North East Wales Escape to the Country

This masterpiece of engineering behind me is 1,000 feet long and 126 feet high,

and it is the highest and longest aqueduct made of cast iron in the world.

Find out what it's called and where I am in just a moment.

On today's show, I'm setting out to find a working property

for a couple who run their own business.

And at first, the enthusiasm takes a bit of time to get going.

It's, well, yes, interesting.

But then their reactions are almost off the scale.

I'm going to shock you here now, nine and a half.

Oh!

Zowee-wowee!

Today we're in North East Wales, and this is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct,

which amazingly was designed back in 1795 by Thomas Telford,

as part of the very ambitious scheme to join the rivers Dee and the Mersey.

Now, the whole project took about ten years,

and £47,000 in their money, which is about £50 million in today's money,

and they never quite finished the whole complex,

but they did finish this very impressive stretch,

and over 5,000 canal boats still cross it to this day

and it's going to be a very vertiginous journey.

North East Wales is a region that encompasses the counties of Wrexham,

Flintshire, and Denbighshire,

and shares its coastline with the Irish Sea.

It's a largely rural area,

and the main industry is in sheep and cattle farming.

Although crops such as wheat and barley are grown here too.

Tourism is a big part of the economy,

bringing in £1.8 billion across the whole of North Wales each year,

as well as over 37,000 jobs.

When you look at the stunning scenery this part of Wales has to offer,

from the picturesque Horseshoe Pass in the Dee Valley,

to the historical and charming towns of Llangollen and Denbigh,

it's no wonder these counties are so popular with tourists and house buyers alike.

There's quite a spread of house prices in the counties of North East Wales,

places like Wrexham and Flintshire,

which are on the border with England,

you're going to pay £40-50,000 more

than a little further into Wales in Denbighshire,

where the average house price is 150,000.

Still, this is a great place to be property shopping

because house prices here are 31% less

than the average for England and Wales together.

So, find out what you can buy for your money.

For just shy of £300,000, this three bedroom,

late Victorian lodge outside Wrexham has an attractive timbered facade.

And the beamed ceiling adds character charm

to the spacious, well equipped kitchen.

Along with the conservatory,

the private gardens are beautifully landscaped.

Priced at £595,000 is this attractive, three bedroom,

sandstone farmhouse in Northop, Flintshire.

Dating back to 1860 and brimming with rustic charm,

it features exposed timbers and stonework in the reception rooms

and a bright, characterful dining room.

Outside, there's a patio and immaculate lawns.

And if you have deep pockets and a love of things equestrian,

you might go for this four bedroomed house,

complete with stables in Wigfair, Denbighshire.

Priced at £825,000,

it offers dual aspect, open plan living downstairs,

while outside there's landscaped gardens

and over seven acres of grounds.

Some great properties there,

and a good indicator of how far your money goes

in this part of the world.

But let's meet today's house hunting couple

and find out what's on their wish list.

John and Sally run a forestry business,

and have been married for almost 40 years.

So far, they've bought and sold nine properties together,

and have been in their four bedroom home in Shrewsbury, Shropshire for six years.

But it's the business that's providing the main impetus

for their tenth house purchase.

Well, we want to move to the country

because since we've moved here, our family business has changed direction,

and so we're in commercial forestry,

and we need to have land,

we need to have two or three acres round our home.

We need space round the property to store rather large machinery

and this house is no longer ideal now,

because the cost of heating it is formidable.

And I know that if we go to a place in the country,

we will immediately turn to renewables,

and, obviously, wood is our business

and we would heat it with wood, it's quite simple.

So, a renewable forever home set in a couple of acres

is what this couple are after.

And, naturally, they'd like to be near some woodland too.

Well, we do a lot of work in North Wales forests,

so, on the outskirts of Chester,

on the Welsh side of Chester in Denbighshire and Flintshire,

that's really where we want to move to.

And if they have a chance to relax,

there are pursuits old and new they'd like to spend time on.

We already like walking with the dog,

one thing I would quite like to do in the country,

I like doing craft work,

and I do craft work with the local school, where my grandchildren go,

and I'd like to learn to throw pottery, make pottery.

