Cheshire Escape to the Country

Welcome to today's Escape To The Country.

Have you any idea what these are, growing in these pots?

They're pineapples and this is the only pinery-vinery

that survives in the UK in its authentic state.

But where have we come to for such an exotic start to today's show?

Today I'm looking for somewhere

for an ex-sea captain and his wife to drop anchor.

Our properties certainly have the wow factor.

-Wow! Oh, wow!

-Wow.

Another wow, I think.

But the mystery house turns out to be the most intriguing of the lot.

I think this has captured your imagination.

Well, it's certainly different.

Today we're in Cheshire and I'm on the glorious Tatton Park estate

right in the heart of the county.

The Pineapple House was built in 1750, and in those days,

the fruits were so prized and revered, they could change hands

from anything up to £5,000 in today's money.

Think about that the next time you pop into your local supermarket.

With the Dee Estuary to the east

and the moors of the Peak District to the west,

the county of Cheshire covers over 900 square miles,

and has a population of just over a million.

The county town of Chester was first founded by the Romans in 79AD,

and it's one of the best preserved walled cities in the British Isles.

In the Cheshire countryside, agriculture is still a thriving industry.

More than two thirds of the land is farmed today, mainly for dairy,

producing that famous crumbly white Cheshire cheese.

It's this largely rural feel that makes the county a popular choice

with commuters escaping the industrial centres of Manchester and Liverpool.

It's also home to a whole host of Premiership footballers

and celebrities, all living the affluent Cheshire lifestyle.

Ex-sea captain Graham is soon to retire from his job

as a marine coordinator and spend more time with Diane,

his wife of 42 years.

Born and bred in the Wirral, they've always lived on the coast

and are now planning to swap the sea breeze for fresh country air.

I've been working abroad since 1964.

I was in the Merchant Navy until 1990.

Since then, I've continued working abroad.

So we've not spent enough time together.

We haven't been together much in the time we've been married.

It'll be nice, like starting again. That's a bit of an adventure.

They've lived at their five-bedroom house on the Wirral coast for ten years.

Keen gardener Diane will be making sure there's room

for her beloved plants and more when she moves.

Basically, I'd like to move to the country,

I'm not sure about you, but I'd like to move to the country

for more land, an acre or so of formal gardens.

I seem to have run out of space here.

And you still want a stream, really, don't you?

A river in the garden would be very nice.

-You'd like to tie a little boat up in the bottom.

-No, thanks. I don't want any more boats, thanks.

With a life on the ocean wave firmly in Graham's past,

he's plotting his course for a move to east Cheshire.

Despite having spent a lot of time apart, the couple have the same aspirations

when it comes to choosing a new house.

We'd like a detached house

with four bedrooms, couple of en-suites, a small office for you.

It would be nice to have some office space.

I'm not entirely retired just yet.

A large kitchen we can eat in, perhaps sit in as well,

maybe get a sofa in it.

That would be my shopping list.

It's a big list, but luckily there's an equally big budget to spend.

The budget is around £1 million.

There's a little bit of flexibility in that.

I think the most important thing is

we've got to feel it's been a bargain, if you like!

We're concentrating our search on the east Cheshire area,

which boasts numerous stately homes and historic market towns

such as Knutsford, Middlewich and Sandbach.

We've got three great properties for them to explore.

But before I reveal the price,

I'll be asking them to guess how much they're on the market for.

I'm hoping our mystery house could make our ex-mariner and his maiden

cast aside any doubts of leaving the water behind.

Graham, Diane, lovely to see you here in Cheshire,

your neck of the woods, very much so.

But you're unusual. Most people coming on Escape To The Country

want to move to the sea, but you're going the other way.

-We've had enough of it!

-Ten years of it's been enough.

In terms of what you're after, we've got a fantastic budget, £1.1 million.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Or so.

-Or so, yes.

-The or so is interesting because you haven't got to sell to do this.

-No.

So, if it were a bit higher and it were the right thing, presumably...

-We might be tempted.

-A little bit higher, not hugely higher.

-OK.

We've got three very viable properties for you to look at.

Let's see what we can offer you.

-That sounds good.

-Follow me.

Thank you.

