The Scottish village of Firhall, on the outskirts of Nairn on the Moray Firth in the northeast of the country, is spotless and smart, a cluster of detached houses overlooking a lake. There is no fence between me and the deep water, and nothing to divide one garden from the next. There are no skateboards here, either. No footballs. No noise. It takes a while, but the penny drops: Firhall is the first and only village in Britain from which children are banned and it shows.
To buy a property in the village, you have to be 45-plus with no dependent family in tow, and you must sign a contract agreeing not to sell property on to those with children. Firhall has, predictably, attracted criticism.
"I am writing about a village where children are banned," I tell a friend with young children.
"Oh yes, there are places like that in America," she says, "neighborhoods where no black people are allowed."
"What next?" says another, "Villages for women only?"
I liked the idea of a child-free community and was curious about how it has worked so far. The odd time I have criticized smug parents and their badly behaved children, I have been subjected to scores of e-mails telling me I am heartless and a child-hater. So I arrive at Firhall hoping to witness the liberation from such ideals for at least a few like-minded folk.
Grandchildren and other young visitors are welcome, but for three weeks maximum. When Firhall was under construction, the brainchild of Caledonian Retreats, a group of chartered architects and surveyors impressed by the success of such lifestyle villages in other countries, buyers were promised a play area for children visiting.
Almost three years after it opened in April 2003, it still has not materialized, but no one seems to mind.
In the US, adult-only neighborhoods have set the scene for other exclusive communities. The first gated village exclusively for lesbians and gays is being built in Florida. But opinion is divided.
Is this about the rights of those wishing to live among "their own," or merely a ghettoization of special-interest groups, which smacks of prejudice and discrimination?
Most people I spoke to at Firhall love living without children around, and are not hesitant in telling you why.
"I am sick of having conversations with parents about how funny and clever their kids are," Ivy, a 55-year-old resident, tells me.
"I don't think I noticed how much people go on about their kids until I started living among people who don't. As soon as I moved in I felt I belonged," she says."I am not judged for having no husband or children, or seen as an oddity."
Ivy moved to the village from the west of Scotland and does not regret the move.
"I have nothing against children," she says, "but their parents drive me bonkers! I could not bear any more stories about school catchment areas."
Lesley Anne Fraser of Stronachs estate agent, which markets the Firhall properties, is certain that the ban on children is the major incentive for most of those who move to the village.
"There is no child-catcher like in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," she laughs, "but there is also no noise from ghetto blasters, no having to avoid footballs on the pavements."
"It's like Britain was 30 years ago, where you live among considerate and polite neighbors. If a stranger comes into the village, everyone will take notice," says Eden Guisley, the chair of the Firhall Residents Association.
RSS