Life Like the River Flows

Homes come in all shapes and sizes. For Kevin and Dianne Millward that specific shape and size is a 65-foot long, 12-foot wide riverboat berthed in the Kennet and Avon Canal in Devizes. The vessel was considerately christened The Redoubt. As they tell DEAN MUSCAT, the name refers to a military stronghold and serves as a loving reminder to their respective, flown-the-coop kids that they’ll always be welcomed with open arms on their parents’ floating abode.

Kevin and Diane met in their fifties and theirs is a story of a late in life romance kindled by a kindred passion for travel and adventure. Having dedicated their careers in service to others—Diane working in children’s mental health with the NHS and Kevin as a Sergeant Major in the British Armed Forces, or as he puts it ‘I was the man with the stick who did all the shouting’—the couple agreed to devote their fast-approaching retirement to travelling the world together. And what better way for two wanderlust-ful retirees to up and holiday at the drop of a hat than an all-purpose, custom-built riverboat.

‘We found these two men in a tin shed in the middle of a cabbage field and they were absolutely amazing, like the Hairy Bikers of Boatbuilding,’ laughs Kevin. ‘We spent four hours with them talking about our dream boat, and we left there thinking this is exactly what we want. When we finally got to a point where the boat was good enough to live on, we said sod it, let’s move onto the boat.’

The relocation proved revelatory. Kevin and Diane began sailing around Bristol, Portishead and the River Avon all the way across to London via the River Thames. Along Britain’s winding waterways they’ve happened upon former military quarantines, gunpowder docks and canal-side graffiti that ‘make Banksy’s stuff look amateurish.’

‘That’s the beauty of being on a boat,’ Kevin says, ‘you see things you would never have seen before. And you learn so much more about your own history as you go on that journey.’

But as rewarding as The Redoubt has proven to be, the Millwards have even more aces up their travel plan sleeve. There’s hopes to build their own campervan and roadtrip across Europe. They also have an Azure X membership giving them access to myriad hotels, yachts and supercars. As Diane explains ‘Azure has enhanced our holidays across the board. It’s brilliant.’

Kevin and Diane first came in contact with Azure shortly after they started dating. They were looking to go on holiday to somewhere neither of them had been before. No easy task. With 22 years of military service under his belt, Kevin had seen more of the world than most, having been stationed everywhere from the Middle East and Bosnia to Northern Ireland, Germany and America. So when an Azure holiday in Malta popped up on their radar, it seemed not only fortuitous but like a twist of fate.

‘My father served in the Royal Navy and was posted in the Grand Harbour in Malta,’ Kevin explains. ‘So my mother, elder brother and sister moved here, and I was actually born here. It was not long after I was born that we moved back to the UK though, as my father was reposted.’

With this hitherto unexplored link to his past and a promise of an unforgettable holiday at the beachfront Golden Sands Spa Resort, the couple were happy to overlook the fact that Kevin had technically been in Malta before—he certainly had no memory of it.

To say the trip was life-changing is not quite as hyperbolic as you’d imagine. ‘We fell in love with Golden Sands during the taxi ride from the airport, before we’d even seen the hotel. The lady who was with us convinced us of how beautiful Malta was,’ Diane recalls.

‘We’ve been coming here for nine years now and there are still things we have not seen. It took us three years to finally get to Gozo! Malta is an island of adventure, and even though it’s so small, we’re still on that adventure,’ says Kevin.

Since that first visit, they’ve invited family and friends over to experience the Azure treatment for themselves, their membership XPs providing them with the flexibility to cater for bigger or smaller groups as they wish. Kevin even had the pleasure of bringing his mother back to the island for the first time in 50 years.

‘Living here was one of the happiest times of her life. During the week she spent with us at the Golden Sands, she was treated like a queen. She was escorted back to her room by the concierges. The staff really looked after her. They were fantastic.’

And when Kevin and Diane decided to officially tie the knot, there was only one destination on the list for their dream wedding.

‘We got married in Malta’s old city of Mdina. 40 of our family and friends joined us and Azure even helped out with the accommodation. They all said it was the wedding to remember and that Malta is the place to be,’ Kevin says beaming.

From building riverboats and sailing Britain to discovering Malta and getting married, the past 10 years have already been an adventure of lifetime for the Millwards. So what else is on the cards?

‘We’d like to bring The Redoubt to Malta, sailing down through France and along the Mediterranean coast,’ says Kevin with a glint in his eye. ‘It’ll be difficult, but a good challenge I think.’

And what do their friends and family think of their newfound rolling stone ways?

‘Some are encouraging, others think we’re mad,’ says Diane with a laugh, before adding on a more introspective note: ‘We’ve only got one life and you can’t afford to sit back. If you’ve got a dream, you go for it, because if it doesn’t work out exactly as you’d hoped, what does it matter? At least you can say you gave it a go.’

This article originally appeared in Living Wow magazine issue 4.