Ceredigion Escape to the Country

Welcome to Escape To The Country.

Now if you are lucky enough to have visited Brazil

and in particular Rio de Janeiro,

you are probably familiar with the world-famous statue of Christ

who overlooks the city and the coastline beyond.

Well, here we've got a similar sort of thing going on.

He IS a holy man but we're not in South America.

So who is he and where are we?

Well, join me in just a few moments, and I'll tell you.

On today's show, I'm helping a couple who want to grow their own

and find the good life out in the countryside.

They're planning for unusual house guests...

We can fit in the bees and the chickens.

..and retail therapy is on the cards.

-It's a lot more wardrobes than we've got already.

-Yeah.

-I'll have to buy more clothes to fill it.

-No, you won't.

Well, today we're in West Wales

and specifically we're in the county of Ceredigion,

a place that takes its name from an ancient king, King Ceredig.

But this isn't him.

This is his grandson, St Crannog, and he was a sixth-century saint.

Now, as you can probably appreciate, being part of the ruling family,

he was expected to accede to the throne but he didn't want to know.

Instead, he dedicated his life to Christianity, fled the court

and came here to Llangrannog where it's said he built a church

and lived in a cave.

Now, of course, we'll never know if this tale is true

but this, well, new statue is a lovely

reminder of an ancient tale that lives on in this glorious setting.

The Welsh county of Ceredigion is bordered by four regions

including Powys to the east and Carmarthenshire to the south

and overlooks Cardigan Bay to the west.

The county's spectacular coastline stretches

some 60 miles around the magnificent sweep of Cardigan Bay.

The Ceredigion coastal path runs the entire length of the county

and offers stunning views over the bay to the white sandy beaches

below, all framed by miles of rocky outcrops and sheer cliff faces.

Take it from me,

somebody who's spent over half their life in this county,

this is a place with something for everybody,

including, I hope, today's buyers.

For the past 35 years,

Ken and Elaine have lived in and around Cheddar, Somerset

but feel that with Ken retired and their environment rapidly changing,

now is the time to up sticks for a quieter spot in the country.

The estate we now live on is almost a village in itself

and there's two big supermarkets vying for position in the town.

And that's just going to attract more houses,

more people coming in, a totally different way of life.

And they've identified a microclimate

ideal for their relocation.

-We're hoping to move to the Welsh coast around the...

-Cardigan area.

Cardigan area. And New Quay, which is a small harbour over there.

We want to get within five miles of the coast there,

because I think there's a warmer sort of climate.

Their current home has one major element missing that they're desperate to find.

I don't think we've got one blade of grass at this house

and we want to go somewhere where we can...

-Yeah, have the garden again.

-I want to grow flowers.

Elaine wants to grow her flowers.

I want to grow our vegetables so that we can almost become self-sufficient.

Have some chickens.

-Pigs.

-And some pigs.

-Pigs. Yeah.

Ken already has a well-stocked wine rack that he's

produced from hedgerow fruits

and they're looking to add honey to their list of home-grown produce.

I think we'll be looking to be able to obviously get in touch

with the local beekeeping association wherever we are,

to then start our own hive.

Now, all that's left to discover are the finances for their Welsh retreat.

Our maximum budget for this move is £300,000.

Ken and Elaine have asked us

to concentrate our search around the Cardigan Bay area,

within reasonable distance to New Quay on the west coast.

I'm meeting them on Welsh soil to learn a little more about what

they're after in their new home.

Now, one of the things that drew you to this part of the world

was this notion that there was some kind of microclimate

that made the weather just that bit better!

You see what's happening outside right now.

It's blowing a bit out there, there might be a bit of rain.

Now the requirements that you have are quite specific

because this is very much a kind of lifestyle change, isn't it?

-Definitely.

-Just talk us through the key nuts and bolts that you're after, Elaine.

Three bedrooms. Be nice to have

-a living-kitchen-dining area for the daytime.

-Yeah.

I want a bit more than your average house.

-I want something with some real character.

-Yeah.

Yeah, the old farmhouse type thing.

Up to five acres, round about there. That would be really good.

It would be good!

-It would be brilliant if we could get it all for your budget.

-Yeah.

-We live in hope.

-Yeah.

-You never know.

-Right then, shall we go and brave the weather?

