Suffolk/Norfolk Escape to the Country

I'm in a region which produces more of these free range pigs

than anywhere else in the country and that's no porky.

In fact, on this farm alone,

over 900 piglets are born every single week.

Where am I? Stay watching and find out.

'On today's show, we're under starter's orders

'to find the perfect pad and paddock to unite a couple with their horses

'and some places struggle to get them chomping at the bit.'

To be honest, there probably isn't enough for me to get my teeth really into.

'And there are some clear favourites.'

I think it's lovely.

I really do love it.

'But it's the dark horse of the selection that triumphs

with a truly astonishing victory.'

Welcome to Suffolk in East Anglia.

This region is responsible for the production

of over 30,000 of the pigs reared here in Great Britain

and it's in Suffolk where you'll find most of them

running around freely in the great outdoors.

Now, later on in the show,

I'll be finding out why the 20,000 pigs on this particular farm

are so successful in bringing home the bacon.

'Tucked in the far eastern corner of the country

'and bordered by three other counties,

'Suffolk is also fringed by over 40 miles of heritage coastline,

'looking out across the North Sea.'

'This is a largely rural county with a low-level, fertile soil

'that creates the ideal environment for arable crops.

'Wheat and barley cover almost half of Suffolk's farmland

'and agriculture is such a critical part of the local economy

'that 80% of the land is dedicated to farming.'

'And when the working day is done,

'it's the seaside that's a huge draw for visitors.

'The quiet and unspoiled coastal villages

'are popular with painters and photographers

'looking to capture sleepy England at its most beautiful.'

'A particular favourite must be the picturesque fishing town of Aldeburgh,

'home to a world-renowned annual music festival, established 60 years ago

'by the Suffolk-born composer Benjamin Britten,

'for whom the rhythmic lull of the waves against the shingled beaches

'was a constant source of inspiration.'

Well, if that's music to your ears, let me hit a couple more high notes.

The average price for a detached property here in Suffolk

is just shy of £240,000.

That's around £15,000 cheaper than the average for England and Wales.

But that's not to say the county doesn't have its property hotspots.

Medieval towns like Lavenham are highly desirable

and, therefore, attract a premium.

As to the seaside towns, like Aldeburgh

where the price of a detached property with sea views,

close to the High Street

can command double the asking price of one located on the outskirts.

So, it's important to choose your area wisely.

But no matter where you look, it's fair to say

there's plenty of architectural gems to please the eye.

'During the 14th and 15th centuries,

'a prosperous textile industry

'made Suffolk one of the wealthiest areas in the country

'and many perfectly preserved timber-framed houses

'still stand as a reminder of this affluent time.

'Wealthy wool merchants further enhanced their homes with

'beautiful ornamental plasterwork which is an East Anglian tradition known as pargeting.

'Today it will cost in the region of £500,000-£800,000

'to get your hands on a listed four-bedroom slice

'of this medieval history.

'And if you fancy an injection of colour,

'charming pink dwellings in a variety of shades

'are a common sight throughout the county.

'However, a pretty, candy-coloured character house

'in one of the fashionable coastal resorts

'will also set you back a pretty penny,

'with a two-bedroom cottage costing upwards of £300,000.

'But if you can bear to forego those wonderful sea views,

'then you can take off at least £100,000

'for a similar style property, further inland.'

So, there's a rich assortment of properties here.

But will any of them appeal to today's buyers?

Time to meet them and find out.

'Retiree Mick and his wife Sue met 15 years ago

'through their shared love of horses.

'They even tied the knot on horseback.

'And although they live in this large four-bedroom house in the Essex town of Harlow,

'for our equestrian couple, home has always been where the horse is.'

The horses are stabled in Epping Forest.

It's 12 miles away, it's two motorways, and what we would like to do is have horses at home

'and be able to ride nice bridleways nearby

'and our dream is to be able to ride to the local pub.'

'The whole idea of just being able to walk out the front door'

and having the horses in the stables nearby,

it would make life so much easier.

'And they certainly haven't had an easy ride over the past few years.'

'Mick had an accident at work four years ago.'

He very nearly lost his life.

It's left him as a double below-the-knee amputee

'and that is very much focused the way our lives are now.

'He does quite a lot but, some of the time,

'Mick is in the wheelchair so we have to take each day as it is.'

'I guess, when something like this happens,'

it concentrates your mind

and you think about the things you do enjoy in life

and what you want to get out of your life.

'Ever optimistic in the face of such adversity,

'Mick and Sue are determined

'to create the most fulfilling future possible

'and their starting point is to find a more practical home.'

