Leicester Escape to the Country

These 16th century ruins are the childhood home and birthplace of England's shortest reigning monarch,

who only survived nine days in the job.

Who were they, and where did they live? Find out in just a moment.

'It's a back-to-nature venture for today's house-buying duo.

'And there are some pleasant surprises both inside the properties...'

-I've lived in smaller houses than this bathroom.

-That's true.

-Yeah.

'..and more to amaze outside, too.'

Oh, this is brilliant. It's absolutely fabulous.

Today we're in Leicestershire and these are the ruins of Bradgate House,

the childhood home of Lady Jane Grey,

otherwise known as the Nine-Day Queen.

Her accession to the throne in 1553

was the result of noblemen supporting the Protestant cause.

But it didn't last very long because of an upswing of support for the Catholic, Mary Tudor,

who had Jane's head cut off, aged just 17.

Bradgate House and its estates stayed with the Grey family until the 1920s,

when it was turned into a country park, the largest in Leicestershire

and one of the county's crowning glories.

'Lying in central England, the landlocked county of Leicestershire

'is sandwiched by seven other counties,

'bordering Nottinghamshire to the north, Northamptonshire to the south,

'and the compact county of Rutland to the east.

'Leicestershire is predominantly rural

'and more than 80 percent of the land is devoted to agriculture,

'with only around four percent covered by woodland.

'One of the highest points in the county is Beacon Hill,

'characterised by rugged Precambrian rocks

'and offering far-reaching views out across the countryside.

'But further south, it was the land surrounding Ambion Hill

'that was under foot during the 1485 Battle of Bosworth Field,

'which saw the death of Richard III.

'Down in the valley, the River Sour is the county's main waterway,

'which winds through the lush scenery past pretty villages

'that make the perfect escape for those seeking a rural dream.'

So let's talk about property prices here in Leicestershire.

It's actually a great place to be buying a house

because, on average,

the prices here are 12 percent less than the national figure.

A detached house here is £224,000.

But, of course, as with all of these counties, there's regional shading.

We're concentrating more on the rural eastern half of the county. And even there, there's differences.

Down south, around Market Harborough, which has excellent high-speed links down into London,

it's a bit more pricey, but you've got beautiful villages like the Langtons and also Hallaton.

Whereas further north, around the Wolds and Melton Mowbray,

you've got this beautiful rolling countryside.

So which of these areas are going to appeal to our buyers today? Let's meet them.

'Prompted by the prospect of a job relocation,

'lifelong Reading resident and firefighter Stefan,

'along with his wife Ruth, are completely sold on rural life

'after a year's dry run renting a cottage in an East Berkshire village.'

We decided to do a little experiment and to dip our toe in the water, so to speak,

and try out the countryside for size

before we invested in, you know, a property properly in the countryside.

We have loved it and, you know, we don't want to go back to Reading now.

-We do want to move on and try and get our own place somewhere.

-Put down some permanent roots.

-Yeah.

'The main motivation for this move

'is the desire to give their children a closer affinity with the natural world.'

We've got two children. Olly's eight and Jessica's five.

They're particularly excited about moving to the country,

somewhere where they can have a treehouse in the garden.

We spend quite a bit of time out in our garden or we may walk home from school.

It might take us an hour and a half to get home because we spend time playing on the way.

And I'd like to be able to replicate that where we move to

and to be able to get out there and make those mud pies and little fairy houses before it's too late,

cos it's a little moment in time that you've got with your children when they're small,

and to capture that magic and instil this love of nature is really vital.

'They are also hoping this move out to the east of the country

'will provide lots of new recreational opportunities.'

As a family, we're all keen cyclists.

I love to be out on my bikes

and a large proportion of my money is spent on

acquiring or maintaining the bikes.

And the roads up there and the rolling hills and the countryside,

I just thought I could spend hours out here on these roads and be perfectly happy.

'And they want that rural freedom right on their doorstep.'

It's really important that we find somewhere where we can walk out of our house

and find some woods where we can take our children

and just let them play and be together as a family.

-We do try at the weekend to leave the cars...

-Yeah.

..and if we can, not use the cars.

And we feel that it's a real achievement if the cars haven't moved in the weekend

and we've had a full weekend but the cars haven't moved.

And that's quite satisfying, if we've managed to do that.

'Top priority may be the outdoors,

'but they do have a couple of considerations for the bricks and mortar, too.'

For this house that we're looking for, we want it to be the house that the children grow up in.

