The pandemic acted like a fast forward button on James Gwinnett’s life, accelerating his personal life and his career, and transforming his day-to-day routines beyond recognition.
As 2020 began James was renting in Southfields, working as a freelance PR, and enjoying the fun and freedom of single London life. He had just started dating a woman named Krista.
“We had met in November 2019 and we were renting, separately,” says James.
“Then in 2020 Boris announced the first lockdown, and we had to decide whether to do it separately or move in together, which is not something you’d normally be thinking about after four months. But we chose the latter – if you know, you know – and it worked.”
The couple’s first home was Krista’s compact £1,400pcm one bedroom flat in Wimbledon Village, and they quickly settled into a routine of working from home from the kitchen table and going out and running circuits of Wimbledon Common as their daily exercise.
Until that point James had never really considered moving out of the capital. “It is a vibrant, energetic, multi-cultural city with an unfathomable amount of things to do, and we both loved it, and still love it,” he says.
Then Krista, a lawyer, was offered a new job with a firm in Bath. The role was remote but the couple, both 40, decided it might be worth just looking around at what they could afford to rent in the Regency city.
At that point James had never even visited Bath and Krista had been once, for a hen weekend. But when they started researching the rental market they realised their money would go far further there and, when they began looking at properties, they fell hard for the beautiful, historic, walkable city.
Their choice was a three-bedroom flat in a Georgian conversion, which cost them £1,800pcm. “It had four-metre high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows – it was incredible,” says James.
“I didn’t have any reservations or anxieties about leaving London at that point. I think I was ready, plus London is so accessible from Bath.”
After 18 months of renting James and Krista were engaged and ready to start house hunting.
Because Bath’s house prices were prohibitively high they expanded their search area into Wiltshire.
In April 2022 they bought a four-bedroom Grade II-listed cottage in a village close to Chippenham – a train stop closer to London, a journey which now takes a shade over an hour.
The house cost £800,000, and they were able to fund the purchase because Krista already owned a flat on the Harrow Road which she sold. Servicing their £500,000 mortgage now costs them £1,800pcm, the same as they were paying as renters.
The life changes didn’t stop there. In the past three years Krista got a new job, with a larger firm based in Bristol, and had a son, Freddie, who is now one.
They bought Harvey the fox-red Labrador, who accompanies them on long walks in the Cotswolds. James swapped freelance work for a staff job as director of a Bath-based PR firm.
Peace and contentment has had another, more unexpected, effect on James.
Back before he met Krista he had broken his neck in a rugby accident and spiralled into depression and alcoholism.
Recovery began when he discovered long-distance running and began taking part in marathons and endurance events, an interest he kept up.
In 2021 he became the first person to run the 102 miles of the Cotswold Way solo and unsupported and also completed the 145-mile Kennet and Avon Canal Race between Bath and Bristol.
His experiences inspired him to write a book exploring the links between exercise and mental health, Ready, Set, Life was published on Amazon in October 2024.
“I have no doubt that if I had been stuck in a one-bedroom flat in Wimbledon I would not have had the headspace to write a book,” said James.
“Not having the weight of a busy city bearing down on my shoulders has just made everything a bit clearer.”
