Worcestershire Escape to the Country

These hills behind me are alive with the sound of music,

and not the Austrian, Julie Andrews as a nun type of music.

No, this is extremely British

and written by a native son of this very area.

Find out where we are in just a moment on Escape To The Country.

Coming up on today's show, I meet a globetrotting couple who have

returned home to set up a B business.

We hit the nail on the head at one property...

Good. I think this is a really great kitchen.

If I designed one myself,

this is pretty much how I would have set it out.

And the mystery house takes their breath away. Wow, stunning!

Very nice.

Today, we are in Worcestershire,

and these are the beautiful Malvern Hills, stomping ground of

one of our greatest composers, Edward Elgar.

He was born, spent most of his life and indeed is buried in this area.

And it was 110 years ago, in June 1901 in London,

that his most famous tune, from the Pomp and Circumstance Marches,

was given extra words and sung as Land of Hope and Glory.

It has been a favourite at the Last Night of the Proms ever since, and

it is, as Elgar himself described it, a tune to knock 'em flat.

But this countryside is more than just music.

Worcestershire is situated in the West Midlands region of England

and is bordered by five other counties,

including Shropshire to the North and Herefordshire to the West.

The ancient cathedral city of Worcester

lies on the banks of the River Severn.

Founded in 680, the Cathedral later became an important

centre of learning for the Benedictine monks.

South of Worcester, there are the Malvern Hills.

Here, visitors can enjoy over 4,000 acres of open country climbing,

or simply ramble along the wooded slopes.

What kind of property is going to make our house-hunters today happy?

Let's find out.

Meet Clive and Carolyn,

both of whom left their jobs in finance three years ago

to escape from the Birmingham rat race and travel the world.

Since returning to the UK, they have been renting while looking

for their dream property, which hasn't been easy to find.

We so need your help!

We've been looking for such a long time in so many places.

We are beginning to get desperate to find somewhere to settle down,

and we have been travelling, or a living out of a suitcase,

for the last two and a half, three years.

We've looked at so many houses.

When we started counting them up, it was probably 50.

That's a lot of properties.

One thing they have decided on is that they want to set up

a new venture when they move.

The business we've identified is that we would like to run

a bed and breakfast.

Now is the time for us to actually move somewhere quieter,

a bit more space, some land, some gardens, maybe even a few goats

and chickens, but that's Carolyn's idea, rather than mine!

My ideal property would be four en suite letting bedrooms,

dining room, kitchen, guest lounge,

plus some private accommodation for us.

After travelling the length and breadth of the country,

and with an offer on a property in the Cotswolds recently

falling through, they have now decided on Worcestershire,

where they should get more for their money.

They are ready to buy and have given us a very flexible brief

and budget for their perfect property.

I think the maximum price for us would be ?600,000.

The parameters are quite large,

it could be a small, two-bedroom place with a little land attached

to it, right up to a fully fledged, operating business.

If you can find us that, you are geniuses!

I'm slightly anxious that it took two and a half years

and over 50 property viewings for Carolyn and Clive

to find that beautiful property they loved so much,

and then lost, in the Cotswolds.

Because we barely have two and a half days

and we certainly haven't got time for 50 properties.

But I think the secret might be

a slightly less haphazard search strategy.

We are concentrating our search in the scenic Malvern Hills

region of Worcestershire, a popular tourist centre,

especially for walkers and cyclists.

We've got some eye-catching properties for them to see,

and as usual, I will be asking them

to guess the price of each before I reveal it.

Of course, there is our mystery house,

which could give them a very different perspective

on the B business.

Welcome to Worcestershire. Thank you.

I think this is probably the only county in the whole of the UK

that you haven't scoured for a property, is that right?

Just about, yes! So, you want to be running a B,

is this the first time you've done something like this? It is, yes.

We've stayed in literally hundreds of them

in our travels around the world, but, yes, the first time we've actually...

You mentioned that you'd like to do some animal husbandry?

I'd like to try! Excellent.

Well, it's a beautiful part of the country,

I can't believe you haven't looked here already.

