Herefordshire Escape to the Country

Today, I'm in a county that gives its name to this iconic breed of cattle,

but where am I? Find out in just a moment.

On today's show I'm helping two naval officers plan their future

on dry land

and we conjure up their rural fantasy in one property.

-Yeah.

-That's it.

That's the dream, that's the dream.

And there's so much more than straight lines in our mystery house.

Everything is sort of... curvaceous.

Today I'm in Herefordshire,

admiring the characteristic white faces

of these beautiful Herefordshire cattle.

Now one of Britain's oldest native breeds,

the Herefordshire is also one of the most popular in the world

due to their ability to produce a distinctly-flavoured, marbled beef

as well as, luckily for me, a very easy temperament.

In fact, they're so popular that,

since first being exported to America in 1817,

their numbers have grown to an amazing five million cows

in some 50 countries.

But, arguably, the best place to see these magnificent creatures

is right here in their home county of Herefordshire.

Landlocked Herefordshire is one of England's most rural counties,

with Hereford the only city found within its boundary.

In the west of the county,

the River Dore runs through the picturesque Golden Valley,

home to an abundance of apple and pear orchards,

predominately for cider and perry production.

The pretty market town of Ross-On-Wye,

which sits on a sandstone cliff above the river,

is known for its attractive streets

and the impressive 17th-century sandstone market hall

that's still used today for the town's two weekly markets.

Just down the road on the border with Gloucestershire

is Symonds Yat Rock, a 500-foot-high limestone outcrop,

rising from the banks of the River Wye.

From here there are stunning views which stretch north,

right across the rest of this glorious county.

If it's a truly unspoilt rural idyll you're after,

Herefordshire certainly deserves consideration.

It's still a largely agricultural region,

home to over 5,000 farms,

and is one of the least densely populated counties in England,

with less than 200 people per square mile.

Better still are the house prices here.

An average detached property would set you back around £258,000,

that's just £4,000 above the national average.

So, let's take a look at what's currently on the market.

This two-bedroomed former threshing barn in West Hope could be yours

for £290,000. Dating back to the 16th century,

its period features, such as exposed woodwork

and tiled floors, are combined with modern open-plan living.

It also offers a charming cottage garden.

This four-bedroomed stone barn conversion in Llangaren

is priced at just under £500,000.

It boasts a wealth of exposed timbers,

arrow-slit windows in the sitting room

and slate flooring and granite work surfaces in the kitchen.

And if your pockets are deep enough,

you could go for this eight-bedroomed Victorian farmhouse in Bridge Sollers.

At just under £700,000, it has well-proportioned rooms,

with original wooden floors

and fantastic views of the surrounding countryside.

Some lovely properties there.

Right, time to meet today's buyers

and find out why they want to escape to Herefordshire.

Adam and Karen have been married for three years,

after meeting at their hockey club.

As they're both officers in the Navy,

they've been living in military accommodation for some time.

This one's in Portsmouth.

But now, with the end of Karen's service in sight,

they're keen to plan the next stage of their lives,

with a move to the Herefordshire countryside.

It's a definite lifestyle change for us,

we've both always loved animals,

we've got a dog and we've got four chickens,

and we want to develop that and get a smallholding

so that we can have a few more animals,

maybe some sheep, some pigs.

So, we've made a start with our chickens

and we've got a small vegetable patch,

with carrots, spinach and some rhubarb.

We'd like to do this one a much bigger scale, though, obviously

to try to be as self-sufficient as we can be in the future.

As well as having a go at growing their own,

they've also got ideas about a business they could run together.

Our aspiration is to have a small kennels,

maybe for 15 dogs or so,

so that we can give lots of personal attention

and not have lots of dogs around.

We just want to make it quite, erm, specific.

With the constraints of married quarters in Portsmouth

about to be consigned to the past,

they've been making a list of what they want from their new home.

We'd like a minimum of two bedrooms, but ideally, three

and we'd be able to have, sort of, more family can come and visit.

