Shropshire Escape to the Country

Today, we are talking quite literally of the Devil,

as he's said to hold court up there on the longest day of the year.

But where am I? Join me to find out on Escape To The Country.

On today's show,

I'll be helping a history-loving couple set up home in the country.

We have plenty of period properties for them to fall in love with.

My goodness, gracious me. Wow. Look at those smiles.

But will they still be beaming when they see the mystery house?

Today I'm in Shropshire and this is the Devil's Chair,

in the Stiperstones National Nature Reserve.

According to the local legend,

these rocks were brought here by the Devil himself.

And it's even said you can smell the brimstone on them in very hot weather.

Shropshire is England's largest landlocked county

and has a wealth of natural wonders.

Earmarked as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,

the Shropshire hills cover a quarter of its landmass,

with the Wrekin being one of the county's most famous landmarks.

Alongside its breathtaking rural landscape,

the industrial age was forged here,

with Thomas Telford's cast-iron bridge

a crowning achievement of 18th-century engineering,

and its historic timber-frame buildings a recurring theme

throughout its towns and villages.

But what are today's buyers after?

Well, I think it would be fair to say they're looking to bring

even more history to this most historic of counties.

Ben and Gloria have lived in their three-bedroom end of terrace house

in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, for the last 25 years.

But they're not alone.

They've been sharing it

with Ben's much-loved collection of military memorabilia,

which is now making life a bit of a squeeze.

The house is full.

The garden sheds are full, my basement, my cellar is full.

The attic is full. Really, I have no space left.

So I really need to find somewhere with a little bit more room.

I'm really looking forward to moving because we're a bit squashed at the moment.

But with more space come great aspirations.

I would like to be able to open up the museum

as a private museum, not as a business venture. I'm not looking to make money.

We're simply looking to have a decent display area,

where people who are interested in such could come and have a look,

can experience and, in some cases,

actually play with the equipment that we've got.

Basically, just to share what's been my passion over a number of years

with as many like-minded people as possible.

And how will Gloria spend her time?

In the countryside, I'm looking forward to doing my archery.

Because I will have the space. And I've recently taken up painting.

And I'm not really inspired here, so I'm looking forward to that.

But, so far, location has been a sticking point with their search.

We've been looking for the past ten months or so in this area

and we've concluded that we've got to go out into a more rural area.

It won't be far from my family, who live here in Kidderminster.

The location we're looking for would be on the edge of a village.

It can't be too isolated, because, if we're looking to form a museum,

there has to be access for the visitors.

So what kind of property are they after?

We would like a character house with a minimum of two bedrooms

and a nice country kitchen.

My main consideration will be to find a property with either outbuildings already in existence,

a barn or large workshop, something like that.

As far as I'm concerned,

the size needs to be at least an acre or more.

So are there any styles of property to steer clear of?

New builds.

We don't really want to live in a new build.

Also any property that's maybe listed.

If the house was listed, but anything like outbuildings,

if they were able to be modified, then that might be worth considering.

We are willing to renovate to a small extent.

Ben and Gloria plan to plough their savings into this move and rent out their current property.

With that in mind, how much do they have to spend?

The total budget for this property will be ?400,000.

So this move is a little out of the ordinary.

I don't recall ever having a couple on the programme who wanted to open their own private museum.

But hats off to Ben for wanting to make his memorabilia collection available for everyone to enjoy.

Don't forget, along with these outbuildings to house this fantastic collection,

we've also got to find a character home with a good-sized garden.

?400,000 is a healthy budget in this part of the world,

so with a little luck, we should be able to make their dream a reality.

Ben and Gloria don't want to stray too far from Kidderminster, where they have friends and family,

so they've asked us to focus their search in the south of the county.

We've cherry-picked three character properties to show them,

but I won't be revealing the price of each until they've guessed first.

The last house is our mystery house,

which could be too much of a good thing.

Ben and Gloria, welcome to sunny Shropshire. Thank you.

Tell me about this military collection you've got.

Huge array of things. How many?

700-odd. A small van for the move and... Large van for the collection.