Whether it be a period property or a more modern build,

we don't really mind.

'Their central Reading house is currently on the market,

'so all that remains is to figure out their finances.'

The budget for this move is £375,000.

'Ruth and Stef's son is soon to start studying music at school in Cambridgeshire,

'so good access by car is essential.

'So we'll be focusing our house search on the lovely villages in the east of Leicestershire.

'And we're meeting up in the county to find out more about their family's impending move.'

Hello, guys. Welcome to Leicestershire.

-It's a bit rainy outside so I thought we'd meet inside to spare our clothes.

-We appreciate that.

-So, why Leicestershire? Why are you moving here?

-Well, I've got myself a new job

working for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue.

So now we're going to move up and experience life in Leicestershire.

We've had a little drive round and we've been really happy with lots of the areas that we've seen.

Erm, so I'm just really excited.

-I think it's a new adventure, new beginnings for us.

-Very positive.

In terms of the house itself, what are you looking for? What's the spec for the building?

First of all, we'd like it to have four bedrooms.

At the moment, we live down south,

and our family, when they come down to visit,

they all live up north and they like to stay at least two nights.

If we were to find the perfect house with three bedrooms,

I think that it wouldn't matter too much as long as there was a reception room downstairs,

perhaps a study or something, that we could actually give over to our guests to have their own space.

What about the location? Are you looking to be out in the sticks or more in the centre of a village?

Mainly we drive to school.

We have to drive to the shops to pick up our essentials.

If we could avoid doing that then that would be great.

And if we could combine that with rural living or village life

-then that would be perfect.

-What about the money side of things?

How's the house sale in Reading going?

-Well, that's sold...

-Oh.

..as of relatively recently and that sale is progressing through now.

So, yeah, that's the first piece of the jigsaw in place.

-It puts us in quite a strong buying position, I think.

-It certainly does.

Well, good, I think that's all the relevant facts. We have three lovely houses.

And it is a beautiful part of the countryside. Much underrated, I think.

-I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of them.

-Great.

Excellent, yeah, we're excited.

'So, for a revised budget of £380,000,

'they're after a house with its own unique personality,

'that has the potential for four bedrooms

'and a secure garden with enough space for a treehouse.

'Lastly, they'd like to be within walking distance of essential amenities

'as well as a good primary school.

'Rather unusually, our buyers haven't got an exacting list of house requirements.

'So we've chosen a varied range of beautiful property styles,

'at least one of which, I hope, will meet the mark.

'But as always, the price will be a guessing game.

'Then, to top things off, we've got the mystery property,

'which will pit house against garden.'

You're both very outdoorsy. Is it true that you're an iron man, Stef?

Er, I've... Yes.

Er, Ruth calls it my midlife crisis,

but I've taken up triathlon.

So are you planning to use the countryside to train for that?

I mean, when we've been out driving around Leicestershire,

I'm always looking at the road conditions, seeing what the tarmac's like.

-This is interesting. I'm not sure I've ever considered the tarmac on this show before.

-Oh, yeah.

It's a whole new criteria of house buying.

'We're kicking off the house search in the village of Hallaton,

'which is about an hour and 15 minutes drive from Cambridge.

'Surrounded by gorgeous countryside in the Welland Valley,

'Hallaton lies in the midst of beautiful walking and cycling territory.

'This is a much sought-after place to live with a small, well-regarded primary school.

'Much of the attractive architecture is constructed from ironstone and limestone

'quarried in this eastern part of this county.

'The village also has a shop within the local tearooms,

'a couple of pubs, and a very active community

'with a rather unusual centuries-old annual event.'

So, I have brought you to Hallaton,

which is an amazing, traditional English village, as you can see.

And this, believe it or not, is a bottle.

Because Hallaton's famous for the bottle-kicking competition

which happens every Easter Monday between Hallaton and Medbourne, which is the local village.

It's one of those brutal English things.

It's quite heavy, have a feel. It's not light.

And it all takes place on the ridge up there, which is called Hare Pie Hill.

-And basically, like, it's a massive scrum, thousands of people come...

-Wow!

-..and they scrum all day.

What do you feel about a sort of country-cottagey sort of village like this?

-It's lovely.

-It is lovely.

-It's picture-postcard stuff this, isn't it?

-It is, isn't it?

-And I think you'll find the house very interesting. Follow me.

-OK.

-Excellent.

'And our first property is a Grade II listed cottage

'right in the centre of the village.'