So, let's go and find you your dream house. Good, thank you. Great.

Clive and Carolyn have a maximum budget of ?600,000

to finance their dream project.

They want four bedrooms to use as B lets,

either ready-made or with space to renovate...

We start our search close to the county border,

just west of the town of Bewdley.

We are in the village of Far Forest, which has all the amenities you will

need for country life, including a pub, post office and local stores.

Property number one is a spacious country cottage,

which dates back to the 1860s.

This is the property I want to show you.

What are your first impressions from outside?

Yeah, I think all the different roof shapes sort of don't really click

together as much as I'd like to see, but that might be a good thing.

On the inside, it makes it more interesting. OK.

Well, let's go inside and explore. OK.

'At first glance, the exterior might not be to Carolyn's taste,

'but I think they will both be pleasantly surprised

'by what they find inside.'

Step inside, to your palatial

kitchen dining room!

It is palatial, isn't it? It's big, yeah. It's huge.

So this, we thought, would be

a perfect place to have all your guests' breakfast.

The beams are lovely, I think that really adds to the sort of character of the place.

Yeah. It's a nice-sized room,

I hadn't thought about guests eating in the kitchen before.

There's certainly enough space for either a very large table or

maybe four separate tables there.

The thing about this house and one of the reasons why we've

brought you here is that it divides very nicely into two sections.

Let's start with the little annexe, that I think might be good

for you guys.

OK, yeah, sounds good. It's through here.

And through this entrance hall with your own entrance... Ah!

..into what we imagined would be your sitting room. Oh, OK.

This is a nice size. Oh, wow.

So there's a huge space with a nice big, sort of, like,

receptiony, dining hall there, and then the bedroom and en suite.

A bit more living space than I was expecting for us, so, yeah...

Yeah, it's got a lovely view and it's a nice size,

but it doesn't really have much else.

No, but you could add lots to it to make it our own, couldn't we? Yeah.

There are plenty of guest rooms as well, so let's go and explore those.

These guest rooms are conveniently situated off a central hall

with its own front door.

First, we are starting with the guest lounge.

Come in, mind your head. Low beam.

Oh, this is nice.

On the other side is an equally big, perhaps a little bigger dining room.

Well, they've got it as a dining room with doors that go

out into the garden. Oh, super.

But those two rooms offer, I think, really great reception space for your guests.

Yes, this is a lovely room. Ideal guest lounge, isn't it?

There's also a boot room at the back so walkers can come in

and get rid of all their boots. Oh, we'd need that, yeah.

Let's look at the other relaxing rooms, the bedrooms.

'The downstairs seems to be just what they are looking for,

'but how will we fare upstairs?'

Oh, gosh.

Here we have what they use as their master bedroom,

but could be a very nice guest room.

You've got a huge en suite through there

and a very good-sized room for storage here.

Yeah, I like this room.

It is a surprise to find such a big room upstairs!

Across the hallway there is another good-sized room, not quite as big as this one,

and then there's a family bathroom that links them,

but you could quite easily put a door in to step that down into it

so it became the en suite to the room across the way.

That would be good.

'So far, so good,

'but the second floor could prove more of a challenge.'

So this requires a little bit more...thinking.

This is probably the one area in the house where you could do some

remodelling to make it really work for you.

At the moment you've got two bedrooms,

one sort of small bedroom and a lot of kind of closet space here, and

then another room there, which is a good size, beautiful oak floors.

Alternatively, we could use this as living space

and use the downstairs more for guests' accommodation, so... Yep.

A cunning plan! Yeah.

I like your style.

Now, the great thing about this property is...

plenty of space for your goats.

Let's go and look. Show me the goats' space!

'I'm pleased they are seeing the potential in this property

'and coming up with some interesting ideas for its use,

'but how will they make the most

'of the animal-friendly land outside?'

So, as well as the two acres of land, you've got three stables.

Hmm...

So, your idea of having equestrian guests would be a possibility. Yeah.

Yeah, I like the layout of the land as I see it at the moment,

but the road noise is a bit of a problem for me.