'The house we've got now is not suitable for Mick when he is in a wheelchair.

'The doors are too narrow, there are too many steps, too many slopes.'

Our must list is, really,

we have to have somewhere with spacious downstairs living.

It doesn't have to be a bungalow but it has to be something

that we can live mainly on those ground floors.

We need land. We need land, somewhere we can keep our horses.

'Four to five acres, hopefully.

'And, I also want somewhere where I can create a new garden as well.'

From scratch, if need be,

but having that potential to do that is also on my must list.

'As a qualified garden designer,

'Sue is keen to expand her horticultural horizons

'and develop her other artistic talents too.

'But it's family and, of course, the love of horses

'that really sets our couple's hearts racing.'

'Suffolk is a good area for us'

because my daughter and grandchildren live in South Norfolk,

so we'd like to be closer to them so that they can come and visit

'and, perhaps, get another horse so the children can start to ride.'

'One thing Mick has been able to do since his accident is to ride his horse.

'It's one thing he really enjoys and, even when he can't walk very well,

'one thing he can do is riding his horse.'

He gets tremendous enjoyment from him, tremendous satisfaction.

It something he feels free doing and it's one thing

'he wants to carry on doing

'until he's absolutely no longer able to do so.'

'Clearly, times have been extremely tough for Mick and Sue but

'throughout they've been driven and totally committed to one another.'

'Sue does a great deal for me and I wouldn't be here without Sue,'

she picks me up when I get down,

she does most things for me.

Although, I'm still capable of doing a few things on my own.

But, she's just the rock that I anchor myself to.

'Mick and Sue have a budget of £575,000

'to find their ideal escape to the country and location is key.

'Not only do they want to be closer to their horses,

'they're also hoping for somewhere

'near to Mick's daughter and grandchildren in Norfolk.

'So, we'll be focusing our search around Bury St Edmunds

'in the northern half of the county.

'And with the location sorted,

'I'm finally meeting up with our buyers on Suffolk soil

'to finalise all the details of their move.'

Now, at the heart of your search, I suppose, is your accident

which is dictating the kind of property you're looking for.

You want it more accessible,

perhaps with the wheelchair, certainly in later life.

Does that mean just ground floor living, are we looking at bungalows?

We would prefer bungalows

but we could live with a place that had the bedroom on the ground floor.

-OK.

-And possibly the bathroom on the ground floor.

Or the potential to build a bedroom and bathroom on the ground floor.

-Yeah.

-Open plan downstairs.

-Open plan downstairs.

Giving access through doorways, no narrow doorways.

All right, now, you're also heavily into horses

and, like anybody else I know that is, priorities are land.

-It's almost a must, isn't it?

-It is, I'm afraid, yes.

-OK.

-How many horses have you got?

-We've got two, at the moment.

But we'd probably like to get another one

or maybe two for our grandchildren to ride.

Potentially four.

Potentially four but it's only two at this present time.

So, we're looking at really a minimum of four acres of land.

All this comes at a price, of course it does.

What's the budget we are looking at today?

For a house that ticks the main key factors, up to a budget of £575,000.

-That's your top, top, top?

-That's our top budget.

-Well, let's not hang around. Let's get started.

-Great.

-This way.

'For a maximum budget of £575,000,

'Mick and Sue are after a detached house comprising three bedrooms,

'one of which needs to be located on the ground floor

'with enough space to create a wet room for Mick.

'They prefer an open plan layout of generous proportions

'with minimal floor levels but are flexible when it comes to style.

'Outside, they'd like a decent plot of garden

'to expand Sue's horticultural ambitions.

'And, of course, they need equestrian facilities

'with around four acres of land for their beloved horses.'

'We've got some fantastic homes to tempt our buyers but, as ever,

'I want a revealing the price until they've had a guess first.

'Our final choice is, of course, the mystery house where we'll be taking a huge, and I do mean huge, gamble.

'But, will the odds be in our favour?'

'Our first stop is the small village of Stanton,

'8 miles north-east of Bury St Edmunds.

'Here, our buyers can tack up their horses and use

'the good selection of shops and amenities that line the historic streets.

'And it was within the ruined walls of the once powerful,

'ancient local Abbey that the barons of medieval England

'hatched plans for the Magna Carta.'

'Back in the heart of Stanton Village,

'our first property can be found hidden away down a private road.'

OK, so, property number one.

We are going to be looking at a bungalow.

But I know what you're like,

like any other horse-mad person, you want to look at the stables.

You can't ignore them. They're fantastic, actually.

