Worcestershire Escape to the Country

It's said these gas lamps were the inspiration

for one of the nation's favourite authors

who created a fantasy kingdom

that has charmed children and adults for generations.

Find out where we are in just a moment.

On today's show, I'll be helping a career-driven couple

move closer to their family and friends in the countryside.

But early in our house hunt, it's a garage

that makes them giddy with excitement.

-Come on in.

-Wow!

-Oh-ho!

Jason's dream come true!

However, excitement quickly turns to trepidation.

It's shared. How do you feel about sharing a community?

I'm not sure.

We're in Worcestershire. These Victorian gas lamps in Great Malvern

were the inspiration for CS Lewis,

who used them as the gateway to Narnia

in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

But there was a cloud hanging over their future

until some local activists found a way to save them.

Later, I'll be meeting them and shedding light on how they did it.

But first, let's take a look at some other iconic sights in this county.

Worcestershire is bordered by Herefordshire to the west,

Shropshire to the north and Gloucestershire to the south.

On the western fringes of the county are the Malvern Hills.

A designated area of outstanding natural beauty,

from which there are incredible views

across the Vale of Evesham, towards the Cotswolds.

Located in the Vale of Evesham is the market town of Pershore,

which lies on the banks of the River Avon.

It's prized for its wealth of Georgian buildings and its abbey,

a fine example of 12th-century architecture.

To the east of the county, the Cotswold village of Broadway

is widely regarded as one of England's prettiest,

and has long been associated with the arts.

Composer Edward Elgar and painter John Singer Sargent

were both attracted by Broadway's honey-coloured stone houses

and gained inspiration from the beauty

of the surrounding Worcestershire countryside.

Over the last few years, property prices in Worcestershire have dipped very slightly

in comparison to Gloucestershire and Warwickshire.

But still, the average price for a detached house stands at £260,000,

which is £6,000 above the national average.

The reason why it's such an attractive county to buy

is because it's got very good travel links to Bristol and Birmingham

and it's full of beautiful architectural gems. Take a look.

If classic country stone appeals to you,

there's a wealth of options in the honey-coloured cottages of the Cotswolds,

which are located in the east of the county.

Many of these date back to the 17th century

and can typically cost upwards of £300,000

for a two-bedroom example set in a pretty village.

But if grand proportions are high on your wishlist,

than the large Georgian and Victorian style family homes

towards the west of Worcestershire provide an attractive option.

Mainly built from the local red brick,

prices typically start around £500,000

for a detached four-bedroom home.

Some artful bricks and mortar there,

but is it enough to lure today's buyers to Worcestershire? Let's meet them.

Professional couple Jason and Sian

currently live in this semi-detached house

on a busy road in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

But town living was never the long-term plan

as a place to raise their two young children.

We moved down here five years ago to progress our careers.

And we really want to get back now

to living in the Worcestershire area where we met

so that we can enjoy having our family and friends around us.

Sian and I grew up

in a more rural environment in a small village.

Um...and we just want that for the children, really.

With strong ties back in the Midlands,

trying to maintain a long-distance social life

has really taken its toll.

We're spending a lot of time,

and have done over the last few years, on the motorway.

I get very jealous when you hear a couple of mates saying,

"We went on a fantastic bike ride. You should have come."

I wish I could. But it's 120 miles away.

It would be my dream to get back with my girly friends

and do netball, aerobics and zumba

and anything else they're doing on a weekly basis

and start to get fit again

and start to enjoy being back in my social group.

And while Sian's burning calories,

it looks like Jason intends to burn more rubber.

Sian's not happy about it, but I've got two motorbikes.

I don't really get chance to ride one of them.

I'd like to be able to enjoy that passion a lot more.

Their house has been on the market for a year,

but with a pressing educational deadline,

they're desperate to get moving.

The most important thing is that Faith starts school in September.

And we really want to start her in the community

that we're going to live in for our long-term future.

And that long-term future is all dependent on their finances.