We need a family bathroom, a large kitchen-diner would be lovely.

The house has to be detached,

ideally we'd like land of at least two acres

and the next most important thing, really,

is the location for the business itself.

But it won't be all work and no play,

because Adam and Karen also plan to pursue their sporting hobbies

once in the country.

Well, Karen and I met playing hockey,

and I'm keen to carry on playing hockey,

maybe umpiring and coaching in the future,

but we also like doing a lot of outdoor activities.

They own a non-military property which they've been renting out,

but it's now up for sale.

Once it's sold they can make the move,

but can they agree on how much money they're willing to spend?

Well, we have a budget of about £450,000,

but if we saw our absolute dream home,

we could probably stretch to a maximum of 500,000.

-Stretch.

-Possibly.

Stretch.

Adam and Karen are extremely flexible

about which part of Herefordshire they'd like to live,

and have even given us permission to look just over the border,

so we should have plenty of options.

We've got a fantastic mix of homes for them to see,

but, as usual, I won't be letting on

how much they're on the market for

until they've had a guess at the price.

The final property is, of course, our mystery house,

which could see them going green with envy

for a whole new way of life.

Hi, you two, well, welcome to beautiful Herefordshire,

but why do you two want to move to this particular place?

Our family are diversified right across the UK,

so we've got London, the Wirral, Plymouth, Wales,

and so this is quite a good, central place for us

so they can come and visit.

-A two-hour drive in any direction?

-Yeah, it works.

-Perfect.

So, before we start this search, just remind us,

what's your maximum budget?

I think if we found everything we possibly dreamed of

-it would be 500,000.

-450.

Ha ha! I like that.

Dreamer, realism,

perhaps something in between then you'll both be happy?

We have got three cracking properties to show you,

-so, shall we get started?

-Yeah, sounds good.

So, Adam and Karen are after a country retreat,

priced between their two budgets of £450,000 and £500,000.

For that, they'd like a detached property

with at least two acres of land for a smallholding,

a large kitchen-diner for entertaining family and friends,

three bedrooms, and it must be in a good location for a business.

We've travelled around 14 miles southwest of Hereford,

close to the village of Ewyas Harold in Herefordshire's Golden Valley.

It lies on the Dulas Brook,

and amenities include a church and a pub.

House number one is located nearby in the village of Longtown,

and is a Grade II-listed traditional country cottage.

So, here we are in west Herefordshire,

nearly, very, very close to the border of Monmouthshire,

and your very first property.

What do you think?

It's a lovely, black-and-white, classic, old cottage.

-Very, very pretty.

-Very traditional, very quaint.

It's certainly the character we're after.

So, ready to step inside?

-Yes.

-Definitely.

An irresistibly rustic property on the outside,

and I'm sure they'll both be delighted

when they get a glimpse of the traditional features

that it's brimming with inside.

Even the hallway had exposed beams and a thumb-latch door.

So, here's your first reception room.

Oh, it's a lovely size.

-Wood-burner.

-Wood-burning stove.

-Lovely, big fireplace, as well.

Yeah. An original fireplace, you can see the old bresma beam.

And the timbers, these old ship's timbers.

-It's going to appeal to you, isn't it?

-That nautical link.

-Yeah.

It's full of character.

It's got a really nice feel about it, straightaway. This room feels cosy.

It's big enough, you could still fit your furniture in.

You know, sometimes they are quite tiny.

The nautical beams and cosy ambience are going down a treat.

There is plenty more original and unusual features in the next room.

I think, this has to be a pretty impressive dining room.

What an incredible fireplace. That is amazing.

It's beautiful, isn't it? It's got a bread oven.

If you look to the side, that is where they kept the salt.

-To keep it dry.

-Yeah.

-Excellent.

You've got the exposed beams again.

How about that for a wall?

-That is so traditional, it must be for this sort of area.

-Yeah.

Two reception rooms, a good size for you?

Can you see yourself eating in here?

I can certainly see us and the family visiting, all sitting around the table.

