At the end of February 1999, I moved out of the house in Carrickfergus where I'd lived for 13 years to a rented cottage in the country. It's a thatched cottage (flax stem thatching -- good for 20 years) built around 1700.

It's still part of a working farmyard, so I had a few cows and sheep as neighbours. I sent the cat in under the thatch to check for wildlife, but she came back empty-handed. I certainly never heard any suspicious scrabbling noises.

According to the Environment and Heritage Service, there are only 125 original thatched houses remaining in Northern Ireland.

It was a lovely place to live, with loads of quaint character, and a beautiful cottage garden, but it was only rented, and my very own house was being built just down the road, so eventually I had to leave.