-Very nice.

-So, several things you'll have noticed.

It's attached, it's part of a terrace.

-But it's a Georgian terrace.

-Right.

From the 1790s. I think it's a beautiful property.

-I think it's going to be a good one for me to get my bearings about what you're looking for.

-OK.

-First impressions?

-Well, it's clearly a terraced property,

which is something that we've not considered.

-So I'll be intrigued to see if inside it gives us the space that we want.

-Mm-hm.

Looking in through the window, it looks really, really lovely. I can't wait to get inside.

-I am worried that there might not be a garden. It might be a courtyard.

-Let's hope. Let's look inside.

'This is a beautifully appointed and deceptively spacious cottage,

'with more than enough room for a baby grand piano in the entrance hall.

'That's got to be an immediate plus point for Stef and Ruth's musically-minded son.'

Come into the sitting room.

You get a feel for the period of the property,

cos this is a lovely Georgian space.

It's really nice. Very light.

-Yes, I'm loving the big window. That's a fantastic view.

-Yeah.

It's got the lovely Georgian casement windows,

a nice little sort of butler's cupboard.

I could definitely see us sitting here as a family

and feeling really quite chilled, cos the view's just really nice.

And, erm, you know, it's not too small a space.

-Well, the kitchen area is a bit more modern.

-OK.

It'll be interesting to see what you think about this.

-Wow!

-Oh, wow! Oh, this is huge.

-Yeah. So there's a bit more space here.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-This is beautiful.

-Yeah, I could definitely see us in here.

It's a lovely space, it's a really super family area.

I love the window seat. That's something I had when I was a little girl and I'd love to have that again.

'I believe that's a thumbs up for downstairs,

'which also houses a huge shower room with enough space to hide away all the white goods.

'Upstairs there's another smart and stylish bathroom,

'this time with a roll top bath, which serves all of the bedrooms.

'But we have just three to choose from here,

'one of which is a petite single room.'

Mind your head. This is the biggest room, the master bedroom.

You've got lovely light from the north and the south.

And you can see the rafters of the original cottage.

-There's some history in those rafters.

-Definitely.

Where are we going to put the children? Let's have a look.

So, the other side of the landing, we have got this room.

-Another good-size room.

-It's beautiful.

-I love this room and I love the master bedroom.

I think they're fantastic rooms, big windows, lovely views out over the village and the countryside.

If we had one child, it would be very, very easy.

With two children and visitors, it's becoming a little bit more complicated.

'We've hit a potentially thorny issue with the lack of bedroom space upstairs.

'But I think I've got just the thing to win them back over outside.

'Off the kitchen/family room

'and immediately to the rear of the property is a private paved patio

'beyond which is a real hidden gem.'

SHE LAUGHS

-It's lovely, it's like a little surprise.

-It's a complete secret.

-Wow!

-Awesome! This is brilliant. It's absolutely fabulous.

-Look at the tree.

-And there's your tree for your treehouse.

-Perfect.

-Yay!

It's awesome. It's a really lovely surprise.

It is a proper secret garden.

-I can imagine our...

-I know a girl who would love it.

-Very much.

-Particularly the blossom.

-Yeah, she'd stand under that and dance.

I can tell you now, she'd be so thrilled with that.

-Aw! That is lovely to hear.

-Yeah.

Let's talk money. How much do you think this is on the market for?

-I'm thinking... about 375.

-I'm going to go for 380.

Well, you should listen to your wife, because she's exactly right.

It is on the market for £375,000.

-Why don't you go in and have a look?

-OK.

-And I'll meet you out the front.

-Great.

-By the clink.

-Great.

-Fantastic. Thank you.

'Just under their top budget, and on the market the £375,000,

'the first in our selection is a late 18th-century terraced home at the hub of a lively village.

'The property comes with a huge open-plan kitchen and family room,

'three bedrooms and a secure secret garden.'

When we went through to the kitchen,

it was really a "wow" room

because it's just huge and it's really the heart of the home.

Having the lovely neutral units and the marble top,

the Belfast sink and the lovely range cooker was just really nice to see.

Even though the house isn't in the middle of nowhere, the village is in the middle of nowhere,

and that's nice, it's really lovely, cos we do want to be involved in the community.

The downstairs of the property is just amazing.

It's a fantastic living space.

It does help us to see beyond the fact that there are only three bedrooms

and one of them is very small. When we were in the garden, you could hear birds singing,

children playing, and that's it.

Nothing else. And that kind of peace and quiet and tranquillity

we would value a lot.

It was a bit of a gamble, this, cos it's a terrace and it's got only three bedrooms.

But it's such a beautiful village, I had to show them.

Good thoughts?

-We really like it.

-Ah, that's what we like to hear.

But we do have another house lined up. Follow me.

'Aiming to link the ancient forests of Charnwood in northern Leicestershire

'with Needwood in Staffordshire,

'the National Forest is a flourishing woodland in the making

'that's not only transforming one of the country's least-wooded regions

'but also increasing recreation facilities and creating jobs.

'As Ruth and Stef are so keen to reconnect with the natural world,

'we sent them to meet the aptly-named Peter Wood,

'who's been running Greenwood Craft Workshops under the cover of this fledgling forest for 18 years.'

-Hi.

-Hi. Nice to meet you. Stef.

-Hi, Stef.

Peter, I wondered if you could tell me a little bit about how the National Forest came about.

It's quite a nice success story, really.

The government wanted to encourage woodland planting

in an area where there wasn't much woodland cover.

And in the Midlands, this area was chosen.

It straddles Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire,

about 200 square miles, and they've gone from about three percent woodland cover

to about 18, 19 percent, so it's a real significant landscape change.

'Using simple hand tools,

'green woodworking is wholly man-powered, done without modern machinery,

'and courses here range from willow-weaving to stool-making.

'Today, Ruth and Stef are going to try their hand at some of the traditional techniques

'involved in creating a Windsor armchair.'

I'll get you started. And let's get that hand, rest it like that.

Push up and down.

Only pull it off just a little bit.

That's it, but you can push up and down a lot.

There you go. That's good. Now, are you ready? You're on your own.

Oh!

'The chair legs and spindles are turned on a pole lathe

'using ash, which is a strong and flexible wood.'

-That's good, yeah.

-Did you hear that, Ruth? I got a, "That's good."

'Next is an attempt at steam bending,

'a low energy and ecological method of manipulating the wood

'without the need for toxic glues.'

Peter, tell me about this amazing contraption you've got here.

This is our steam box and this is where we're steaming the wood.

This is going to produce the arm for the back of the chair.

It's a great way and a nice easy way of bending wood.

'After an hour in the steam chamber, the length of timber is removed

'and straight away the wood is curved and clamped into the desired shape.'

OK, and now pull it round.

OK, slowly but surely, slowly but surely.

And then just hold it there. I'm going to come round.

-It's hot!

-It is hot. OK.

-Naturals.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Wow!

-That's just perfect.

It probably takes quite a while to make a chair. How long does it take, roughly?

-It takes...

-Could you do it in an hour?

-You can't do a chair in an hour.

In a weekend, you make a stool,

but a nice big chair, you're looking on a five or a seven-day course.

'The National Forest will certainly have outdoor offshoots for Ruth and Stef to enjoy.

'But now it's time to get off the beaten track

'and back onto the property path, as we continue with our house-hunt.

'Our next destination takes us further north into the county

'to the village of Goadby Marwood.

'Just a few miles from the Vale of Belvoir,

'Goadby Marwood is a quiet rural village.

'Much of the architecture here is built from locally-mined ironstone,

'including buildings that date back to the early 1600s.

'But parts of the local church have origins in the 13th century.

'And the second house is in the middle of the village,

'just off a quiet no-through road.'

Round the post, here we have house number two.

-Wow.

-Very cute.

-It is!

-So we're getting slightly more detached as we go along.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Semi-detached.

-Clear on one side.

-Originally it would've been two little cottages from the 1850s.

It's been extensively expanded, but it's the lovely ironstone that's so common to this part of the world.

-I love the colour of the stone. It really is pretty.

-Yes.

Yeah. I'm liking the fact that it's got a garage,

-it's got off-road parking.

-Yes.

-Plenty of space.

-It's a nice property. Let's look inside.

-OK!

'Now, our first property earlier today, beautiful though it was,

'seemed to lack the sleeping quarters our buyers desired.

'So with this second house, we're giving them more options in an altogether different design.'

Come on in. Straight into the living space.

-Oh, yes!

-This is lovely!

-It is!

-It is, it's lovely!

-So much to take it.

-There is.

-It is a much more kind of open-plan...

-It is.

-Uh-huh.

Obviously, a slightly younger building, but also because they've knocked through quite a lot.

I'm loving the brick there. I really like that.

-That would've been the outside wall of the original cottage.

-Yeah.

-You get the sunlight in these big, lovely bow windows.

-Yes.

-Shall we move on through into the kitchen and have a look?

-Sure.

It's a much more modern space than the last house.

-It is.

-It's a nice kitchen.

There's lots of cupboards in here.

I like the window, as well, that you can see through and watch the children while you're cooking dinner.

-And I like the stable door.

-Yes, nice to have a stable door.

-And also, this is east-facing, so you get the morning sunshine.

-Oh, nice.

-They've got two kids, as well, so they eat most of their meals in here.

-I like that.

-Shall we go and have a look at the other rooms?

-Yes!

-Definitely.

'There are four rooms in total down on the ground floor,

'including a separate dining room and one more reception

'that's currently designated as a play room.'

I just wanted to show you this little room quickly,

because I think this might be a good fourth bedroom.

-Guest room?

-Yeah.

-No, I see where you're going with that.

-Mm.

Then when the guests aren't here, it's a nice little play room for the kids. Fantastic.

-It's a super space.

-It is.

-Let's peek at the bedrooms.

-OK.

'Upstairs, alongside a four-piece family bathroom,

'lie the remaining bedrooms, and there are three to choose from.

'Ideally suited for their family of four.'

As I mentioned, three bedrooms upstairs, but these ones are all a good size.

-This is the master.

-It's lovely.

-Lots of light.

-Built-in storage.

-Yeah, that's fab. Lots of it.

-Yeah.

-The nice thing about this property is there are lots of nooks and crannies.

-Indeed.

-Lots of outbuildings. So let's go outside.

-OK.

'Outside, the detached single garage we saw earlier has been divided up

'into useful storage space and a fully-kitted office.

'Then the enclosed garden is mainly laid to lawn,

'bordered by mature shrubs.'

-So what do you think of this garden?

-I love the magnolia bush.

Jessica and I have promised each other that's something we're going to do together in our next house,

to plant one, but there's one already here, so that was the first thing that attracted my attention.

-So you have to buy the house now!

-THEY LAUGH

It's a sign!

So now you've got an overview of the property, what do you think is the price tag?

I'm jumping in at 360.

-Can I fix you to a figure?

-OK. 365.

-365. 360.

-360.

You're both completely wrong.

This is on the market for 295.

-Wow!

-Oh, my word! You're joking!

-That's a lovely house for that amount.

-I'm genuinely gobsmacked.

Yeah. Really lovely. Wow.

Now, why don't you explore, cos there's various nooks and crannies

that we haven't looked at, to get the proper overview,

-and then when you're done, we'll meet you out the front.

-Great!

-Scratch our heads and see what happens next.

-Fantastic.

-Come on, then.

-In you go.

'A sizable £85,000 under-budget

'with a guide price of £295,000,

'our second property is an extended semi-detached cottage

'dating back to the 1850s.

'It has three reception rooms,

'a large kitchen/diner, three bedrooms

'and a well-maintained, enclosed garden.'

-So, this is the...

-This is the smallest room, yeah.

-So this could be...

-Would be perfect for Jess, yeah.

-She would love that.

-She would.

The previous property, there would've been discussions,

in inverted commas, about who had which bedroom.

Up here, there wouldn't be at all. The bigger bedroom would be perfect for my son,

the smaller bedroom, my daughter would love it. And it's already pink.

So that's... The battle would be won before it even started.

The living space downstairs is really good.

Good workable space in terms of a dining room for more formal occasions

and then the little snug/play room area,

great for the children, but you could use that as a guest room, as well.

So, yeah, it was working well and I could see ways that

we could bring our lives into here, so that was good.

As an all-round package, it is working for us.

So, if you pull the door behind you, because we are done for the day.

-Yay!

-Both properties inspected. Time for rest and relaxation.

'It's day two of our property search here in Leicestershire,

'and on a budget of £380,000, we're helping Ruth and Stef

'find the perfect family home in the countryside

'now they've sold up their urban house in Reading.

'And still to come, a spot of five-star splendour in the mystery house.'

I'd feel like I was living in a luxury hotel every night coming in here.

'And I'll be learning how loyal Leicestershire residents

'are protecting their lengthy food-producing legacy.'

The weather gods are smiling on us here in Leicestershire

for our mystery house tour with Stef and Ruth.

I think they liked the properties yesterday but they might have been a little bit small

in terms of giving them the bedrooms and the garden that they wanted.

