It is often heard these days that fewer Brits are coming to the TRNC, and most leave before they reach an age where health issues drive them back to the tender arms of the NHS in the UK. This quarter we focus on a bridge couple who have done the exact opposite, by forsaking the UK for the TRNC at the ripe old ages of 74 and 80, writes Colin Pearson.
John Waterfield and Lizzy Chaloner arrived in February 2025, having first visited North Cyprus together in 2022. On a visit to Kyrenia Castle they encountered Serhan Güneyli, an official government guide, who subsequently put together for them a series of tours around the island. Serhan became a friend, and on this first visit they formed the idea of moving here. The climate and the more laid-back atmosphere of the TRNC were the principal reasons for their moving here, together with the fact that Lizzy had lived in Cyprus as a child. This was coupled with a growing disillusionment with the UK – the way in which numerous freedoms have been removed, and the failure of politicians to live up to the standards of their predecessors. As purchasers of a house in the hills east of Esentepe, they encountered the usual challenges of those brave enough to enter the second-hand property market (pending Kocan still with the last but one owner, leaking swimming pools and uncertain plumbing and water supply). On the plus side, they did feel emboldened by their decision to paint their house a pastel shade of pink. They brought one cat from the UK with them (originally a rescue cat from Egypt), and since being here have adopted, or been adopted by, four more. All of these have been neutered with the help of Kyrenia Animal Rescue.
Lizzy’s links with the island go back to 1954 and 1955, when she lived and went to school in Nicosia. Her father had been a navigator with the RAF and was now working as an air traffic controller at Nicosia airport. Lizzy subsequently joined the Civil Service in London. It was in the 1970’s that she took up bridge and played for the Inland Revenue team in the Civil Service league. Later she moved to Edinburgh, then Cheshire and Oxfordshire, where her children grew up, and she followed a second career in the mental health field. After moving to Wales, she worked as a complementary therapist.
John was born in Japan where his father held a diplomatic post, and he subsequently moved as a child to Chile and New York, before being sent to boarding school. During holidays he visited Mali and India, where his father was now working. After two degrees at Oxford University, he embarked on his first career as a music teacher, spending seven years at a Steiner school on Lake Constance, bordering Germany and Switzerland, before returning to Hereford in the UK. Some years later, having to support a family of two children, he acquired an IT qualification and landed a job, but found the work very tedious. He finally settled on being a translator, which turned out to be a more lucrative career. John learned to play bridge in the family at a young age. His American mother played to a high standard, not normally matched by his father who said he played bridge like he played poker, and whose bidding was not to be depended on. John also learned chess as a child, and has been a life-long player, representing Wales in international events, Lizzy accompanying him to Dresden, Bilbao, Rhodes, Crete and Skopje, where they played bridge with members of the English team between chess matches. Having studied English at university, he has retained his interest in language and literature and has three published books to his credit: a translation of Rilke’s Duino Elegies, a book of poems (Lost Children) and a book on Shakespeare (The Heart of his Mystery).
Lizzy and John met in 2009, and found bridge was a game they had in common. Moving to Monmouthshire, they soon joined the U3A bridge club in Usk. They both now play regularly at the Korineum Monday bridge club but have so far resisted the allure of online bridge.
  
Lizzy with Serhan Güneyli in 2022 Lizzy in the 70's John in his youth
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