-Yeah.

For a budget of £300,000, Ken and Elaine are looking for three

bedrooms, a kitchen-dining-living space, a character property, up to

five acres of land to grow their own produce and keep animals and all in

a quiet village location within easy reach of the Cardigan Bay coastline.

We have three rural properties to show them and after each tour,

they'll have a chance to guess the price and we have our mystery

house which could really test their ability to compromise.

Time now to start the hunt with property number one.

We begin just outside the village of Talsarn, around seven miles

from the town of Lampeter and half an hour from New Quay on the coast.

And around a mile out of Talsarn village lies our first property,

a stone-built three-bedroom house set in the delightful

Aeron Valley countryside.

There you are, property number one.

-It's looking very good.

-Looking good.

-Really substantial.

-Very typical of this part of the world, actually.

-The stone.

-Yeah.

-The stonework.

-Your initial reaction seems quite good, Ken.

-Very good so far. Got a bit of that character I'm looking for.

-It has.

It has. And I think it's got a bit more in there to be drawn out, too.

Come on.

We're off to a good start with the exterior,

so let's hope this property can deliver enough

space as we head for a room high on their agenda.

Right, guys, here we are. Let's start with the kitchen. Come on in.

What do you think?

-Smaller than I would...

-Smaller, I would say smaller but...

It's a small house but some of the features,

which I think you could really kind of make more of.

I mean, obviously, the ceiling is lovely.

Erm, but the fireplace there,

you could have a really nice wood burner.

-That appeals.

-That's what you want.

-A good start.

-I like it.

-Yeah.

-Yes, right.

Come on in.

What do you reckon?

-Nice size.

-It's good, isn't it? I love it.

-Very good size.

-Smiling?

-Smiling.

-You're being very considered on this on this one, aren't you?

I can see the wheels turning.

-Yeah, I'm thinking, placing stuff, I think...

-Yeah, yeah.

..more than anything.

Well, come and have a look at the dining room. Here we are.

It all kind of flows quite nicely, doesn't it?

-It does.

-It does.

Our table would fit here, rather than put it in the kitchen.

-I was thinking, office.

-Oh, were you?

-Now, you wanted how many bedrooms?

-Three.

-Three.

There are three and they are up here, come and have a look.

A utility room with shower and toilet completes the downstairs.

Upstairs, a modern family bathroom serves three bedrooms.

A good size second bedroom and a decent sized third,

currently used as a study but first the master.

How does this compare with the current master suite?

THEY LAUGH

-A lot bigger.

-Bigger.

-A lot bigger.

-Yeah, they all are, aren't they?

-Yes.

It's really impressive up here, I think.

Actually, we talk about this as the master bedroom, probably because

it's got the views that way but, frankly,

-bedroom two down the landing, actually, is just as nice.

-It is.

-Happy so far?

-So far, it's looking good.

-So, we've whetted your appetite...on this one?

-Definitely.

OK, let's go outside, have a look at the garden.

And then I want you to start thinking about what you think

it's on the market for.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-OK.

With the upstairs giving them plenty of space,

it's crunch time as we head outside to see

whether there is enough land for their smallholding ambitions.

The extensive, mature garden comes with ornamental fish pond

and a large secluded wooded area, with stream.

We've got you just under one acre.

May struggle.

Well, let's talk about the price cos that will probably, you know,

put things into perspective.

-Elaine, go on, make me an offer?

-265?

-265.

I'm going to go above that, 275.

You are right to do that.

-Cos that's what it's on the market for.

-Is it?

-275,000.

House number one comes in comfortably under budget.

It gives them three bedrooms, a large living room,

a decent size kitchen, a dining room and it's all set in a rural

location with stunning views

of the Aeron Valley countryside.

-Aha!

-Ah! Hello.

-All done?

-All done.

-Yes, thank you.

Right then, do you fancy a spot of lunch?

-Would be good.

-Warm cup of tea?

-Yes, please.

-Come on, then.

The Ceredigion coast, an incredibly beautiful and extremely rural

part of the country, is home to swathes of natural flower meadows,

where the emphasis is on livestock farming.

These wildflower meadows create perfect

conditions for the honeybee to thrive,

as they're unaffected by pesticides associated with field crops.