One of the interesting aspects of the move is to gear up a little bit more for my hobby,

which is sailing, and the latest acquisition, sailing wise,

is an Australian designed trimaran, which is quite portable

and I can bring it home and work on it in the winter.

They've got a pretty substantial list of preferences for the new property, inside and out.

I don't think we'd consider living in a house with low beams

so that you've got to bend your head, or houses which are, um,

very old and perhaps move a little bit in the night,

with death-watch beetle and suchlike.

What we need in our next home, be three bedrooms, two bathrooms,

a large study for John.

A good, spacious entrance hall,

a large kitchen dining room,

big enough to put a range in,

and somewhere that we can put in a wood burner, so we need a chimney.

And from my part, we'd like to have a separate access

to get articulated lorries in with loads of timber to heat the house.

And the land really needs to have a couple of buildings on,

like a Dutch barn or workshop,

so that we can service our harvesting equipment as and when,

and store our boat in the winter.

Just one last thing to check out,

and that's how much money they'd like to spend.

Our maximum budget is £550,000.

John and Sally would like us to concentrate our house search

to the west of Chester,

in the Welsh counties of Flintshire and Denbighshire.

We've got some fantastic houses in store for our buyers,

and, as usual, they'll need to guess the price before I reveal it.

Our final option is, of course, our mystery house,

which aims to challenge their preconceptions about their perfect home.

-Morning, guys.

-BOTH: Morning, Alistair.

-Beautiful morning in North East Wales.

-Certainly is.

You've brought the sunshine with you, but not from very far,

-cos you've only come from Shropshire.

-We have, yes, just over an hour.

Do you know this area very well?

We were married in this area.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Ah, so, it's like a coming home.

-It is a little, yes.

And what are the qualities that you're looking for?

We'd like a little bit of land, up to about three acres,

not too much more, um, a nice building, Dutch barn would be great.

Right.

But as far as the house is concerned,

I think Sally will have the say on that.

I want a cosy home, I want a home with soul,

and I want to know that it's going to be ours forever.

-Sure.

-I shall know quite quickly, Alistair.

Well, they say that you can tell in the first few seconds.

-Yes.

-Which would save us a lot of time on the show!

I want to walk in and know that, in ten seconds or so,

that it'll be my home, when I wake up tomorrow it'll be my home.

Well, it's a beautiful day for property shopping, so, let's go, follow me.

Can't wait.

For a maximum budget of £550,000,

John and Sally are looking for a house to both relax in and work from.

With three bedrooms, two bathrooms,

an office for John to run the business,

a kitchen large enough for Sally's range cooker,

a wood burner, and up to three acres of land

with outbuildings for machinery maintenance and boat storage.

We've travelled 17 miles from Chester, close to Ruthin,

the county town of Denbighshire, located in the Vale of Clwyd.

The church dates back to 1310,

and there are amenities such as a regular market for local produce,

as well as a post office and a friendly, traditional inn.

Our first property is three miles outside Ruthin,

and is set in over two and a half acres of land,

with splendid views along the western slopes of the Clwydian hills.

Here we are, house number one.

-Well.

-Wow.

-It's a beautiful spot, isn't it?

-It certainly is, Alistair, it's fantastic.

Yeah, amazing.

Very charming, very quiet, and this is the house I want to show you.

-As you can see, it's a barn conversion.

-Yeah.

It's rather attractive, it's lovely stone, I love the colour stone.

It looks very interesting.

Well, yes, interesting, but on the small side.

-A bit small, OK.

-Yes.

Well, this property may not look spacious from the outside,

but appearances can be deceiving,

as they'll find when they step through the front door.

So, we come into this really nice hallway,

if you can shut the door, we'll go straight through into the kitchen.

Very spacious.

Because here you get an idea of the way they've done the conversion.

Oh, yes, that's rather nice,

it doesn't really feel like a barn conversion at all.

-Does it?

-No.

-Do you think so?

-No, it doesn't, no.

-It feels like a modern kitchen,

and I can see space to put a range cooker in.

There is a range, yes.

Which is quite essential for me, yes. I like it, I like it.

-Nice, big travertine floors.

-Love the floor.

-Do you like the floor?

-Yeah, yeah.

And I like the view of the cows through the window too.

The wonderful thing about this house is that it is really all about the views.

