0:00:26 > 0:00:31We're in the process of restoring this Pembrokeshire farmhouse.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34It was built in about 1840,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37and it's one of several buildings standing on 70 acres of land.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46but it's not the land I'm interested in so much as the buildings.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52I want to bring them up to date
0:00:54 > 0:00:58In last week's programme, we saw
0:00:58 > 0:01:02which looks great, but it's put us months behind schedule.
0:01:02 > 0:01:08At least we've agreed not to put
0:01:14 > 0:01:26And we've put a cosy corrugated
0:01:26 > 0:01:32and living accommodation downstairs,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56the stonework is all held together
0:01:56 > 0:02:00We can't get the normal sized
0:02:20 > 0:02:23in there for a few minutes.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36This is the finished article -
0:02:37 > 0:02:42In the courtyard next to the house, the big elm tree has to go.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48which is a rarity where I come from.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53The tree needs to come down. There are roots coming up into the house.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Also, it's close to the house
0:03:05 > 0:03:09We thought we'd maybe chain
0:03:09 > 0:03:15But I don't think...it seems that there's no other option.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37The only positive outcome is we will
0:03:37 > 0:03:42in the house. That's a consolation.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03And the lintel is showing evidence of a substantial boring beetle
0:04:03 > 0:04:07that may have happened before the lintel was put in here.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12The stonework is holding itself up.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20'I've met up with Greg Stevenson.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24how we can make the best use
0:04:24 > 0:04:25'of the space in the loft.'
0:04:34 > 0:04:38goes into the middle of the room.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40I was wondering whether we could...
0:04:40 > 0:04:44It's in the right place. They were always in the middle of the room.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47it's a bit scary coming down.
0:04:47 > 0:04:53Kids are going to love this.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59you've got something to hold onto, here. It's a bit dangerous.
0:05:01 > 0:05:14I've got one of these at home,
0:05:19 > 0:05:30an alternative place for it...
0:05:30 > 0:05:33it's going to fit, actually.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39People can walk up this way, you've got space down there.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47You'd make it a bit wider than this, but it's the same principle.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58couldn't do it against the...
0:05:58 > 0:06:02Is there a reason why we can't put it against the wall over here?
0:06:02 > 0:06:05No. That's a good idea, isn't it?
0:06:06 > 0:06:10I don't know how... It's always the simplest ideas, isn't it?
0:06:12 > 0:06:16It doesn't cut the room. You have all your space back, and it's safer.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20you've got the wall to support you.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24Why didn't we think of that before?
0:06:30 > 0:06:35'Throughout the ground floor, we've chosen to lay under-floor heating
0:06:35 > 0:06:38the radiators to a minimum.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49'which is breathable and allows moisture to permeate and evaporate.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02'The pipes aren't going to give
0:07:02 > 0:07:06'We've decided to put the boiler in the shed next to the house
0:07:08 > 0:07:11this is no ordinary boiler.'
0:07:11 > 0:07:13This is the wood chip boiler.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21And it has a hopper that feeds it.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36so we might possibly be able to have an oil-fired boiler,
0:07:36 > 0:07:41but the principle being that the oil is going to go up as it gets rarer
0:07:44 > 0:07:48They think that as more people
0:07:54 > 0:08:00so they are being produced in Wales, and then it comes round full circle
0:08:00 > 0:08:04and increasing the production.
0:08:04 > 0:08:12Once it's working, I don't have to come out here on a daily basis,
0:08:12 > 0:08:17You have to empty the ash pan. Once a month, approximately.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21Presumably, you'd have someone they can ring if there's a problem.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29You could delegate that one.
0:08:29 > 0:08:35That'll be.. Not me. I don't want...
0:08:55 > 0:08:59I think this is a bit too dangerous
0:08:59 > 0:09:03My first time I did it, they said, "See that field over there,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16And then gradually, you get to the point where you feel
0:09:20 > 0:09:24How long are you going to be here for? Ourselves, I'm not sure.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39There seems to be rather a lot
0:09:42 > 0:09:44I'd better have a chat with Colin.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52We've ended up with all this stuff
0:09:53 > 0:10:00Yes, this is being produced by the building of the house,
0:10:02 > 0:10:07all of which is little more than what belongs in the earth anyway.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13The problem we have at the moment
0:10:13 > 0:10:18Every time we decide to shift it around, it's a huge expense
0:10:18 > 0:10:23Now we've got it dumped here, sorted out where we wanted it
0:10:23 > 0:10:27and now we've got to move it.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Absolutely. It's the epitome
0:10:29 > 0:10:34I thought we were going to dump this down onto a hard surface
0:10:36 > 0:10:41Yes. My thoughts were there was a volume required there
0:10:41 > 0:10:45wherever standing was required here
0:10:45 > 0:10:51for access to cars, which I thought
0:10:51 > 0:10:56I don't see any reason why they can't park in front of the house.
0:10:58 > 0:11:04I've got to try and get my head around what I can do with all this.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08'Looks like an opportunity to demonstrate my digger capabilities.'
0:11:21 > 0:11:35How do you turn the thing up?