With a very substantial top end budget of £1.1 million or so,

Graham and Diane are seeking a property with four bedrooms,

two with an en-suite,

a garden room or conservatory for Diane's plants,

a big kitchen-diner for socialising, an office for Graham

and an acre of garden, preferably with a stream.

We're beginning our search in the village of Mere,

a few minutes' drive from the pretty market town of Knutsford,

which was the blueprint for Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, Cranford.

Our first property is a detached brick farmhouse which, in parts, dates back to the 17th century.

Property number one.

-Very nice.

-Very, very nice indeed.

-Cheshire brick, I think, or similar.

-A stream in the front garden.

-A little stream.

-A trip truppy bridge. Rhododendrons.

-Lovely front door.

-Yeah. There are numerous doors.

HE LAUGHS

We're not going to use that one but one on the side to get us in.

-We'll see what you make of it.

-Excellent.

-You can see it goes on a bit.

-Wow, bigger than you first think.

Right, let's start in here.

-It's very light.

-Probably not what you'd expect.

No, from the outside I didn't think it would be this size.

The whole thing has relatively recently been pushed out that way

to give you this huge kitchen area here.

-These are nice, though, I must say.

-Lovely units.

-And you've got that lovely...

-The range.

It's quite light with the skylight there as well.

-It's got a nice lived-in feel, homely.

-Yeah, yeah.

I'm thinking of log burners and things like that. Cosy winters.

Cosy winters in night time. I can feel it coming on.

It's great to see they've both taken to this house so quickly.

Let's see if they're as enraptured by the rest of it.

Here we are into the oldest bit of the house...to your dining room.

-Very nice. Lovely.

-Old beams.

Yeah, lovely.

Can you make out the carpenters' marks on the timber?

-Again, really giving a sense of its age.

-Yes.

Through the door you've got your little snug, which is quite sweet, with a multifuel burner in it.

To my left here, an office with a nice door out to the garden

and then a separate staircase here which goes upstairs, obviously,

-and another one there. We've got two staircases.

-Right.

Follow me through here. Let's have a look at another living room.

-There we are.

-Oh, cosy. Very nice.

-Yes?

-Oh, a conservatory.

-Yes! The conservatory, well spotted. We'll go in there in a moment.

This would be your principal living room, I would suggest.

Nice open fire in there.

-Smaller than we're used to, but that's not a bad thing.

-It's OK.

It's quite light with windows both ends.

Given the other little snug through off the dining room as well,

it gives you options if you want to do your own thing

or if you've got friends round

and you keep this as an entertaining space.

Drift through after dinner into here or...

-Or through... Come on!

-..into the conservatory.

Yes, there's no holding Diane back from the conservatory.

A room featuring very high on her list of demands.

-Lovely! Oh! Look at the fireplace.

-Very nice.

-It's more than a conservatory.

-It's quite warm as well.

That is an electric fire. It would not be a work of great genius

to put a flue in and create a wood burner.

-I think this is the one we'd be in all the time.

-It's nice, isn't it?

The conservatory and its wow factor

has really won Diane over, and maybe even Graham too.

Upstairs, there's more charming character in the family bathroom.

It adjoins the smallest of the five bedrooms, which could be used as a dressing room.

But we're taking a look at the master bedroom.

-This kind of sets the scene, really.

-Oh, very grand.

-Yeah?

-En-suite in there. Shower room.

-Right.

-This is currently the master.

-Right.

-They're all pretty generous.

Wardrobes? But we'd use the other one as a dressing room.

You've got the box room as a dressing room.

-It's not short of space.

-It's not, no.

-Now this one, I think, is a little bit bigger in a sense.

-Yes.

Through there we've got you a nicely appointed

Jack and Jill bathroom, which goes on to the final and fourth double,

which is accessed through the other small staircase.

-The second staircase, right.

-Over towards the study.

-Perfect.

-Now, last bit, the garden.

-Oh, good.

-It is of crucial importance.

Right, follow me. Let's see what we've got for you out here.

The grounds are more generous than they asked for

with a stable block and a paddock.

I'm hoping the lovely expanse of lawns might bring them round.

Out of your possibly new conservatory,

into the garden, or a bit of it.

I mean, all in, there's about three and a half acres or so.

-That wasn't on the shopping list.

-It's a bit more.