So, we were talking about getting the first feel in the first ten seconds, is it a...?

I don't know yet, it's a nice feel, it's a nice, cosy feel.

-You haven't ruled it out in the first ten seconds.

-Not yet, no, no, no.

With space for the range cooker a big tick for Sally,

and those stunning views a plus for both of them,

we're bypassing the dining room

to have a look at the equally cosy sitting room.

Well, again, a lovely view.

-Yeah.

-And French windows.

You've got this rather nice arched window looking over this way.

Small room, I mean,

this is half the size again of our present sitting room.

Right.

Um, and we do like a bit of space round us, don't we?

-Yeah.

-But it is...

It's not vast, it's not roomy and cavernous.

-It could be cosy.

-It's definitely going to be cosy, yeah.

That's another word that we keep using, but it's cosy.

Well, it is a word that certainly fits this house.

Also on the ground floor is a study,

and the hallway definitely has the spaciousness that Sally likes.

Upstairs there are three bedrooms - a bright double room for guests,

along with a good sized single room.

And there's a large bathroom too.

But we're heading to where they could be sleeping.

This is the master bedroom.

-This is a nice bedroom.

-Lots of windows.

It's got three aspects, four, five.

Quintuple aspect.

Yes, yes, yes, it's really, really nice.

What about you, John, what are your thoughts upstairs?

Yes, nice, it's a really lovely bedroom actually, yeah.

Outside continues to deliver,

with plenty of land on offer for all their forestry business needs.

In total, there's half an acre of gardens

and two acres of paddock with space for a large outbuilding,

although this may require permission from the local county council.

There's also a large garage where they could store their boat.

But what I wanted to surprise them with

is the area that sits above the garage.

Come on in, cos then there's this.

Well, that's a surprise.

Fully kitted out above the garage.

Yes.

You've got a little bathroom in there, storage here,

-and I thought this would make a lovely office.

-It certainly would.

It would make a lovely office, you've got a sofa,

you can make your own teas and coffees.

There's something nice about going to work, even though you're working at home.

Yes, John's worked at home all our married life

and we've had the office outside but this is nice.

I'm quite, quite taken with this.

Well, I'm glad they're pleased with this part of the property,

but the outside is the all important factor.

So, I think we should discuss the land.

So, you'd use this to store your bits?

Yeah, I would, I'd see whether we could put a building up,

just behind me on the boundary.

Right, so, that would be enough space for you, do you think?

-Definitely.

-Yes, yes.

So, how much do you think this package is on the market for?

I would say 480.

480, OK.

I would say 500.

OK, so, it's a little bit between,

it's actually on the market for 495.

-Right.

-So, there's lots to think about, but we haven't seen everything,

so I'd like you to walk around the house, have a look in the garage,

and I'll meet you out the front, and we can go on to the next house.

-OK.

-Thank you, Alistair.

Not a problem.

At £495,000 this property is well within their budget,

offering a large kitchen with room for a range cooker,

three bedrooms, self contained office space for John,

a garage for storing their boat,

and over two and a half acres of land for business use.

When we first arrived here I thought the setting was fabulous,

we'd got the lovely Clwyd valley going down towards the south,

then we'd got the lush farmland in the bottom of the valley on the west of the property.

So, you couldn't really ask for anything more.

When I first saw it, and when I first saw the house,

to be honest, I didn't really like it then very much.

But, came inside and it did improve.

I can see loads of things I could do to it

but I don't even know at the end of all that, it would be my dream home.

Absolutely beautiful, I never get to go to Wales,

Jools always goes to Wales, but I'm a convert.

I'm a convert to the Vale here, it's a beautiful spot.

Glad to hear it.

-Good, let's go see house number two.

-Great.

The picturesque market town of Denbigh is one of the most historic in North East Wales,

with the ruins of its castle dominating the skyline.

During Tudor and Stuart times,

the town prospered as a market and business centre,

indeed, it was a place of such renown

that Elizabeth I made her favourite courtier, Robert Dudley,

the Lord of Denbigh until his death in 1588.

The Denbigh area, and particularly the nearby town of Buckley,

became an industrial heartland for pottery between the 17th and 19th century,

when clay was extensively mined here.

