Somerset Escape to the Country

We're in a county that's famous for this stuff - willow

and it's been interwoven through the area's history for thousands of years. Where are we?

Join me in just a few moments and I'll tell you.

'Today, we take a step back in time and visit fine period properties,

'although the wet weather dampens our buyers' reactions in one of them.'

It's a bit dark. It's not as light as the other one.

-'But another house whisks them away to sunnier climes.'

-Feels like you're on holiday with that balcony.

Yes, it has a touch of the Costas.

Well, today, we are in Somerset.

These broad flatlands that you can see stretching out below me, they are the Somerset Levels.

They are the heart of the English willow-producing business.

Since its heyday during the inter-war period

when thousands of acres of this landscape were given over to growing willow,

now that number has dwindled to just 180 acres, but plenty enough to produce baskets, chairs.

You name it, if it can be woven, they can make it here.

This landscape and its rich history is just part of what makes this county so captivating.

In the south-west of England, Somerset is bordered by a number of counties

and bounded by the Bristol Channel coast.

It's an enchanting countryside of contrasts,

ranging from the undulating hills of the Mendips and the Quantocks to the low-lying Somerset Levels

which extend over 250 square miles.

Tucked away on the southern side of the Mendips,

small most definitely means beautiful in the medieval city of Wells.

Taking its name from the water springs in the gardens of the Bishop's Palace,

Wells lays claim to being England's smallest city, a status it's sure to keep

thanks to its magnificent 13th century cathedral.

When it comes to house prices,

£268,000 is the princely sum that you may have to part with

if you fancy your average, four-bedroom, detached house here in Somerset.

It's worth remembering that's £13,000 above the national average

which kind of suggests that maybe Somerset doesn't offer that much value for money

and there are hot spots that can inflate those figures,

particularly around Wedmore, Wells and Castle Cary,

because these are commuter areas for people working in Bristol and, interestingly, in London itself

thanks to the rail link through Castle Cary, but don't be put off.

I think this county does offer fantastic value for money

and there are some wonderful properties on offer if you think this is where you want to escape to.

Somerset wears its colourful geology on its sleeve,

thanks to a plentiful supply of natural building materials.

Warm golden limestone has been quarried at Ham Hill since the 16th century.

Stoke-sub-Hamdon is characterised by the use of this local stone,

an example being this attractive, two-bedroom, mid-terraced, Victorian home

currently on the market for just under £165,000.

Blue Lias stone is made from layers of compressed shale and limestone

that dates back to the early Jurassic period.

The large village of Street is home to many properties built from this silvery material,

such as this traditional, four-bedroom house built in 1860

that will set you back just under £350,000.

Now that we've whetted your appetite with a little taste of what the property market here has to offer,

it's time to meet today's buyers and find out what they're looking for in this glorious county.

Lynn and Steve have lived in their modern house in the Essex town of Leigh-on-Sea for nearly two decades.

But despite their best efforts, it no longer feels like home, sweet home.

We've decorated every room at least twice, some of them three times.

And we've run out of enthusiasm to do it again.

With no dependents and a shift in work focus from their careers in IT,

the time is finally right to make a long overdue move.

I was lucky enough to get offered early retirement a couple of years ago.

Steve was meant to carry on working a bit longer, but...

I could see it was a very good deal, so I took early retirement as well.

We just thought it would be nice now to move out into the country and have a bit more space round us.

We quite like the idea of Somerset because we've got some friends who live down there.

And they're also drawn to a life outdoors in the West Country.

We'd like a bit more space, maybe a vegetable plot,

try our hand at growing vegetables, something to give us a bit more of a challenge.

-A golf course as well, isn't it?

-That is quite important, yes.

Sport and a spot of self-sufficiency are high on the agenda, but rather unusually,

when it comes to the style of house, period properties are definitely a no-no.

I think the only thing we don't want is perhaps a Victorian, Edwardian...

Georgian. When you get into them, you think this will cost a fortune.

You'll be constantly maintaining it. We don't want that amount of work.

Something that is stuck in a bit of a time warp would be a real challenge.

-Something you could move forward and make some progress on and change quite quickly would be exciting.

-Yes.

As well as giving them potential to make their own mark, they're also after a range of living areas.

I'd like a large kitchen with room for a table and hopefully a sofa in there.

I'd like to keep my own study because we have different tastes in viewing.