It kind of reassures me a little bit, in that I thought

we were in the middle of nowhere, but if people can get here

on a reasonable road,

then that is a good thing from a business point of view. Yeah, yeah.

'So, what's a problem to Clive is a plus for Carolyn,

'but can they agree on the price?'

How much do you think it's on the market for?

I would hazard a guess at somewhere around the 500,000 mark. Mm-hmm.

I was going to say that, but I think, no, perhaps a bit higher.

525. SHE LAUGHS

Well, it's actually a bit higher still, it's on the market at 545.

Right. OK.

I think that's a little bit pricey in terms of the total outlay

that we would have to make to get it configured for a bed and breakfast.

So, our first house is more than they expected at ?545,000,

but this property could work well for their new business

with its four bedrooms,

good-sized reception rooms for B guests, with a separate entrance.

Two acres of land with stables for horse lovers.

And spacious, private accommodation for them.

Pull the door to and we're off to the next one. Lovely.

Just north of Great Malvern is Malvern Link,

an area renowned for its hilly and winding roads.

It's also home to a long-standing local business - the Morgan Motor Company -

who have been hand-building cars for over 100 years.

I've come to meet Charles Morgan, whose pioneering grandfather

founded his car business here.

Morning. Thanks for meeting us. Alistair, good to see you.

So, this is what I associate with Morgan -

I think about there being a lot of wood in it. Do you still use wood?

We do, if you think of the wood as the meat in a sandwich,

so, you know, you start off with a very strong,

very stiff chassis, and then you've got this aluminium bodywork,

which is relatively fragile, because it's light, and in between you've

got the wood and that acts as the energy absorbing device, if you like.

That will withstand an enormous amount of pounding and shock.

The wood used in the car is English ash, all from sustainable sources.

Working the wood here is John Garbett,

who's been at the factory for an impressive 47 years.

So this is the wooden part of the Classic? Yes.

And you make this by hand, you've done all this together?

It's all put together by hand.

This place is a prime example of a local cottage industry that

has grown over the years and now makes over 700 cars annually.

Well, now I've got a feel of how the car is put together,

let's see how it handles on the open road.

HE HONKS HORN Ah!

This is more like it.

It's time to make tracks and return to the house hunt.

We're heading to West Malvern which runs along the slopes

of the famous Malvern Hills

and allows great views over the border to Herefordshire.

It's also the source of several springs and wells.

Our second property is a sprawling detached house, dating

back to the 1800s, which has been run as a B for the past 22 years.

House number two.

This is a great location cos that is

the beginning of the Malvern Hills. On the other side is

Great Malvern with the theatres and the spa and the hotels.

There's about 100 miles of designated walking paths out here.

What are your first impression here?

The road up to the place was really picturesque and some great

views on the way, so I'm really pleased with the location.

Should we look inside? Please. Yeah, let's.

Well, that's a great response from Carolyn,

let's hope we can build on it once we're inside.

This is the guest dining room.

Come in, welcome to Clive and Carolyn's bed and breakfast.

Hope you enjoy your stay...

All the guest facilities, at the moment, are on one level.

All your living quarters are down below.

That's quite nice. Perfectly functional.

Functional, serviceable - yeah.

OK.

Let's quickly look at the guest accommodation.

On this floor there are three bedrooms with en suite.

All good size. This is actually a little lounge area

and there's a bedroom through there, and then the en suite through there.

So its a sort of suite of rooms.

Mm. Yes, it's great.

So far, so good.

They seem a decent size.

Lots of greenery.

Yep. I think, throughout, you would probably - having got to know

you a bit - you would probably want to smarten it up.

But none of them have to be changed.

No. No, it could open tomorrow.

It could open tomorrow, easily.

And then all your accommodation is downstairs.

I'm really glad they're seeing the advantages this property

offers as an up-and-running B, and I've got a feeling

the kitchen might well put a smile on their face.

Down we come into your realm.

The kitchen.

Into the kitchen.

Ah, great size.

Nice kitchen. I like that.

Actually, there's two kitchens.

You've got that gigantic galley utility room through there.