And by the early 19th century, there were 14 potteries across the town.

Earlier in the week, we sent John and Sally,

who's keen to try her hand at pottery,

for a beginners lesson with local expert Alan Hughes,

who has been producing earthenware and stoneware here for 30 years.

Well, today I'm going to be throwing earthenware plates.

We start off with a weighed out ball,

put some water on to lubricate it,

and then you lock your hands on the clay

and make it go into the centre.

Now, keeping it centred with your left hand,

you push your fingers down the centre and pull out.

Lifting it underneath, you make the rim.

And then you make the sides of the plate.

And that's it.

It's time for Sally to have a go.

Ball of clay,

throw it into the centre of the wheel head.

Lovely, now, a bit of water,

put your elbows in to your tummy,

lock your hands and your thumbs on top.

Don't let it push you, you push it.

You're the boss.

That's great stuff.

Oh, that's fantastic.

You've centred it beautifully, you're a natural.

-Go down, that's it.

-Oh!

Now, just squeeze gently and draw it towards you this way.

-That's made your rim.

-This is wonderful.

Take this hand off.

I've never seen anyone learn to centre that quickly!

-Let go.

-Let go?

Yeah, you're enjoying yourself too much.

Oh, I know.

These plates are the simplest shape to throw,

and Alan can produce up to 100 of them in an hour.

Brilliant, well done, you, excellent.

That was fantastic, oh, wonderful.

Oh.

-You're hooked.

-Yes. Can I come as an apprentice?

It is addictive, you know.

It takes around two days for a plate to harden enough for decoration.

To prepare the surface,

a water and clay mix called slip is poured on to the plate.

Any excess is sponged off,

then the plate is ready for the next step, the pattern.

Place it on the wheel, centre it,

and then this has a white slip in it,

which is a white clay mixed with water,

and we trail it onto the wet black slip.

That was fast.

Ah, everything in pottery has to be fast, time is money.

You can have lots of fun making all sorts of little patterns.

It's magic.

And you can use different coloured slips

and put one on top of the other.

Having done that, we simply tap it.

And that's finished.

The plate is then left to dry before its first firing

at a temperature of 1,100 degrees Celsius.

All Alan's ceramics are thrown on a traditional potter's wheel,

but his one concession to modern technology is a fast-fire electric kiln.

And there's, there's our firing all ready to come out, looks OK.

This is the sort of plate you've just been making,

so, that's how it comes out when it's finished.

-Oh, I like the colour.

-All magic, Alan.

As you can see, it's a nice honey colour where the white slip was,

and the chocolate colour's gone to black.

-Alan, you're magic.

-Pottery is magic.

So, with Sally's pottery ambitions all fired up,

hopefully the next property we view can cast its spell over both of them.

We've travelled 16 miles from Chester to the Flintshire

market town of Caerwys,

it has a church with a late 13th century tower and nave,

as well as day to day essentials such as a pharmacy, post office

and a traditional pub set in a Grade II listed 16th century building.

Just down the road in the old mining village of Lixwm is property number two.

A 1990s build that's been recently remodelled.

So, here we are, house number two.

Well, that's rather nice, Alistair.

-Yeah?

-Very nice.

-Yes, yes.

Oh, big smiles on your faces, that's good.

Quite a different offering, this is a much more modern property.

It's actually just 20 years old.

Yeah, yeah.

First impressions?

Very nice, very good, very acceptable.

Attractive.

There's three quite low key adjectives,

nice, good and acceptable.

Um...

..seven out of ten, so far, and we're only outside,

so, you're in the right direction there, Alistair.

That's high praise from you, those don't come easily.

No, they don't.

Best get inside while the compliments are flowing from Sally,

and I've got a feeling she's going to love what she sees.

So, in we come.

So, let's go straight here into the sitting room.

What a fantastic room, it's light.

A nice pair of French doors there, and three aspects of light coming in.

It's what I would call a bonny room.

-Ah, a bonny room, excellent.

-Yes.

And a proper fire here.

Yes, could we put a wood burner in there, do you think, Alistair?

Of course. So, you're getting a good vibe?

-Yes.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Oh, cautious, I can see you're like...

-Careful.

..Careful, a little panting there.

Could this be the one?

