‘West’ seems to feature very prominently in my personal journey, both in terms of living and working. I was born in the North West Province of South Africa. My family moved to Cape Town, Western Cape, when I was around 10 years of age. I lived mainly in Cape Town until I decided to move to Ireland for two years. That was fifteen years ago!
Mind you there was another detour to 'the west'. After a number of years in retail management I decided to take a break and travel the world. I headed to England initially. After six weeks of traveling around I found myself in the West Country. North Devon to be precise. I joined Lee Abbey Fellowship near Lynton. I spent 18 months there, managing the Kitchen and Tea Cottage. I did do some traveling - you guessed it: in Western Europe.
It is certainly no surprise then, that when I needed to name the business I was in the throes of setting up, 'West' presented itself!
I wonder if this attraction to the 'West' influences the pronunciation of my surname locally: ‘Westhaven’?
Food for thought.