That's good. I think this is a really great kitchen, I really do.

If I designed one myself,

this is pretty much how I would have set it out.

So, the kitchen has really hit the mark.

Let's see if they find their private accommodation as impressive.

So, through a little suite of rooms that all belong to you -

downstairs rooms.

This is the sitting room and there was a dining room

and then you have your own entrance.

That's more space then we expected, yeah.

It's a good-sized space. Much more than we were hoping for.

So, again, it's one-level living for you.

You have a master bedroom with a nice en suite.

But private quarters aren't the only accommodation on the ground floor.

There's a hidden bonus which could really help their business.

There's a separate entrance and a fully equipped room

for a disabled person, including a lift to take you down the steps.

Gosh! A winch to get you from bed to the bathroom.

Fully functional disabled bathroom.

Ah, that's really good news. That is. Fantastic.

So we offer you lots in terms of the business.

One of the things you may have to sacrifice are your goats.

I don't mean literally sacrifice!

So the garden is very sheltered.

Beautiful trees all around.

It's nowhere near an acre.

Would you like to have a stab at the price?

I think it'll be 585.

I'd have gone a lot less than that.

510.

510.

Well, it is on the market for ?50 short of ?600,000.

So it's much more your end than your end, I'm afraid.

Within budget at a shade under ?600,000,

this property meets many of their demands.

It's an up-and-running B with four to five bedrooms.

There's a guest dining and lounge area.

It has a huge kitchen for B breakfasts,

and there's spacious private accommodation for them.

There's a lot of property to think about here. To digest.

Let's go and find some restful place, you can digest it at peace.

BOTH: Lovely.

As evening falls on the Malvern Hills,

the first day of our property search comes to an end.

I'm starting to understand why it took two and a half years

and 50 plus properties for Carolyn

and Clive to settle on a business that they liked.

The first house wasn't really businessy enough,

the second house was to businessy.

Overriding everything, however,

is Carolyn's desire to just unpack her bags and make a home,

so the mystery house is going to offer them a home first

and foremost and a business later.

We've travelled south east of Worcestershire to the village of

Peopleton, just outside the pretty market town of Pershore,

on the banks of the River Avon.

Our mystery property is a former Victorian schoolhouse building.

It might not look like your typical B,

but that's why we've brought them here.

It's a school, from the early 19th century.

It's been converted into a beautiful home.

Yeah, it's a great building.

Love the windows. Yeah, fantastic.

The thing is, what we were thinking for the mystery house was,

we'd give you a beautiful home

and pretty much immediately start earning money with rooms.

That's would be good. Really good.

Should we look inside? Please.

While the outside aspect of the house doesn't shout B,

there's options inside that could allow for holiday

lets as well as being a very good-looking home.

Nice hallway. Yeah. Come into the kitchen.

An amazing kitchen! Oh, it's really nice.

So here's the modern bit.

The house has been extended in several directions.

The old part of the kitchen was what's now the hallway.

And the present owner created this modern,

very unusual arched kitchen.

And a range cooker.

Wow! Brilliant.

I think it's great.

I really love the semi-circular work surface.

You've got space out there to a little sitting area that gets

the evening sun.

And then through here, you've got a downstairs toilet.

And then a utility room with all your washing stuff.

Oh, yeah, that's good.

And then a sitting room through there

which we are envisaging as your sort of snug. OK.

So this will be your domain. Private part.

It's very quirky, the house has been done to a very high finish.

You really wouldn't need to do anything.

No, that's important to us, actually, is the finishing. Yeah.

So, good? Thumbs up for this area? Yeah, very much. Excellent.

You can explore more later,

but I wanted to show you the main living area.

The current family living area is easily big enough

to imagine its use as a B guest lounge.

This is what we envisaged as a room for your guests. Wow!

Fantastic.

It is. Lounge and dining room combined, isn't it?

Also here on the ground floor are two very good-looking

boutique bedrooms, each with their own en suite bathroom,

which Clive and Carolyn could let out immediately.

Now on to the upstairs, which I think they'll find very impressive.