-A little.

We knew you'd go off piste slightly.

One of the things with your budget

is you often get more than you bargained for,

and land is one of those things that arrives whether you like it or not.

So, how much do you think it's on the market for?

-I would think about £950,000.

-950.

-I'd say 925.

-925? Crikey.

-A pair of optimists.

-Right.

-Yes!

You are under, I'm afraid.

-Um, this is on the market for 998.

-Right.

We're just under the million,

so we've given you a taste of what the market has to offer.

-OK.

-Go and explore that paddock area, which is just over there,

-explore that and I'll catch up with you later.

-Great.

-Off you go.

For a shade under £1 million,

this property more than meets all the demands of their wish list.

It has five bedrooms, two with an en-suite,

a spacious kitchen-diner, a huge conservatory for Diane's plants,

space for Graham to work from home,

and a stream in the grounds, just as he requested.

I thought the front of the house was nice, very attractive.

I think the location is perfect.

And a decent-sized front garden, which is what we wanted.

I thought the kitchen was lovely, really cosy, lovely and warm.

Super conservatory, as requested.

I like the cosiness and the homeliness,

because I'm quite a homely... a homely person, really, I suppose.

We continue our search close to the village of Whitegate, five miles

south west of Northwich, the nearest town for shopping and restaurants.

Situated in a charming hamlet and surrounded by beautiful open countryside,

our second house is a rather unique thatched property.

-There it is.

-Wow, that's different.

It's very different.

I have seen an awful lot of thatched buildings in my time.

This has to be the most extraordinary one I've ever seen.

It's got almost a slightly...

-Spanish?

-A Spanish feel, exactly.

There's a sense of the Costa about it,

with all these arches and these cream coloured walls.

-Yes, we've travelled, so we're used to...

-You may have travelled, Diane,

-but you won't have seen anything quite like this.

-OK.

Come and have a look.

The outside of this very individual house might want you to believe it's old,

but inside, it's a very different matter.

Now, this isn't what you'd think a thatched house

was going to have as its principal living room.

-No, you wouldn't.

-A Spanish villa, maybe.

It certainly has that Spanish feel that we noticed on the outside.

-Lovely fireplace, though.

-This floor is rather lovely,

this is actually reclaimed from a church in Liverpool.

-Think about the space, that's the key thing.

-The space is perfect.

I don't think they were expecting a distinctive living room like this under the thatch.

So, let's see how they react to the kitchen.

Little snug, in there. But this...

There.

-Oh, wow. That is lovely.

-Fantastic.

Lovely. Light. Oh, perfect.

And look, a range as well.

-A range cooker. And a fridge to match the range cooker.

-Indeed.

The attention to detail...

Lovely, really lovely.

It's not the biggest in the world. Through there is the dining room.

It's not the biggest, but it's very well-used space.

Very, very well-used space. I could be very happy in here.

That's good news.

Off the kitchen is another room which should keep Diane happy -

a very grand utility room, the size of some galley kitchens.

That leads to an area they're definitely not expecting to find.

I know that you're retiring, but how about a gym to keep fit in?

Yeah... Another wow, I think.

-How well done is this?

-Very well done.

-It's amazing.

It's not something you asked for,

but are you ready for what's through here?

-No, we're not. Definitely not.

-Check that out.

-Wow.

-In you go. After you, Graham.

-Wow!

-Good Lord!

We can't afford this, it's incredible.

Oh, lovely, I think the children will be back.

It is a nice pool.

The children will definitely be back when they see the games room -

an immense space for lounging and entertaining

that overlooks the swimming pool.

On the same level there's a family bathroom,

a box room, currently used as a study,

and four generously sized bedrooms, two of which have an en suite.

But how about this one as a master?

Now, the current owners use this as a guest room.

I think it should be the master because of what's through there.

-Right.

-Lead on. After you, Diane.

Fantastic en suite, it's lovely, isn't it? Very well done.

-Look at the size.

-God, just amazing.

Outside, just under an acre of superbly landscaped gardens

surround the property on three sides.

In addition to a secluded paved patio,

there are separate areas of lawn, wooden arbours and flower beds.

So, will it meet with our garden-loving couples' approval,

and will it affect their valuation?

-So, madam, your go.