Yes! I'm a little worried about you two. We've got to find you the perfect property too.

Yes. If it's got character it would be lovely.

Budget-wise, top of your budget, ?400,000?

That includes money to do the renovations to the outbuilding?

A little renovation if needed, yes.

I'm willing to take some work to a small extent.

I know, because you're so passionate about your hobby. I know you are.

We've got some fantastic properties lined up for you both to see.

Shall we get started? Yeah, thank you!

Ben and Gloria have ?400,000 for this move, and for that

they're after a detached character cottage with at least two bedrooms.

Gloria wants a large kitchen and utility room,

while Ben needs an outbuilding for his private museum.

And they would love a one-acre garden,

all set in a village location.

We're starting our property search a short drive from Much Wenlock,

a pretty town with only 3,000 residents,

but whose streets are packed with local shops

and historic buildings, some dating back to the 15th century.

And, tucked away in the outlying hamlet of Bourton,

our first property comes with some historic character of its own.

What do you think? It looks lovely. Very quaint. Very quaint.

The double-storey part of the house

dates back to the 17th century. OK.

To the right of it, that was built in the 1800s,

and it used to be the village shop. Oh, so there is history.

So it's used to having the public come and attend it.

I don't know if that's a good omen. Well, maybe.

You might have noticed there's a little bit of an eyesore,

a corrugated barn.

The good news is that's coming down.

Planning permission has been given for houses to be built.

It will change your view of the property,

in about a year's time, when it's done.

Lovely. So, intrigued? Are you ready to get started?

Really excited, yeah. Follow me. Thank you.

This cottage has been sympathetically refurbished

and hopefully will offer up the period features they're looking for.

So, you lead straight into the sitting room. Oh, wow!

Oh! Oh, that's lovely. Wood! I like wood.

Fire, stone, wood, yes, we're working.

All OK so far. Very nice first impressions.

To the side of us, you've got a downstairs toilet,

which is separate from a downstairs bathroom.

The rooms are larger than you might expect in a cottage,

as we'll see in the dining room.

So what do you think? It's bigger than I thought it was going to be.

Can you see the curtain? Yes. That was the entrance for the shop,

and then this was the storeroom. This would have been the storeroom.

And if you look up, you can see...

Can you see the hooks? That's where meat used to hang.

Where the meat would have hung, yes. Very nice. It's definitely got character.

It's lovely. Excellent! Right, follow me.

If they like the style so far,

I'm sure they'll warm to the kitchen.

Wow, lovely! Kitchen!

Do you like what you see? Yes, very nice, very nice. Beams.

Nice stone floor. Yeah, that's the original quarry tiles.

Lovely. Very nice.

And they've kept it. There's a bread oven through the arch,

and they've made it into a larder.

And then just round the corner, through the other arch, is a study.

Very nice. And you've got a sort of little boot room behind us

with access back out. Yeah. Very nice. Lovely.

So this is all working for you? Yeah, it's the style that I wanted.

We! We want! We! He meant "we". He definitely meant "we".

I did mean "we". Yes.

Let's see if we can build on that positive reaction upstairs,

where, along with the separate WC, there are two double bedrooms.

So what will they make of the one that could be theirs?

Oh, that's lovely, a good size. Very nice.

You said you wanted a minimum of two bedrooms. Yes.

This house obviously does have two. Right. So, workable for you both?

Yeah, I can't see us wishing to entertain

any more than a pair of guests.

You're getting a real feel for this house. It's very nice so far.

The cottage seems to fit the bill,

but to score top marks, we need that outbuilding for Ben.

First, let's tackle the garden.

So here is your garden,

and you have to imagine this garden without that huge carbuncle barn,

because it is going to go. Right.

So it's not quite the acre you asked for. No. No.

But manageable? Possibly, possibly. It depends on other factors.

What this property lacks in garden,

it makes up for with its two-storey outhouse.

At ground level, it houses a double garage,

but I want Ben to scope the upstairs floor for museum potential.

So up here...you have a whole separate annexe.

Wow! Wow... Yeah.