-Yeah, they're very good.

-You get some pretty good facilities here.

These loose boxes are probably about 20 years old.

But they're tidy, well put together.

They've got hot water and even heat lamps in one of the boxes there,

to dry the horses off.

-That could be useful.

-Luxury.

-That's a plus point to start with.

-And on top of that, you've got some outbuildings.

-Yeah.

Both of which have power.

There's space to park a horse lorry, as well.

Are you impressed with it so far?

-Yeah, very nice.

-It's nice and spacious which is one of the things we're looking for.

What about the bungalow?

-The house itself?

-It's fine.

-It's a bungalow, yeah.

I mean, it's not without character, completely. It's quite...

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that at all.

-So, all in all, happy?

-Yeah.

-So far, so good.

-Great. Let's look inside.

'This 1950s brick-built bungalow is of an age

'not generally celebrated for its beauty

'but does benefit from a more open plan layout

'which is high on Mick and Sue's wish list.

'Let's see what they think.'

So, straight into the kitchen.

-What are your first impressions of this kitchen?

-Very nice.

-It's fine.

-Lovely.

-Bigger than I thought it was going to be, actually.

-I thought that was a mirror when I came in.

-Yeah, I took a double take there,

thinking that, then being able to see right through.

Yeah. Are you happy with this kind of layout? Does it work for you?

It looks as if it's reasonably well laid out, you can get around it.

-Yeah.

-And, looks like there is scope to, potentially,

knock through into the living area there if we wanted to make it larger.

So, first impressions, yeah.

And, if I was in a wheelchair, I could get around here, easily.

'Back off the entrance hall, there is a good-sized utility and

'an office-cum-tack-room with plenty of space for equine apparatus.

'And through the kitchen lies the main living area.'

-Very much more open plan, now.

-Mm.

-Oh, it is, yeah.

-Yeah. It's very nice.

-It's a bit small.

-Here's the thing.

As you've got room for a dining table in the kitchen,

you could dispense with this

-and that short wall and make it one big living room.

-Hm.

I think we'd probably knock through here and make it into one big room.

What I did like about this, you know,

the old parquet flooring and you've got the solid fuel burner there.

It's, even though, again,

we keep going back to the fact that it's a bungalow

but you do get elements of, sort of, country living here, don't you?

-Yeah, it's got some character.

-I quite like the beams.

-They're all right.

-They're great.

-The bay window's all right, it's nice.

-Bay window's fine.

The beauty of this place is, it faces out onto its main feature,

its main asset. That's the land.

And I suppose, you know, as a horse lover, that's even more...

Great view of your horses out in the field, there.

It's great that you can, if Sue's out there, I can watch or vice versa.

I'll be creating a garden out here as well, of course.

-Right.

-Yeah, that's all, that's all in scope, isn't it?

It's got everything we need, so far.

'Also on the ground floor is the family bathroom

'and a total of four bedrooms,

'the smallest of which is being used as a study, alongside two good-sized guest rooms.

'But I'm going to show our buyers the room that could be theirs.'

-This is your master bedroom.

-Hm. Yeah.

-Yeah.

-That's fine.

It's good, I like the double windows.

I like to have them on either side of the room. It's not huge.

This looks fine.

-OK, good. You're not high fivers?

-No. No. The cogs are all working.

We're thinking about what we can do to add our own stamp to things...

All right.

..and make things easier and, yeah, everything's fine, everything's good.

'It's hard to gauge whether the bungalow

'is really winning Mick and Sue over,

'so we'd better turn our attention

'to the horses, who will be more than catered for outside.'

'As well as the five stables,

'this plot benefits from fantastic all-weather equestrian facilities.

'And with the grounds that extend as far as the eye can see,

'there's more than enough to keep green-fingered Sue occupied.

'But can they cope with an incredible eight acres?'

-So, what do you think of the facilities?

-I think they're great.

They're excellent. They are really very, very good.

You get a lot here.

Here it seems to all be there and on our doorstep and easy to get to.

Literally on your doorstep. You come out of that nice little bungalow

then, bang, you're straight here.

This has got so much scope and potential that it's not an issue at all with this size.

So, you've got all the facilities that you asked for and,

bearing that in mind, I want you to guess the price.

How much is this place on the market for?

I'm going to try and be optimistic so I'm going to say 560.

OK.

I think it's higher than that,

I think you've really got to the top of our budget.

So, I'll say 575, hoping it's not too much more than that.

Well, you're right when you said I'm pushing the budget here.

Cos you've got everything.