I tend to like sport and Lynn doesn't share that passion, do you, dear?

No, not quite so much. Not the football.

I think we'd want three reasonable sized bedrooms in the house,

although we have talked also about something with some self-catering.

A holiday let or an annexe.

Taking into account their business ideas, they have two figures in mind to play with.

The budget for the move is between £650,000 and £750,000.

'Lynn and Steve would like good access to their friends in Wrington towards the north of the county,

'so we'll be focusing our search on the lovely country villages surrounding Wells.

'And it's in one such delightful place, despite the wet weather,

'where we're meeting up to discuss the details of this Somerset move.'

Welcome to what is a ludicrously wet Somerset!

This move of yours, I'm envying you really.

Here you are in your mid-50s, retired comfortably with a very nice budget to go with it

and something of a sliding scale in terms of what you want to spend.

If we go to 750, we need some sort of additional income to make up the extra 100,000,

but if we find somewhere for 650, then absolutely fine.

You don't want Victorian or Georgian or Edwardian, so what are we after?

Something with character. It could be a new build, but with some character to it.

Are you relatively broad-minded in terms of the properties you're prepared to look at?

Yeah. We're not ruling out older properties.

We like both ends of the spectrum - very old and very new.

The good news is your budget will go quite a long way here in Somerset to get us something really nice,

but given that it is absolutely tipping it down and we have got quite a lot to see,

-come on, let's go.

-Thank you.

'With a top budget of £750,000, Lynn and Steve are after...

'They prefer lower maintenance properties, but are keen DIY-ers,

'so would like somewhere with potential to modernise

'and ideally create a holiday let.

'Outside, they'd also like a large garden with scope for a vegetable plot.

'Our selection of houses serve up a variety of opportunities and styles

'and present very different takes on country living.

'But I'll keep our buyers guessing as to what they're worth until the end of each tour,

'then to top it off there's the mystery house

'where we'll turn the idea of a traditional home on its head.

'The good news is that Steve and Lynn have accepted an offer on their house and the paperwork is in hand,

'so let's waste no time and get straight to our first property in the peaceful hamlet of North Barrow.

'All the essential amenities, as well as pubs and restaurants, are just a few miles away

'in the pretty market town of Castle Cary,

'and tucked away from main roads and surrounded by fields

'is our first house built just two years ago.'

It's not the greatest start to property number one, a torrential downpour.

But let's have a very brief chat out here.

-What do you think?

-Very nice.

-Very nice.

-Very modern.

-It is very modern.

As you might expect with a new build, this place is super-efficient.

It's got under-floor heating throughout, insulated to within an inch of its life.

Their heating bill and hot water bill for a year, wait for it, is 500 quid.

-Wow!

-That's a bargain.

-A bargain? I would say so.

If you fancy being eco-warriors, it could be the house for you.

But I'm getting absolutely soaked. Let's not dither any more. Let's get in. Come on, that way.

'This new build will weather the test of time, thanks to the use of natural stone and wood inside.'

-Right, we're out of the wet clothes. Come on in. Let's start with this bit.

-Wow!

-Yeah?

-Very nice.

-Very nice.

-I thought this might be a "wow".

-It is, yeah.

It's not trying to be a listed property,

but it's got this lovely character that you get with this green oak and a structure.

-This will be here for a very long time, I expect.

-Yeah.

-Nice style and size.

-Lovely floors.

The under-floor heating, as I mentioned, goes throughout every floor,

downstairs and upstairs,

so it's always going to be toasty warm.

You'd be very, very cosy in here.

You've got these lovely doors going out to the garden.

We might go out there later. That depends if it stops raining.

The garden is about half an acre, so very much what we were looking for in terms of size and space.

Then it's bordered by these lovely orchards. There are cattle out here. Very pretty.

Have a look at the kitchen, Lynn. I think you'll enjoy this.

How about that for a cooker?

Yes, that's quite a cooker. LAUGHTER

-That's fantastic.

-Isn't it?

-Yeah.

But in terms of space, as you can see, you've got the dining through there,

but you've also got it here, perhaps for more everyday...

This is just perfect.

-It is. I've wanted a table and a sofa and...

-How about that?

Dare I say, the views are beginning to clear through the murk.

It gives you an idea of what you might be able to see on a nice day on top of the hill which is great.

-Yeah.

-Really nice.

Again you can see a bit of terrace out there, a bit of patio in amongst the emerging flood in the garden.