So the mystery house. Usually mystery houses give them something they don't really ask for,

something unusual. In this instance, the mystery house is actually giving them everything on their wish list

but in a very quirky way. Best if you have a look.

What would you like the mystery house to be?

We've seen two fantastic gardens, so they've been right on the money with the outside spaces we've wanted

-and the storage that we've needed.

-And the rurality.

-Yes.

-Perfect.

-Rurality! That's a good word. I might have to borrow that.

-THEY LAUGH

-I might use that in every show.

-Countrinicity.

-The countrinicity and rurality of this property.

'Our final property stop is back down to southern Leicestershire

'where we're heading for Dunton Bassett.

'A small, rural village surrounded by beautiful countryside,

'residents of Dunton Bassett benefit from a couple of pubs,

'a newsagent with post office and a good primary school.

'And in the spirit of countrinicity, we're approaching the mystery house via the back.'

-Which one is it? Which one is it?

-I have no idea!

Here we have it. So, this is an unusual property because, as you can see, it's a courtyard property.

But the one I want to show you is the king of them,

the original farmhouse, this one in the corner.

-Wow.

-All of it.

-What, all of it?

-All of it.

-Wow.

-Goodness. That is huge.

So, we've brought you here because we wanted to give you all the space you need.

-OK.

-What are your thoughts about it?

-That is massive, isn't it?

-Fantastic. I think it looks amazing.

-I can't wait to look inside.

I'm looking forward to showing you. Come on.

'To access the mystery house, we're going round to the front door.

'Right in the heart of the village, this is a Grade II listed farmhouse

'with roots in the mid-16th century.

'But it's had a thoroughly modern makeover.'

-Come into...

-Oh, my word! Can you get in?

-..this amazing kitchen/dining room.

-Oh, my word!

-Wow.

-It's incredible.

-I nearly cried then.

-Ohh!

-It's amazing!

-Go on, give me some tears.

-That is unbelievable! What do you think?

-Yes, it's fantastic.

The couple who live here have done an amazing job.

-Oak work surfaces throughout. Beautifully done.

-Yeah.

And then this room is really interesting, cos this is the oldest part of the house,

-it would've been the old farmhouse.

-Wow.

-Back to the 16th century.

You've got the original cross beam, which would've probably come from a ship.

And they've stripped it back and turned it into a lovely dining room.

-It's amazing. You've pulled it out of the bag.

-Just gorgeous.

Well, it's a big house, so I'll let you explore later, but let's go and look at the oldest part.

That probably would've been, I'm not sure, the dairy or something.

But this was obviously the kitchen, because you've got this great big old range,

and then a bread oven in this part here.

It's a fantastic room.

-There's some history in here.

-It's got loads of character, this room.

Just look at the oven. You can just imagine that family that lived here

and how busy the farmer's wife would've been making food for everybody,

using that, probably open and shut all day,

getting loads of fuel on the fire. Yeah. Loads of history.

'Beyond this study is the perfect hideaway for fitness fanatic Stef,

'as the garage has been turned into a gym.

'Then beyond that is the utility and storage room.

'The layout of this property takes the shape of an L,

'with the converted garage and utility to the far side of one wing.

'But we're going to make our way back through the dining room and kitchen

'towards the entrance hall and over to the other wing,

'where there are another two reception rooms.'

I guess this is the posh wing,

cos it's got carpet.

That's lovely. Really, really tranquil.

-It is.

-Beautifully done.

-It is, beautiful.

You have not one but two sitting rooms.

-It could be your summer sitting room and your winter sitting room.

-Good!

One of the reasons we've brought you here was because we haven't really managed to give you the bedrooms

in the other properties. But in this one,

oh, boy, have we given you bedrooms!

'The stairs back in the hallway lead up to the bounty of bedrooms.

'In the more modern part, above the sitting rooms,

'there's a family bathroom and three bedrooms,

'all of which are really generously sized,

'with plenty of space to accommodate Ruth and Stef's two children

'as well as visiting family and friends.

'And that just leaves the far wing, all of which has been dedicated to the master suite.'

Mind your head. But I wanted to show you this room to see your reaction.

-Wow!

-Wow!

-That's amazing!

-This is a room and a half.

-And it really is a master bedroom.

It's beautiful.

-Big and spacious and very light.

-Yes.

-Yeah!

-Definitely.

-That's great.

-Does it fit the bill?