0:11:47 > 0:11:54I used to be able to do this.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Although it sometimes feels remote,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25people have lived and farmed in this part of Pembrokeshire
0:12:43 > 0:12:46It's extraordinary to be up here
0:12:46 > 0:12:50and see the fields are alive with farmers going about their business.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55But a lot of what we can see,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59is actually not so very different.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03That's the really challenging thing
0:13:03 > 0:13:07The skeletal structure of the landscape, that web of roads
0:13:07 > 0:13:11and field boundaries and all the other archaeological features,
0:13:11 > 0:13:18is laid down 3000 years ago.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24What you're seeing is the constant overlay on there, the adaptation.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27he's banging in a fence post
0:13:27 > 0:13:32in a boundary that I can see, which is the ancient boundary of the farm.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35running through the landscape.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39That's what we call the Penclawdd. That farmer is banging in a post
0:13:39 > 0:13:44where a farmer 3000 years ago
0:13:47 > 0:13:51One of the things that we do with
0:13:54 > 0:13:59is one of the things we do is start
0:14:02 > 0:14:07all the farms which we know are there in the 13th or 14th centuries.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13That's as far back really as we can
0:14:20 > 0:14:24At first sight, what we seem to have scattered through this landscape
0:14:28 > 0:14:30which are abandoned Iron Age farms.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43The farms here are all laid out at right angles to that landscape.
0:14:48 > 0:15:04sort of second division lord,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08Cattle were pretty important. Cattle
0:15:12 > 0:15:15the very earliest documents,
0:15:38 > 0:15:44Jill the builder has told me about another house she's worked on nearby
0:15:44 > 0:15:48so I've come to visit to see if I can pick up a little inspiration.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Harveys Cottage has been in Richard's family for generations.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Now he and his partner Sarah are restoring it as a home.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13it's really, really pretty.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24Yeah, we wanted it to be as, you know, as it would have been
0:16:24 > 0:16:27a hundred years ago, but still have a bathroom and a kitchen.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Where did that come from with you, that desire for simplicity?
0:16:31 > 0:16:36From Richard, actually. He wanted everything to be really basic.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41And this smoothed-down effect here,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52Then a few coats of limewash.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54This is really encouraging to me.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58We've got a big stone kitchen. It's pretty dark and gloomy.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03What's great is this finish
0:17:04 > 0:17:08..organic, isn't it? Like ice cream.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14mellow feel, doesn't it? Yeah.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19We actually got those as seconds.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Because my dad's a wall and floor tiler, we got him for the weekend,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30So we're pretty pleased with that.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32These are the original tiles.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Even though they're a bit broken up,
0:17:37 > 0:17:39They're lovely, aren't they?
0:17:45 > 0:17:48it was going to come up like that?
0:17:48 > 0:17:52for what it looks like now.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59So many of the people in the village
0:17:59 > 0:18:05and see what we've achieved inside,
0:18:11 > 0:18:18It was a bit of an eyesore.
0:18:27 > 0:18:36when Jill was here plastering and lime rendering on the inside
0:18:36 > 0:18:38I wanted to have some input
0:18:41 > 0:18:46I did a few walls myself downstairs.
0:18:48 > 0:18:55You'll love it. It's really easy.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01and think you'll be inviting
0:19:09 > 0:19:13This is extremely good advice.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17since I was last at Trehilyn.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03I was rather expecting to come down
0:20:12 > 0:20:16They've just finished nothing.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25It's like dealing with children
0:20:27 > 0:20:31We could do this and do that
0:20:31 > 0:20:36We're looking a long, long way from
0:20:42 > 0:20:44It's the same, just never...
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Never get involved in landscaping.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58with the earth, you're doomed.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06Jill, now, it's five months
0:21:08 > 0:21:11So, why, what's been going on then?
0:21:13 > 0:21:18We've had a delay. This rather lovely floor here is Welsh slate.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22getting the order delivered
0:21:22 > 0:21:26all the other parts of the process.
0:21:50 > 0:21:57was dealing with the quarry
0:22:19 > 0:22:21And how are we doing upstairs?
0:22:21 > 0:22:26It's been difficult to get decisions
0:22:26 > 0:22:31So I found myself continuously chasing instructions and decisions,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33which is somewhat draining.
0:22:43 > 0:22:49Until we can sort the boiler out,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55We're aiming for August still.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02There seems an awful lot to do
0:23:02 > 0:23:06I think it's time I had a chat
0:23:15 > 0:23:20I'd expected it to be further along
0:23:22 > 0:23:26The chain of command is a bit odd.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32Normally, you've got client,
0:23:37 > 0:23:42everyone's in a straight line,
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Are you saying that because there's no-one project managing this job?
0:23:49 > 0:23:52to project manage, isn't it?
0:23:56 > 0:23:58Because I'm not directly involved,
0:23:58 > 0:24:03I'm missing out on a lot going on between you and the builder,
0:24:19 > 0:24:24and I come back in a week's time and say, "What about this and that,"
0:24:24 > 0:24:27and Jill says, "We're not doing that any more." Since when?
0:24:27 > 0:24:31"We discussed it last week."
0:24:46 > 0:24:50We're casual but we don't expect everyone else to be casual.
0:25:40 > 0:25:46I think I'm more shocked actually
0:25:46 > 0:25:49that we're not progressing.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56I can't imagine we're going to be finished in six weeks time.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05Western Power has arrived to move the electricity pole, which I hate
0:26:05 > 0:26:09was too close to the house.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20We're taking a section of line out
0:26:23 > 0:26:26We've moved the transformer
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and placing an underground cable in
0:26:28 > 0:26:31instead of an overhead line
0:27:01 > 0:27:04has brought along some volunteers
0:27:04 > 0:27:08to clear the public footpath
0:27:08 > 0:27:13We'd like to keep the path as close
0:27:17 > 0:27:21walk over this bit, which we can't
0:27:21 > 0:27:28follow the path around here and then come to the old stile here.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38OK. You don't have strimmers?
0:27:55 > 0:27:59my fantastic, long-lost footbridge.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09the first to cross it ahead.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12I'm just going to go and do my trudge across the bridge here
0:28:29 > 0:28:39as the septic tank springs a leak.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd