Lancashire Escape to the Country

This deserted manor house used to be in the centre of one of Britain's thriving weaving communities

till a local invention which kick-started the Industrial Revolution

turned it into a ghost town.

Find out where I am in just a moment.

On today's show, I'm seeking out a property

for a buyer who's after a romantic cottage with roses around the door.

And her dad's come along to offer practical advice.

Along the way, we really come up trumps at one house.

I'm moving in now. Tomorrow!

And then our mystery house delivers some real surprises.

Having your own turret. I've never had one of those before!

Today we're in Lancashire, a county that has strong ties to the weaving industry.

But back in the mid-18th century,

it all took place on a cottage level.

It was in the homes of weavers in little rural villages like this one, Wycoller.

That is until the invention of a local man, James Hargreaves,

who came up with the Spinning Jenny,

a machine that took multiple threads from one wheel.

That changed everything, and all the homeworkers had to abandon their villages

and go and work in the power looms of the mills.

I'll be exploring Lancashire's textile history later in the show.

But take a look at some of the other things that make this county's fabric great.

Lancashire lies in the north-west of England

and borders five other counties,

including North and West Yorkshire to the east

and Cumbria to the north.

Agriculture represents the main land use here

with sheep and beef farming dominating through the uplands

while dairy farming is a key feature of the lowlands,

as well as in the Ribble and Lune Valleys.

However, the county is home to a variety of natural landscapes.

On the coast, Morecambe Bay is fed by five rivers

and over 120 square miles of sand are revealed when the tide goes out.

Further inland, the Forest of Bowland was declared an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

in 1964.

On the property price front, Lancashire is good news.

The average price of a detached house here is £207,000,

which is £48,000 less than the national average.

It gets more pricey if you go south of here to the beautiful Ribble Valley,

which I believe is where the Queen has said she would happily retire,

though she and I will have to pay more for the privilege.

It's 50% above the average down there.

If the royal pound is to be stretched a little further,

then Her Majesty will have to move into the countryside around Preston and Blackpool.

But wherever she moves,

she or I, royalty or commoner alike,

Lancashire has a rich pot-pourri of different architectural styles.

It's not surprise that Lancashire's farming roots have had an influence on properties round here.

From stone-built houses to farmworkers' cottages,

there's something for every budget.

This three-bed limestone barn conversion in Halton

is on the market for just under £450,000.

A reminder of Lancashire's industrial past

can be found in villages such as Wycoller.

The restored weavers' cottages here are a symbol of the prolific textile industry

that thrived in these areas.

This four-bed house is on the market for £495,000.

Evidence of this industrial era

is dotted all over the county.

For example here in Helmshore where mill owner William Turner

had homes built for the mill workers.

This three-bed cottage in the village is priced at £200,000.

As you can see, Lancashire wears its industrial heritage on its sleeve.

But is it going to be to the taste of our homebuyer today? Let's meet her.

School bursar Angela has lived in her flat in Edinburgh

for the past seven years.

Now that she's been offered a job in Casterton on the Lancashire borders,

she's ready for a new life in the country.

And one that will allow her to get closer to family.

Edinburgh's a lovely city and I've really enjoyed being here.

There's always lots to do, lots of culture.

But I crave my own front door. I live in a tenement block.

Community living, noisy streets, police sirens in the night,

peace and quiet in the country would be lovely.

-Mum and Dad are not getting any younger, are you?

-No.

It would be nicer to be nearer to them.

My son Anthony's at university now,

so he's basically flown the nest.

Angela's father Norman, who lives in West Yorkshire,

is acting as companion and adviser on her property search.

My role in looking at these houses

is to spot any possible flaws.

Four eyes are better than two.

I've got a romantic notion and I'll fall in love with somewhere

and Dad will probably see that the back of the house is falling down

or something I probably wouldn't see!

As well as doing the house hunt together,

father and daughter both share a passion for all things culinary.

I'm a very keen cook, as is Dad.

We've travelled all over the place doing different cookery courses.

We try and get away once a year and try something new.

So somewhere to practise her recipes will be top of Angela's wish list

for her new rural home.

When Angela moves to Lancashire, it'll be a bit of a shock to start with.

Especially the quiet country life.

I'm looking forward to it, though.

I think I'm a country girl at heart, really.

My ideal property would be a traditional cottage type of property.

Lots of character. Beams, open fireplace.

Roses round the door!

With that idyllic dream home in mind,

let's talk money.

The budget for the move is £250,000.

Angela needs to be within 20 minutes' drive of Casterton

for her new job

and preferably a couple of hours from her parents' in Yorkshire.

So we'll be house-hunting in the north of the county

close to the border with Cumbria.

I met her and dad Norman in Lancashire to find out more

about what she'd like from her new country home.

Welcome to Lancashire. This is what's ahead of you, Angela.

-I can't wait!

-You must know it, Norman. It's not far from you.

-No, it's not.

-Which is part of the reason we want to get you down here.

In terms of the house that you're looking for,

tell me about your spec. Your dream property, what would it look like?

My dream property would have lots of character.

Not necessarily old, but as long as there's plenty of character.

Two bedrooms minimum. Parking. It's a nightmare in Edinburgh,

so to be able to pull up outside my own house would be nice!

And in terms of the... You say two bedrooms. What else?

A nice kitchen. I'm a keen cook, so the kitchen's important.

An open fire would be icing on the cake.

-What about garden? Are you a gardener?

-A small garden.

-I'm not a keen gardener.

-Not green-fingered.

-No. I'd like to be!

-Do you think that sounds do-able?

-I would think so.

And you're here to... What's your role in the house search?

I'm here because of my acute hearing, to listen for the death watch beetle!

We wouldn't take you to a house that had death watch beetles!

And in terms of location. Obviously you want to be... We're up in the borders, really.

We're close to Cumbria, close to Yorkshire, close to Lancashire.

Do you have a strong feeling for any of those?

The whole area around Casterton is beautiful.

A nice village location would be nice.

-What's your budget?

-It's £250,000.

But you're only looking for two bedrooms, so that's do-able.

We've found three very nice properties. Shall we go and look?

-Yes, definitely.

-Follow me.

We've found three fantastic properties

which we think will really inspire her.

At each one, I'll be asking them both to guess the price before I reveal it.

And one, of course, will be our mystery house

which we hope will be a towering success!

So, time to get our property search underway.

With location top of the agenda,

we're heading to the village of Whittington in the Lune Valley.

Angela would only have a ten-minute drive to Casterton

and it's around 70 miles from Norman's house in Yorkshire.

While the amenities here are limited to a local pub,

we're just a couple of miles from the Cumbrian town of Kirby Lonsdale

which has had a market charter since 1227

and is a thriving centre for local produce.

We popped into John Natlacen's specialist cheese shop

to find out more about the importance of food to the area.

-John, hello.

-Hi, Alastair.

-Hard at work.

-Nice to see you.

-Here's Angela and her dad, Norman.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Angela may be moving into the neighbourhood.

-That's nice to hear. It's a wonderful place to live.

-And it's beautiful.

And the foody capital. I had no idea that Kirby was such a foody heaven!

It is. It's a mecca for food enthusiasts

from the local producers to the local shops

to all of the bars and restaurants that are within walking distance of Kirby Lonsdale.

That's the great thing. You don't have to walk out or get a taxi.

Everything is in the centre of town within easy walking distance.

What other suppliers are there? You do cheese.

There's a butcher's next door.

A fantastic butcher's next door. Regularly wins awards.

And every Thursday there's a market in the square

with the emphasis there being on fine food.

Thank you very much for your time. It's a wonderful shop.

I have to persuade her to buy the next house!

-Excellent. Good luck!

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

'Just two miles down the road is Whittington,

'where we find our first property,

'a stone-built Victorian terraced house dating back to 1895.'

So, here is house number one.

It's pretty, yes. Yes, looks nice.

Bay window. I like bay windows.

-Norman, what are your thought?

-It looks nice.

It's like something that I live in at the moment.

