Lisa and Paul Spann

Who are we?

We are two middle-age somethings who work in IT! Yes we are geeks who sit behind a screen all day every day. We live in a 3 bed detached house in Westhoughton suburbia with no pets but a few furry friends.

Paul

Paul is the Company Director of Internet Solutions Services Limited, (ISSL) a web development company based in Greater Manchester, England. Primarily a software developer specialising in Estate Agents, Letting Agents and Property Management software. In addition, ISSL designs and hosts websites for different types of smaller businesses.

Paul and I set up ISSL together years go but back in 2015 I was offered the job of Head of E-commerce for the vaping company Totally Wicked . As I said computer geeks!

Paul likes to say he works full time but I know different ;), he spends a lot of time with hobbies especially his most recent one of designing and building light shows. We lit our house up in December 2021 for the first time (Hemley Close Lights) raising £3,400 for Derian House Children’s Hospice. We even made BBC Northwest Tonight. He also believes he has a musical talent, I have to say debatable… Paul started to learn the bass guitar and picks up every now and again. We have had a few keyboards (one remains) in the house and he is a wannabe Alan Wilder. Paul also has a private pilots licence but has not flown for a number of years, one day maybe he will get back into it, he is also a Freemason and has progressed to be a past master after serving two consecutive years as master of a lodge.

I have to say Paul is very good at DIY, he has renovated much of the nb Dreamcatcha as you will see within the gallery.

Lisa

As for me, I like being online and search optimisation (SEO) is my thing when it comes to work. A number of years ago I had a book published to help small businesses get their business online – Owner’s Guide to a Small Business Website.

That is work though, outside of that I love to travel and would like to see all the modern wonders of the world. So far; Great Wall of China (Charity Trek), Taj Mahal, Colosseum and the honorary candidate (Giza Pyramids). 2022 should be the year to visit Chichen Itza and then need to save for the rest. Paul comes along for the ride most times (FOMO).

I am quite a big fan of Guns N’ Roses, my son has the middle name of Axl. When GnR re-united we flew to Vegas for the weekend to see them. The bonus for Paul he also got to see Donny and Marie Osmond. We also travelled to Tokyo and tick off an item on my bucket list I never thought would happen. Then there have been countless other trips to see them across Europe. Plus, I am lucky to be one of a few owners of a Collectors Edition Pinball Machine.

Paul and I are both big fans of Depeche Mode (one of a number of bands I got him into) and have travelled to a number of European cities to watch them live.

Overall I have been to approx. 150 music concerts throughout my life.

One thing I would like to pick up again is doing crafts. I used to many craft hobbies years ago but over the last 10 years been too busy with work. As and when we get to spend time on Dreamcatcha this seems to be a good opportunity.

4 Odd things to know

  • We used to have a jet aeroplane in our front garden, yes you read that correctly, a full size jet provost. It was great for deliveries “the house with the aeroplane in the front garden” is a great direction to give.
  • We had a very large garden railway and that is how we ended up running G Scale Central the largest forum for Garden Railway enthusiasts in the world. Our railway had a number of sections including an American Wild West town, a German town and a British village with a canal.
  • I was a special constable for Lancashire Police for a short time.
  • Paul was born at RAF Akrotiri Cyprus.