-You could get big table in here and get everybody around.

-Good.

'It's always good news

'when our buyers can picture themselves in the property

'and it seems that these two have already invited the family around.'

Through here is...

your country kitchen.

That's it, that's the dream.

The range cooker and somewhere to eat in the kitchen. That's lovely.

It's always nice to have a sociable kitchen.

If people come around for a cup of tea, this is the place where you sit and natter.

It's also at the heart of the home. It's lovely.

I think I'd have to watch my head. The ceiling is a bit low.

I think you'll have to watch your head

throughout this property, aren't you?

-I have to do it on a ship, anyway, so it's not new.

-Home from home!

'Also on this floor is a very distinctive utility room

'which was once the older dairy.

'Next door, is the pantry.

'But, we're heading up the rather beautiful stone staircase

'to see what this property offers on the floor above.

'It has three bedrooms, which are generously sized

'and unusually light for a cottage.

'Also up here is the family bathroom.

'We're having a look at where they could be sleeping.'

-This is the master.

-Huge beams again.

-You don't expect a cottage of this age and tradition to be so light.

-Yes.

-Totally unexpected.

-And such a good-sized room as well.

I think we'll definitely be able to get our bed in here.

-It feels comfortable, cosy, it just works.

-Does it feel like home?

It feels like it could be home.

'That's encouraging.

'Outside is where it really counts for their new business.

'They'll need space and outbuildings for some kennels

'and this property has both in spades.

'There's a converted telephone exchange which could be used as an office for the business

'and two acres of land.'

So, you've got a large double carport with additional storage,

that's where the cows used to live.

The brick building behind us, that's where the gentleman used to keep his sheep,

with access into your field.

To the other side, you've got a more formal garden

and there is a little bit of extra space at the side, more land,

which could be perfect for vegetables.

-I know you're keen on growing your own.

-Yes, definitely.

How much do you think this cottage, with all its outbuildings,

two acres of land and the disused telephone exchange

is on the market for?

It's going to be towards the top of our budget.

-I'm going for £495,000.

-OK.

I think it's over my budget.

Let's go 470.

470. I like the way you have two budgets.

This is going to be so confusing as we go along.

I do know the top of your budget is 500,000.

-This cottage is currently on the market for £450,000.

-Is it?

-Food for thought.

-Definitely food for thought.

You need time to think, don't you?

It's going to be difficult to beat, I think.

This is only property number one.

I think you should start off having walk around the grounds. Check out those outbuildings.

Come back, look at the cottage and let's meet out the front when you're ready. Off you go.

Thank you very much.

So, bang on Karen's budget and well under Adam's at £450,000,

this property really delivers on their list of demands.

It has a large sociable country kitchen, three bedrooms,

a range of outbuildings that could be converted into kennels

for the new business and two acres of land,

with plenty of room to grow their own vegetables.

Overall, my thoughts are really positive about this property.

I think we would need to do a little more research into the viability

of running a business from here and whether any of the outbuildings

will be suitable to convert into a kennels of the type we want to run.

This has definitely got potential.

I was quite surprised when we walked in.

Having seen a traditional cottage, I expected it to be small inside.

Actually, there was two good-sized reception rooms,

a lovely farmhouse kitchen which appealed greatly.

Outside, with the two acres of land with outbuildings,

it was certainly was something that gave us the options to do what we'd like to do with the kennels.

That's certainly happy faces.

I don't think Herefordshire has let us down with our first property, has it?

-Definitely not.

-No, fantastic start.

-Good.

I'm delighted you are pleased, let's keep going.

In the north of Herefordshire is the market town of Leominster

which dates back to the 7th century

and prospered because of its thriving wool trade.

It's the historical home of the Ryeland sheep,

farmed by monks

to produce the most prized wool in Europe in the Middle Ages.

A few miles away,

near the village of Eardisland, sits Burton Court.

Home to the Simpson family since 1960,

its Grade II-listed 14th-century manor house

is a great example of a living and working family residence,

with guided tours given by the family themselves.