As you can see, it goes all the way down to the end. Yeah.

So could this work for you? Is it big enough? He's got a lot of stuff.

It's...debatable. There was me thinking it would be...

It would, to normal people. This would be a wonderful space to normal people.

Unfortunately... Ben is not normal! Not normal, no, but it's very good.

It's a good space. It's certainly worth thinking about, yes.

While you're mulling that over, I'm going to ask you much you think

this property is on the market for. Righto. Erm...380.

Er...375.

Oh, interesting! Your budget, the top of your budget was ?400,000.

You'd get ?50 change. Right, a bit more than we thought.

It is ?399,950. So just under 400. Just under.

Certainly worth thinking about.

On budget at just shy of ?400,000,

this character cottage offers up generous accommodation

and addresses many of the demands on their wish-list,

giving them two reception rooms, a country kitchen,

two double bedrooms

and, outside, a separate annexe to house Ben's military museum,

all wrapped up in a quiet rural location with amenities close by.

Right, you two, happy? Yes, very nice. Are you ready to hit the road?

We are. We are, thank you.

Agriculture remains a strong part of Shropshire's identity

with over 80% of the land still used for farming.

The 18th and 19th centuries brought about huge changes in farming practices -

faithfully recreated here at Acton Scott historic working farm.

I've come to meet owner Rupert Acton to find out more.

Your family run a Victorian farm for us all to appreciate.

Why did you pick that era?

My father wanted to preserve those memories

and to keep them alive,

and of course a lot of the tools

and machinery were still kicking around at that date,

so you could go into a corner of a field and you could still find

a piece of 19th-century farming equipment.

Horse power transformed the job of ploughing,

which was formerly done by hand with hoes.

I'm heading out into the field to learn more from ploughman Simon.

Good to meet you. Who is this? This is Tori.

She is one of our shires.

What are you doing with her on the farm?

Is that a small plough I can see?

Well, we are working with a cultivator.

We're going to work over this patch here,

the brown patch you can see,

Would you like to have a go? I would love to.

'Ploughing by horse power is a very skilled procedure,

'with the horses controlled by voice commands.' Walk on!

Ooh, we're off!

'And steered with long reins

'while maintaining a constant downward pressure

'to keep the plough at the right depth in the soil.

'In fact, farmers used to compete to see who could plough a field

'not only in the quickest time but with the straightest furrows.'

Not very straight, am I?

'By 1920, tractors were the norm and reduced

'the time to plough a one-acre field like this from one day to one hour.

'The early 20th century may have marked the dawn of modernisation

'but this Victorian farm serves as a living reminder

'of the importance of our rural heritage.

'But for now, it's back to the house hunt.'

We continue our house search in Clee St Margaret,

with all the spoils of Ludlow only seven miles away.

Our second property sits in a small hamlet,

made up of a collection of stone cottages,

all set in a conservation area in the heart of the Shropshire hills.

This house comes with outbuildings and land, it could be a strong contender.

This is your second property. Oh, right.

It was built in the 1800s.

To the right, that first section, that was originally a barn. Right.

The middle section was a blacksmith's and these were workers' cottages.

And now it's all one? It's all one, yes.

There's a bit of history there, isn't there? There certainly is.

I'm going to shake things up a bit and show Ben the outbuilding across the road first,

which comes in the form of a barn and will hopefully give him the space he's looking for.

So, here we've got a big barn.

We're in one section, you've got the same again at the other side.

And, you've got a double carport to the right of it. OK.

Which could be blocked in to increase the floor space.

Space-wise, how does this work for you? It's certainly a good start.

It's certainly a good start and there is room for expansion.

If you want to extend, you've got to get the right permission, but you also need land.

Yes, you've got to have the space to do it.

The outbuilding sits in just over an acre, complete with a chicken run and duck pond,

so let's cross the quiet lane and see what they make of this substantial cottage,

which has been completely renovated by the current owner.

So we've walked through the old part, that was the barn originally.

There's the study right in front of you,

but I wanted to bring you straight into this room.

