A couple who bought a holiday home in France to relax in their spare time 20 years ago got more than they bargained for - a constant stream of visitors.

After Ray and Pam Laws signed the contract for their rustic farmhouse they were told it was on the route of the world famous Camino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage.

And part of the deal was that they were obliged to offer free refreshment to passing pilgrims as they made their way to the holy town in Spain.

Over they years they have opened their doors and fed and watered hundreds of Christians from all over the world.

Mr Laws got in contact with the Medway Messenger after reading about Rev Helen Burn, of St Justus Church in Rochester, in last week’s Medway Messenger, who is going on the pilgrimage.

The couple has recently sold their isolated bolt hole in western France - but they say they would not have swapped their unusual lifestyle for the world.

The Laws, who live in Rochester, bought the derelict house dating back to the 1500s and set in eight acres after looking at dozens of properties in the La Rochelle region.

In the 70s Ray, 79, worked in Paris as a design engineer and the couple, along with their daughter Carla and son Shaun, lived in the French capital, only returning to their home in in Valley View Road at weekends.

Ray, a former Chatham Dockyard apprentice, said: “When we saw the house we just knew it was just right - even though it was a shell of a building and was in the middle of nowhere. Just before we moved in, our solicitor asked us if we knew it was on the St Jacques pilgrimage route from France to Spain. We didn’t, but I have always enjoyed talking to different people from other countries. It became a bit of a novelty, a way of life.”

While working in Paris, Ray became fluent in French and the rest of the family picked the language too.

He said: “We would offer a coffee and perhaps a bacon sandwich.

“We had one man arrive at eight in the morning and said he would prefer a glass of wine. Three glasses later he left and we suspect he may have slept in the barn.”

He added: “It was a different world and we made a lot of friends. We keep in touch.”

The pilgrimage route, known in English as the Way of Saint James, leads to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain.