“It doesn’t bother me that people took offence from the letter,” she said. The former model, who believes it might take around 50 years for newcomers to be totally accepted in the area, admits that the letter caused consternation among some neighbours.
“There are lovely properties where people allow you to go and look round their gardens, and in the summer there are all the village fetes.”īut Erica, who also appeared alongside Philip Madoc in the 1981 TV series The Life and Times of David Lloyd George, stands by her remark that the high-profile celebrity couple may find a different pace of life. “But we like to go out for a cream tea here and frequent the many wonderful restaurants. “You have to switch off and give up things which you used to think were very important like hairdressers and beauticians. “You initially like it because it is the thing you chose to do – then you have to adapt to the things you maybe didn’t expect. “You go through phases whenever you do any big change,” she explained. “You don’t need these things at all, which is something you come to realise when living in the country because they are less available.”Įrica, who is originally from Maidenhead, Berkshire, says she has never regretted the move from town to country. “In London, for example, it seems important to have your hair and nails done once a week, but of course it isn’t. “Since living here we’ve learned so much about farming and country life and I think we’ve shared a bit with people about what life in the city is like. “That’s not a bad thing, it is simply a difference between the two places.
“But here you just don’t get the things you are used to when you live in London. “It’s a different pace of life down here,” said the mum-of-two as she looked out of the window at the village which stands just 20 miles from the new mansion home snapped up by Liz and Shane. When the Sunday Mercury called at the Herefordshire home Erica shares with her partner of ten years, David Fowler, 65, a former corporate accountant, we received a warm welcome. * When she sported a new snazzy hair cut, a farmer’s wife asked which salon she had used, then added “Well I won’t go there, then!” * A killer outfit chosen to impress the visiting president of the village Women’s Institute drew whispers of “What on earth is she wearing?” * Soon after she arrived one neighbour asked “You won’t paint your house any colour other than white, will you?” In a tongue-in-cheek missive to a national newspaper, Erica passed on anecdotes about her early village life in Dilwyn to actress Liz, 47, and cricket legend Shane, 42 – warning they could have a bit of a culture shock. When celebrity couple Liz Hurley and Shane Warne ploughed £6million into a palatial pad on the edge of the Forest of Dean, on the border between Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, she thought she would offer some advice. She appeared in Hollywood movies like The Great Muppet Caper and appeared on TV before becoming a successful celebrity portrait photographer. Erica, now 65, found fame in the 1970s and 80s posing on the world’s catwalks and in fashion magazines.