29 February 2024 , 13:25
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A retired taxi driver has made a major motoring purchase after winning £1million on lottery and vowing to hit the open road.
Steve Glover swapped Devon for the Highlands of Scotland after his win in March last year, buying a property 20 miles south of John O’Groats, in a region that he first fell in love with when he was based at RAF Leuchars. And now he has a Bentley car to take a spin around the countryside.
The 73-year-old said: "I was driving for the RAF Go-Kart race team during my time at Leuchars, you could say that the RAF gave me my two great loves in life, Scotland and a fascination for just about anything with an engine. And while the RAF gave me a go-kart, the Lotto win has given me a veritable fleet of vehicles, I think my current favourite is my old classic, a Bentley R Turbo."
Steven with his Bentley and all-terrain-vehicle at home in Lybster, north east Scotland (Anthony Devlin)Budget is no-longer an issue after his windfall and the retired cabbie has thoroughly enjoyed treating himself. He said: "After years towing a caravan or getting about in an old camper, I wasted no time and within one month of winning, I’d bought myself a luxurious motorhome, treated my best mate to one too, and then waved goodbye to Exeter setting off on a 1,000 mile road-trip to find my dream home in Scotland.
"Doing that drive in a swanky new motorhome was wonderful but I soon realised it was too wide to be practical on the narrow lanes of the Highlands so that has now been swapped for a smaller, more practical SUV."
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Steve loves taking to the wilds (Anthony Devlin)His practical plan did not last for long, however, and he spotted the sleek older vehicle and invested in himself again. He said: "Clearly I’m not destined to be practical for too long because when I saw the old Bentley for sale, I couldn’t help myself and splashed out on it as a pre-Christmas treat. I’ve also invested in an all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) with various attachments to help me manage my land, and to top it off, an old Land Rover pick-up, simply because I couldn’t say no when it was offered.
"For someone like me, who has always loved anything with an engine, being in this wonderful position to ‘play’ is an absolute dream – I’m like a kid in a sweet shop.”
He recalled the unbelievable moment when he discovered his win and needed to double check his win. He said: "I can still remember the moment I checked the Lotto results on my tablet and instantly recognised my numbers. I had to call my best mate, and then my ex-wife, asking each to read the numbers to me, just to be sure I wasn’t looking at the wrong thing. I still pinch myself at how much has changed for me for the better.
The lottery winner is enjoying his latest purchase (Anthony Devlin)"A week before my life-changing win, an old caravan I was doing up which I hoped would one day be my home up here in Scotland, was broken into and vandalised. I was feeling pretty fed-up thinking that my Scottish dream would never happen, and then Lady Luck smiled on me and the rest, as they say, is history. For 30 years I’ve been driving people around in taxis and now I get to drive around in my perfect motor - I am absolutely overwhelmed with how life has turned out.”
Players generate £30M each week for National Lottery-funded projects with more than 685,000 grants made across the UK to date.