It's an important factor, as some research suggests pesticides might

be responsible for the decline in the bee population across the world,

with a phenomenon known as colony collapse.

Just outside the seaside town of New Quay is Wales' biggest honey farm

and I'm joining bee farmer Sam Cooper on his daily

rounds to find out more about the only insect that produces

food eaten by man.

So we've got a number of hives up here.

The tall ones, they're the ones with the bees in, so we'll have a look in them.

-I suppose we ought to get properly...

-Get protected.

..sorted out here.

There we are.

Are you zipped up?

-Shall we go and see some bees?

-Let's go and do it.

The farm has around 600 colonies, spread over the county,

so the individual colonies have enough bee forage.

And with 50,000 inhabitants per hive,

that's around 30 million bees - a lot for Sam to manage.

Bit of smoke in the entrance.

Calm the guard bees down.

Guard bees?

-Yeah.

-It's amazing how every one has their job, isn't it?

Do we know how old bees are? Is it millions of years old?

I think there was a form of bee with the dinosaurs.

-Incredible, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-BUZZING

The noise of these bees is incredible, it's just risen.

There we go. It'll rise a bit more in a minute.

-Wow.

-You see here?

-Look at that.

See that glistening in there?

That's this year's honey.

A honeybee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip

and a hive of bees will fly 90,000 miles,

the equivalent of three orbits around the Earth to collect one

kilogram of honey.

All these bees are getting very busy now, you can probably see them.

I know we've smoked them but they don't seem very happy about this.

They're just flying around, they're not attacking you.

You know when it's going wrong when they start bombing your head

and it feels like heavy raindrops.

That's a sign that they're getting angry.

So this is the brood box, the queen is in here somewhere

and we're going to have a quick look to see if we can find her.

What you're looking for is a long, thin bee.

-Here's the queen.

-That's it.

She doesn't like sunlight, so she always goes towards the dark.

Mistress of all that she surveys, really.

She is the life of the hive.

How long will a queen live for?

Queen lives up to three, maybe four years at the most.

The queen can lay up to 2,000 eggs a day,

building a colony of 20,000-50,000 bees,

made up of female worker bees and male drones, who only mate.

-See there?

-Yeah.

-That's a bee emerging from its cell.

-That's a bee being born, basically?

-Yeah.

It's chewing its way out from the wax capping over its cell.

How long is that bee going to live for?

In the summer, it'll live for about six weeks.

That's all? That's incredible - welcome to the world.

Sadly, in six weeks' time that little bee will be no more,

having done its job and hopefully help produce some honey.

They say a bee's lifetime work is a teaspoon of honey.

Think of that the next time you put a teaspoon of honey in your tea.

Thank you very much!

For our second property offering, we're staying in the area

and heading a few minutes down the road to the village of Felinfach,

still within easy reach of the Cardigan Bay coastline.

Felinfach itself is around seven miles from the town

of Aberaeron on the coast.

At the mouth of the River Aeron, the town,

with its colourful Regency buildings, was once a thriving port,

now known more as a destination for tourists,

lured by its excellent seafood.

On the outskirts of Felinfach village is house number two.

A stone-built period property with glorious views across

the Vale of Aeron.

This is property number two. What do you think?

Looking good.

Property one had just under one acre, this has three and a half.

-Three and a half!

-Sounding better.

-Mmm!

-I like it.

You also get that very well-built double garage,

with a studio above it.

It's also got a downstairs shower room in it and so on and so forth.

-Looking good.

-Mmm.

-Come on.

A great reaction

and smiles all round at the prospect of the three and a half acres.

But before we survey the land,

I want them to see something else high on their agenda.

Come in, Elaine.

We'll start with the kitchen-diner.

-Come in a minute, what do you think?

-Yeah.

-This is bigger, I like this.

-This is bigger.

-Yeah.

This is more probably what I was thinking of.

Yes, and then through there,

you've got a really lovely conservatory/garden room.

This is interesting, this is a kind of...

I mean, I suppose, really, it's a kind of mixture of study

and dining, if you like.

Yeah...it's going to get confusing.

I'm not sure how this fits with the living room.

Well, have a look at the living end. This is it through here.

Again, it all nicely flows through.

Yeah, this is nice and cosy.

-Little, nice room.

-Yeah.

-It's just right.

-Cosy. Confused.

-I am.

