces. My huge dog Otto likes it – he sits on the doormat watching everyone walk past! I’m passionate about antiques and I tend to steer away from modern furniture if I can. I can recover chairs or completely rebuild a Chesterfield – no job is too big or too small. I couldn’t have done this job in South Africa as they see upholstery as unskilled labour. Over there antiques are thrown away or misused, whereas here people show them a great deal of care - British people are proud of their heritage. The main things I miss are the sunshine and the fried doughnuts!


“I couldn’t have done this job in South Africa as they see upholstery as unskilled labour.”


Jo Byrne


KINGSWEAR POST OFFICE I’m from the United States and I still have my ac- cent! My hometown is Pennsylvania. I came over here eight years ago after meeting my husband and business partner Jason in an online chat room. We struck up a great relationship and one day he asked if he could call me. I was unsure at first in case he was some kind of stalker! Luckily my friend convinced me because she wanted to hear his British accent. A decade later we are mar- ried and happily settled in Kingswear. We didn’t take over the shop and post office straight away, I worked in sainsbury’s and Jason worked in the Brixham Spar and post office. But when this post office came up for sale we jumped at the chance. Back home I used to install software for credit unions so that experience helped when we first set up. I have been totally accepted by the community here. If anything it helps that I have such a strong accent, as it’s a talking point for people when they first come in. It took me quite a while to sort out the language issues though; I would say things like sneakers instead of trainers, bathroom instead of toilet, sidewalk instead of pavement and get a few odd looks! I still have to really concentrate when I drive my scooter on the roads; I keep saying to myself ‘left, left’! The main things I miss are Philly cheesesteak, big malls, movie theatres just down the street and stores that are open ‘til 10 or 11 at night!


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