A traditional three-bedroom semi in a quiet Hexham street was the ideal new base for Susan Wray and her family when they outgrew their existing home.

“We had lived in Eastwood Grange but the house only had two bedrooms and was too small when my second son was born,” she recalled.

“I liked a house in Langley Avenue which was a good location and also had a safe and secluded garden which was ideal since the boys were young.”

Fast-forward 17 years ago and with her children working and studying, Susan, who four years ago launched the popular Tynedale institution that is the Barber Bus, and her partner Graham, who works in health and safety, have decided it is time to move on.

“I’ll miss having breakfast on the decking in the summer, it’s so peaceful,” she said. “In fact, my favourite spot is on the decking just outside the patio doors in the dining room, overlooking the valley. Putting in this decking in various places in the garden is one of the home improvements we’ve carried out.

“We’ve also installed a new bathroom, expanding it by knocking through from a separate toilet, and put in a corner bath and shower cubicle.

“We fitted a new kitchen and created a utility which adjoins the kitchen and is handy for housing the washer, dryer, freezer and boiler, freeing up the kitchen for cooking.”

Other upgrades included painting the wood panelling and sanding the original floorboards in the house, which was built in 1939, and building the TV/Sky box into the fireplace - a great space-saver, Susan says.

As well as the dining room, her home has a sitting room, bedrooms with views and a garage complementing driveway parking.

“This is a quiet area with friendly neighbours,” she said. “There’s a school nearby so it’s normally gritted and cleared of snow in the winter and it’s just a flat walk on the level to the town centre.”

The house in Langley Gardens, Hexham, is for sale at £200,000 from Rook Matthews Sayer, tel. 01434 601616.