This place is on the market for offers around £600,000.

-OK, yeah.

-We were being optimistic.

Yes, you are. And we'd spoken to the owners

and they are prepared to negotiate closer to your budget.

-Right.

-Why don't you go back into the home part of this,

see what changes you'd like to make for access

and I'll meet you at the front...

OK, we'll go and have a nose.

..whenever you're ready?

-All right? I'll catch you later on.

-See you later.

-Bye-bye.

Well, I think they are actually very good reactions there.

And when they come outside, they clearly come alive

because it is all about the horses and the land.

I am worried, though, whether I've peaked a bit too soon.

'Over budget at £600,000 but with room for a sensible offer,

'our first property may have been a slow burner

'but it has come up trumps

'in delivering what our buyers have asked for and more.

'Being a bungalow, all the living accommodation is on one level

'and includes four bedrooms and a family bathroom.

'But it's the grounds here that really sell this place,

'boasting a first-class equestrian facilities including five stables.

'And it's all wrapped up in a stunning eight acres of land.

'Even more than our buyers had asked for.'

I think the first property here is really quite good.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount of space,

both within the house and, certainly, the outside.

I'm very taken with the exterior space

because there is space to do everything I want to do,

not just with the horses

but my aspirations for creation of the new garden as well.

There is loads of potential outside for that so, yes,

my focus has been on the outside, probably.

But the house isn't bad either.

This is great.

We could just use this as the office

and not use the other office at all, make it a dressing room.

It gives a lot of flexibility for storage space.

This is much better than I'd thought.

And quite a few options here, really, aren't there?

Yeah. It's actually a good size, really, Sue.

It's not a bad living space, is it?

I think we'll have to fill that in, though.

Yeah. I'm not that keen on that.

I can imagine you and I shouting each other through there.

I think we'll either have to fill it in or open it all up completely

and give more of a walkway through on that.

-Exactly.

-Apart from that, not a bad space.

I'm really impressed with the first house.

It's got everything we need, really. And it suits us.

There are some changes we'll have to make for accessibility,

but not that many.

How did you get on?

Very good. It's actually a bit bigger than we thought.

Yes, it's got everything we need.

Excellent. OK, all done here. Next property.

'Time to get back in the saddle

'and head to the second property of the day

'and we are crossing the border into Norfolk,

'even closer to Mick's family.

'We are heading for the rural village of Starston

which is just a few minutes' drive from nearby amenities in Harleston.

'The market town of Harleston is a lively place

'with a variety of independent shops

'and the kaleidoscope of pastel-coloured buildings

'are intriguing, even in the lashing rain.

'And while the weather may have taken a dive,

'let's hope we are on the up with our next house

'which is located down a quiet country lane.'

OK, then. For the second property,

you buy one, you get one free.

-We did wonder.

-Yeah.

That is no ordinary annexe but we'll discuss that later.

-What do you think of the property here?

-Looks good.

It's a nice little country house. It looks perfect.

Perfectly good from the outside.

'At the end of a sweeping drive, this grade 2 listed home

'has already sparked a flicker of interest with Mick.

'But can they work with the period features on the inside?'

Now, then. First impressions as you come into your potential new house?

It's smaller. There looks like more bitty little bits to it.

What do you think?

I think it's lovely.

I really do love it.

It's the sort of place, if I still had legs, this would be perfect.

-I'm not sure about the...

-Accessibility?

-Accessibility.

Well, yes. And that is, you know, believe it or not,

at the forefront of my mind as well.

There are a few steps here but I want us to have a look around

because I'm wondering whether or not we could make this

practical for you guys, in the future.

Stick with me on this one

because I think it gets better as you go around. OK?

Mm-hm.

Right, then. Again, very traditional.

-Yeah, it's not a bad size, though.

-No, it's actually very nice.

-Again, it is beautiful.

-This part of the building is 450 years old.

Yeah, I can believe that.

-And you see it, don't you?

-Yeah.

Yeah, I can believe it.

-It's got lots of character.

-Yeah, loads of character.

The beams in here look great.

This is the first time I've seen you smile when you're looking around a house.

Ah, well, yeah.

I've still got my doubts about practical...

The narrow doorways, the steps and so on.

There are other options cos there is another side to this property, quite literally,

-that should help you out a bit. Follow me.

-OK, let's see.

-Oh, wow!

-Wow!

-There's a bit of space in there, isn't there?

-That's a bit different.

Now, look, here's the thing, all one level, big open-plan kitchen, right?

Into a big dining room,

going through to the rear hallway/reception room,

and the owners of this house have disabled friends

-and they can bring the car right to the back door.

