Episode 4 A Pembrokeshire Farm

We're in the process of restoring this Pembrokeshire farmhouse.

It was built in about 1840,

and it's one of several buildings standing on 70 acres of land.

but it's not the land I'm interested in so much as the buildings.

I want to bring them up to date

In last week's programme, we saw

which looks great, but it's put us months behind schedule.

At least we've agreed not to put

And we've put a cosy corrugated

and living accommodation downstairs,

the stonework is all held together

We can't get the normal sized

in there for a few minutes.

This is the finished article -

In the courtyard next to the house, the big elm tree has to go.

which is a rarity where I come from.

The tree needs to come down. There are roots coming up into the house.

Also, it's close to the house

We thought we'd maybe chain

But I don't think...it seems that there's no other option.

The only positive outcome is we will

in the house. That's a consolation.

And the lintel is showing evidence of a substantial boring beetle

that may have happened before the lintel was put in here.

The stonework is holding itself up.

'I've met up with Greg Stevenson.

how we can make the best use

'of the space in the loft.'

goes into the middle of the room.

I was wondering whether we could...

It's in the right place. They were always in the middle of the room.

it's a bit scary coming down.

Kids are going to love this.

you've got something to hold onto, here. It's a bit dangerous.

I've got one of these at home,

an alternative place for it...

it's going to fit, actually.

People can walk up this way, you've got space down there.

You'd make it a bit wider than this, but it's the same principle.

couldn't do it against the...

Is there a reason why we can't put it against the wall over here?

No. That's a good idea, isn't it?

I don't know how... It's always the simplest ideas, isn't it?

It doesn't cut the room. You have all your space back, and it's safer.

you've got the wall to support you.

Why didn't we think of that before?

'Throughout the ground floor, we've chosen to lay under-floor heating

the radiators to a minimum.

'which is breathable and allows moisture to permeate and evaporate.

'The pipes aren't going to give

'We've decided to put the boiler in the shed next to the house

this is no ordinary boiler.'

This is the wood chip boiler.

And it has a hopper that feeds it.

so we might possibly be able to have an oil-fired boiler,

but the principle being that the oil is going to go up as it gets rarer

They think that as more people

so they are being produced in Wales, and then it comes round full circle

and increasing the production.

Once it's working, I don't have to come out here on a daily basis,

You have to empty the ash pan. Once a month, approximately.

Presumably, you'd have someone they can ring if there's a problem.

You could delegate that one.

That'll be.. Not me. I don't want...

I think this is a bit too dangerous

My first time I did it, they said, "See that field over there,

And then gradually, you get to the point where you feel

How long are you going to be here for? Ourselves, I'm not sure.

There seems to be rather a lot

I'd better have a chat with Colin.

We've ended up with all this stuff

Yes, this is being produced by the building of the house,

all of which is little more than what belongs in the earth anyway.

The problem we have at the moment

Every time we decide to shift it around, it's a huge expense

Now we've got it dumped here, sorted out where we wanted it

and now we've got to move it.

Absolutely. It's the epitome

I thought we were going to dump this down onto a hard surface

Yes. My thoughts were there was a volume required there

wherever standing was required here

for access to cars, which I thought

I don't see any reason why they can't park in front of the house.

I've got to try and get my head around what I can do with all this.

'Looks like an opportunity to demonstrate my digger capabilities.'

How do you turn the thing up?

I used to be able to do this.

Although it sometimes feels remote,

people have lived and farmed in this part of Pembrokeshire

It's extraordinary to be up here

and see the fields are alive with farmers going about their business.

But a lot of what we can see,

is actually not so very different.

That's the really challenging thing

The skeletal structure of the landscape, that web of roads

and field boundaries and all the other archaeological features,

is laid down 3000 years ago.

What you're seeing is the constant overlay on there, the adaptation.

he's banging in a fence post

in a boundary that I can see, which is the ancient boundary of the farm.

running through the landscape.

That's what we call the Penclawdd. That farmer is banging in a post

where a farmer 3000 years ago

One of the things that we do with

is one of the things we do is start

all the farms which we know are there in the 13th or 14th centuries.

That's as far back really as we can

At first sight, what we seem to have scattered through this landscape

which are abandoned Iron Age farms.

The farms here are all laid out at right angles to that landscape.

sort of second division lord,

Cattle were pretty important. Cattle

the very earliest documents,

Jill the builder has told me about another house she's worked on nearby

so I've come to visit to see if I can pick up a little inspiration.

Harveys Cottage has been in Richard's family for generations.

Now he and his partner Sarah are restoring it as a home.

it's really, really pretty.

Yeah, we wanted it to be as, you know, as it would have been

a hundred years ago, but still have a bathroom and a kitchen.

Where did that come from with you, that desire for simplicity?

From Richard, actually. He wanted everything to be really basic.

And this smoothed-down effect here,

Then a few coats of limewash.

This is really encouraging to me.

We've got a big stone kitchen. It's pretty dark and gloomy.

What's great is this finish

..organic, isn't it? Like ice cream.

mellow feel, doesn't it? Yeah.

We actually got those as seconds.

Because my dad's a wall and floor tiler, we got him for the weekend,

So we're pretty pleased with that.

These are the original tiles.

Even though they're a bit broken up,

They're lovely, aren't they?

it was going to come up like that?

for what it looks like now.

So many of the people in the village

and see what we've achieved inside,

It was a bit of an eyesore.

when Jill was here plastering and lime rendering on the inside

I wanted to have some input

I did a few walls myself downstairs.

You'll love it. It's really easy.

and think you'll be inviting

This is extremely good advice.

since I was last at Trehilyn.

I was rather expecting to come down

They've just finished nothing.

It's like dealing with children

We could do this and do that

We're looking a long, long way from

It's the same, just never...

Never get involved in landscaping.

with the earth, you're doomed.

Jill, now, it's five months

So, why, what's been going on then?

We've had a delay. This rather lovely floor here is Welsh slate.

getting the order delivered

all the other parts of the process.

was dealing with the quarry

And how are we doing upstairs?

It's been difficult to get decisions

So I found myself continuously chasing instructions and decisions,

which is somewhat draining.

Until we can sort the boiler out,

We're aiming for August still.

There seems an awful lot to do

I think it's time I had a chat

I'd expected it to be further along

The chain of command is a bit odd.

Normally, you've got client,

everyone's in a straight line,

Are you saying that because there's no-one project managing this job?

to project manage, isn't it?

Because I'm not directly involved,

I'm missing out on a lot going on between you and the builder,

and I come back in a week's time and say, "What about this and that,"

and Jill says, "We're not doing that any more." Since when?

"We discussed it last week."

We're casual but we don't expect everyone else to be casual.

I think I'm more shocked actually

that we're not progressing.

I can't imagine we're going to be finished in six weeks time.

Western Power has arrived to move the electricity pole, which I hate

was too close to the house.

We're taking a section of line out

We've moved the transformer

and placing an underground cable in

instead of an overhead line

has brought along some volunteers

to clear the public footpath

We'd like to keep the path as close

walk over this bit, which we can't

follow the path around here and then come to the old stile here.

OK. You don't have strimmers?

my fantastic, long-lost footbridge.

the first to cross it ahead.

I'm just going to go and do my trudge across the bridge here

as the septic tank springs a leak.

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