Wiltshire Escape to the Country

These spectacular standing stones date back 5,000 years

and make up one of the most impressive

prehistoric sites in Britain.

Find out how they stood the test of time

and which county they're in in just a moment.

On the show today, I'll be helping two city dwellers

break out from the limitations of their urban surroundings

to find the perfect countryside home.

We find an unexpected hazard to country life...

I would worry a little bit

about all the leaves falling in the autumn.

..and romance is in the air.

She could serenade you every morning.

Today, I'm in Wiltshire and this is the village of Avebury,

home to this extraordinary Neolithic site.

It covers 28 acres and consists of this massive circular bank and ditch

and then one big circle of standing stones

and inside, two smaller ones.

We're pretty sure that it was built for ceremonial use,

but in the Middle Ages, it was almost destroyed

when people tore down the stones out of religious fear

and then again in the 17th century

when they used them to build their houses.

But its future is pretty much secure because since the 1980s,

it is now a World Heritage Site,

which means this mystical and sacred part of Wiltshire

is safe for generations to come.

Set in the south of England,

Wiltshire is bordered by six counties,

including Gloucestershire to the north and Dorset to the south.

The long tide of human history sweeps over Wiltshire's diverse landscape.

The chalk plateau of Salisbury Plain covers 300 square miles of the county

and is home to the sarsen megaliths of Stonehenge,

an instantly recognisable feature.

To the south is Salisbury,

described as a city in the countryside.

Its cathedral lays claim to having the tallest spire in England

and along with its surrounding meadows

was famously captured by Constable in his painting of 1825.

Other architectural gems include Wilton House,

built over 450 years ago

and home to the Earls of Pembroke since the time of Henry VIII.

With such a wealth of awe-inspiring architecture

set in timeless landscape,

Wiltshire has it all for property shoppers

looking for a permanent country residence of their own.

Wiltshire has a very varied landscape when it comes to property prices.

Overall, the county's quite expensive,

with an average detached house here selling for £290,000,

which is £40,000 above the national figure.

That said, within the county, there's great variety.

So, in the north-east,

around pretty little market towns like Marlborough or Pewsey,

prices are quite steep.

And then you head west towards Devizes and Chippenham,

they become more reasonable.

Then, if you head north up to the Gloucestershire/Cotswold border,

then they start to climb again.

So, where in this region are our buyers today going to choose?

Well, let's meet them and find out.

For the past eight years,

Ian and Janet have lived in a flat in Brentford, West London,

not too far from the airport as Ian worked abroad.

But now Ian has joined Janet in retirement,

they've decided it's time to fly from their metropolitan lifestyle.

I've been a weekend husband for almost the last 25, 30 years

where I've had jobs around the world,

mainly the Netherlands.

Today, I'm always planning. Where do I have to be next?

Can I catch the plane? Can I catch the train?

Do I have to leave now or five minutes later?

Now, when I move out into the country,

plus the retirement,

it's going to be a far more leisurely approach to life.

And the capital isn't always the ideal place to take it easy.

This area doesn't provide peace and quiet.

We have the Heathrow Airport and the aeroplanes going in and out.

The roads are busy.

You've always got to factor in time delays anywhere you go.

I think the other thing also is the privacy.

You know, although the flat itself is very private,

but you're only private in the flat.

As soon as you leave the flat, there's no garden,

there's no space around.

The need to be closer to family

has dictated the destination for their relocation.

We're looking to move out to Wiltshire

because currently my son and his family are out there -

my only grandchild -

and you know, it's nice for us to be able to see them

on a more regular basis than we do at the moment.

So, I'm really looking forward to that,

as you can imagine any grandmother would be.

But they also have a daughter to consider.

She lives quite close to us just now.

She's getting married in October.

We have to bear her in mind as well so we aren't too far away from her.

Once out in the country, Janet wants to rediscover her passion for music.

Living in a flat, it's just hopeless.

I play a flute as well as a piano.

And of course, in the flat, there's no room for the piano.

No, there's no room for the piano so that will be a big thing

to be able to get the piano back again.

And I can make as much noise as I want.

I shall be able to shut myself away

and probably even Ian won't be able to hear me

if we've got a big enough house.

And Ian's hoping a country house will help revive a passion of his own.

I'm an avid collector of art,

but a lot of it, there's just no room for it.

There's not enough wall space, not enough floor space

and of course, some of it's even garden art

and of course, we have no garden.

They've got other plans for the garden too.

I would love fresh tomatoes.

I would love another few lettuces if I could keep the slugs away.

I'd love to just go out and pick a few fresh things from the garden.

We've both got an interest in cooking.

Yes, reasonably quality cooking

and to do that properly does take some time

and it's very hard when you're rushing around at weekends.

All that remains to discover is the financial details.

The budget for the move is £550,000.

Janet and Ian are looking to concentrate the search

within reasonable distance from their son in Swindon.

Before we begin our property tour,

I caught up with them on Wiltshire soil

to find out a little more about what they're looking for in a new house.