Earlier in the week,

we arranged for Adam and Karen to meet Edward Simpson,

to find out more about its colourful past.

Welcome to Burton Court, my family home.

There must be a real history to this house, can you explain what the background is?

Yes, steeped in history.

"Burton" literally means "fortified dwelling place"

in old Saxon language. So it was used as a medieval stronghold.

As a medieval stronghold,

it developed into the Regency times into a much more elegant building.

The youngest part of the property is literally the front door here,

which is not even 100 years old yet.

In England, 24% of Grade I and Grade II-listed historic homes

are in jeopardy, according to the latest Heritage At Risk register.

With upkeep prices high,

the solution chosen by the Simpson family

was to open the house to the public,

allowing its fascinating and historic features

to be used as a backdrop for special events.

This is the medieval great hall.

The wonderful feature of this room

is this beautiful ceiling we have here.

This is awesome. When does this date back to?

Three historians date this room back to 1330.

It's the oldest and finest great hall in the West Midlands.

You say this is the oldest part of the house?

Yes, it's the oldest part that we record

but also the archaeological dig which we are doing today, actually,

you've come on a good day.

we found a lot of medieval pottery

which dates back even earlier than 1330.

In the grounds, a local history group have been digging for buried treasures

for the past ten years

and it was here that Herefordshire's largest hoard

of medieval pottery was discovered,

as Graham Simpson of the Eardisland History And Heritage Society explains.

We've turned up layers of charcoal and glass.

There's still a piece of bone sticking in here.

We've taken out 2,500 pieces of 10th, 11th and 12th century pottery.

Sadly, we haven't found anything that's datable accurately.

This is the sort of thing we've been finding. It's quite a large piece.

Each piece is identifiable

so we know exactly what level it came from.

The biggest find, in terms of history,

is what looks pretty unimportant.

That's a bit of bone, probably a shoulder blade of something,

and as you can see, it has a pattern on it.

This is a 12th-century Norman gaming counter.

There are very few of these in the country. Seven in Britain.

This is the first one from Herefordshire.

With such a rare find, are you getting funding to extend this site?

No, it's just a little voluntary group of us who are interested

enough to want to scrape away with little trowels and work at this.

So, if you haven't done anything of this kind before, now's your chance.

A little gentle brushing on this wouldn't do any harm.

In Herefordshire alone, there are around 15 local history societies,

researching projects and archiving stories from the past.

Time now to see if we can uncover a treasure of a home

for Adam and Karen, as we continue our property search.

We are travelling towards the lively market town of Bromyard,

not far from the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border.

The town has a number of traditional half-timbered pubs

and its own annual folk music festival.

Just a short hop over the county border into Worcestershire

is our second property,

a stone cottage which dates back to 1850.

I've brought you to Bringsty Common,

and this is one of the common cottages, property number two.

-It's lovely.

-Excellent.

-And what a fantastic approach to it, as well.

Straight up onto your own piece of land. Lovely.

COCK CROWS

With cockerel, there you go!

-Thank you.

-I paid him for that!

Very well-behaved. This is all your land, actually, 2.4 acres of land.

-OK.

-Is that a good start?

-Getting better and better.

-Is that a good start.

-That's impressive.

-Shall we get started?

-Yes.

'A high score on the all-important grounds.

'We'll explore them in more detail later.

'I want to start by heading for the room that I think they'll be spending most time in,

'the very sociable kitchen-diner.'

-Welcoming?

-Yes, I thought the last one was nice but this is even better.

It adds that... If you have people around the dinner,

it just creates that sociability because you can cook and do stuff

but also sit down and chat. It's nice.

Nice to look over the garden, as well, which is always nice sitting out, looking at your own land.

From here, you've got an additional extension.

You've got a utility room, a downstairs bathroom,

and then you've got a very large office.

If you wanted to work from home,

you've got all that space on that side of the property.

-It doesn't detract from the reception rooms.

-OK.

Always worth thinking about when you are planning new businesses.