-Without a doubt.

-Yeah!

I'd feel like I was living in a luxury hotel every night coming in here.

One disappointment is that the en suite's a bit small.

I'm sensing sarcasm.

-Oh, my gosh! It just gets better!

-Oh, my word!

THEY LAUGH

Wow. Oh, this is amazing!

-I've lived in smaller houses than this bathroom.

-It's true, isn't it?

Definitely, yes. Let's go outside.

-You can explore upstairs later on. After you.

-OK.

'There's no doubt that the house itself more than meets our buyers' criteria,

'but the compromise of this mystery package is outside in the garden,

'which is the smallest of all our three properties.'

What do you think about having a garden of this size, and it's obviously a bit exposed.

-Yeah.

-To be honest...

..we like the house so much that it actually didn't become an issue.

It's a nice, manageable space.

Well, it's a big property. What do you think it's on the market for?

I think it might be a little over our budget.

Erm, perhaps around 389.

-Right.

-Well, I'm going to go a bit lower,

-so I'm going to go in at 369.

-369.

Well... you were right in the sense that the property is over-budget.

So brace yourself. It's on the market for £400,000.

But don't despair, because we've been talking to the owners and they are open to negotiation.

-They could possibly come down to 380. But there is nothing you'd need to do to this house.

-No.

-There's lots more to see inside, not least your man cave.

-My man cave.

-Other bedrooms. Take your pick. In you go.

-Thank you.

What a mystery. That is such a good mystery,

cos it's a bit risky, a bit quirky here,

but I think we might have pulled off a winner.

'On the market for £400,000,

'the listed mystery property may be over-budget,

'but it's also overflowing with features

'that include a large farmhouse kitchen,

'through to a separate dining room, a further three reception rooms,

'and four spacious bedrooms, one of which is a rather sumptuous master en suite.'

Wow! Another big room!

It's a full-on gym!

It's great! You'd be well at home here, wouldn't you?

It kind of blew us away to realise that actually it's twice the size

of the frontage that you can see from the main road.

It took my breath away, really. It's huge.

The en suite off the back of the master bedroom

is something else, really. I've never seen anything like it.

It's a functional garden. There's space. We could enjoy that and we would make it work

because the house gives so much.

As soon as we walked inside the house and saw the kitchen,

it was just like, "Oh, my word, this is amazing!"

And I was actually really emotional

because it was just so beautiful.

For me, the garden feels a little bit small.

I had hoped for something better

in terms of size and a little bit more character.

They have tried to work with the space that they've got

and they've made the best use of that

and it's certainly pretty, what is there of it.

OK, guys, that's the mystery house. In fact, that's all our properties done.

Time for you to have a little rest and think. Head off to the car, I'll meet you there.

And you at home can take a look at some of the other properties here in Leicestershire

above and below Ruth and Stef's budget.

'And we're starting with this two-bedroom brick-built barn conversion in Hallaton.

'On the market for £285,000, this detached property

'is a first-class renovation

'featuring a handmade, bespoke farmhouse kitchen.

'Or how about this absolutely enchanting

'17th century ironstone semi in Billesdon

'with a unique curved thatch

'that gives the place a really homely feel?

'It comes with a price ticket of £450,000,

'and of its three bedrooms,

'one is a very pleasant double-aspect room

'with cosy country-cottage decor.

'Billesdon is also the setting for this detached four-bed home

'that has a guide price of £510,000.

'This sprawling property again started life as a barn,

'and as such, its main highlight has to be a terrific double-height kitchen/diner.

'A high concentration of the Leicestershire landscape

'is dedicated to farmland, and in the northern portion of the county,

'the small town of Melton Mowbray has completely turned around its fortunes

'by capitalising on its food-producing heritage.

'Today I'm meeting Melton councillor and champion for the town Matthew O'Callaghan

'to find out how this area has transformed itself

'into the UK's rural capital of food.'

Matthew, we're sitting in a very bustling Melton now,

but let's spin back the clock. What was this like back in the 90s?

Going through a rough time. About '97, we'd got the Asfordby mine closed,

we'd got the army depot closed,

and we'd also had the affects of mad cow disease on the cattle market and the agricultural infrastructure.

What did you decide to do? What did the town decide to do?

Myself and a group of other people decided we'd have to do something about it.

And we looked at what could we do as a town and what's unique about the town?

And, of course, it's our food heritage.

It's Stilton cheese, it's Melton Mowbray pork pies.