Welcome to Wiltshire, guys. Very nice to have you here.

I'd be quite interested to know a little bit more

about the house that you've been dreaming about.

I'd like a house that's got a large kitchen.

I particularly would like a room/study

to get away from Ian's football and golf

and all sorts of different sports.

-So you could do some of your music as well.

-Oh, yes, as well.

And then he won't have to listen to me either.

-It's win-win.

-Yes.

I'd love a garden, really. The main thing is to have a garden.

It doesn't have to be too big.

Something of a manageable size that I can potter in

and just keep tidy and just enjoy.

You're both retired so what are you going to be doing to fill your days?

I play golf very badly. I'd like to keep going with that.

And we'd go out quite a bit, you know.

We like to go out and do some dining,

a bit of theatre, a bit of cinema.

I'm hoping to get him out into the countryside a bit more

to do a little bit of bird-spotting and...

So, where in Wiltshire do you want to be?

I know you need to be close to your grandson.

Yes, that's correct.

We need to be in striking distance of Swindon, really.

Presumably not too close cos then you'll be on constant call.

-That's correct, yes. Not too close.

-Don't forget our daughter, though.

We need to be in easy contact with her as well.

Yes, we've got a daughter still in London

so if we could get on a train and easily get into London,

that would be great too.

So, when you say striking distance of Swindon, how far?

Um, well, within an hour's car ride, I think, yes.

We've got three lovely properties lined up for you.

Interesting ones.

And I hope they are going to be to your taste.

-Looking forward to it.

-Good. Well, let's not hang around.

Let's go and look at them. Follow me.

Janet and Ian don't need to sell their London flat to finance the move

and after some thought,

they've also revised their budget to a maximum of £575,000.

They're looking for three to four bedrooms,

a large kitchen, a study to house Janet's piano,

a manageable garden

and all within reasonable distance from Swindon

and transport links to London.

We found three fantastic properties to tempt them with

and I'll test their market knowledge by asking them to guess the prices.

The third property is our mystery house, which hopefully,

they'll take to like ducks to water.

Before all that, first on our agenda is house number one.

Have you two done much scouting around Wiltshire and the countryside?

No, not really. We've done a little bit around Swindon.

That's about it. I'm a bit unsure where I am just now, actually.

-And I don't know Wiltshire at all.

-So, it's like a mystery tour?

-It is, really, yes.

-I could take you anywhere.

-Yes.

So, you're not particularly wedded to Wiltshire as a whole?

Other than its nearness to Swindon and its good train link to London,

those are the key things for us.

From that point of view, yes,

but as a county, we've yet to find out.

Are you planning, then, to commute back to London a lot?

Not a lot, but you know, more than once a month, maybe.

-Cos your daughter's there?

-Yeah.

For our first house, we're travelling to Durrington,

a village to the east of the county an hour from their son in Swindon

and around 10 miles from Salisbury

with its direct train links to London.

There's been a settlement in Durrington on and off

since the Neolithic period

and the medieval cross marks the centre of this large village.

The village has grown in recent times,

reflected in the mix of property styles

from 17th century thatched cottages

to farmhouses and more modern residences.

In the old part of the village, we find house number one,

a detached refurbished property sat in around a third of an acre.

Because this...

..is the property I want to show you.

-Oh, very pleasant.

-Very pleasant. Nice and clean.

-Very quiet, private. Yes, lovely.

-Yeah, nice.

-Very nice.

So, it's a 1950s house.

We're sort of seeing it from the edge, as it were,

because there's quite a substantial 1970s extension

that's been put on the back.

Let's do it.

A positive if somewhat reserved reaction from Ian and Janet

so let's hope the inside delivers

what they're looking for in terms of space.

There are two reception rooms on the ground floor

and we're heading for the larger of the two.

As you can see, the present owners

have really kind of stripped everything back down

to a very kind of contemporary feel.

Yeah, nice. Nice plain colours. It looks good, yeah.

-That's a wood-burning stove?

-That's a contemporary log burner.

It's a little bit smaller than I would have liked.

But there's the second room next door

so there's something to be done.

Let's start exploring the back of the house.

This is the kitchen.

This is the much more spacious kitchen/diner.

-Yes, this is nice.

-This is really nice, yes.

-Very nice.

-Very, very nice.

Lots of this lovely work surface and the sort of big, big island.

So, the downstairs continues quite considerably

into the '70s extension that way.

There's a question mark over what you might do with that room

so let's go and explore.

The extension houses a conservatory, a utility room

and an en suite shower room which leads on to the fourth bedroom.

It's a rather unusual layout because you've got,

at the end of this sort of long extension,

this sort of garden room,

which they're currently using as a bedroom, guest room.

Through there, you've got a sort of little office or walk-in wardrobe.

It makes sense to either have this as a guest wing

or to make it into more living space.

Yes, probably more living space, I would think.

Probably more living space. This is an ideal office-type area.

-Is it whetting your appetite?

-It's whetting my appetite, yes.

We do differ a little.