-Aha!

This, I think, is the door you'd use regularly.

-Ah, it's actually the back exit.

-Pull the car right up to the door.

Yeah, I can see what you are talking about now. That's easy.

And then come with me through... to the dedicated living room.

-That's quite a good size as well.

-This is really nice.

-I love all the windows.

-Yeah.

-Windows everywhere, brilliant.

-On all sides, really, eh?

Look at the outlook, it's just rural.

It's a lovely country cottage, well, it's a cottage, but it's quite a big cottage.

-Yeah. So far?

-Very good.

-Good. Yeah, excellent.

Mick is clearly taken and I think Sue is jumping on board, too.

And it's no surprise,

as this place could give our buyers the best of both worlds.

As well as an entrance hall to the front of the building,

the rear hallway provides an alternative

wheelchair-friendly access into the largest rooms, which collectively

have an open-plan feel that's hard to find in many cottages.

A staircase in the back hallway also leads upstairs

to a small family bathroom and four guest bedrooms.

All beautifully finished with a real rustic charm.

However, the low exposed beams and narrow passageways may be a little too cosy for Mick,

so we've another option to run by them, back down on the ground floor.

-As it stands, obviously, not yet a bedroom...

-Oh, wow. Yeah!

-Again, it's full of surprises.

-Isn't it? Open the door, there's something else there.

-Through there, an office,

-which I was thinking dressing room.

-Yeah.

-Yeah. A bathroom.

You've already got a bathroom.

OK, it needs new fittings, but the plumbing is here.

-Yeah, yeah...

-No, it's big enough.

-It's big enough.

-We'd only need the bedroom.

-Bed, bedside tables, everything in there.

-Yeah.

-There wouldn't be much else to do in here.

-No.

-This could be done.

'That's completed the two of the main house,

'but it's not the end of the living accommodation.

'Right next door, the outbuilding we saw earlier

'has been converted in a fantastic self-contained one-bedroom annex.

'A great place for Mick's daughter and grandchildren to stay

'when they come to visit.

'But, of course, it's not ideal for the horses.

'So let's see what's in store for them.'

One paddock, two paddock... three paddock.

-All in all, land-wise, you get six acres.

-OK, that's not bad.

That's not bad. Not bad at all.

What you don't get is stabling. That you'd have to build yourself.

-The outbuildings they had, they converted into that annex.

-Yeah.

That is the ability to earn some extra income from maybe self-catering holidays apartments.

It's a beautiful part of the world.

-I mean, there's so many positives to this place. I really do like it.

-Something to consider.

-So, try pricing it?

-I think you're pushing our budget.

We've got that annexe there adding to it

and quite a lot of land as well, so I hope it's not as much, but 610?

-610, Sue. What about you, Mick?

-I would say about 580-590.

Good guess, mate. £585,000 is the asking price for this.

That's good. I thought you're going to be pushing it.

You are pushing it, but maybe not pushing as much.

We are pushing it. Lots to think about.

Why don't you guys go back into the house, into the dry and warm,

but also have a look around the property and think what changes you would definitely want to make.

See if it is a practical option or not.

-Shall we get in there?

-See you in a bit. All right.

At £585,000, our second house

is a fantastic four-bedroom period property that offers

our buyers a lot of flexibility,

managing to combine old world charm, with large and spacious rooms.

There's already the potential to create a downstairs bedroom suite,

as well as a separate annex which could generate some extra income

and the whole proposition is wrapped up in six acres of grounds.

But will they like it enough to do the extra work

needed for their horses?

I do like having a sun lounge effect in here.

Don't know how warm it will get in here in the summer, mind you.

It might get very hot. But they've got nice curtains up there.

It probably stops that. But it is a lovely dining room. It really is.

You can spend a lot of time sitting entertaining there, I think.

Yeah, you would. Yeah. And you can see everything from here.

The second property is absolutely lovely.

It's really...

Um, it's passed my expectations really.

There's obviously difficulties with it, too.

But I think we'd be willing to take on this amount of work

if we could afford it.

It has more potential in some aspects,

but it is at the top end of our budget.

We do not have the equestrian facilities already here,

but we do have a potential income from something else.

So it doesn't tick everything but it does do different things as well.

-Using the back door?

-Yeah!

-Thought you would.

-Now then, had a good look around inside?

-Yes. Very nice. Really nice.

-It is, isn't it?

-It's quite specious.

-Good.

-All right, that's it for today. Let's go back to the hotel.

-OK.