We decided to focus on that and use that to regenerate the town.

We generate about £65 million worth of tourism in terms of food.

Two million visitors come to the borough a year on food tours.

That's as many people as visit Cyprus.

'The first step of Melton's food resurrection

'was a campaign to protect and preserve the town's world-famous pork pies.

'Produced here since the 18th century,

'in 2009, the pies were granted protected geographical status,

'meaning only those made locally can bear the name Melton Mowbray.

'Stephen Hallam runs the town's oldest pork-pie bakery

'and he, too, was a key player in protecting the integrity of the town's native foods.'

-Stephen, this is a very busy shop you have here.

-The heart of Melton.

It is. You are the image of Melton around the world.

-They say an image says a thousand words, doesn't it?

-What does a pie say?

Oh, how long have we got? When you actually buy a pie,

or Stilton or Red Leicester, for that matter, from here in the town,

you're coming to its heartland and you're taking away a story.

You've been there, you've done that. It almost tastes better.

But the feeling is better. And it's a cultural thing, really.

Eating should be pleasurable, should be enjoyable.

And at last, that is changing here in Britain.

'To complete my Melton odyssey,

'I'm going to see cheese specialist Tim Brown,

'a regular at Melton's ancient farmer's market

'that's been a feature of the town for over a thousands years.'

Now, this is a very cheese-rich area, isn't it?

What are your best-selling brands?

Well, heritage in this part of the world, and has been for the last 300 years, of course, is Stilton.

It's the primary driver.

There are five dairies that produce Stilton

and that accounts for a third of our sales. It's very important to us.

It can only be made in the three counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

-Do you think there's been a cheese renaissance?

-There certainly has.

The price of milk really is driven by the major buyers,

and farmers have had a very poor return on their milk prices,

so many of them have now started to turn to adding value to their milk,

and so they're producing either yoghurt or cheese, ice cream,

to get that extra value.

So the message that's coming through loud and clear is

if people get together and combine their strength,

then it's a real kind of bulwark against all these rural areas

sort of getting washed away by the forces of the market.

I'm sure. It's like, when you work together,

you don't become competitors, you become companions almost,

and you're part of the Melton team.

'I've had a chance to explore the area and so, too, have our buyers.

'So it's about time we find out which of our three very different properties they liked the best.'

I think the mystery house might be a good bet

but I'm not sure about house number one and two.

My money could be on house number two,

simply cos it's got the space that they need.

But I'm not sure and I'm often wrong. So let's find out.

-Hello, guys. Long day.

-Mm.

Let's talk about the properties. I got the impression that the mystery house was a bit of a winner.

-Is that fair to say?

-I think you might be right.

-Definitely.

-Good, good.

But I was a little bit unsure about who might be a contender out of the other two.

Any clues about that?

I think the house that we saw second,

I think we've discounted that one because it's too far for Ruth to travel.

The amount of time that we are going to have to spend travelling to and from Cambridge.

It was a lovely house and the price was very attractive

and if we could've moved it 15 miles further east then we'd consider it.

-Does that mean house number one was a contender?

-Downstairs was fantastic

and we really liked it, but the problem with the third bedroom being so tiny,

it is surmountable, but...

..we're just not sure whether or not we, you know, we may have liked another house more.

Hm. So clearly you're referring to the mystery house there.

What is the situation with what happens next?

Can you proceed? Would you put an offer in?

-Yes, we'd like to go back and visit again.

-Without a doubt.

Go back, have a look, maybe take the kids so they can have a look.

They're very good judges of a house

and they'll quickly identify which bedroom they want, although it won't be very difficult.

That would make us very happy if they feel comfortable in there.

Yeah. And possibly make an offer after a second visit.

Well, I know that time is pressing. Your job starts soon and your house is sold.

It's lovely that we found one that really struck a chord.

-We appreciate your help.

-We do. Thank you.

-Best of luck!

-Thank you.

Well, it looks like our mystery house may be a winner,

though I think that Olly and Jessica will have a very important deciding vote to cast.

They're the part of the house-buying process we haven't been privy to.

Still, I think our work here in Leicestershire may be done.

Join us next time for more Escape To The Country.

'On reflection, Stef and Ruth decided that the garden of the mystery house wasn't ideal for them.

'So the search for their perfect Leicestershire home continues.

'If you'd like to escape to the country in Northern Ireland,

'Scotland, Wales, England or further afield to the continent and need our help,

'please apply online at:'

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