Now you can see where the arches went. Oh, stunning!

And this is being used as the master bedroom,

because you've got a nice little shower room here, en suite,

very simple. Oh, yes.

I'm just amazed that they've actually got all this up here!

Fantastic!

I'd be really pleased if I got this as a bed and breakfast room.

There's also potential for more guest space

in the other two bedrooms,

both of which come with beautifully crafted built-in storage

and share the use of the family bathroom.

Now, either you can just rest easy with your three luxury guest rooms,

or you could split the bathroom in two...

Oh, that's a good idea. ..and make each one en suite.

Or you could just have one as your room

and another one as a guest room.

Ah, that's really interesting. Yeah. Three to five is ideal.

Three to five is our target.

They're definitely feeling positive about this property

and seeing all its possibilities.

I'm hoping the limited garden area won't be a major drawback.

Now, inside is picture perfect, but outside...not much space. OK.

Thoughts about that? A bit sad, because the house is so nice.

Yeah, it's a little bit disappointing.

But still worth thinking about, I think. Yeah.

It's certainly a lovely house.

I think if we'd designed a place we'd probably have done it just like that.

Yeah, or very similar. Yes. Yeah.

So, in order to think straight about this house

you need to know the price.

So, what do you think its market value is?

It's really hard, but I think I'm going to go for 615.

I think a little bit less than that, I would say 575.

Well, we are in a much more expensive area,

cos we're in the commuter belt for Birmingham,

and close to the Cotswolds,

but actually, Clive, you are exactly right. Wow! ?575,000.

That doesn't happen often, does it?

So, well within their budget at ?575,000, this property

meets nearly every demand that Clive and Carolyn threw at us.

Time to think about everything and make some decisions. OK.

I think we may have cracked it with the mystery house,

because it gives them a home.

Somewhere where Clive can unpack all his pots and pans

and cook all his breakfasts, and Carolyn,

although she doesn't get the goats, she can run that B

But let's find out what they think of all three properties.

So, a moment to collect ourselves

and think about the three properties we've seen.

So, spinning back to yesterday, when we looked at that first property,

what are your thoughts about that now, in retrospect?

I thought the house was a really great family home.

Great for dual occupancy.

I think it could've been adapted for a B with some work.

Some good land with it, two acres.

I think what let it down for us was the location for tourism.

Now, the second property was in a great tourist location.

It was a superb location.

I got quite excited by the amount of space inside the property,

and it was only afterwards, when I started thinking more

about how we would use that, it became more difficult to see.

Now, the mystery house was also a possible B,

what were your thoughts when you saw what we were offering you?

The first impression was, it was a great building,

and a really exciting building to do a tourist-based business from.

And thoughts about the business side of it?

It needs a bit more research from us, really, to look into the area.

The number of bedrooms and the size of the B bedrooms is nicer

than anywhere that we have seen, of all the 50-plus properties!

Well, that's something we can be proud of!

That goes straight to the top of the list.

So, of the three, is there one that you would go back and visit again,

or think seriously about proceeding with?

Yeah, I think we would certainly like to go back

and have a look at the school.

I think it's the sort of place that,

had we come across an old school that needed renovation,

we'd have probably done it in a very similar way, so...

I really do hope that you make something work,

because you've really got the commitment and the vision,

and I hope that Worcestershire is the place that you find somewhere.

Thank you very much. And thank you for all your help.

Yeah. Not at all, it's been a pleasure. Thank you.

Thank goodness for the mystery house, I thought we had lost them

halfway through the show today,

but strangely, in the end it was Clive's nesting instinct,

his desire for a comfy country lifestyle,

that I think won out over Carolyn's more acute business sense.

Although time will tell.

And if you've enjoyed our property frolics here in the British

countryside, then do join us next time for more Escape To The Country.

Clive and Carolyn have done some research

and decided that Worcestershire is not the county for them after all.

They've now turned their attention to Wales.

Let's hope they find what they're looking for there.

If you want to escape to the country in Wales, Northern Ireland,

England, Scotland or even further afield, to the Continent,

and need our help, please apply online at...

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