As the sun begins to set across the Suffolk countryside,

Nick and Sue take time out to reflect

on their property search so far.

With a budget of £575,000, Mick and Sue from Harlow are looking

to break free from suburbia

to settle in an equestrian property in Suffolk.

So far, we've shown them two fantastic homes,

but they've kept a reserved and level head.

-You're not high-fivers.

-No! The cogs are all working!

Still to come, we've got the mystery house.

But will it be a battle of heads vs hearts

in an unexpected final showdown?

-It really is nice.

-Cottagey!

-Cottagey!

And I'll be going the whole hog down on the farm.

Today, Mick and Sue saw two quite different propositions.

The first place, fantastic equine facilities and a practical house.

In the afternoon, a wonderful house with bags of character

but maybe work to be done with the land.

Having said that, whilst they're different,

both may well be contenders.

So, today, with that in mind, we're off to see the mystery house, and,

as ever, it's going to challenge the expectations of our buyers.

And this one's no different.

Some people in your position

get a bit nervous

and there's a bit of trepidation on their way to their mystery house.

What would you hope it isn't going to be?

Over budget!

THEY LAUGH

Yeah, I've got it.

Or a house which is absolutely wonderful

but doesn't have any land, so maybe that's the other thing,

if it doesn't have any land associated,

or maybe that's where the compromise is.

-Shall I turn the car around?

-Take us home!

Now, Mick absolutely loved the historic character

of our second house, so, let's see just how far

we can push that feature and hope they'll keep an open mind.

Our final property is in Framsden

which is just a few miles from the village of Earl Soham.

Earl Soham's well preserved traditional buildings

have earned it conservation status.

Facilities include a family-run butcher

and a brewery that puts Suffolk's barley harvest to good use.

And, on the outskirts of the village,

lies our very big gamble, the mystery house.

OK, then, the mystery house.

Here she is.

-First impression, it's a thatched cottage.

-Yeah!

-Didn't really want a thatched cottage.

-Didn't you?

-Not really.

It is lovely. It is a lovely little cottage.

It is a slightly chocolate-box sort of look.

I wondered how long it'd take for you to get chocolate box out

-because's that's exactly what it is.

-It is, yes.

-Let's take a look inside.

-OK.

Well, we've had better starts, but dwelling on the positives,

this 18th century thatched house

originally started life as two farmworkers' cottages

and would, for some, epitomise the country dream.

Perhaps the inside will convince Mick and Sue.

OK, in we come.

Now, tell me your first impressions and I'll explain everything.

-It's lovely. It really is nice.

-Cottagey.

-Cottagey.

It's narrow, and what I think of as being a cottage.

Yeah, obviously it's about ground floor living.

You've got a ground floor bathroom, and on the same level,

I was thinking about converting this sitting room into a bedroom.

-Let me show you.

-OK.

So, big enough for a bedroom?

I would say it is, yes.

It would actually make quite a nice bedroom. It's quite a good size.

-Yes, I quite like this room.

-Lovely French doors out into the garden.

It would make a nice bedroom. It's a shame. It's a nice sitting-room.

Yeah, but you've got another sitting-room elsewhere.

Let me show you.

Right, then.

Believe it or not, this used to be two farmworkers' cottages,

one this side, one that side, and that would be the dividing wall.

-Brilliant.

-Beautiful place, isn't it?

-Mmm, it is.

Now, here's another challenge for you guys.

This would be a living and dining area.

Hmmm. That really, really is small.

You wouldn't get any of our furniture in whatsoever.

It's certainly smaller than I would have in mind.

But, we really, really appreciate it. It is lovely.

Hmmm.

Let's have a look into the kitchen. Mind your heads.

The rustic charm of this place continues in the kitchen.

-It's a rustic kitchen, and it's small.

-Yeah, it is small.

-Yeah, I mean it all goes...

-It's lovely, again.

-Beautiful, but...

But, the more I see of it, I think less and less.

I'd never get a wheelchair through there.

It's not really working for you that much.

It's not somewhere that we would think,

even having thought about whether it would work for us.

There's just so much, every single room has got something in it.

-Too many compromises.

-We would have to pull this place apart.

The exposed timbers throughout create a cosy cottage feel,

but all is not what it seems

as some of the beams in this second reception and hallway

are purely decorative, so could easily be removed for better access.

Upstairs, the country cottage theme continues to impress

in the form of three immaculately presented double bedrooms

and a family bathroom with roll-topped bath

and stripped wooden floors.

The present owners have devoted the past 20 years to renovating

every inch of this property, and the garden is no exception.