The kitchen has got the thumbs-up.

I don't think there's anything we need to change at all.

We could almost move in straightaway!

'That's what I like to hear.

'I think they're going to like the traditional features

'in the first of the two reception rooms.'

The same fireplace again. Another enormous fireplace.

It's cosy because it's a nice, square size.

We could get our two settees and so that adds to the cosiness.

Like a snug, more than a conventional lounge.

-No, it's a nice size.

-Lovely.

'Also, on this floor is another cosy and characterful living room

'with windows on two sides.

'Now we're going to see if the upstairs can offer them all they need.

'With four generously-sized double bedrooms

'and those wonderful views, I think it might.'

This step leads up to the master bedroom.

This is gorgeous. Lots of light.

Very light, the beams again, the natural beams.

Upstairs, you don't have the family, conventional bathroom.

You've got a separate toilet and then a shower room

across the hallway.

-The family bathroom is downstairs with the bath.

-Yes.

It's unusual, but when you extend cottages, you rejig,

and sometimes things are downstairs that are normally upstairs.

-And there's only two of you.

-Only two of us.

-Yeah.

-Plenty of space for guests. No problem.

-Definitely.

How do you feel about the property before I take you back downstairs?

It's quite surprising how big, it keeps extending on forever.

-It does stretch.

-It's very big inside.

'So the inside has impressed Adam and Karen

'with its mix of cosiness and space.

'It's outside that we need to investigate further.

'With an eye to their potential dog kennel business,

'keeping livestock and growing vegetables.

'With 2.4 acres, there should be more than enough room.

'It includes three paddocks for grazing animals

'and a good choice of outbuildings that,

'subject to planning consent, look promising for conversion.'

If that wasn't enough,

we are surrounded by common here, aren't we?

Beautiful common. You can graze your animals on the common

if you get permission from the committee, which looks after it.

You can also make hay on the common, as well.

I like that expression, "You can make hay."

If you did want to keep sheep, you can make hay on the common

-and it will be enough to keep them.

-Interesting option.

-You want pigs, chickens, a goat or two?

-Maybe.

-Maybe.

-Dogs?

-Yeah.

-Sheep?

-Sheep.

-What do you think?

-This is an ideal situation for it.

'The perfect location? Yes, but will the asking price be ideal?'

Who wants to go first?

-OK, I'll go first. It's going to be over-budget. 495.

-OK.

I think in true tradition, I've got to go higher

because of my higher budget, I think it's over my budget.

I think it's more around 535.

The asking price is...

£499,950.

-Winner.

-OK.

So, at the moment, £50 change.

Enough to make a kennels at least at the back, surely?

-I think the dream could be a step closer, I think.

-Oh-ho!

Do you fancy having another look around, by any chance?

-I think we'd better.

-A good idea.

I'm going to give you a time limit

because you might get lost with all this land to explore.

Go on, enjoy yourselves. I'll catch up with you later.

At a shade under £500,000,

this property is just within Adam's budget, although it's over Karen's.

Still, it's got plenty to offer.

With a wonderful, sociable kitchen-diner,

four bedrooms, so plenty of guest space,

over two acres of land

and real potential in those outbuildings.

Look at the view.

What a stunning view.

Having all this extra space, we can maybe look at having more sheep

than just having a few that we've looked at.

Having a working flock. That would be really good.

The thought of making your own hay. Oh, wow!

We're going to get a little combine harvester.

And a ride-on tractor!

It's been modernised fabulously, extended. It's a fabulous house.

Outside, well, just masses of space and having access to the extra space.

It is an advantage and you never find that in most cottages.

We said at the start of this process,

if we found something that ticked all the boxes for us,

I'd be willing to look up to our top budget,

or stretch to our top budget of £500,000.

I think, if we looked at the ten boxes we need to tick,

we're ticking 9.5 of them here.

I think I might get a hard time from Karen later to find out

exactly how we go to the finances to look at something on these lines.

Well, I think, they're very taken with the second property.

All right, you two?