I'm just speechless.

Good. OK, well, through here we've also got a guest room which is en-suite.

The utility room is through there.

The layout is fantastic.

-It's ideal.

-It is, yeah.

-You can't imagine it being any better than that.

-Phew!

'What a fantastic start! They haven't found fault with anything on the ground floor.

'Light floods into the fully glazed stairwell that leads upstairs

'where there are another two bedrooms

'and we're heading right to the master suite.'

So how about this one then for you guys?

-Crikey!

-LAUGHTER

-It's quite special, isn't it?

-It's lovely.

-Again lovely views.

-And a nice, big size.

-Good size.

-Yes.

-And room to put stuff against the walls.

-Exactly. Loads of space there.

It isn't going to be terribly cluttered, but at the end of this corridor, there is a big wardrobe,

along with the en-suite.

This is quite special. Have a look at this.

As you might expect here... There you are, Lynn, in you go. Steve...

-Wow!

-There are even beams in here.

-Some bathroom!

-It's quite special.

This would be quite a nice family bathroom, but this is your en-suite.

-I was just thinking this is about the size of our bathroom at home and that's a big bathroom.

-It's not bad.

-The other bedroom on this floor is also en-suite, so your guests are going to be quite happy.

-Yeah.

-But you get the biggest. You can lie there and look at the view.

-Yeah.

Which tells me it is still raining,

so I suggest we find somewhere a little drier than the garden to finish off and talk about the price.

-Yeah?

-OK.

-Come on then.

-Suits me.

This is as good a place, I think, as any to really draw this to a close.

You can see the garden pretty much.

We're joking about the weather, but on a lovely day,

you can imagine it with the orchard, the cattle in amongst the trees,

-looking right across the rest of the county.

-The views are fantastic.

It leads us on nicely to think about the price of this one,

bearing in mind we've got your sliding scale - 750 with a holiday let, 650 without.

Clearly, we don't have one here for you, so where does this one come, Lynn?

I'm hopefully guessing 625.

625. Yeah?

-650.

-£650,000.

Well, I have to confess that if I didn't know its price,

I would probably guess at 650.

But the truth is, we'd all be wrong,

because this could be yours for £575,000.

That's amazing.

Go back through there and revel in the thought that this could be your house very soon.

-Who knows?

-OK.

-Off you go.

-Thank you.

Brilliant. Well, there you go.

Property number one really has pressed all the buttons, despite the weather.

Impressively under budget at £575,000,

this high spec, yet low maintenance home seems a perfect fit for our couple.

Characterful yet contemporary,

it has Lynn's ideal kitchen/breakfast room,

a large living and dining area, as well as three en-suite bedrooms.

The property sits in just over half an acre

and even on a wet and grey day, it's clear to see

that this is a beautiful home in a truly glorious setting.

I thought it looked lovely as soon as we turned up on the drive.

I could see it was a modern house, but characterful.

It's lovely and light and airy. The lounge/diner is beautiful.

The kitchen is fantastic with the extra table and seating room.

From the outside, it's a characterful new build and the stonework really makes it, I think.

It's exactly what we wanted.

When we went into the kitchen, I was thinking Lynn must be in heaven because that's just what she wants.

And the view out over the fields and the cows and the orchard is just fantastic.

-After you, madam.

-Thank you.

-After you, sir.

-Thank you.

Goodness! You'd have thought it might have stopped raining by now.

-Your spirits are still up.

-Definitely.

-Especially after this house.

-We've got a lot to live up to now.

-It'd be hard to beat this one.

-Let's get these brollies up. Come on.

Somerset has a long tradition for arts and crafts

that take inspiration from the county's exceptional natural surroundings.

One such artisan is the wood-turner George Foweraker

who makes ornamental wooden pieces exhibited in galleries throughout the country,

using timber solely from sustainable local sources.

Steve and Lynn have turned their hands to many DIY projects, but how would they fare at wood-turning?

During the week, we sent them for a masterclass at George's studio in Burnham-on-Sea to find out.

To create a bowl, a pre-prepared, solid wooden blank is mounted on to the lathe,

then the outer edges are rounded off using extremely sharp tools and a very keen eye.

Keep the tool parallel as you move across. That's beautiful. Lovely shavings. That's what it should be.

The next part of the process is to turn the bottom.

We gradually work our way back and take a bit more off until we get the shape we want.