-Confused!

-I like this half of the room.

The other half doesn't quite fit.

-No.

-I guess, the truth is, it's a bit of a corridor, isn't it?

-It is.

-But you love this bit, don't you?

-I do.

I can see you lit up as soon as you came into here.

-I can see us sat here in front of that fire.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Brilliant.

-Definitely.

Good, let's go upstairs, come and have a look at this.

The kitchen definitely hits the spot

but we've a 50/50 response to the living area.

So, I'm hoping the space upstairs can tip the balance.

Bedroom two and three are both good size doubles

and all are served by a modern family bathroom. Now, the master.

-There we are.

-This is a very big bedroom.

-Isn't it?

-Look at the size!

Yes.

That's a lot more wardrobe than we've got already.

-I'll have to own more clothes to fill it.

-No, you won't.

-Yes, I will.

HE LAUGHS

Just need a pair of overalls.

-It also has an en-suite shower room in there...

-Oh!

..which is a great bonus.

I know it's not something you specified

as being a deal-maker but...

Good as an added extra.

So far, so good.

But it's the land that is the clincher

and whether they feel it's enough for their menagerie of animals.

At the rear of the sun room is a patio leading onto extensive lawns.

The remaining acreage is largely grassland,

including two large wildlife ponds.

THEY LAUGH

Looking good!

It looks an awful lot of space.

Well, you would clearly have a lot of fun,

-trying to make sense of all this.

-Yes.

But, of course, the price is going to be the deciding factor.

So, £300,000, Ken.

I think this one is going to be pretty well on our budget,

-so I'm going to say the 300,000.

-300,000. Elaine?

I was going to say that, so I'll go 299,999, just under.

It's 50 quid short...

of your 300,000.

-So, 299,950.

-One all.

THEY LAUGH

Just scraping in under budget,

this renovated stone-built country house gives them

three bedrooms, a large kitchen/breakfast room,

open-plan living and dining area,

a sun room with views across the grounds, approximately

three and a half acres of land, ideal for their smallholding,

and it's all set in the delightful Aeron Valley countryside,

a short distance from Cardigan Bay.

Is this it? Is this the one?

-It could be.

-Could be.

The house is right, the ground is right

and I want to point out that the sun is shining in my microclimate.

Brilliant! Well, let's make the most of it.

Come on, I'll treat you to an evening beer.

Sounds good.

Finding a property with character

and enough land for £300,000 has been the challenge.

Hopefully, the mystery house will resolve this

by offering an abundance of charm

and an alternative option for their smallholding.

To find it, we're travelling south to the village of Henllan,

around four miles from the town of Newcastle Emlyn

and a 20-minute drive to the coast.

The nearby market town of Newcastle Emlyn lies on the banks of the

River Teifi, overlooked by the ruins of its 13th-century hill-top castle.

The town serves the local area with a variety of independent shops,

pubs and post office.

Just outside the village of Henllan lies our mystery house,

a Victorian property with a delightful veranda facade.

Da-da! There it is.

This looks very good.

What do you think?

This is what I would have hoped for and it looks spacious.

So, land, we'll tackle that head on - we haven't got acres here,

but we can rent it very readily, we've already made some

enquiries around here, it's not hard to get hold of.

Property two, in a way, did it give us too much space?

You weren't really sure what to do with some of those reception rooms.

I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of space.

They needed a bit of thinking about.

I think this one's much more manageable.

-OK.

-We've just got a lovely, peaceful, you know,

super little Victorian house.

You going to shut up and we can get in there?

You are so, so cheeky! Come on.

Well, I'm taking that as a good sign.

Ken just can't wait to see inside,

hopefully they'll feel as excited about the interior.

Let's start in here, then,

the obvious place - the kitchen.

-This is my sort of kitchen.

-This is nice.

Simple, quite simple.

-Nice proportions, you know.

-Yes.

That little archway's really sweet and the stone steps.

That takes you up to a utility area and downstairs loo and shower.

See what I mean, it's just got that little bit more character.

Definitely has. Definitely.

Good. Right then, let's continue.

Through here...

..the dining room.

Fireplace is rather nice, windowsill,

again there's lovely windows.

And then through here you've got this hall/lobby,

stairs up there, and then, finally, the living room.

-Smaller than I would have probably...