-Did you manage to walk the land?

-Not all of it.

-Not all of it, no!

But you're keen to keep exploring, I can tell.

-That is it for today. We're going to head home.

-OK.

As the sun sets over the Herefordshire countryside,

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

Naval officers Adam and Karen have their hearts set

on a country home with a smallholding and business.

So far, we've really captured their imagination with our two properties.

But, coming up, the mystery house

leads them in a completely different direction...

That's thrown a bit of a spanner in the works!

Another concept to think about, really.

..and I join in the harvesting

on a very colourful Herefordshire herb farm.

We are en route to our mystery house.

-Looking forward to this?

-Very.

-Yeah.

After the two houses yesterday,

we're really excited to see what's next.

With our mystery house,

what do you think we may have up our sleeve for you?

We've been trying to guess for the last few days

and we really have absolutely no idea.

We're tried to think of some very random ideas, maybe a field with a wreck in that we can convert

or something that is completely away from what we've asked for

as a completely different thought.

We don't have much idea at all.

We've travelled over the Herefordshire border

into the Welsh county of Powys

and close to Hay-on-Wye, known as the town of books.

It has over 30 bookshops

selling many specialist and second-hand copies

and hosts its own annual literary festival.

Our mystery house is in the small Welsh village of Velindre.

and we've picked it specially

to challenge what THEY think they might want from their new home,

as it's a new-build with surprisingly green credentials.

You can look up, because this is your mystery house.

Oh, wow!

That's completely unexpected. How different.

-Very different.

-It is.

Have you ever considered eco-living?

We have considered eco-living, definitely, yes.

I'm noticing a few things here and there with the panels

and the light tubes.

I'll be intrigued to get inside and have a look at this.

'Well, they both seem pleasantly surprised

'and fascinated by this property.

'It's great news that they've considered eco-living before.

'Let's check out what's on offer.'

Welcome to your mystery house. Come on in.

Oh, my goodness!

Wow!

It's a bit of a "wow". These wooden features are just lovely.

It just adds a bit of warmth to a contemporary decor.

-What do you think of the kitchen itself?

-Lovely, huge, open area.

Fantastic entertaining room.

With the central island,

sleek worktops,

it looks like a good working kitchen as well.

It doesn't look just decorative.

'And continuing the decorative-but-functional theme,

'we are moving through to the dining room,

'which is just made for entertaining.'

So, you've got your dining area here but again it's open.

Quite a bold colour choice in the room

but actually, it feels nice and cosy.

It's bigger than the dining areas we've seen attached to the kitchen.

-Yes.

-It makes it seem so huge.

That open-plan feeling gives a feeling of everybody being involved.

All the family can be in the same room at once.

'With the family obviously close to their hearts, our next room

'is another one that I think will work wonderfully

'for those get-togethers.'

Here is your sitting room.

-It's another good-sized room.

-Yeah.

Another one we can probably fit all the family at one go.

-Unusual in its shape.

-It curls around, doesn't it?

Yeah, the circle and the curve with the stairs. Everything is curvaceous.

Yeah, but you've still got the strong lines of the beams.

Yeah, and I can see a wood-burning stove in the corner again.

An Italian wood-burning stove.

That is a work of art in itself with the concrete base and top.

It's a lovely feature.

'This house is just packed with them.

'Take this open-tread turning staircase for one.

'Then, on the first floor, there is a quite spectacular contemporary bathroom with a stone pod bath.'

What do you think of this as a family bathroom?

Another "wow" factor. It's like, "Whoa!"

-It's some bath.

-Some bath.

Beautiful freestanding bath, isn't it?

And he's used a very, very strong palette in the property.

Again, I like the colour scheme.

-It works.

-It doesn't overpower.

It just feels in keeping with the rooms.

'Also upstairs are three bright and generously-sized double bedrooms

'with vaulted ceilings and more of those exposed beams.

'I'm showing them the biggest and most appealing of all

'with its curved wall and floor-to-ceiling windows.'

And here is...the master bedroom.