-It's got roses round the door. They're the bits I look at!

-Right!

-One of your requirements!

-Well done, us, for finding that.

-Shall we go in?

-Yes.

'Angela appears happy with this pretty terraced house from the outside,

'thanks to the roses and the windows!

'Now let's see what she and Norman think of the interior.'

Straight in to the front room.

-These big high windows looking out onto the fields.

-It's a lovely view.

-A good view out of the window.

-The view is lovely.

-What about the room?

-The room feels quite spacious.

Nice high ceilings. Yes, it's OK. It's a reasonable size.

Well, this is not the only reception room. There's another.

'Angela's reaction to the living room was quietly polite!

'But I think she'll be struck by what the dining room delivers.'

-Another room at the back.

-Oh! Now we're talking!

-This is more to your liking?

-Look at that!

-Lovely, isn't it?

-You're not short-changed on the fire.

-No. This is perfect.

I quite like this as well.

And this is a bonus. I don't have a dining room in my flat,

so this is plus points. I love the fireplace! Gorgeous.

'I'm glad Angela is warming to the charms of this property.

'Let's hope the kitchen measures up.'

Is the good mood continuing?

Compact!

Quite well designed, I think. Not a lot of work space, is there?

That's a thing about Victorian houses. Kitchens were for servants.

So they weren't really luxurious.

I don't mind the galley style, because that's very practical

in terms of movements and everything.

I can see myself here. But trying to plate food up, and pans, where do you put everything?

Mr Practical, what are your thoughts about the kitchen?

-If it was me, I'd like a bigger kitchen.

-Right.

But this is obviously quite practical.

Let's go upstairs.

'Well, practical is good, so maybe Angela could live with a smaller kitchen than she'd hoped for.

'As we head upstairs, there's more space than they might expect

'with three bedrooms,

'one of which could be used as a study and comes with a lovely cast-iron fireplace,

'and another which could be ideal for her son when he comes to stay.

'These share a very generously-sized bathroom with wood flooring.

'But we're heading for what could be Angela's sleeping domain.'

This is the biggest room.

-They use it as the master bedroom.

-This is quite a size.

-It is.

-Oh, a fireplace!

A beautiful Victorian cast-iron fireplace

-with the original ceramic tiles.

-It's lovely.

-I like the dual windows.

-Yes. Right.

Beautiful view over the freshly-mown field

-and the church.

-Lovely.

That view, every morning, you wouldn't need to close the curtains.

Just lovely.

'So a very good reaction upstairs.

'Outside, the space is sub-divided into a communal parking area

'which gives Angela room for two cars.

'And this leads to her lawn and patio

'with views of the Lune Valley.'

So this area is a bit more private.

-Hmm.

-But up front, it's definitely more open plan.

It's different. It's not ideal.

I could probably live with it.

If the house is right, then you never get everything, do you?

You don't ever get perfection.

There has to be some compromise somewhere.

So how much do you think the house costs?

I think it's at the top end of the budget.

I think - let's go for 245.

-Norman?

-I think about 210.

Well, you're not quite there. It's actually right at the top of your budget.

-It's £5 short of £250,000.

-I thought it would be near the top.

With the number of rooms, really.

I'm going to send you back in. Have a look round and I'll see you at the front.

-And we'll go from there.

-OK.

-Thank you.

Just within budget at a shade under £250,000,

this characterful Victorian terrace

is very conveniently located for Angela's commute.

The bits I love about the house, I love this room.

I love the fireplace. I love the large bathroom.

When I first went into the kitchen, I was concerned about the worktop.

It could be redesigned in some way to have more work space.

The big plusses are the three bedrooms.

The disappointment for me was that the kitchen was a little small.

Angela loves cooking. She tends to spread everything all over the place

when she's making some of her more intricate recipes.

They really are friendly in Lancashire.

Shared front gardens, shared back gardens,

you have to like your neighbours!

-Door knocker.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-You've spotted...

-That's an omen.

-There's a highland piper on the door!

-That means you have to buy the house, Angela!

But not before you've seen the others. Let's see house number two.

Lancashire possesses a rich and varied rural landscape

including the rivers and woodland of the Ribble Valley

which fall within the protected area of the Forest of Bowland.

At its heart lies the historic market town of Clitheroe

whose Norman castle is said to be the smallest in England from that era.

Because of its long-standing market tradition and the array of independent food retailers here,

Clitheroe should prove an ideal destination for avid cook Angela

to source ingredients once she makes her move here.

The countryside is well suited to producing one of Lancashire's renowned edible commodities, cheese.

At Beesley Farm, they've been making cheese to a family recipe

for 30 years, using milk from their own dairy herd.

We arranged for Angela and Norman to meet third-generation cheesemaker Graham Kirkham

to find out more about this traditional process.

What type of cattle do you have here? What breed?

We have Holstein Friesians, but more on the Friesian, really.

They're quite a big heavy cow.

The reason for that is the style of milk we want.

We want high-protein, high-fat milk.

What we need to make the style of cheese that we make.

We'll get some wellies and some whites on

and you can come into the dairy and make some fabulous Lancashire cheese.

-Great.

-Come on.

-Thank you.

Lancashire cheese-making can be traced back to the 12th century,

when King John granted Preston a royal charter to host an annual cheese fair.

So having gone through the process of taking the milk,

starter cultures, or good bacteria, are added, followed by rennet,

an enzyme that coagulates the milk.

The resulting mass is then cut into pieces

to begin the separation of the liquid, or whey,

from the milk solids, or curds.

These are then heated before being drained.

And it highlights the hand-made element of the process.

So is your cheese really crumbly?

What we make isn't a crumbly cheese

and I think, and I know, the true traditional Lancashire will be sort of really flaky and buttery.

It will crumble, but it'll be really soft and delicate.

Creamy but not heavy.

After draining, the cheese then goes through a peg mill

to be ground up into small pieces.

Salt is then added for taste and as a preservative

before the cheese goes back into the mill again.

Then the next stage, putting it into a mould, or "cheese pot".

It takes a gallon to produce a pound of cheese.

A gallon of milk, a pound of cheese.

So these old farms, they'd only have a few pints, a few gallons,

they'd no refrigeration, they couldn't keep milk.

But they can keep this. They can keep curd. Curd lasts for a few days.

After pressing, the cheese is left to mature for up to 24 months.

After which, the time is definitely ripe to sample some.

That should be really quite creamy, that.

Mmm.

It's not too heavy. It's still broken and fluffy.

Exactly what I'm looking for, that.

-Yeah.

-Really nice.

-What do you think?

-Gorgeous!

Having been given a taste of Lancashire's dairy farming heritage,

the search for Angela's creme-de-la-creme country house

continues.

For our second property, we've hopped over the border into Cumbria

to the hamlet of Old Hutton.

We're 20 minutes from Angela's job in Casterton

and within two hours' drive of her parents in West Yorkshire.

This peaceful community has a public hall and a church that dates back to the 1870s.

Our second house is a stone and slate cottage built in the 1900s

which has stunning views over towards the Lake District.

I am looking forward to showing you this one.

House number two.

Come right up to the gate so you get the full glory of it.

-Oh, wow!

-That's nice.

-That is gorgeous!

-Where's my cheque book?

-Ah! That's what we like!

Reminds me of my grandmother's place back in Ireland.

Aw! I think we've done well, then!

-Done very well, yes!

-Very good.

It's just stunning. It's just... Can we go in?

No. It's not for sale. It's that pre-fab over there!

Yes, let's go in!

This gem of a property seems to have Angela's heart soaring before we've even gone through the front door.

But I think she'll be even more impressed by what she finds inside.

Come in.

-Oh!

-What do you think?

-Bingo!

Bingo! That's what we wanted.

Yes, very nice indeed.

It's so attractive. It's so...

I love it.

They've done a lovely job of completely remodelling the cottage.

But keeping the original features.

A lovely oak floor, and a skimmed effect on the ceilings and walls.

Great, thick walls and also beautiful views.

Could you imagine moving straight in?

-Yes.

-Really?

-My bags are packed!

Wow! She's decided to move in already

and I think she'll find the kitchen is a cook's paradise.

Pa-dah!

It just gets better! Just gets better!

Incredible.

-I'm speechless. Absolutely speechless.

-Plenty of work surface.

No problem with work surface here! They've done it so well!

Everything's to my taste. I am...speechless!

I'll fill in a few details. A lovely big range, there.

Super for cooking.

And lovely solid wood surfaces throughout.

And these lovely drawers, the ones that go...

This is a dream kitchen. A dream kitchen.

-It is. And look at that view!

-I know.

-Magical.

-Oh!

-What's it making you think?

-It's making me want to be here now.

-That's what we like!

-Moving in now. Tomorrow!

Angela's love affair with this house continues.

To seal the deal, I'm going to show her a bedroom

which could take sleeping to a whole new level.

Oh! That's a surprise. I wasn't expecting this.

-Look up there.

-An office upstairs.

-Yeah.

-I wonder why they haven't put the bed up there?

-Ah, you're one ahead of me.

I was thinking, cos there's only two bedrooms in this property.

I was thinking of this as the second one.

But I was thinking, when Anthony comes down to visit - up to visit -

you could have a bed up there all made up

and then have this as your study. What do you think, Norman?

Yes, very good. I'd put the bed upstairs.

Beautiful views again.

And, behind that door, is a lovely little en-suite shower room.

-Tick?

-Yes, tick!

-So that's downstairs.

-OK.

-Let's go upstairs.

'The positivity continues.

'We make our way upstairs through a latched door in the sitting room

'and get Angela's take on the main bedroom.'

This is your bedroom. And what a bedroom it is!

-Great! Oh!

-Oh, that's nice.

That is lovely.

More than nice, Norman, it's magnificent!

It's more than nice. Lovely views as well.

-Look at that view!

-On a clear day, you can see Scarfell Pike.

-Yes.

I'm there. My bed's there.

I've got some old-fashioned furniture which would be in keeping with the style.

There's a lovely bathroom here as well.

It's effectively your en-suite.

That's nice because it's like a completely private area.

I don't think I'd change anything.

'This cottage has passed the test with flying colours.

'Now, while the garden is a small one,

'it makes up for its size with those incredible views.'

Here's your lovely little bijou garden

which is largely just a viewing post for that.

-Yes.

-Stunning.

-Stunning.

That's the beginning of the Lake District.

Is it a shared garden, because there's a gate through to next door.

That's the Pennine Way that goes through your...

-That takes you to your car port, where you park your car.

-Right!

This is your garden. This is the house. What's the price?

This has got to be over budget, I think.

Let's go 262.

-Norman?

-I think because it's got two bedrooms, rather than three,

I would think 240.

240.

This property, in its current state,

is on the market for...

249,950.

-Where's my cheque book?

-I was nearest!

You were nearest. You win. But you don't win the property. You have to buy it.

-That's good.

-But you're in a position to buy it.

-Yes.

-That's good. Great!

-Why don't you go in and explore.

Decide where you're going to put things!

-I'll see you out the front.

-Great! Thank you!

(Yes!)

That is great.

It's a beautiful house. I think she should move straight in.

Although we do still have the mystery house to go.

Priced within Angela's budget of £250,000,

this traditional cottage is a tasteful mix of old and new

and seems to fit the vision she has of her dream home.

When I decided I was moving to the countryside,

I had sort of a picture and this is nearly it. This is as near as it gets, I think!

The only thing missing is a rose round the door,

but that can soon be planted!

I loved the living room. I loved the kitchen.

And the bathroom.

Really good. It's very homely.

I would think this matches Angela's requirements quite well.

It's a beautiful spot here. Very peaceful.

I love this spot.

-I think you'll be very happy here.

-I think I would as well.

But we've got one more house tomorrow.

So let's rest up and get ready for the mystery house.

As the sun sets over the beautiful countryside of the Lancashire borders,

our first day of house-hunting ends on a very positive note.

School bursar Angela has a new job in Casterton

and has £250,000 to make the move from the city of Edinburgh

to the Lancashire countryside.

She's brought along dad Norman to give some practical guidance.

So far, they've been impressed by the charms of a Victorian terraced house

then bowled over by our beautiful stone cottage.

But coming up, the mystery house is like something from a fairytale!

It really is Rapunzel-like, isn't it?

And I experience life as a worker in a Victorian cotton mill.

I think we may have painted ourselves into a corner of property excellence yesterday,

with that house, because house number two seemed to really hit the mark

for Angela and for Norman.

She loved it. She was practically getting her cheque book out.

So the mystery house provides us with a bit of a challenge.

We need to do something a bit different, so we thought we'd risk it

and take Angela to a property that is far out in the countryside.

Nice and rural, but not on the edge of a village, as she requested.

Also it's filled with period charm.

Because the one thing that puzzled me about house number two

was how was Angela, who has a good eye for colour and style

going to put her mark on something that was so perfect?

It's a risk, but we like risks on this show!

For our mystery property, we're still in south Cumbria.

But we've travelled further west, close to the village of Milnthorpe.

We're just outside Angela's commute time to Casterton,

which is 21 minutes away.

It's around 107 miles from her parents' home in Yorkshire.

Milnthorpe has several old hostelries to choose from,

and hosts a market in the square every Friday.

It's home to a variety of local shops, including a butcher and a baker.

Our mystery property is 2.5 miles to the south

in the hamlet of Hale.

While Angela was hoping for a detached property,

we don't think she'll mind having neighbours here when she sees what we have in store for her.

A converted cow shed, or shippen,

which dates back to the 1700s in a farmstead development of six houses.

Oh, wow!

So, in from the lane,

you come into this lovely cobbled courtyard.

The property I want to show you is this one

with the castellated turret.

You've got your private car space there,

and three communal spaces you can share when people come to visit.

What are your first impressions?

-It's fantastic.

-Very interesting. Very attractive.

-Yeah.

-Very attractive.

-I won't say nice. It's better than nice!

Better than nice!

But I can't wait to see the inside of the rooms.

Having your own turret! Never had one of those before!

-Queen of the castle!

-Yeah!

'Angela seems intrigued and excited by the distinctive exterior of our mystery house.

'And I think when she sees the period features inside,

'she may be even more bowled over.'

Past the turret, straight in to the kitchen.

Oh, that was a surprise!

-What do you think?

-It's big enough.

Yes, plenty big enough. Plenty of work space.

Lots of character. It's got beams.

It has got beams, yes.

Bay window, enough room for a table. That's good.

But compared to yesterday. That was a real zowie kitchen.

That was lovely. That was very modern.

And very new. But I think I prefer the character of this

and the style of the building. It's very different.

-Does it feel like the sort of house where you'd want to live?

-It feels lovely.

Shall we go and look upstairs?

'So, our mystery house may be nudging ahead of house number two.

'However, it does have an unusual layout.

'On the ground floor is the guest bedroom

which comes with its own en-suite.

While upstairs is where we find the sitting room.'

Up the turret, into the main living space.

-Beams.

-Beams.

-Small windows. Lots of character.

That's wonderful, isn't it?

And look. For the first time a proper functioning open fire.

Great!

And there's a door there.

A door with a lovely balcony. So you could sit out there in the summer.

-Really is Rapunzel-like!

-Mm! Norman?

Plenty of room. Take out some of the bigger furniture.

I'm surprised there's an open fire in the building upstairs.

Again, historical. Shippens, people lived above the animals.

The animals below, and they'd live up here.

-So they needed the fire.

-Oh.

That's great.

Then you would sleep right next door.

'The period charm of this place is continuing to cast its spell over Angela and Norman.

'And there's more to be found in the master bedroom.'

So an en-suite there and you come into a good sized bedroom.

It is a good size, isn't it?

You could have a king size bed in here, no problem.

-Yes, absolutely. Norman, what do you think?

-Yes, I love it.

-Plenty of room.

-What's nice is there's real historical bones to the property.

And just behind the unit there,

there's a horse shoe stuck into the beam,

which they used to do in agricultural buildings to bring good luck.

Great. Everything helps!

-Yeah.

-I like this room.

-Definitely.

-Yes, I like it as well.

-I think the whole property has a very nice feel to it.

-It's great.

'Could it be that this property has won Angela's heart?

'We've just got the outside to see.

'This conversion has a really pretty private rear garden and patio.

'And among the communal areas, there's a field which is shared with the other properties.'

I have to say this is probably the crowning glory of this property for me.

-Because it's by far the nicest garden I've shown you.

-It is.

-It's the biggest as well.

-The biggest, the most enclosed.

-Still manageable.

-Easy maintenance.

Easy maintenance. Then here in the quite large triangle of land,

there's a kind of communal orchard.

It's a bit overgrown, so you might want to elect yourself the orchard keeper!

Buy a goat to eat the grass!

-Yes. He is practical, isn't he?

-Yes, he is.

Well, that's the package. What's the price?

This is a difficult one, because it's still only two bedrooms.

But it's got the turret, it's got the lovely courtyard.

An overhang for parking.

I will be going... Oooh.

260?

-Norman?

-I'll go with, because of the same reasons, 250. Full budget.

Well, this property is actually on the market for exactly the same price as the last one.

249,950.

I win!

-You win again!

-So why don't you go in, have a look around.

You can check out the downstairs bedroom and the communal field.

If you go out and around, you'll find it.

-OK.

-OK.

-See you later.

Well, look'ee there!

Mystery house a contender, too.

Cat among pigeons.

The mystery house was certainly a mystery. Who else has got a turret?

It's cosy, it's very cute.

The contrast between house number two, which was very modern,

and this house which is very cottagey,

I've got a tough decision to make, whether to go for the modern or the cottagey character.

It's going to be hard.

I thought it was out of this world.

It's been very well modernised,

probably from its original boring origins.

They've done a fantastic job.

Wow, they have swallows here in this courtyard. Beautiful.

-You've got swallows in your courtyard.

-Really?

-I'm saying "your" courtyard. You haven't bought it yet!

-It is my courtyard!

That's a good sign. It means there's going to be a summer because there's more than one.

Right. Let's go somewhere and have some peace and quiet

so you can digest all the properties you've seen.

And then we can make some decisions.

-OK.

-Come with me.

From Cumbria, we're now firmly back in the county of Lancashire,

which quickly came to dominate the cotton trade

with the onset of factory mass production in the 1760s.

One cotton mill with one steam engine

could power 50,000 spindles,

the equivalent output of 200,000 people spinning by hand.

And of the 35 steam-driven engines

in 18th-century British cotton mills,

29 could be found in Lancashire.

The golden era of the mills lay firmly in the Victorian period.

So I visited Queen Street Textile Museum in Burnley

to see the world's only operational 19th-century steam-powered weaving mill.

I started by finding out more about the intricacies involved in weaving

from Graham Myers.

-Graham.

-Yes.

That hall through there is amazing.

Deafening and amazing.

So what's going on here?

-You're pulling the threads...

-Each individual warp thread

-has to be pulled through.

-You've got the warp and the weft. I remember that from school.

You remember, weft is left, right. Left, weft.

-Very good.

-Warp is front to back.

On here, we've got each individual warp thread

has to be pulled through.

Once it's been pulled through the correct eye,

it has to be pulled through the dent in the reed.

The dent is the gap in-between. It's basically like a metal comb.

-You have to do that by hand for every single thread?

-By hand.

-How many are there?

-And it has to be in the correct order.

On this particular one, there's 1,330.

-And one man did that?

-Yes.

Now, mostly, in the weaving shed, this is actually wool.

It's for another loom that we've got.

The calico that we do in the weaving is 2,600 warp threads.

The Queen Street mill specialised in producing cotton calico,

known as grey cloth.

Steam would enter the 500 horsepower steam engine from the boiler room below

and build to a pressure of around 150lbs per square inch.