The history of wood-turning can be traced back thousands of years to Ancient Egypt,

but it wasn't until the 18th and 19th centuries during the Industrial Revolution

that the motorised lathe was introduced. It sped up the process,

leading to the mass production of turned wooden items.

-Once you have the desired shape, the piece is refined with a scraper...

-Nice and gentle.

-..before being sanded to remove any rough edges.

-Quite quickly. That's it.

The inside is hollowed out to create a classic bowl shape.

Finally, the finishing touch is a polish from George

and the bowl is fit to live among the showroom's finest.

You've both done very well. You've produced a lovely beech bowl from the Quantock Hills to take home.

-I hope you move to Somerset. If you do, come back for lessons.

-I think we might.

-Good. Thank you.

With a fine, hand-crafted souvenir from their time in Somerset,

they'll need the perfect West Country home where it can take pride of place, so it's back to our hunt.

'Our next destination is around ten miles from Wells in the small hamlet of Clewer.

'From here it's just two miles to the nearby Saxon village of Wedmore with a useful range of shops,

'pubs and facilities, including a golf course which will please Steve.

'Lying on the outskirts of Clewer and under clearer skies at last

'is a 19th century farmhouse we've singled out as our second property.'

OK, property number two, here it is, this lovely curved building

that runs around the corner almost as far as the eye can see.

This is what's on offer. It's much older than property number one.

-Yes.

-Lynn's looking a bit quiet.

-I'm not sure. It's just so different from property one.

It is different, but there's a little surprise through here. Come and look at this.

'Along with a house for them is some self-contained accommodation with great potential.'

There is the surprise.

-A holiday.

-Exactly, yes. It's a holiday let, a two-bed holiday let, beautifully done.

-It looks good.

-The nice thing to say is the parking for it is down there,

so your guests are completely independent of you

and your focus is over here, the garden, covered by the bits behind as well and the main house.

-Let's go and check out the owners' accommodation.

-Yes.

-Come this way.

There, look at this. Pretty, isn't it? Look at that.

-Yes, that is pretty.

-It's lovely, absolutely gorgeous. We'll explore the garden a bit later.

-What's that smell?

-It smells like there's a fire going.

-You'd be right.

Come in.

-Yeah.

-Yeah! A different feel because we haven't got modern, squarely proportioned rooms, obviously.

But in terms of a kitchen/diner, it's space it is not short of.

-There's a lot more storage in this one than there was in the last one.

-There is indeed, yeah.

-It's nice.

-Lynn?

-A bit dark, I think. It's not as light as the other one was.

-It's a good space.

-I think we spoilt you with property number one.

-You probably have, yeah.

This is a nice kitchen and it's a good size.

You are going to compare them. Of course you are.

But do try and judge each one on its own merits

because there are things about this one that property one simply doesn't have, to be honest with you.

And it does go on.

Yeah? This way. Keep with it.

Come down here.

Come into here.

-Yeah, a lovely fireplace.

-Isn't it?

The question is are you going to buy into the history and tradition that's on offer here?

Oh...I do like old houses. It's not that I don't like old houses, but that first one was...

-Forget the first one.

-The layout...

-Forget the first one.

I suppose you've got to move on and think what the advantages of...

-Good fun, though, isn't it?

-It is.

-Felling confused?

-I can't wait.

-Well, there is plenty more to see including a vey nice study area through here, Steve.

-Excellent.

OK, Steve. How about this, then? As your little den.

Yeah, it's great. I prefer this to the study in the other house.

That was a bit of a square box. This has got a lot more character.

'Aha! Perhaps the tables are turning

'as we may finally have got one over on our first property this morning. And there's more to take in

'as the ground floor also has a cloakroom next to a double guest room, one of four bedrooms here.

'The other three are all upstairs and include a charming double room themed in blue

'and another cosy, bright double. We're heading for the master.'

-The family bathroom is in there. Roll-top bath.

-Yep.

-And shower.

-And next door to it is this room, which I think you would probably choose as yours.

-Yes.

-This is quite a good size.

-It's not en-suite, but the bathroom is next door.

'Now I know that outside space is important to Lynn and Steve,

'so now the rain has stopped we can explore the two-acre plot.

'There's plenty to take in, including outbuildings, a huge veggie plot and an orchard.'

-Now...

-Chickens!

Look at this lot. Yes, chickens. Running riot over your orchard.

So we've got our house, our holiday let, which you'll explore later on.