The budget for the move is £400,000.

Sian and Jason want us to concentrate our search

towards the centre of the county in the villages surrounding Worcester.

I caught up with them to find out more about what they're looking for.

Welcome to Worcestershire, you two.

I understand why you want to come back. I know you've got family here

and support networks for the two little ones.

I wanted to know about the house, particularly.

What is it that you're dreaming of?

We want more space so that when we have friends and family come to stay

that it's not quite so disruptive.

There's a nice spare room for guests to stay in.

More workspace for Sian.

I work in the living room, so it would be lovely to have...

With two little ones running around.

If they're not at nursery, they can be in the background.

What about location? How many miles do you want to be from Worcester?

We've kind of set ourselves a radius of around ten miles, perhaps.

We could do with being relatively close to the motorway network

for Sian to get down to London for work.

I'm an electrician, so I can pretty much go anywhere.

Always need electricians everywhere.

I know your budget is around £400,000.

Would you look at things that are pegged a little higher?

We hope to get a cheeky offer.

We're finding people are putting cheeky offers in on our property,

so it's making us think that maybe we should be looking

a little bit above our price range

and then hopefully being able to negotiate a good deal on a property.

-So you want to pay £400,000, but maybe...

-Look a little bit higher.

We've got some lovely properties.

I'm worried about you going blue in the cold, so let's go.

-Come with me.

-OK.

Sian and Jason have a top budget of £400,000.

Although they're happy to look at properties a bit more expensive

and negotiate hard to secure their dream home.

For their money, they'd like a quirky or characterful period house,

a minimum of three bedrooms,

plenty of off-road parking,

a garage or outbuilding for Jason's bikes,

and it needs to be within easy reach of good local schools.

We have got some fantastic houses to show them,

but before I reveal the price of each,

I'll be asking them to take a guess.

The final property is the mystery house.

And with today's choice, it might give our buyers

more community than they ever dreamt of.

Our first house is in Ripple, the most southerly parish in the county.

12 miles south of Worcester.

Ripple is situated right in the heart of the Malvern Hills.

And back in 680 AD, it was known as Rippel,

which comes from the Norwegian word

meaning strip of woodland or coppice.

The local pub offers beers and ales, together with home-made food,

and they hold regular theme nights for a sociable evening out.

The house I'm showing our buyers is a detached cottage

set right in the heart of the village.

Come off the road a bit and you can see the full extent

of this first property.

-Very cute.

-Cute?

-Mm. Lovely.

-Very nice. Yeah.

It's a great village. There's a great school.

We're a mile and a half away from he M50, so it's well placed.

I don't want to keep you in the rain too long, but any thoughts yet?

It's pretty, very pretty. It's lovely.

It's nice. It's got a lot of character.

Let's go inside.

This cottage certainly looks picture perfect from the outside,

but let's see what they make of the interior.

This is a really good example

of how an extension has really helped the property.

Because the end wall would have been here.

They've taken it out in the last two years.

It's made it really light.

There's a nice log burner.

Nice and cosy. Very good.

This is quite modern and...

Comfortable, yeah. Definitely.

I can see it working for us.

There's a great deal of character here, mixed with a modern twist.

And it seems Jason and Sian are already visualising themselves

enjoying cosy nights in front of the fire.

This is the dining room.

So, do you use a formal dining room? Is that something you use?

It's nice to have the choice, have that separation.

-It could be a study-cum-playroom for the children, couldn't it?

-Yeah.

Let's look at the all-important kitchen.

-Lovely doors. The whole house is full of lovely doors.

-Really nice.

So here we have the kitchen extension.

-This is lovely.

-This is nice.

-Yeah.

Within a limited historical plot, I think they've done a great job.

The owners have really extended it and made it a lovely family home.

-Because it flows very nicely.

-Yes.

So lovely wooden floors.

This would have been the end,

and you've got the utility room with all your white goods,

doors out into the garden and a downstairs loo.

Oh, OK. This all works really well.

Right. Let's look upstairs.

On the first floor, there are three bedrooms,

which include two doubles and a single.

There's also a small study area and a family bathroom.

But it's time to check out the master.

This is nice.

-Upstairs, you only have three bedrooms, I'm afraid.

-OK.

Here you've got a washroom.

You could extend it out and put a shower room in here.

There's a family bathroom right next door.

-Lovely.

-It's a nice big room.

-It is.

-Nice big, bright room.

-Yeah.

-Nice tall ceilings.

It's got a nice feel to it.

We thought this was a great property because it's got great bones.

We were just worried it might not have quite enough space upstairs.

This is bigger than our bedroom at the minute.

There's one extra room downstairs than what we have now,

so it works in our favour from that prospective.

I'll give you some time to really explore the nooks and crannies,

-but let's go down to the garden.

-OK.

The proportions are certainly adding up for Jason and Sian.

Outside, there's parking for several cars,

and leading off the gravel driveway is a landscaped garden.

So come on out. Ooo, it's chilly out here!

So the garden goes back...it's not huge.

What we haven't given you, Jason, is somewhere for your motorcycles.

Yes. Maybe we could do something with it.

-We could perhaps build a garage down there.

-Yeah. Maybe.

You'd probably lose a bit of light on the extension,

but you could feasibly come back into the garden.

You'd lose more of a garden,

but you would also give yourself a bit of privacy.

If you built a nice brick-built garage here,

you wouldn't have everyone looking in.

It's worth thinking about because it's a lovely house.

-It depends on, of course, the money.

-Yes.

How much do you think this is on the market for?

I think £399,950.

Right at the top. What about you, Jason?

I think it's probably on...for around £380,000.

OK. So this property

is on the market for £360,000.

Ah! OK.

-I'll send you in for a look and I'll meet you out the front.

-Thank you.

That is great, actually.

Really, they need to sell, and they haven't sold for quite a while.

If they could accept an offer

and take the blow of less money in Marlow,

this might be the thing.

Our first house is on the market for £360,000,

which is well under budget,

and leaves Jason money to build his garage.

It has plenty of character features, including a wood burner.

There's also a large contemporary kitchen.

Upstairs has three bedrooms,

and it's in the heart of the village, close to a good school.

This could be Faith's room, couldn't it?

-She'd love it.

-She'd love it in here.

We can see the church from here.

It's nice overlooking the village.

When I saw the house with the clock on the side, which is really pretty,

and the brickwork, it just looked very pretty

and it looked the perfect kind of house for us.

The garden is a lot smaller than we have at present.

And the big minus point for me is there's no garage.

But having said that, the price of the property

is a lot lower than our maximum price range.

Country folk always leave the door open. Guys? There you are.

-You all done?

-Yes.

-Yes.

Can you pull the door to?

-And we'll head off and see the next house.

-OK.

The Malvern Hills are described as a mountain range in miniature.

And the eight-mile ridge contains some of the oldest rocks in Britain.

It's these hills that have inspired

many musicians and writers over the centuries,

the most famous being Sir Edward Elgar,

who was born near the famous spa town of Great Malvern.

The cottage where he spent the first two years of his life

is now the site of the Elgar Birthplace Museum.

The composer was a keen cyclist,

and, as Jason and Sian enjoy riding about on their bikes,

earlier in the week, we arranged for them to meet Jon Goldswain,

a senior guide at the museum,

to discover more about why Elgar found this area so irresistible.

This is the room where the great man was born 155 years ago.

This was obviously two rooms in those days.

It seems rather large to be just one room.

There was probably a partition here.

-One window there and one window there.

-That's it.

-This was Elgar's desk.

-Wow!

This is exactly as it would have been,

including these pens which have a five-point nib.

Which Lady Elgar used to rule the score paper.

And she wrote in the instruments.

Over in the corner there,

you will see an example of one of his gramophones.

He was the first composer to put his own music onto disc.

Obviously, his music writing,

a lot of it came from his experiences

-around Worcestershire and in sight of the Malvern Hills.

-Indeed.

Elgar lived in over 24 different houses throughout his life.

And although he is often portrayed as a restless soul,

many were in the Malvern area.

In the late 19th century, he retreated

to the surrounding Malvern Hills and rented Birchwood Lodge.

This lodge was ideal as it allowed Elgar

to work in a south-facing room on the first floor,

from which he gathered inspiration from the views of the Malvern Hills.

The last part of the tour takes Jason and Sian

to Elgar's final resting place at St Wulstan's Church,

which is situated on the slopes of the Malvern Hills,

and where he is buried alongside his wife, Alice.

There he is, bless him.

It's actually Lady Elgar's headstone, isn't it?

Yes, indeed. Only a simple funeral service.

There was no music. No music whatsoever.

-Really?

-Really?

-Yeah. It's really odd.

-That's ironic, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Very peaceful here.

-Yeah.

-It's a beautiful spot.

-Yeah.

-At the foot of the Malvern Hills, as well.

-Exactly.

Which is where he would want to be.

It's not hard to see why Elgar was so drawn to this lovely scenery.

Let's hope it provides the same allure for Jason and Sian

as we continue our property hunt.

We're driving north to Menith Wood,

about 15 miles northwest of Worcester.

Menith Wood is a small village with a big heritage.

And historical records show that people have lived here

since pre-Domesday times.

The village itself has two main focal points.

The chapel hall and the local pub.

There's a large green on the edge of the countryside

which is enjoyed by walkers exploring the great outdoors.

And our second property is a converted schoolhouse

in an attractive setting with its own pond.

-Here we are.

-I say! Very nice.

-House number two.

-Lovely.

-It used to be the Halfpenny School for the village.

-Oh, OK.

-So this bit at the end

-was schoolrooms for the local children.

-Yes.

But a beautiful garden, lovely location.

On a summer's day, it's amazing.

-Today is a bit chilly.

-Yes.

-But nice.

-Beautiful.

-Lovely feel to it. Lovely surroundings, for sure.

Well, let's get ourselves in.

It may be a blustery day, but it seems the wind

hasn't dampened the spirits of our buyers as we head inside.

So straight into the sitting room. This used to be the schoolrooms.

These were the teaching rooms for the Halfpenny School.

So it was obviously opened up.

-This is an extension that was put in in the '60s.

-OK.

-It has this lovely Victorian bay window.

-It's beautiful.

-We've got this lovely inglenook fireplace.

-Yeah. That's lovely.

-It's nice.

-So a different vibe from the first one, or...?

Um...I think, yeah. I think it's more olde worlde.

It feels a little bit more cosy and homely.

The kitchen is equally impressive.

Come on in.

It's a proper old school country kitchen.

Oh, lovely! That's a nice range.

-We've always wanted a range.

-Very good.

-It's lovely.

-Beautiful.

You can see around here, it's got a lovely sunny corner.

That's really nice.

There's a hatch through here into the dining room.

There's a formal dining room the other side of that.

There is the possibility you could knock through and have it open.

-Yes. Open plan.

-That would be good, as well.

-Let's have a peek upstairs.

-OK.

There's a really warming mood to this tour so far.

And on the ground floor, just off the kitchen,

is a large utility and handy boot room.

Moving upstairs, there are three double bedrooms.

And we're heading to the one that could be theirs.

Have a look at the master bedroom. Quite a good size.

-Nice size, eh?

-It is, isn't it?

Yeah. Lovely. Slightly larger than ours now.

Again, it's got great views.

All the bedrooms upstairs have great views.

-It's lovely.

-Across the countryside.

-It would be heaven to have a room this size.

-Yeah, it would.

One reason we brought you here is not just because it's a beautiful house,

but because...the outside space.

Your motorcycles won't know what's hit them.

I'm looking forward to this.

Ah, the anticipation.

This master bedroom would give our buyers the space they crave.

And also on this floor is a good-sized family bathroom.

Time to see what I have in store for Jason.

-Oh! Wow!

-Come on in.

-Jason's dream come true.

-Toy room.

-Toy room.

-Wow!

And this is only half of it. There's the same again downstairs.

-There's a double-level garage.

-No way!

-Oh, wow!

-Really?

-Exactly.

-Fantastic!

There are some double doors downstairs, you can drive in.

I was just thinking that area there,

if you boarded that off, that could be a perfect study for me.

I hate to break it to you, but if you didn't want two garages,

there is a big garage downstairs,

this whole top could be developed.

So this could be like a studio flat or an apartment or something.

-Snooker table.

-Yes.

It's all coming alive.

It's worrying me as to whether we can afford it.

Let's go out in the garden and talk about that.

Jason and Sian are keen on this former schoolhouse,

and it offers them everything they asked for, but at what price?

So it's quite a nice big garden, lovely location,

lovely house, lots of outbuildings. How much do you think it is?

Go on, you go first.

I'd guess...

£475,000.

I think more like £450,000.

£450,000. Well, that's a relief.

-It's actually on at £425,000.

-OK.

-That's interesting.

-I was miles away.

So over your budget, but, um...

-It ticks all our boxes.

-Yeah.

-Have another look around. There's rooms we haven't seen.

-OK.

This converted property is over budget of £425,000.

Jason and Sian will need to do some extra-hard negotiating

if they want to make it their next home.

It has a great deal of character,

including an inglenook with wood-burning stove,

a country kitchen, three bedrooms, a large garden

and outbuildings for Jason's bikes, with an upstairs space

that could be converted into an office for Sian.

Oh, look at that view!

Wow. That's superb.

That's lovely.

-Even this is...

-Really nice!

It's a much, much bigger room than we've got as a main bedroom at home.

It's got a real comfort feeling about it.

You go into the lounge and the beam

and the colouring in there.

It's just got a real comfort, homely feel about it.

The garaging and outbuildings, um...

I think, really kind of won us over.

We've only got three bedrooms upstairs.

Having that garage space, it's such a large space over there,

we could easily turn some of it into a guest suite.

Overall, this is perfect.

It's an absolutely wonderful property.

It's nerve-wracking showing them this because I know for a fact

that the vendor is keen to get the full price.

And he's had lots of viewings.

There's a lot of pressure on you if you want to buy this property.

-Yes.

-Yes. We love it. It's really nice.

-We need to get your house sold lickety-split.

-Quickly.

Yes. Shall we go somewhere warm and reflect?

-Good idea.

-Sounds good.

As the sun sets over the Worcestershire hills,

there's time for our buyers

to mull over their first day of house hunting.

Jason and Sian from Marlow, Buckinghamshire,

want to reconnect with family and friends in the Worcestershire countryside.

So far, they've seen a delightful detached cottage full of character,

but it was a converted schoolhouse that really set their hearts racing

as it had a garage beyond Jason's wildest dreams.

-Come on in!

-Wow!

Could the mystery house shed more light on their property search?

-Oh, lovely!

-Very nice, isn't it?

-Wow!

-Lovely.

I find enlightenment among the Malvern Hills.

-Ooo!

-There they go!

Wow!

I am feeling Sian and Jason's pain this morning

because they really loved that house yesterday afternoon

and they really want to move in.

That's only going to come to pass if a series of things happen.

If they can sell their house in Marlow top dollar,

if the vendor here in Worcestershire will sell at an offer,

and if it all happens pretty fast.

Then they might get the house.

However, we do have the mystery house lined up.

That gives them everything they want plus a little bit more,

if, and there's always an if,

if they don't mind having some neighbours.

How are you feeling this morning?

-Good.

-Very well, thank you.

-Nice and rested.

-Well rested.

It was a long day yesterday.

Have you had any thoughts about house number two

and how you might purchase it?

We still love it.

It's a fantastic property.

I think the biggest question mark is,

is it a little bit too far out from Worcester,

the motorway, grandparents, that kind of thing.

We've got one more to go, the mystery house.

What do you think the mystery house might involve?

-We've been talking about this over dinner and breakfast.

-Yeah.

I think it's going to be something like a barn conversion.

I think it might be an old oast house or something like that.

-Well, off we go. Let's go and see this mystery house.

-OK.

-OK.

For our mystery property, we're going to the village of Broadwas,

just six miles west of Worcester.

It's a pleasing location with a lovely church

and it's close to the River Teme.

The local country pub is an ideal spot

for our buyers to take in the glorious Worcestershire countryside.

Jason and Sian said they'd like to be in the heart of the community,

so we've taken them at their word

and brought them here, where they will definitely get to know their neighbours.

-The mystery!

-Hey-hey-hey!

-Wow!

-Here we are.

So it's a set of converted barns.

Actually, it was an oast house

and there's a hop barn and various stables and outhouses

that were all converted as a prize-winning conversion.

And you will have one of them.

-Yes.

-OK.

-It's lovely.

-It's very pretty.

Obviously, it's shared. How do you feel about sharing a community?

Not sure.

I think it depends how many other boxes it takes, really.

I think the children would probably get an awful lot out of it.

We're five miles from Martley, which I believe is where you grew up.

That's right. Yes. I was born just a few miles up the road

and I went to school in Martley, as well.

So coming full circle.

-Actually, there's a very good school around here.

-Yes.

The one thing is, we are on a road. It is an "A" road.

Is that a problem?

-We'd probably prefer not to be, but...

-Of course.

But it's fairly quiet.

We don't really notice it.

-Let's look inside.

-OK.

Hm. Jason and Sian seem a little bit reserved.

Fingers crossed we can change that.

-Come on in.

-Very nice.

Hey!

-Wow! It's lovely.

-Yeah.

This is perhaps the architectural highlight of the building.

Because you can see that the brick-built hop house there,

and then the more oat, sort of, beamy older barn part at the front.

-It's beautiful.

-Lovely.

This is the kitchen.

Excellent.

-Oh, lovely!

-Very nice, isn't it?

-Wow! Yeah.

It's probably the biggest that we've shown you.

-It's a great big space.

-Huge.

What is lovely is these beautiful big arches.

-This would have been where they brought in the hops.

-Yes.

-Just what we've been looking for, isn't it?

-Lovely.

So let's continue downstairs.

That was the reaction I was hoping for.

Also attached to the kitchen is a handy utility room.

But now it's time to check out the main reception.

Here's the sitting room.

-Oh, this is nice.

-It's nice.

So it's a smaller room. Come in a bit.

You can see it goes around the corner. They've boxed off there.

It actually goes through into another room, a small study.

They sealed it off to make it two separate rooms

to give them an extra guest bedroom.

But you could open that up and have that as a playroom.

It is an L-shaped room. The kids could play down there.

It's quite good having it as a separate study, from my perspective.

What about the vibe? Because often with these barn conversions,

you feel comfortable or you don't.

I really like the feel of it. Definitely.

Because I like the beams and the traditional feel of it all.

So from that perspective, it's working right.

-Right. Let's look upstairs.

-OK.

The interior of this house, with its traditional feel,

is definitely to Jason and Sian's taste.

But will the good vibes continue as we head to where they might sleep?

-So there's three bedrooms on this floor.

-Oh, lovely!

This is the biggest on the floor.

-And that's a nice little ensuite.

-Very nice.

-This is great, isn't?

-Yeah.

So in some ways, I think the upstairs is almost

more successful than the downstairs.

It's very simple. The beams.

-Nice big square rooms.

-It really works.

How do you feel about the space for your study?

Space for working?

Well, that room downstairs would be adequate for me

from a working point of view.

You know what, I'm going to stop you there.

-Because I don't want it to just be adequate.

-OK.

-I want it to be amazing.

-Right.

-Come with me.

-Oh!

There are two other bedrooms here and a good-sized family bathroom.

At the top of another flight of stairs is a surprise for Sian.

-See, I envisage this as your study.

-Oh-ho-ho!

-Wow!

-Hey!

-Wow!

-Wow!

-Excellent!

-Little steps up to the window for the view.

-Fantastic.

When you need a bit of inspiration from the Teme Valley.

-Excellent!

-Lovely!

-Beautiful view, isn't it?

Come back down. This is their master bedroom.

-But I think this would be a lovely...

-Office.

-Mm. I'd say!

-Yes.

I do like all the brickwork, as well. It's nice.

It's a good, chunky feel to it. It's nice.

-Anywhere for your motorcycles?

-Not yet.

Outside, there's parking for four vehicles and a special building

that I think Jason will really appreciate.

It does have not one, but two garages.

-Hooray!

-Great.

It's not quite as spectacular as the garage block in the last one.

That would take some beating.

You get the study, you get the double garage.

-That's OK.

-It's still more than we have at the moment.

It's a slightly different offering

because you've got all your neighbours here

and you've got different bits and bobs.

But I think you've seen everything, so can you make a guess at the price?

Um...I think £415,000.

Mm-hm. Jason?

I think £424,000.

-£424,000. So both above your top end.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-Well, it's on for £395,000.

-Wow!

I was...I did think £399,000 and then I thought, no, a bit more.

£395,000.

Again, a refreshing answer, really.

Because...it gives us room, doesn't it?

It gives us scope. Definitely within budget.

Have a look around. We did whistle around the house.

You can have a look at all the rooms we didn't have a chance to see.

I'll be hovering around. We can push on from there.

-OK.

-Thank you.

This barn conversion is under budget at £395,000.

If they can get their heads around the communal living space,

it could be a real contender.

It has a host of period features,

including exposed timber and brickwork,

a fantastic family kitchen, four bedrooms,

one with potential to make into a study for Sian,

and a double garage to keep Jason happy.

What do you think?

-I really love the house.

-It's lovely, isn't it?

I really love it. The kitchen/diner works perfectly.

The whole...the features in the house are lovely.

But I just know about the outside.

I mean, where would we put the barbecue?

Patio table and chairs?

We do like having people around for barbecues a lot.

You just don't have that privacy there, do you, really?

No.

The downstairs area was fantastic.

The upstairs, the bedrooms were really brilliant.

I mean, we were so surprised to see

the additional suite on the top floor.

That could be used in so many different ways.

It could be used as a study for me, for my working.

We could see the whole of the inside of the house really working for us.

Initially, not bowled over, to be honest.

Because it is relatively close to the main road.

And you haven't got a private garden.

But the house itself, the frontage of the house is lovely.

It's spectacular.

All three done. You look a bit shocked.

Yeah. A lot of information to take in.

It's all over. All the houses seen.

-Let's go and digest and think about them.

-OK.

Since Victorian times, gas-fuelled lamps

have illuminated the roads and pathways

of the Malvern villages in Worcestershire.

The soft, warm glow of these lamps

have long given the area a feeling of nostalgia,

and were said to be the inspiration for Narnia

in CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

However, the cost of keeping these historic lamps working has spiralled

and their upkeep has become increasingly difficult.

In 2010, things became even harder

when the local council withdrew its grant

towards funding their maintenance.

This important part of the Malverns' heritage would have been lost,

had it not been for a local community group

who came up with an ingenious solution to keep the lamps burning.

I've come to meet Brian Harper, one of the Gasketeers of Malvern,

to find out more.

So, essentially, you are restoring the listed lampposts.

-Taking the lanterns down and putting in the new system.

-Yes.

We have to do a complete refurbishment,

which, because of the very poor condition of them,

really is restoration.

There are 109 gas lamps in the area

and they are all in the process of being revamped.

So I headed to Brian's lab to have a closer look

at how this gas lamp has been brought into the 21st century.

This topic has really caught the imagination.

Because they are actually just very beautiful.

And we've gone to great strides on the electronics

and the rest of the design

to make it all fit in and keep the classical lantern style.

And the important thing is the optics

-that we have added to the system.

-These?

Yes. You can see them there.

They stop light being wasted

and puts it down to where it really should be used,

and so produces no light pollution, as well, at the same time.

That's great.

In this application, we're saving the light

that would be wasted going into a tree or a hedge

and throwing it sideways, down the path and the road.

But there's also some electronics. Does that stop the...?

Yes. That's important.

We automatically control the lighting from a sensor,

which is on the top of the canopy there.

So we can do dawn-to-dusk running,

but can also cater for off periods during the night time, as well.

We've come up with what we think is a rather apt acronym.

We call this the ELGAR Upgrade.

A great Malvern man.

-It stands for Eco-Light by Gas And Reflection.

-Clever!

Which sums up everything that we are striving to do.

I think it's wise we go and see it all in action.

So as night falls, I'm off to Malvern to meet Nathan Burlton,

whose job it is to replace the gas lamp with its modern counterpart.

-I'm here to steady, am I?

-OK.

If you'd like to give me a hand with this lamp, that would be great.

I'll carry it up this ladder,

if you could get up to the top and steady it as I swing it around,

and then gauge it onto the pole.

The bracket, affectionately known as the frog,

has been securely fixed to the top of the post,

and I'm helping to connect the lamp before a final testing.

And it's now ready to be connected to the gas

and the burner put it.

This new design has made them 92 percent more efficient,

saving £100 per year per light.

We're ready to light it up. I'm going to flick the switch.

And in a second, it should start igniting.

There you go.

-Ooo!

-There they go.

-Wow!

It's wonderful. You see the string of lights

because it's reflected inside the reflector like a string of pearls.

Hence the increased light

through...light and reflection.

So after bringing light to the town of Malvern,

time to see whether enlightenment has descended on our house buyers.

Let's go and see what Sian and Jason are thinking.

It's been interesting showing you around this area

because you know it much better than I do.

Have we show you things that were interesting?

Were there surprises in there?

They were all really interesting for lots of different reasons.

Each one of them individually.

I think we loved each of them.

-Very much so.

-For their own reasons, to be honest.

Let's go through the houses one by one.

That allows us to collect our thoughts.

The first house was in the middle of a village, very nice location.

What are your thoughts about that?

That was the perfect location out of all of the three

because it was so close to the motorway for my work.

You had worries about where you'd park your bikes in the first house

because there was no garage.

The second house, however, had garages coming out of its ears.

-What are your thoughts about that property?

-Lovely.

-Superb.

Everything. It was just perfect. The whole property.

I think it would probably be every dream come true

with a property to have something like that.

Just a little bit of a question mark

over how far away from Worcester it is

and whether it would really work

from our perspective on the location.

What about house number three, the mystery house?

We hadn't considered a kind of community living in that way.

It was a really beautiful property when you look at it from the outside

and you think, maybe this could work.

But I don't think the outside will work for us.

In the summer, we often have our breakfast outside.

And I don't think you could really do that.

Because the road is not very far away

and you're very overlooked.

You don't really have that privacy.

So it seems like we missed the mark with all three properties.

I think we'd like to investigate the second one,

the area of the second house,

more, to understand a little bit more about the area

and see if it could work for us because the house was fantastic.

Well, it's a very trying business.

I know you've been on tenterhooks a long time waiting for that call.

I trust that you will come to Worcester very soon.

I hope it's not too long.

-Thank you for all your help.

-Yeah, thank you.

Brr! It has been bracingly cold this spring week in Worcestershire,

but I do think we found some heart-warming properties

for Jason and Sian to look at.

By the end, Sian's businesswoman head was ruling her heart

and she found good reasons why she couldn't move in any of the three.

I think if they sell their property in Marlow and have some cash,

her heart will bring her back to this lovely country.

And I hope it happens soon.

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