Two pistons would drive the flywheel

which in turn would spin the shafts to power the looms.

This engine was built in the nearby town of Nelson

and was in operation until the day the factory closed in 1982.

And if I thought weaving was hard,

I hadn't reckoned on engineer Terry Hutton

putting me to work in the boiler room!

Small whip back. Open the door.

-That's hot!

-It certainly is.

And it's basically a swing.

That's amazing.

That is an incredible inferno!

-Would it be just one man feeding it?

-Just one man all day.

He'd have been down here from six in the morning

right through until six o'clock at night including Saturdays.

It was imperative they had the steam.

He had to get the steam to start that engine in the morning.

Amazing that it closed down in 1982.

They were still using this machinery?

They were using everything that you'll see today.

It's exactly what was put in in the beginning

from 1894.

The mill started production in 1895.

The big corporate people weren't interested in buying a mill like this

cos the investment needed to fetch it up to the 20th century

would have been enormous.

So it just plodded along. And because it was in a village probably it were just forgot.

The way I look at it, all I am is just the custodian for the next generation.

If I don't do the job properly,

then it goes.

The mill cost £20,000 to build,

which was raised by selling off 4,000 five pound shares.

Many workers were shareholders

and passed them down through the generations of their families.

In fact, when the mill closed in 1982,

many of its employees were related to those original mill workers.

And this is the mill lodge or reservoir that holds the water

that feeds the engine that makes the steam that turns those wheels

that gave me a headache because they were very, very loud!

But it is an amazing slice of Lancashire heritage.

I need to go and find Angela to find out about those houses.

Well, here we are, in Cumbria.

This is Arnside. We've been dotting back and forth across the border, Cumbria and Lancashire.

But I wanted to gather your thoughts about the houses as we've seen them.

The first house, seems like a long time ago,

but it was that Victorian terraced house that we saw, very close to work.

Lovely location. Nice village.

It had the lovely woodburning stove in the central room.

-You loved that room.

-I did. But I'm not sure you should buy a house based on one room!

Although you could!

What about house number two. That had a wow factor from the two of you.

House two was a stunning house from the outside and the inside.

It had been renovated to a very high specification.

A beautiful big kitchen and the use of space in the back room

with the loft area.

The location wasn't ideal for that property.

It was sort of out of the town, out of the village.

There were a couple of neighbours nearby,

but nothing really you could walk to.

I like house two, with the big thick walls.

I like the decor. It was beautiful.

But for the amount of stuff Angela's got, I don't think there was enough storage space.

What are your thoughts on the mystery house?

The mystery house was just... That had the wow factor.

It had the turret, the courtyard, a lovely community.

-And the house itself?

-That had the wow factor as well.

It had the little balcony, the door from the lounge upstairs.

And the door from the bedroom downstairs outside.

And it had the best garden by far.

But the little courtyard with the houses round it was just lovely.

Norman, did you notice any negatives. Any practical things to worry about?

No. None at all. It's surprising. Normally I find something,

but I couldn't fault it.

In terms of what happens next, what are your thoughts?

I'm going to go back to the house with the turret,

with my son. He's up next week.

So I'll take him along. I wouldn't like to buy somewhere without his seeing it.

Although I'm very tempted to phone them tomorrow and put an offer in!

You're in a unique situation. You've sold your flat in Edinburgh.

-You've got the money in the bank.

-You've done an amazing job.

Any of the three houses would have been a good choice.

But the mystery house, you certainly pulled it out of the bag with that one!

-I'm pleased.

-We've had a great time.

Yes, it was excellent. I loved it.

That was like a lightning bolt falling out of a clear blue sky.

We were all convinced that Angela was signed and sealed on property two,

and then, clear as a bell, she went for the mystery house.

That's what makes this show so appealing.

That and coming to amazing bits of the countryside like here.

We don't often come to the Lancashire borders

and I think we should come more often.

So join us next time for more Escape to the Country.

Angela is clearly a woman of her word

as she made an offer on the mystery house which was accepted.

So we wish her well as she settles in to her new home.

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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