It curves around and brings you through to this bit.

-You can see the inside of the fantastic A-frame.

-Yeah.

It looks like it's very traditional in the way it's been put together.

It's nice. An incredible bit of engineering.

It's lovely being in the curve, being above the lounge

and the windows go right to the floor.

-It brings in so much extra light.

-Yes.

-It is, it's lovely.

'So this amazing place is working wonders for them as a home inside.

'However, outside will involve a rethink

'to their kennel-owning plans,

'as there's just a small garden with a patio.

'But I've got an idea why this property

'would be a very good proposition for them.'

I know you're keen to buy a house as soon as possible

but, moving forward, new businesses and stuff,

you are three or four years away from dog kennels.

What this would give you is a slice of country living

but the reality is

you've got to commute back to Portsmouth and Bristol.

You could lock this up.

You wouldn't have to worry too much about any animals or gardens

or things to take care of

but you can still enjoy it at the weekends when you got back.

That's thrown a bit of a spanner in the works, with another concept

to think about, really.

Neither of us have thought about doing that,

-almost like a halfway house.

-Yeah.

-It certainly has got the old brain cells working overtime again.

-Once more.

Yes. It is a remarkable property.

How much do you think this house is on the market for?

I think it's probably close to Karen's budget,

so I am going to go for £445,000.

-I'm good to go for £420,000.

-OK.

It's over your budget but it is under your top budget.

The asking price is 485,000.

BOTH: OK.

Why don't you go and have another look around

-and I'll catch up with you a little bit later.

-OK.

-Thank you.

At £485,000, this fascinating eco-property

is well over Karen's budget but towards the top end of Adam's.

It's thrown them a bit of a curve ball

as it offers a completely different lifestyle.

There's a very social open-plan living space,

a huge kitchen-diner to fit the whole family,

three good-sized bedrooms,

a family bathroom with a real "wow" factor

and easy-to-maintain grounds.

The mystery house was very striking to begin with.

As we came inside, the features and the workmanship,

and all the ideas in the design was very impressive.

What it has done is put the question in our minds

to think about the idea of perhaps not going straight into having a lot of land

and to do a halfway house almost, where we can build up,

get used to the area, get used to the community and maybe grow from there.

As soon as we saw the mystery house, I noticed the solar panels in the roof

and as we went through the rest of the property,

the plethora of eco-facilities that were in here

were brilliant features that I think we can look at using in our home.

-OK?

-Yes, thank you.

That's it, at the end of our tour of the mystery house.

I think we should go somewhere where you can gather your thoughts

and we'll have a chat about the three houses we've shown you.

Yes, OK.

Herefordshire is predominantly an agricultural county.

As well as fruit, potato and cider production,

many other wild and cultivated plants thrive here.

For almost 30 years,

botanist Dr Paul Richards has been growing herbs organically here.

After four years of research

in plant physiology in Aberdeen and Moscow,

he began growing plants for animal feed

and now has a successful business in organic skincare.

Products from the Herbpharmacy

are handmade in small batches on his farm in Eardisley

and I've come to find out more.

-Hi, Paul.

-Hi, Nicki.

-Great to meet you. Look at this.

I feel like I'm standing in a sea of colour.

Looking around, it's a beautiful day today

and I can see we are surrounded by flowers.

-What variety is this?

-This is Calendula, or marigold.

-And these wonderful blue flowers?

-Those are cornflowers.

Beautiful colours. It's a warm, sunny day today.

All the flowers seem to be out. When's the best time to pick them?

When they're ready like this.

We pick them every week. We have to keep on picking them

to keep the flowers coming.

'All the plants on the farm are picked by hand.

'There is no machinery

'so I'm going to give it a go.'

We'll pick the individual flowers, just simply by pulling them off.

-They are sticky!

-They are. There are lots of resins in these.

It's part of the properties.

What am I looking for? What are the properties in the flower head?

Calendula has an anti-inflammatory property.

It's beautiful for sensitive skin. Calendula is also a healing herb.