However, not forgetting that this is the mystery house,

the twist is that we don't have acres of land here for the horses.

But what we do have is a fantastic garden for Sue,

featuring a natural pond and a Monet-inspired bridge.

-I love that bridge there.

-Except it doesn't go anywhere.

It's a gardener's folly.

Yeah. It is.

To be honest, there probably isn't enough

for me to get my teeth really into.

Whilst there's no land with this cottage,

there is a livery yard nearby

where you can keep pretty much as many horses as you want there,

but it almost seems a moot point now because the house isn't suitable.

Albeit maybe not for you, but it's clearly going to be for someone.

Somebody definitely, yeah.

From what you've seen,

have a guess how much this place is on the market for.

Without any land at all... 450.

425.

-It's on the market for 375.

-Yeah.

Before we find out exactly what you guys want to do next,

maybe about the first two properties,

why don't you just go back and enjoy this house, have a quick look around

and I'll meet you out the front whenever you're ready.

-OK.

-See you in a bit.

It didn't work. It's certainly been a real treat

looking round this gorgeous property but as I said,

sometimes the mystery property works, sometimes it doesn't.

It didn't.

At £375,000, the mystery house is a stunning 300-year-old

three-bedroom thatched cottage that leaves Mick and Sue

with a huge sum of money to make the alterations they need.

It has a ground-floor family bathroom and two reception rooms,

one of which could be converted into a bedroom.

There's also a quarter of an acre of pretty cottage garden

and despite the fact there are no on-site equestrian facilities,

the property is just a few miles from a local livery yard.

First reactions inside, it's a beautiful house.

The workmanship in here is fantastic.

It's got some lovely, lovely features.

The outside's nice, it's cottagey.

It's a nice little garden but a bit bitty for me

and probably not big enough. I guess the overall surprise to us

was that it hasn't actually got any land attached to it at the moment.

I was hoping at least there would be some land

that we could explore opportunities for the horses.

Though I would say it's a beautiful house

and it's done to a perfectly good standard,

a very good standard, but I don't think it's for us.

It's just very difficult to get around.

It's a nice bright room.

It's great, isn't it? It really is nice.

-I like the windows either side.

-Extremely good.

Again, everything's done brilliantly.

-And again, it's good for guests.

-And again, the stairs are awkward.

It's a challenge. You'd better go head down them again.

All done inside?

-Yeah, all done.

-It's a very pretty house, isn't it?

It's a lovely house.

-OK, well, that's all three. Let's go.

-OK.

Agriculture is big business in East Anglia

and although Suffolk's farming is predominantly arable,

the abundance of grain provides food for its many pig herds.

The county has a long tradition of pig farming

generating hundreds of millions of pounds every year.

But it's also home to the highest percentage of outdoor pig farms

in the country thanks to farmers like Jimmy Butler

who runs the largest open-air free-range pig farm in the UK.

I've come to his 300-acre site just outside Halesworth in East Suffolk

to learn how maintaining the welfare of his herd

helps make for a successful business.

So how old is this little piglet here?

-This little man here is five days old.

-Is that all?

That's all he is, just five days old.

-May I?

-You can indeed.

-SQUEALING

-All right, mate, all right.

A pig itself is quite an incredible animal.

That animal you've got in your hands is weighing about 1 kilo when it's born.

Six months later, it weighs 100 kilos.

Now that multiplies its own weight 100 times in six months.

That's an incredible animal that does that.

-Isn't it just?

-Absolutely.

-What breed is this then?

He's a cross-breed.

There's four different breeds in there - there's Landrace,

Large White, Pietrain and there's some Duroc.

They're all in there for different reasons. Some are for flavour,

some are for growth, some are for length, some are for general shape.

Right. Do you have a lot of lucky pigs

-helping the sows get pregnant?

-We do.

We have 11 boars that stud and they provide for all of these 2,000 sows.

They produce somewhere between 900 and 1,000 pigs each week.

What?

We produce between 900 and 1,000 pigs each week on these two farms.

-That's a lot of pigs.

-That is a lot of pigs.

Suffolk's combination of relatively low rainfall,

a temperate climate and free-draining sandy soil

creates ideal conditions for outdoor pig production.

Newborn piglets stay with their mothers for four weeks

and are slowly weaned on six different rations

to get them accustomed to dry feed,

then it's on to the fattening up stage called finishing.

Only 4% of the country's finished pigs will spend

their entire lives outdoors in free-range conditions like this.

What separates free range from intensive farming?

-What's the difference?

-The welfare of the pig.