-I'm going first, am I?

-You are going first.

I think it's topped our budget and then some,

so I think 1.2.

-£1.2 million?

-I do.

£1.1 million.

£1.1 million, well, I'm afraid you're both wrong.

£1,150,OOO will get you this.

Hm, there's a ponderer.

You've bowled us a curved one, or whatever the expression is.

A curve ball? Well, go and retrieve it.

It's over there in the bushes somewhere. I'll catch you later.

At £1,150,000, this property is over budget,

but it isn't really such a curve ball

as it's got everything they asked for and more.

It has a spacious kitchen, four bedrooms,

a large conservatory for Diane's plants,

almost an acre of garden

and an indoor swimming pool.

Where to begin? It's amazing.

It's amazing in places,

and well above what we thought you'd find for us.

Magnificent.

The price is perhaps a little on the high side.

It's a unique house,

it's the only modern thatched house I've seen.

It's got the right amount of ground for us as well.

So, I'm pretty impressed with it.

As the sun sets over Cheshire's rolling countryside,

the first day of our property hunt comes to a close.

Let's have a think about the budget you've got to spend.

It's very, very generous as we know,

but if you set a budget like that

you do often end up with things that you don't need,

like a pool, or more acres and so forth.

I mean, if we were starting this process again,

would you rethink how much you wanted to spend?

-We might, slightly.

-Yes.

Bring it down a peg, or...?

Maybe, maybe even alter the area slightly.

How much would you alter the area by?

A county.

Well, I don't think we'll be going quite that far.

But I'm pretty confident that our mystery property

will really take Graham and Diane's breath away.

We're still in Cheshire,

and we're heading just ten miles south of Chester

to the small, rural hamlet of Coddington.

The nearest village for amenities,

such as shops and a post office, is Farndom,

whose church, Saint Chad's, is Grade II listed and still bears the scars

of musket damage from the 17th-century Civil War.

Our mystery house is also Grade II listed,

and comes in the shape of a converted mill.

Here we are, our mystery house.

I know water is a thing you're trying to get away from,

but we couldn't resist this one, Graham. It's an old mill.

It was a working mill up until about 1970, when it was converted.

But now, of course, it's this gorgeous family home.

The good news is, the mill itself no longer works,

but a lot of the workings are still in there,

which really relay its heritage.

There are numerous ways in to this place,

but I thought we'd start here, to get in at the bottom.

-Lovely sandstone.

-Amazing, isn't it?

Here we go. Could this be your new home, I wonder?

Let's start down on the ground floor, in the kitchen.

Wow, right. It looked like a tiny cottage from outside.

-It's quite a big room, isn't it?

-It's huge.

You have to appreciate that, with most mills,

they had to contain quite a lot of machinery.

-This one has actually got...

-I've just spotted it.

The machinery is still in it, but you've got these great big spaces

which let you create huge rooms.

-Great big beams supporting everything.

-Right.

I think this has captured your imagination.

Well, it's certainly different.

On the ground floor close to the kitchen,

there's a laundry room, and, off the hall,

you'll find a good sized reception room

that's currently being used as a fifth bedroom.

We're heading upstairs to see how the rest of this unique building is laid out.

Now, up on this middle floor is where it all starts to happen,

in terms of regular domestic space. We'll start with the dining room.

Very pretty, this has got cosy.

It certainly does have cosy,

but an interesting mixture of cosy in rooms like this,

but open plan in some of the others, like the kitchen, for example.

-Lovely fireplace.

-Yes.

-Lovely.

They seem to be really intrigued by this property,

so I'm looking forward to their reaction in the next room.

Now then, this is quite exciting.

Open plan... Oh, the mill comes up... Oh, right.

-It's certainly not the poky cottage...

-We thought from the outside, no.

..you might have expected, no, it's enormous.

This is rather nice - wood burner here.

This is the chimney breast that comes up from below.

It's not original but fits in.

Beautifully.

There's all sorts of quirky features.

You noticed this earlier, Diane, again,

a bit more engineering rising up from the workings below.

The space is great,

because up here reveals the galleried landing,

which takes us up to four bedrooms.

Let's go and check them out, they're here.

There's also a further small bedroom on the first floor just off the drawing room,

which could be used as a study for Graham to work from home until he retires.