It could be, it could be, yes.

Well, I think I know how to change "could be" into "will be".

-I want to go straight in here.

-Spacious.

This is your kitchen.

-Ooh!

-Oh, oh!

A bit bigger than the last one, isn't it?

It certainly is, it certainly is, yes.

-I could do things in here, Alistair.

-Yeah?

I can see a nice range cooker over there, and eating here, cooking, yes.

-What do you think, John?

-I think it's excellent, excellent.

Well, the really great thing about this kitchen is,

if you look behind you there's a snug

which gets lots of lovely afternoon light, so you can have your tea.

We've also got this outside room,

so you can bring your dogs in there, the boots and everything,

and in here, all your white goods, a utility room.

Wonderful, that is good.

So, sealed off.

So, points?

I'm going to shock you here now, a nine and a half.

-Oh!

-Oh, ho, ho!

Zowee-wowee!

-We're excited.

-Yeah.

While the going's good, we're heading upstairs

to see if this house can keep scoring highly.

And there's four very good sized bedrooms up here,

two bright double rooms for guests,

and a neat twin room with wooden flooring.

All of which share a family bathroom with a shower cubicle.

Then we come to a very impressive main bedroom,

which is complete with an ensuite shower room.

If you come over here

you get a sense of the full extent of your master suite.

Goodness me, I can see an ensuite.

-Yeah, you've got an ensuite.

-Thank you.

And all this lovely storage for shoes.

We're coming up to a ten again.

-Ah.

-Towards it, not quite, but we're nearly there.

-Pushing the ten boundary.

-Nearly.

I'm really delighted that Sally is so enthused about this property,

but I know exactly what could push her rating up even higher,

and it's on the way outside to the garden.

Oh, a nice separate dining room.

Nice dining room, and then this. Step in.

Alistair, you're getting, it's just getting better and better, isn't it?

This is a lovely, big dining room, big size,

and it sweeps into this beautiful conservatory.

And it's a nice shaped conservatory, isn't it?

Well, this is what runs all the way down,

it's separated there by those doors,

but actually on the other side is a continuation of the conservatory

and that's the doggy/utility room.

That's an excellent idea, isn't it?

Well, this is another bonny room, is all I can say.

I'm coming to appreciate the "bonny" in your lexicon

-is like "amazing" in everybody else's.

-Yes.

I think we've almost got a sale here

and the outside could seal the deal.

A short walk from the house is the self-contained annexe,

which has plenty of space for that office.

And it has a wood burner too - very bonny!

Along with a well equipped kitchen,

it also provides extra accommodation in the form of a double bedroom

with a handy bathroom.

Behind it there are some outbuildings

which might work as storage for wood or the boat,

and in the paddock there's enough space to carry out maintenance work.

Away from the business, there's also a patio area for leisure.

OK, well, I suppose the crunch is, how much does it cost.

Well, I'm going to go in somewhere around, say, 530.

What about you, Sally?

I'm going to go for exactly the same as the first one, 500.

-500?

-Yes.

Well, in this instance, Sally,

you are exactly right, it's on at just

a pound or two under 500,000 -

499,950,

and it seems it gets a lot higher rating.

-Oh, yes.

-Oh!

If I might say it, this one has gobsmacked me.

-Aww!

-Oh, God, wow!

But you haven't seen it all, you've got to explore, I mean,

really take a look at the annexe cos it's quite impressive.

I will see you out the front.

-Yeah.

-Have a good explore.

-Thank you.

-See you later, Alistair.

Gobsmacked, did you hear that?

Sally's gobsmacked, and I heard nines, nine and a halves,

nine and three quarters out of ten.

I think we may have done it, I think we may have done it.

Well within budget at a shade under £500,000,

this bonny property gives them absolutely everything they've dreamed of.

A lovely social reception space with log burner potential,

and a kitchen with range cooker,

four bedrooms and two bathrooms,

along with a separate annexe that could serve as business premises.

Outside, there's also two and a half acres of land with outbuildings.

It's a great shed there, Sal.

-Wow.

-Plenty of storage.

How many tonnes of wood could you get in there, John?

40, 50, maybe 100.