-We've got the views, the space. What's it worth?

-No idea. 725.

-Lynn?

-That's exactly what I was thinking.

OK, let's take 725 from both of you. And in many respects I think 725 here would be a good price.

But supposing we knocked off another £125,000 and said you could have it for 600 grand?

-Really?

-Really.

-That seems good with the land and the holiday let.

-Good?!

-Come on!

-It's fantastic.

-£600,000?!

125,000 less than we thought.

-We really are rubbish at this game.

-Go and check it out now. I'll come and find you later on.

Go on, off you go.

Generously under budget at £600,000,

this 200-year-old farmhouse has space and character in spades.

It includes a kitchen/diner, two separate reception areas,

four bedrooms and let's not forget the two-bedroom self-contained holiday cottage.

And the whole lot is set in just under two acres, including outbuildings and an orchard.

In fact, I'd say for the money House 2 does a fantastic job

of meeting all our buyers' requirements.

When we saw the holiday let, we really warmed to that. The study is an absolute plus.

And the garden's an absolute steal.

I like the house, but I don't love it.

But it has got a lot of plus points. It's an old house, but it has been refurbished all the way through.

It's all to a good standard. You'll not have to replaster or do anything to it.

So it's a possibility.

Good. Well, That's the end of property number two.

Got the door, Steve? Good man. It's been a pretty long day.

-Mixed weather. Wet and cold this morning.

-Yes.

-Now look - nice evening sunshine.

-Ready for a pint and something to eat?

-Yes.

-Come on, then.

So with the day now drawing to a close, the first stage of our Somerset house hunt comes to an end.

Recent retirees Lynn and Steve have a maximum budget of £750,000

to swap the suburban east coast for the rural West Country.

So far, they've seen a shiny new modern home, as well as a rustic farmhouse. Still to come:

a moment of quiet calm.

-You can't knock it here. You can't hear a thing.

-True.

And I get a handle on an age-old Somerset craft.

During our stay here in Somerset, we've been based in the city of Wells.

When it comes to views to wake up to, this one isn't bad.

As much as I would love to spend the rest of the day sightseeing, there's serious work to do.

It's time to introduce Lynn and Steve to the Mystery House. Fingers crossed it's not raining.

Mystery House time. What have we got for you now?

-Any ideas?

-Could be Victorian, Georgian, Edwardian,

-on a main road...

-Something we said we'd never think of.

Well, all I'm going to tell you is it's very different. And not a million miles from your friends.

Just 10 minutes' drive from their friends in Wrington.

The Mystery House is in the small village of Rowberrow.

Rowberrow neighbours Shipham, which has a butcher's, general store and a welcoming country inn.

They all overlook the green where we're taking a short breather

to learn more about the area from Jill Lewis.

-Jill, you've been here for how long?

-44 years.

-44 years.

-And you currently run the coffee shop over the road.

-Yes.

Tell us more about it. It has an interesting pedigree.

It's been running for 12 years under the auspices of the church, St Leonards, so it's Lenny's.

-Is that the tower we can see?

-Quite a flourishing church, yes. So we're a community cafe.

We have volunteers and all the cakes are home-made in the village.

It's a very caring community. We live on a hill, so have beautiful views.

-What sort of things happen in the village during the year?

-Soon there will be a harvest supper,

organised in the village hall. The village hall has quite a lot of things going on.

We have an amateur dramatic group, tai chi and dancing classes.

-We also have a society called Shipham Wine Information Group.

-Hang on.

-SWIG?

-SWIG.

That's fantastic. Thanks very much for giving us a brief taster of life in Shipham.

-It's Mystery House time. Drink up. We've got lots to do. Cheers.

-Thanks, Jill.

Just half a mile away, on a quiet lane in Rowberrow, stands our distinctive Mystery House.

Come down here. This is really where you can best understand this building.

-It does need a little bit of understanding.

-Crikey.

-It's big.

-Yeah, it does look big.

It's built late '60s. I suppose the best way to describe it

is that it's sort of upside down. Because of its elevation and where we are,

all the living space is on the top

-so it sort of works in reverse.

-It does look huge.

-It's a whopper.

-I'm keen to see what the views are like from up the top there.

-Let's get into our Mystery House.

'Built back in 1968 with large concrete gables and lots of wood panelling,

'today this '60s style isn't generally celebrated for its aesthetic beauty,

'but with well-proportioned and spacious rooms, it presents a unique take on country living.