Up on the second floor, off the characterful landing area,

there are three generously sized bedrooms,

ideal for when the children come to stay.

There's also a family bathroom with stripped wooden floors.

But we're heading for the master bedroom.

Quite a sweet little en suite, there. And then you've got this.

Oh, that's very nice, very pretty. Lovely windows, low down.

In terms of property, it's a very different thing to what we've shown you before.

What are your thoughts now you've had a chance to get inside it?

I think it's got even more potential than has been realised so far.

Let's get back outside, then, have a closer look at the engineering of it

and how it all works.

-And we'll talk about the bit of land for you, as well.

-Right. Good.

Outside and looking on to the mill pool is a pool house with a hot tub.

By the ornamental lake with landscaped banks,

there's a garden room in the style of a Japanese teahouse.

This is set up as a guest suite, with a kitchen area and shower room.

There's also a garage block with an office suite on the first floor.

This stunning property also includes two fields,

giving a total of over eight acres of land.

But has this remarkable mill made them want to set sail again or set up home here?

So, how much is this worth?

I think there is more potential that can be realised in there,

which is going to cost a little bit of money.

With that in mind, I would guess

they're probably asking around the 850 mark.

8,995.

8,995? I wish it were.

-Right.

-I wish it were. Way off, guys, way off.

I mean, this is on the market for offers in excess of 1.2 million.

-Oh. Wow.

-Right.

-Right, go and have an explore and I'll catch up with you later.

-Right.

So, not the bargain they were searching for,

as it's over budget at £1.2 million,

but this fascinating property

really goes above and beyond their requirements.

It has a huge kitchen diner,

lots of space for entertaining,

five bedrooms, so there's room for all the children to stay,

and, finally, there is a stream and a lake

in eight acres of grounds.

When I came through the gates I was thrilled,

I thought, we've found... The mystery house has turned out to be

the one we're looking for, lovely.

We were both elated, without saying anything, we were both elated.

The house is attractive, on the outside in particular,

so I'm fascinated by it, and we really need to think about it.

We've given you an awful lot this week. I think we've spoilt you.

-Oh, yes.

-In some ways.

-Yes.

Shall we go and have a cup of tea and have a chat?

-Best idea yet.

-Come on, then.

Well, chaps, here we are at the end of quite a revealing week.

But let's just remind ourselves of where we took you.

We started with quite an interesting property.

Nice house, a mixture of old and new,

and the new part of it was done very well.

I think you were quite taken with it?

I was very taken with the kitchen and the garden room, it was lovely.

I just thought that the extra acreage was too much.

The second house was altogether different.

It was lovely, that was just what we wanted.

It was definitely a property with its own identity, Graham.

Yes, it was a very large modern thatched property,

so quite unusual in that respect.

In terms of a place to have fun in, I mean, you've got a pool,

you've got a games room, a galleried games room at that.

Then we took you to our final property, our mystery house.

-Paradise.

-It was ten out of ten on the outside, in particular.

You seemed to really engage with the heritage

and the engineering of the building?

Yes, they had preserved the mill wheel

and everything else connected with that very well.

It was a feature inside the house, and I liked that as well.

Now, I'm going to move this on, somewhat,

in a way that we don't often do at this point in Escape To The Country,

but I think that the area that you thought you wanted to live in,

isn't the place you're going to end up.

-I think you're right.

-I think that's right.

-That's spot on.

I think Shropshire has to be looked at as a county

that we haven't explored deeply yet,

but I think we really need to. I think that's what we've decided.

So, I guess it's see you here, same time next week, in Shropshire!

THEY ALL LAUGH

Well, as you probably gathered, this has been a pretty surprising,

if not enjoyable, week. But I think there is a lesson to be learned.

Buying a house is a bit like buying a new jacket, for example -

you think it's going to fit you,

but when you try it on, it doesn't quite have the right feel.

And that is what Diane and Graham have found here in Cheshire.

After all, this is a county they know extremely well.

They were both born here.

But is it the place where they unfold the next chapter of their lives? Well, I suspect it isn't.

But the good news is that when they do start their house search again, tomorrow morning,

they'll know exactly what they're after and where it's going to be.

I'll see you next time.

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