Alyson Sheldrake

Alyson Sheldrake has always loved art and painting, although she found little time for such pleasures, working full time after graduation. Alyson joined the Devon and Cornwall Police in 1992 and served for thirteen years before leaving, rising to become the Director of Education for the Church of England in Devon.

Once her husband Dave retired from the police, their long-held dream of living in the sun could become a reality. Alyson handed in her notice, and with her dusty easel and set of acrylic paints packed and ready to move, they started their new adventure living in the beautiful Algarve in Portugal.

Alyson is the author of the Algarve Dream Series of travel memoirs and the author/curator of the Travel Stories Series of anthologies. Her animal memoir, Kat the Dog: The remarkable tale of a rescued Spanish Water Dog, was released in 2022, and is a multi-award-winning bestseller.

When she is not painting or writing, you can find Alyson walking Zara, their newly rescued Spanish water dog, along the riverbank in Aljezur.