It's a nice big room, isn't it? Lovely kitchen. And beams.

Looking at those beams, can you see where the horse's hoof print was?

This is where the blacksmith was.

You can see the imprint and some graffiti up there

with a date on, 1877 and 1898, I think.

There's a lot of character in this property.

Well, well, well.

But it's also extended through the archway, and there's more storage.

That's good, having it separated. Yes. Good.

Getting a good feel for this house, then? Yeah.

We know the barn worked, it's magic, this has got to do it, now!

The open plan kitchen/dining area is complemented by the homely feel in the sitting room.

Nice living room. Yes. Yes, it's really cosy.

You love that character, that olde worldeness? We do. This has got it.

Yes? Yes. It seems to have it at the moment.

Well, the utility room has more character features than they could have imagined.

Oh, that's lovely! This is vintage utility.

Good gracious me. It's big.

Unbelievable, isn't it?

At the far end is a nicely furnished bathroom

and the impeccable interior continues upstairs,

there are three bedrooms, one double with yet another brick fireplace

and a cute single, opposite which is a separate WC.

There's a surprise in store in the master bedroom.

It's lovely.

It's nice. The roof space area yes, nice. Big room!

But there is a little bit more. There's something else I need to show you in this bedroom.

Step through, ladies and gentlemen. SHE LAUGHS

This was unexpected.

Gosh, that's a size and a half, isn't it?

Very, very nice indeed. A nice little twist for you both? It is, yes.

A big twist. Yes.

I think we've got all the bases covered with this property and outside there's a lawned garden

with a particularly secluded area around the side, but now it's crunch time.

So here is the garden.

You've seen everything, how much is it worth?

OK. 385. 385, OK?

Towards the top end of the budget, 395?

We're actually going to go over your budget. THEY GROAN

The asking price is ?415,000.

It's only just clipping the top, yes.

However, we have spoken to the people that are selling

and they will consider a sensible offer.

Lovely. Very interesting. Yes? That's good. Lovely, thank you. Look at those smiles.

Priced at ?415,000, but open to reasonable offers,

this beautiful cottage is bursting at the seams with character and charm

and gives them original features including that bread oven and the old copper.

An open-plan kitchen/dining room, three bedrooms,

and a large barn for Ben's military collection.

All sitting in an acre of land in a desirable rural location.

Happy with everything you've seen? Wonderful. Thank you very much.

Still loving Shropshire? Indeed. Very much.

That's music to my ears.

As the sun sets over the Shropshire hills,

it marks the end of the first day of our property search.

Our mystery property lies in the village of Diddlebury,

situated in the Corvedale, a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Our historic mystery house dates back to 1660,

and is listed, which Ben and Gloria didn't want.

This is our third and final property.

It's amazing!

SHE LAUGHS

Because it has so much character and charm, it is listed. Ah, right.

However, the current owners have done a lot of work on it already,

replacing the windows, rewiring, replumbing...

The fact that it's had quite a lot of work already done to it,

and it's Grade-II listed, isn't too much of an obstacle?

It wouldn't seem to be at the moment, no. Shall we start off the tour? Yes.

Let's see if the interior of our mystery house can wield its magic.

Oh, that's lovely.

Wow! My, goodness, gracious. Beams and a beautiful fireplace.

That is a huge inglenook, isn't it? It is, isn't it? Very spacious.

You've got the beams, but they're not low, you're not having to duck.

Who could not wish to live in something this age as opposed to a modern house?

It's very nice. Through the door at the end there's a study.

I'm going to take us past the staircase and continue the tour.

This flows through into the dining room and the kitchen.

Yes, it's big, isn't it? This has been opened up by the owners.

It was probably two rooms.

It's open but it's still well-defined.

That's like the kitchen area and the dining area. Yes.

Anything you'd change in here?

Good gracious, no. That was definite.

I'm going to leave on a high, I'm going to continue.

Leading off the dining area is yet another reception room.

This is cosy. Very nice, indeed.

This actually used to be the cow shed. Right.

It's been converted.

Lovely history. It certainly has. Ideal.