Well, this house, as a house,

contains all the ingredients that Sally would want,

and, of course, as far as I'm concerned,

we've got some buildings down the bottom that we can adapt

and a bit of land out the back which is perfect for storage.

It gives me a certain contentment

because I can see that Sally would enjoy living here

and, um, it's, you know, it's a house that we could settle in.

And perhaps the last move that we make.

If I'm going to score this house out of ten from my heart,

it would be nine and a half.

I'm very comfortable here, very, I feel almost as if I'm living here.

Naughty, that, isn't it, really?

Look at that, it's like you're exiting John and Sally's house.

-You never know.

-Really?

-Good vibes?

-Yes.

-Excellent.

That's a good note to finish the day on.

A perfect end to our first day of house hunting,

as the sun sets over the spectacular scenery of the Welsh countryside.

John and Sally run their own forestry business in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

With a budget of £550,000,

they're hoping to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary

in a new home in the countryside of North East Wales.

So far we've managed to really grab their attention with one of our properties,

but coming up, they prepare to get all familiar with the mystery house.

You see it as a Sally house. Do you see it as a John house?

Um, I do, actually, yeah.

And I try my hand at the art of campanology.

I've noticed on this series that the mystery house has often helped us

out of a sticky situation, saved the day at the last minute.

But on this show, I think we've already given John and Sally

exactly what they want, so they don't need saving.

So the mystery house for us is a bit more of a punt.

It still has all the beautiful Welsh landscape,

but it has one thing they're not so keen on.

A mere six miles from Chester is the Flintshire town of Mold.

A busy community that grew up around its Norman castle.

Its attractions include a 15th century church,

as well as the usual high street amenities

such as pubs and shops aplenty.

A couple of miles south-west of Mold,

close to the village of Llanferres, is our mystery house,

an 18th century cottage, lying at the end of its own private track

and surrounded by open countryside.

So this is the mystery house.

It is quite old.

Doesn't look it from the outside, but actually,

the kernel of the house is from 1799.

-Gosh.

-A few ghosts in there, Alistair.

Yeah, this is the mystery, really, cos we're showing you something

that you didn't really express an interest in.

-It is essentially a period property.

-BOTH: Right.

What are your first impressions?

Quite small. Pretty, quite small.

-Quaint.

-Quaint.

-Quaint.

What does that decode as?

-Interesting.

-Oh, that's even worse!

Quaint and interesting. They strike fear into an estate agent's heart.

It is quaint, yeah, and the view is splendid.

I don't know, it's one of those,

you don't know till you get inside, really.

'Well, I hope Sally is right, and the enthusiasm of yesterday returns

'once they get inside this quirky property,

'which is a mix of old alongside the modern they prefer.'

We're going to go through into here,

straight into the most modern part of the house, this is from 2002,

and this extension, actually, even more recently.

Very individual, isn't it? It's very, very...

-What about you, John?

-Yeah, I see it as a Sally house.

There's, you know, little nooks and crannies everywhere and it's,

yes, it's very homely.

You see it as a Sally house. Do you see it as a John house?

Erm, I do actually, yeah.

I mean, fantastic view out of the window here.

'And there are more spectacular views of the Clwyd Valley

'from the beautiful conservatory area, which should appeal to Sally.

'But we're here to challenge their preconceptions

'about period properties,

'so let's move on to the older part of the house.'

This is actually the original cottage.

It was just this width, very small,

and the present owner dug out the original hearth

and they've turned this into the snug.

The snug heart of the home.

Yes, it's snug. It is snug.

-It's nice, it's nicely snug, but...

-But?

-I find it too snug.

-Too snug.

-John?

-No, I quite like the room, actually, because of the wood burner

and the fireplace. I think, in the winter,

I can imagine the heat coming out of that

and you'd be, everything'd be locked down and...

It would be a winter room. You're right, John.

It would be cosy and comfortable and very warm.

'John's trying his best, but maybe the open plan family room

'with dining area and kitchen will get a stronger reaction from Sally.'

-Yes, now this is an improvement.

-Oh, your face has lit up.

-Yes, yes, this is lovely.

-You'd have to put your range in.

Well, I was just looking over there to see

-if there was...it's an outside wall, isn't it?

-Mmm, yeah.

And I could put a range on there.

What do you think about this room, John?