'The whole of the ground floor is given over to a completely self-contained flat,

'ideal for a holiday let, and comes with a kitchen/living area, two bedrooms, a bathroom

'and access out to the garden.

'But the main bedrooms are on the first floor, where we start.'

So...

Your first glimpse inside. Essentially, this is a guest room floor.

We've got two bedrooms down here. They're all doubles.

There's a study in here, Steve. A glimpse of that.

-And then this room here just serves as an example of what they're like. Balcony.

-It's a good-size room.

-It is.

-And it feels like you're on holiday with that balcony.

-It does!

There's a touch of the Costas about it, you know, really.

-But the main event is upstairs.

-OK.

-OK.

Now it's up here that this house really does come into its own.

-There we are. Kitchen area for you.

-Good drawers.

-There's a utility area in here. A kind of auxiliary kitchen.

-That's a better size, yeah.

And then you've got this, which I think is rather nice.

-Yep.

-Nice views up to the hills.

You can imagine in the autumn when the leaves are turning...

-Gorgeous.

-This will look very nice.

'This dining and day room opens out onto a huge open-air roof terrace,

'which is also shared with the main living room.'

Again, if this were in any other property, you'd think, "Big, roomy."

And we're two floors up here.

-How are we doing?

-I think it's good.

I think Steve's going for this one. Lynn's still struggling.

-I'm thinking about how much work I'd want to do on it.

-Minor stuff, but I think it's all doable.

-Bear with it. Come on.

-OK.

To complete the living on your floor, a little loo in there and then this is the master.

-It's a good size.

-Quite a good size.

-Yes?

-Quite? It's enormous.

-No, it is.

-It's huge.

And the en-suite is interesting. Have a look at that.

-That's very nice.

-Good.

-Storage...

How about this?

Have a look in here. You see?

-Yeah, that's more like it!

-The way to Lynn's heart.

As you can see, there are lots of features to recommend this property.

-I think Steve's a bit more into it.

-I just like the space of it.

And the views out and the quiet.

-You can't knock it here. You can't hear a thing.

-No, true.

Well, I can't argue with Steve. There's no doubt this is situated in a quiet and peaceful setting

with just under 1½ acres of terrace lawns and woodland outside.

And the elevated position is perfectly placed to fully appreciate the tranquil and rural surroundings.

Now we haven't looked at the flat yet. I'll get you in on your own

a little bit later on. But let's think about the price.

I'm going to say...700.

-700.

-Bang between 650 and 750.

I'm going to say...650.

650. 700.

This could be yours

for £685,000.

I'm not going to ask you if it's for you yet. We've got a lot of other things to consider,

but you should explore it further. In particular, look at the flat.

-OK.

-Go on, then. Off you go.

Under budget at £685,000, our topsy-turvy mystery property gives them everything they asked for

but all wrapped up in a surprising late 1960s shell.

At ground floor level, there's a two-bed self-contained apartment which could be a holiday let.

A further two storeys provide up to five bedrooms, so plenty of options for Steve's study.

The top floor kitchen/diner and living room both open out onto a huge roof terrace

overlooking more than an acre of grounds with wonderful views.

When we first arrived, lovely setting, lovely and quiet.

Going inside, lots of nice big rooms. I liked the study.

But as an overall feeling, if it was me,

I'd redecorate it more to our taste. That, to me, is a signal that we're in the wrong house.

The Mystery House is...interesting. It's in a lovely position. It is really quiet.

I think it's probably a bit more work than we were thinking of.

Right, then. That's it. You've made sense of the Mystery House in your own good time.

-OK, let's get you somewhere to consider it all, then we'll find out what the future holds.

-OK.

From high ground to low,

the variety of Somerset's landscape blends to create one magnificent panorama

and, at the lowest point, a real highlight are the Somerset Levels.

With no part of this area higher than 25 feet above sea level,

it offers perfect conditions for withy beds where willow is grown.

Somerset is the last place in the country where willow is cultivated for basket making.

I've come to an 80-acre spot in the Levels to meet Jonathan Coate,

whose family has been farming willow commercially here since 1819.

Here we are, slap bang in the middle of the Somerset Levels,

and over your shoulder there I see two varying crops of willow, one taller, one shorter.

-How old is the taller crop there?

-It's only a small amount we leave for 2 years.