The downstairs space and character of our mystery house really seems to be hitting the mark.

We'll head upstairs by the back staircase to the landing,

off which lead all three bedrooms,

two of which make for generous singles.

There's also a sweet family bathroom.

The main bedroom really raises the roof.

Surely, this isn't your average master bedroom. Well.

That's got a nice ceiling. Isn't that beautiful?

A nice shape for a little window. This is a lovely room.

Do you really like it? Yes. Yeah, it's smashing, that is.

Now poke your head through there. After you.

This is massive! That's a surprise. An en-suite with a shower.

Very nice. This is lovely.

We seem to be on song with our mystery property

but it all hinges on what lies outside for Ben.

Ben, this is for you. Wow!

Well, well, well. That is a nice size. That is a good-sized space.

It's the smallest we've seen so far. With the headroom,

it looks like we could get another floor at least.

It has had a new roof put on.

Is it listed? It is not. That would allow us to make slight alterations to it.

Ben has not dismissed developing the barn

but the last part of the equation is the land.

There is good news.

This property comes with an acre, mainly lawn, surrounded by mature planting.

But can our mystery house deliver all this on budget?

Who wants to guess the price?

Based on what you have shown us before it has to be at the top of our budget, if not over, knowing you!

I like to spend your money, but I want you to be happy.

Of course. Hopefully it's just been reduced in price, so I'm going to say 420. OK.

I think it's a bit over the 400, so I'll say 415. All right.

Say it starts with a three. Three.

Next guess? Nine. No. Eight. Seven. No.

?345,000. That is a shock. Good gracious me.

It has come down in price. It was a lot more than that to start with.

A little more. Three... ?345,000 ` ?55,000 left in your budget

to do an amazing job on the barn.

Wow. I would not have thought that at all.

That is an amazing price.

Dramatically under budget at ?345,000,

our listed mystery house gives them ?55,000 to play with

and it delivers in so many ways.

It gives them three reception areas, awash with features,

three bedrooms,

a stone barn which Ben could convert to house his collection -

all wrapped up in an acre of grounds.

And set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

All right? Yes, thank you. Look at those happy faces.

Very good reaction. You have got some decisions to make.

We have indeed. Big decisions.

Shall we will find you somewhere quiet so you can gather your thoughts?

Yes. That would be lovely.

The house hunt is over.

We've shown them three properties and have got three, well,

fantastic reactions.

But has any one house stolen Ben and Gloria's hearts? Let's find out.

Well, Ben and Gloria, what a few days we've had. We have!

Fantastic reactions from you but let's hear what you really think.

Let's start off with the very first one we saw. I loved the cottage.

I absolutely adored it. When we stepped inside, it was adorable.

But I knew the garden wasn't going to be big enough for him.

It was just the lack of ground space which really rules that one out.

The second property we saw was the long cottage built in the 1800s.

That was unusual. We started off with the outbuilding first.

What did you think of that? The outbuilding itself was ideal.

It could quite easily accommodate and there was space around it to extend, so that was excellent.

We can't forget the cottage itself, can we?

It was lovely. Very different. It was.

I just thought of a holiday home instead of a real home.

I liked the house and the garden surrounding the house was nice

but if Gloria has reservations about the house, obviously, we have to talk about that.

Which leads us to the mystery house.

It was very unexpected when we went in. Yes, yes.

The house itself was beautiful. The period, the character, the style.

Everything about it was lovely.

So, which house out of the three might you put an offer on?

It would have to be the mystery. It would have to be the mystery house.

Out of the three, that is the nicest property so that is going to take some real hard thinking.

Especially with the price. Exactly.

It leaves a lot of money left over in the budget to do all the things you want to do.

That was a real shock, the price.

I really do hope you put an offer in and, if you do, will you let us know? Of course.

And thank you for your help. It's been lovely. Thank you so much.

So, three great properties for our super couple

and it looks like, once again, the mystery house just had the edge.

We wish Ben and Gloria all the best with their plans

of moving their private museum to Shropshire.

Until the next time, bye-bye.

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