I think it's wonderfully light and it's a homely room, definitely.

And considering that it was really just that room next door initially,

and all these extensions, I think they've been tremendously well done.

Clever, clever.

'With Sally considering where to put her range cooker,

'things are definitely looking up for this lovely property.

'And I think upstairs won't disappoint.

'Here, there are three very good sized double bedrooms,

'all dual aspect, with amazing unspoilt views,

'some of which can be seen through the unique, round feature windows.

'There's also the family bathroom.

'But we're heading to the room that John and Sally

'could be calling their own.'

This has its own ensuite, and of course, upstairs,

everything revolves around these amazing views.

They certainly do. No, it's a nice little room. Although it looks old,

nothing seems to be falling to bits.

-It looks very good.

-Well, it's a more compact, snug, sort of cosy house.

-Mmm.

-Obviously, yesterday was such a big hit,

quite a hard act to follow, but...

It is, really. I'm afraid to say it is.

'Just one part of this property left,

'and that's the one-and-a-half acres of land that surround it.

'As well as a garden, there's a huge amount of yard

'and parking space for machinery maintenance.

'There's also a whole host of outbuildings,

'including a double garage for the boat,

'open front units for wood storage,

'a summer house and a small, timber-built office.'

OK, so the big question, how much does it cost?

I would put a price on 400.

I'm going to go for rather low and say 399.

It's actually on the market for...

-454,000.

-Oh!

-Good lord, yeah, yeah.

Quite a bit higher than your guess,

but I think you were bewitched by yesterday's property.

But have another look around,

particularly around the grounds and the garden.

Thanks, Alistair.

For £454,000, this house, in its idyllic setting,

is well within their budget.

It offers a wood burner in the cosy lounge,

potential for a range in the kitchen,

three bedrooms, two bathrooms

and almost two acres of land,

with outbuildings for storage and office use.

It's a superb place, isn't it, with the views and...

Oh, the view is stupendous.

And the house, the more I went in it, the more I got used to it

and liked it, but I think this access

is going to be the stumbling block here, isn't it?

-It is...

-It's so steep.

As a mystery house, I find it very interesting.

It is a quirky house and the more you go around it,

the more interesting it becomes.

Upstairs, again, it's totally different to downstairs,

and each bedroom has got several aspects to it,

and I love the round windows at each end of the building.

If we were just looking for a home

and the business wasn't involved, I'm sure that this would be

a perfect little hideaway for us to live in.

It was a mystery, and when I first saw it, I thought, "Good grief.

"This is going to be not for me."

But actually, the more I saw it, the more I liked it.

I like the view and I like the fact it's nearer to Chester,

but I don't think the whole thing comes together.

-How are you doing, guys?

-Fine, thank you, Alistair.

-Sudden change of heart?

-Not really, no. Not really.

-It did get better as we went round.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Good.

Well, let's regroup, think about all the houses we've seen,

have a cup of tea. This way.

The Church of St Matthew is the oldest parish church

in the Flintshire town of Buckley.

Built in 1822, it was updated in the early 1900s,

around the same time as the North Wales Association

of Church Bell Ringers was founded in Bangor, Gwynedd.

Most of its members were originally railway workers,

but nowadays they come from a whole range of backgrounds,

with around 300 ringers in the association,

which encompasses 48 bell towers.

I've come to meet expert campanologist Geoff Parting,

who's been bell ringing since he was 13 years old,

and he's going to teach me more about this rather unique art.

The peal of eight bells in the tower was cast

by John Taylor & Sons of Loughborough,

in proportions specified by the designer of Big Ben.

The church has a dozen bell ringers,

but only six to eight are needed at any one time.

Come on in. This is Bernard, he's a Master of the Tower.

Master of the Tower?

You're the Captain of the Tower, you're the Master of the Tower.

Well, if I just explain to you what the bell looks like up in the top,

-and how it works.

-So you've got eight bells.

-Eight bells up there, yes.

The bell is mounted on a wood frame,

or iron frame,

and these are the bearings

each side, and gudgeon pins

run into the bearings, which allows the bell to swing.

Then we've got the wheel, bolted onto a headstock,

which is called a headstock.

This is a stay, and then there's the rope through a gudgeon hole.