The lifestyle of the pig is outside as you see it here.

OK, we are looking through rose-coloured glasses today.

It's a lovely sunny day but they are able to roam

and be outside all the time.

You see all these pigs, they're digging and routing here now.

They can't do that in concrete.

Is the industry thriving at the moment?

At the moment, we're struggling as feed is very expensive.

Wheat has got very expensive, straw has got a very short supply

and we take colossal amounts of straw,

so our expenses have gone up.

Eventually, the pig price will have to go up

to be able to pay for what we're doing.

How much of our market do we buy from abroad?

About 40% of the UK pork eaten is coming in from abroad.

In 2013, new rules for the pig industry are intended to create

a more even set of welfare standards across all of Europe

which should see more pigs enjoying the great outdoors.

Ethically, it sounds like a much better lifestyle for the animal,

of course it does.

Any difference in the taste?

Absolutely. The flavour is better in these because it's older.

You've got to remember, when they're running around in here,

they're developing muscles. What you eat is muscle.

If it takes longer and they're better developed,

then you've got the flavour in there that you used to have years ago.

Right, OK.

It's farms like this one that help to keep Suffolk

at the forefront of positive and pioneering pig husbandry.

So, clearly a popular place to keep pigs

but has Suffolk worked its charms on our house buyers?

Time to catch up with Mick and Sue and find out.

So, we had a look around properties by the Suffolk-Norfolk border.

-Is this still a place that you want to relocate to?

-Oh, yes.

We're still happy with Suffolk-Norfolk borders, yes.

Even through the rain and the cold?

If we can see places through the rain and the cold

and still like the area, that's got to say something.

Let's go through the properties then. The first house,

I think we started on the practicality bit, didn't we?

We loved the equestrian facilities at the first property.

Couldn't have asked for better.

Some of the best I've seen, especially for the budget.

They're fantastic. Everything was there, the stables were there,

the fields were all laid out, the land was good.

Everything about that place was good from the outside.

There was garden for me and, yes,

-you definitely did it for us there.

-Even the house was practical.

With a few minor adjustments.

But we could move straight into that house

and not have to do anything for ages.

There was no reason for us not to like it.

It just didn't fire us up, but that said,

it's not something we've discounted.

-And the location was lovely.

-The location was fantastic.

If you look at what you asked me for, the wish list,

it delivered on everything.

-It did everything.

-Everything.

-Pushed the budget but everything.

But then, I also noticed that you were saying,

"It's perfectly all right. It's OK," when you were in the house.

You spend a lot of time in the home, of course you do,

and I just thought, well,

is this because I've decided to be practical, or maybe,

are they seeing something they're just not falling in love with,

and that's why I wanted to go to the second property yesterday afternoon

and show you something just with a bit more character.

It was a lovely property

and the character of the place was brilliant. I loved it.

It wasn't as practical as the first property for me

so there would be changes to make

and, of course, it was at the top of our budget again.

From a practical aspect, financially,

we would have work to do there on the outside.

You came up with the land. There was enough land there, that was fine,

but there were no stables, there were no outbuildings,

there was no storage.

Hopefully that second property gave you something to think about

and certainly gave you something to compare against the first, more practical option.

Completely.

Today, we went off to the mystery house

which didn't really seem to work for you.

-No.

-No, it really didn't do anything that we wanted it to do.

It was bitty, there were all sorts of angles and steps.

Things that could be modified but it was beautifully done.

It was very tastefully finished, a high level of workmanship.

It was a lovely house but completely inappropriate for us.

OK, so it didn't work. Always a gamble, but on reflection,

have you got a favourite out of the first two properties that I showed to you?

They're very different, aren't they?

From a practicality point of view, the first one was miles ahead.

But from the heart, the second one was really nice.

Yeah, I think from the practical aspect,

the first property is the only one that we'd probably go back

and have another look at, especially when it's not pouring down with rain.

Well, whatever you decide, please let us know, won't you?

-Will do.

-We will do.

-Great, good luck.

-Thank you very much.

It's often quite tricky when you're looking for a rural property

that gives you the right size and style of house

but also adequate land and facilities for horses.

But I think Mick and Sue are doing the right thing by opting

for the practical property,

one that suits them now and hopefully in the future,

and, maybe with a second viewing on hopefully a nicer day,

they can really fall in love with the place.

Only time will tell.

I'm sure like me you wish them both the very best of luck.

See you next time.

I'm delighted to report that after a second viewing of property one,

Mick and Sue made an offer £100,000 below the asking price

and it was accepted. A winning result.

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