-A touch smaller, yes.

..wanted, but...

The fire and the surround is the real show stopper in here, I think.

It's full of character, which I like.

Yeah, OK.

We can try and work on it.

Come upstairs, let's see what you think of that.

So the great reaction to the kitchen

and dining area is tempered somewhat by the living room,

but they do seem willing to compromise, which is good,

as there may be more compromises upstairs.

The family bathroom which has a mix of wood panel features

and a stylish white suite serves the four bedrooms.

Bedroom three is a small single, and the fourth is used as a study.

Technically, this house does offer you four bedrooms.

We'll start with this one.

This is one of the four.

I personally think it's more of a landing area

cos it's a kind of a through-route to two rooms that are down there.

-OK.

-Yes.

I think, actually, it would make a really nice study area.

Yeah, thinking the same.

Yes, so the space isn't wasted.

Bedroom three and four are separated by a stud wall, which gives them the

option to knock through, making one large double-aspect master bedroom.

So this is currently the main bedroom,

but if you put your master at the other end of the house,

converting those two rooms into one, this would be a guest room.

I'd prefer to have the master bedroom at that end, the other end,

cos then you'll have dual aspect.

As a second bedroom, this is a good size.

Yeah. Let's talk about the money.

Come on, let's go outside.

We've had a mixed reaction to the interior, but they do seem willing

to try and make it work, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed

they feel the same about the outside space.

Let's talk about the garden.

Just under an acre, you've got this bit we're standing on here, you've

got a nice little lawned area to our left behind that large

rhododendron area.

It drops down to the river itself, so you can get your feet wet

if you fancy it, and then we've got

this series of outbuildings here - a reasonable spread.

Well, let's think about the money, shall we?

Who's going first?

Ladies first.

Setting...

..perfect.

-315.

-£315,000? OK.

-Over budget.

-Over budget, yeah. OK.

I'm going to say a lot under.

I'm going to say 275.

Well, here's the thing...

It's on the market at...

£279,000.

And that would leave you quite a bit left over.

To play with.

It would indeed.

Our mystery detached property gives them three to four bedrooms,

a large kitchen with a separate utility area, a dining room,

bags of character features

and around an acre of land with the option to rent more,

backing onto a river, set in the Ceredigion countryside.

Well, this is all good -

smiley, happy faces at the end of our house tour.

-Definitely.

-Have we cracked it, I wonder?

-Possibility.

-Good possibility.

Well, we thought that before, haven't we?

Without pressing you on it, I think you need to go and consider it,

and then we shall catch up and have a good old chat about it.

-Lots to think about.

-Let's go find somewhere to think.

How's the discussion gone between the pair of you?

Erm...surprisingly well!

-We've actually agreed.

-Have you?

-Yeah.

-OK.

We didn't argue on anything.

We haven't argued on anything, which is a major breakthrough.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say it's number three,

our mystery house.

You'd be right. HE LAUGHS

OK. Right.

So we like the mystery house.

It just felt...right. Comfortable.

There's potential there to do an awful lot,

and it's definitely got the character that we're looking for.

Beautiful, quiet location - perfect.

But the animals, then.

As you pointed out, there's always a possibility of renting close by,

and I think we could fit in something

in the garden that's there.

-Yeah.

-Well, I'm really pleased, guys, I'm really delighted.

I think it gives you all the flexibility you'd want,

financially, it makes sense

and it's a really, really pretty, charming house.

-It is.

-It is.

-Well, here's to you!

We should probably have something a bit stronger, shouldn't we,

-rather than just tea? But cheers!

-Cheers.

Oh, how we all do love to be by the seaside.

We often talk about house searches as a bit of struggle,

but, in truth, whatever their challenges,

they are, and should be, good fun.

And as you've seen, we've had plenty of that

this week with Ken and Elaine.

More importantly, they've really helped themselves because they've compromised.

We often use that word,

but it is so important if you are to find a home of your dreams.

There's also one more key fundamental point -

often, houses can speak to us and, as they've discovered,

when you walk in and it feels right, then it probably is right.

I'll see you next time.

Ken and Elaine fell in love with the character of our mystery house,

but couldn't come to terms with the amount of land it offered.

So, after much soul-searching, they've decided to continue

their hunt for property in the area with the five acres they want.

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