And when you pull the bell, it turns through 360 degrees,

the stay hits what we call the slider, over there.

And that stops it going any further.

When we pull the bell down again, like this, it comes over that way.

So each ring is a ring on both ways. Ring going up and ring going down.

Yes. Handstroke and backstroke, you call it.

'When ringing, the best method is to allow the weight of the bell

'to do most of the work. You give the rope a sharp pull

'to start it on its journey down,

'and keep it as straight as possible.'

Two hands on the sally, this is wool which is woven into the rope strands.

Sally, mmm-hmm.

So then I pull that down like that, I let the rope pull my arms up.

Now I've just gone over a balance, like that, OK?

And I come all the way down with my arms.

BELL RINGS

OK, so the sally goes up and then the sally comes down.

-Yeah, so it's a case of...

-Pull the sally down.

I'm below the balance now.

That's the pace we would be ringing at if we've got the...

all the eight going.

'So it's time for me to try my hand at the campanologist's art,

'and I'm poised for action.'

-OK, so I'm going to release...?

-Pull, go on.

-BELL RINGS Down and catch.

-Ah!

-BELL RINGS

-Whoa!

Ah, don't look up.

-Don't look up, don't look up.

-Don't look up, straight down.

It's going a bit faster than it was before. Oi!

-BELL RINGS

-OK, calm, Alistair, calm.

-Catch.

BELL RINGS That's it.

That's it. Good one.

You did that one on your own.

BELL RINGS

All right, OK, let's have a break of this. So how do I stop it?

-Another tug.

-Pull again. We have to start again.

-OK.

'After being shown the ropes in the tower,

'I discover another method to ring out a tune

'through hammers attached to the bells,

'worked by this chiming apparatus.

'This is known as clocking the bell rather than ringing.'

SEVERAL BELLS CHIME

Ya-a-ay!

APPLAUSE

He-e-ey!

'I rather enjoyed that.'

Those bells are loud! And now, it is time to find out which house

John and Sally found most ap-peal-ing.

Funny.

Hello, guys. Ah, you've found the nice, warm fire.

-It's been a bit nippy here in Wales, hasn't it?

-It has.

Let's review, shall we? What did you think of the first one?

I think the first one, probably, the house as such

wouldn't have appealed to Sally,

but obviously the location was fantastic.

But the biggest killer of that was the distance from Chester.

Got to have some compromise, cos I would like to live much nearer

to Chester, so we've got to have a house that I really like.

And the second house. Now, this was a bit more impressive.

Purpose-built house, four bedrooms, in the middle of its plot.

Access for awkward vehicles, big vehicles.

Perfect in many, many ways.

I still think it's fantastic, and as John said, it's a lovely house,

there's not much maintenance to do in the future.

-It's got all we need, it's got everything for John, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

And it's not too far from Chester.

What about the mystery house, cos that was a bit of a curveball

in the sense that it was a period property.

Well, as I think I've said, when I arrived I thought, "Good grief."

But, it got better, it improved, and had we been a lot younger,

it would have been very much a John and Sally house, wouldn't it?

-Yeah, absolutely.

-But the access killed it.

We wouldn't get lorries up there, but the view was outstanding

of the back of the Berwyns and Moel Famau. Excellent.

You talked a lot about the Sally and John house.

Do you have an idea what that might be in 2011?

Probably quite near to the house, the number two house, yesterday.

-Quite near, isn't it?

-Perhaps it IS the number two house?

-Could well be.

-There's a really good chance, Alistair.

-Well, fingers crossed.

I really hope that you like the second house on the second viewing

and that you move in.

-Thank you, Alistair.

-By Christmas, I wish.

-By Christmas.

-I hope.

-Well, two months and counting.

-But we didn't say which Christmas.

Christmas 2020!

I'm truly hoping that we have found a Sally and John house,

cos they're a lovely couple

and they have picked a stunning part of the country to live in.

And if you've enjoyed our property hunting exploits in the UK,

then make sure you join us next time for more Escape To The Country.

Although John and Sally loved our second property,

they eventually decided it was a journey too far from Chester,

and so their house hunt continues.

If you'd like to escape to the country in Scotland, Wales,

Northern Ireland or England, and need our help, please apply online.

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