-It is a very versatile herb.

-What about the cornflower?

Cornflower is anti-inflammatory, a bit like Calendula but much milder.

It's useful to use in very sensitive areas, like around the eyes.

We use that in an eye cream.

'Once picked, the flower heads are chopped finely

'and put on meshes to dry where they remain for two to three days.

'Then they are infused in sunflower oil for about three weeks

'at a warm temperature

'and, once strained, you have oil extract of calendula.

'This is one of the main ingredients

'in a skin balm that Paul is making today,

'along with others such as marshmallow, comfrey and chickweed

'that have all been mixed together with beeswax

'which makes it solid when cool.'

You've heated it for how long?

We've heated to get it to about 70 or 80 degrees

and the jar's warm, you pour it in there and it will slowly cool.

-Shall I have a go?

-Yes, just go for it.

-Shall we see how steady my hand is.

-We'll see.

This is so pure, isn't it?

Everything in here is organic, there's nothing else?

100% organic.

When you make a fresh batch of this,

do have to do anything else to it?

We pour a lab sample every time which we send to the lab to check

there are no microbial growth in it. That's for safety.

You have to do that under the regulations for every batch.

What about the final ingredients that go in?

As a trained botanist, was it a lot of trial and error?

Does it take years to develop?

We have been working with balms for about ten years now.

We've played around with different herbs and how they combine.

This really is a culmination

of the four herbs that are so good for skin problems.

'You shouldn't try making balms like Paul's

'without a lab testing facility and plenty of experience.

'Ten years down the line, his products are now across the UK.

'It's a real rural success story,

'literally plucked from the fields of Herefordshire.

'Time now to get back to our property search

'to see if we can have equal success

'finding a new home for Adam and Karen.'

So, you two, I think this has been quite an interesting search.

The first property we went to see was on the Welsh border.

Can you remember your first impressions were

when you saw the property?

It just had that archetypal quaintness,

"traditional cottage" look about it.

Is surprising how good a size the rooms were,

which was really unexpected for such a period cottage.

And, for our first property,

one of your priorities were outbuildings with land.

That house seemed to have it all, didn't it?

Certainly, there was really neat paddock there

and a couple of outbuildings that had the potential

that could be converted into something.

-One of your dreams is to run kennels.

-Mm.

We then travelled east, didn't we, to Bringsty Common,

250 acres right on Worcestershire border.

That had quite an impact for both of you as you walked up the drive, didn't it?

Yes, it did. It was immediately obvious that the land was there.

It looked like a fairly small cottage when we first arrived

and as we worked our way around and into the property,

through the huge extensions,

we realised it was a really large property

and with lots of scope for us to use all of the rooms

-and have all our family come and visit.

-It was really good.

Probably a 9.5 out of ten,

because had it been within Karen's budget

I think we would have been very, very close.

Oh, this is getting exciting!

We're going to move on to our mystery house.

As the mystery alludes to a complete surprise for us.

It's not something we would have necessarily looked at,

but something that really opened our minds.

-It was a fascinating house, wasn't it?

-It was, incredible.

And striking, the design, it was beautiful.

It was like a classic show home.

It was fabulous to walk around

but I don't think we could see ourselves living there.

The mystery house hasn't quite hit the mark,

although it did impress you.

Just to recap, you've given our second property,

the one on the common, 9.5 out of ten.

In my book, that's pretty good going.

-Come on, will you be putting in an offer?

-Yeah, I think...

if we can sell our house in the not too distant future,

I'm sure we'll be coming back to open discussions with them about making an offer.

-I'm going to be keeping my fingers crossed.

-We are too.

-And us.

Thank you both very much indeed.

Although we didn't secure a sale for our naval couple,

I feel Adam and Karen

were completely seduced by our commoners' cottage.

It's not often a property scores 9.5 out of ten.

If Adam can convince the more cautious Karen

to go with his budget rather than hers,

I think they may be moving into that smallholding very soon.

Until next time, bye-bye.

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