We need a certain percentage for big rods, lids for hampers, coffins.

With the majority of the willow, 80-90%, we only grow for one year.

You mentioned a couple of items, amongst them hampers and coffins.

Quite diverse materials that you actually produce.

We're no longer amazed at what we get asked to do. Anything from film work to your basic hampers,

-through to the coffins.

-In days gone by, thousands of acres were used to cultivate willow.

-It was in more or less everything. Any packaging you could think of involved willow.

-That's right.

It was the bubblewrap of its day. It was a very important industry.

'An established willow bed can grow at over an inch a day,

'stay productive for up to 20 years and, being a natural, renewable resource, demand is on the rise,

'mostly for domestic use.'

That looks like the sort of thing most of us recognise as your classic basket material.

This is stripped willow. There's a process before we get it like this, to take the bark off.

-This is going to be a time-honoured, laborious process.

-Yes, it is.

This is exactly the same willow. Now this has been boiled for 10 hours.

-Boiled?

-Ordinary water. The natural tannins have come out of the bark.

-It's impregnated the wood and means the bark will now strip off.

-That's incredible.

Well, up until the mid-1920s, all the willow was stripped

one rod at a time in what we call a brake.

It's a piece of spring steel. It was a job done by the women and children.

-And it would have...

-Oh, that's lovely.

-It's so simple.

'Fortunately, this very laborious method is a thing of the past

'and now it's the job of an automatic machine that can strip 160 bundles a day.

'What's more, the machine was actually designed by Jonathan himself.'

Brilliant! 'So, with bundles of stripped willow to hand,

'my challenge is to learn how to make a bread basket using skills unchanged for generations.'

It's what we call a simple weave. It's rounding.

In and out, behind one, in front of one, until the rod runs out.

-So in there and then back again?

-Yeah, that's it.

-You can come around at that point there.

-Ah, OK.

And then go back on yourself.

'Weaving willow is very demanding on the hands and takes a good deal of strength, speed and practice.

'Skilled craftsmen could produce up to 8 or 9 baskets a day.'

It's a lovely tradition, this. I'm getting quite into it!

I've still got some way to go before I finish my bread basket.

-I'd better get a move on.

-I'll leave you to it.

-Cheers.

Well, from beautiful baskets to beautiful buildings.

Somerset really does have it all, including this place - Banwell Castle,

a gorgeous Victorian pile that I thought was the perfect place to sit down with Steve and Lynn

to find out what they're going to do about their future. I'm not normally a betting man,

but on this occasion even I might have a flutter.

Well, we had three to show you. We started, of course, with number one.

-It was a property that, to be fair, we all enjoyed.

-Certainly.

Absolutely fantastic views. If we were designing a house,

-that's close to what we'd design.

-And the colours, the finishes...

-A traditional style of building,

-but with a modern twist that worked for us all.

-I couldn't help smiling when we heard the price!

We thought you might. And those smiles have continued.

We've just got a couple of practical issues that we need to go back and consider.

Which is why we then went to property number two. It had a lot more land and the holiday let.

It probably suffered coming after house number one.

I liked the study in that one and the land outside. There was a vegetable plot.

But overall, once I'd seen number one... That lounge in number two is lovely.

-I'm beginning to worry that we put these in the wrong order!

-I think so.

There was one more to come,

the Mystery House, which I was quite excited about.

It was in a lovely setting, very quiet.

From the outside, it was a bit daunting. It needed a bit of thinking about,

probably repainting and making some changes to make it more attractive.

The top floor in terms of space and views, really good,

but, as Lynn said, to convert it into our taste would be quite a lot of work.

Let me think. Oh...property number one is clearly the outstanding favourite.

-It is.

-What next, then?

I think we would like to go back and book an appointment to see it.

Good. Well, I'm delighted. It's a terrific building.

-It's been a real pleasure, guys.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Come on, tuck in! Let's have some scones and tea.

It is never easy to predict how any house search will go and this one was a case in point,

but from the outset it was clear this was always going to be a one-horse race.

Property one so wowed Steve and Lynn, it virtually laid waste all those that followed on.

It was absolutely beautiful and it just goes to prove

that property doesn't have to be old to be full of character.

We often say location is the most important thing, but design is always going to be its equal.

It just goes to prove that no matter what the economic situation or what the housing market is doing,

at the end of the day good houses will always sell.

So from us, from Somerset, I'll see you next time.

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