I like something a little cosier than Ian does.

Let's explore upstairs. Then you'll know the whole house.

Mixed reactions to the downstairs,

but having seen the possibilities of the extension,

I get the feeling they're warming to the house.

Accessed via a landing, bedrooms two and three are both doubles.

There's also a family bathroom with contemporary suite,

including a double-ended bath,

as well as another separate shower room.

First, though, is the master.

This one's got all the fitted cupboards

and they're using it as the master bedroom.

-Very nice. Yes, lots of storage.

-Yeah, the storage is excellent.

In terms of the upstairs living, I mean, some people like huge bedrooms.

Is that a big deal for you?

No, the only thing we need is a reasonable amount of storage space

because we've got clothes everywhere

so we need lots of storage space and this is ideal for that.

-Yes, it is, isn't it?

-Giant bedrooms is not our thing.

It's an ideal room, this, yes.

The enclosed, tree-lined gardens are mainly lawn,

which hopefully should be enough for Janet's gardening aspirations,

and include a patio area just outside the conservatory.

So, you've got the garden that goes down there.

It's a sort of steep bank here into what was an orchard.

Well, it still is an orchard.

-Oh, they're fruit trees, are they?

-Mm-hm.

-Yes, very nice, yes.

I would worry a little bit about all the leaves falling in the autumn,

the number of trees that there are in the garden.

That's quite a peculiar anxiety!

If you look how many trees there are,

it will be a large number of leaves to be removed.

This is true.

How much do you think the property's on the market for?

Um, my guess would be £565,000.

I think it's a bit lower than that.

I think it's about maybe £545,000, £550,000.

OK, well, in this instance, your wife is the authority

cos you are spot-on.

That is exactly what it is on the market for - £565,000.

It's only been on the market a couple of weeks

and I think it's a very saleable property.

It is. It's a lovely house. Very nice house.

So, armed with those facts, why don't you explore the garden

and actually upstairs as well

and see whether this is going to fit the bill?

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I think that's a very adequate first house.

It gives them a lot of what they're looking for.

Lots of space, lots of garden.

Perhaps too much garden, too many trees.

But otherwise, I think more than adequate.

Our first house comes in under their maximum budget at £565,000

and gives them four bedrooms

with the option to utilise one as extra living space.

There's a large, modern kitchen, two reception rooms,

a manageable garden and it's all within a reasonable distance

from their son in Swindon and daughter in London.

I could see myself sitting here with a book

and a bird feeder on the tree

and watching the birds and it'd be lovely.

Yeah, I just think it's too small and rather a nothing room.

Then this would be a room for me.

It really is a very impressive house. We liked it a lot.

The big lounge is a little bit smaller than we want.

On the other hand, there are two other rooms

which you can make into living spaces

which might compensate for it.

The fourth bedroom, the spare room,

that is a great, great space to play with.

I do have reservations about the kitchen.

Beautiful as it is, the layout is not quite as I would like it to be.

Upstairs is perfect. Lots of bathrooms.

It is a delightful house. A really wonderful house.

Very good start. Gives us lots to think about.

Come on out. If you pull the door behind you, Ian.

We're all done. That's our first house. Wrapped.

And now we're going to get in the car

and drive across the county to our second house.

-OK.

-Follow me.

Historically, Wiltshire was known as a malting county

and it's one of the few places in England where malt is still produced

using traditional methods.

Malt is used in brewing beer and is produced from cereals such as barley.

By the early 19th century, the town of Warminster

was recognised as a malting capital, boasting 36 separate malt houses,

the economic mainstay for those employed in the town.

Today, only one survives.

Warminster Maltings is Britain's oldest working malt house

and mindful of Ian and Janet's passion for creating good food,

we arranged for them to meet head maltster

Chris Garrett to find out more.

Welcome to Warminster Maltings here in the town of Warminster,

at one time very famous for its maltings.

Why were there so many malt houses in this area?

Yeah, we were a very significant market town.

Agriculturally, very important.

All around us, we have malted barley fields

growing the premium malted barleys in the country.

Do you still use traditional methods here?

Yeah, most definitely so. We do.

We're using methods here that were used

from the origin of the building - 1855.

As the main ingredient in beer,

malt is produced by germinating barley grain,

a process which breaks down the starch into sugar.

So, this is the barley that comes to us from local farms.

It comes to us at 14 percent moisture.

We now need to convert this barley into malt.

The steeping process is the means of raising the moisture level in the barley

to that which is desired for germination

and it has to be carried out in this tank

where the barley is held there for three days

with three batches of water.

At the end of that, not only will we have a moisture of 45 percent,

but we'll also see that the barley is germinating.

Stage two of the malting process is to empty the steep tank

and transfer the grain to the germination floor.

Here, an age-old technique called ploughing takes place,

a chance for Ian to get some hands-on experience.

Here we are. Be very careful not to bang your head on the low beams.

Why do we do this?

It's very important to ensure, as the barley germinates,

it's heating up, ensure that that heat is dissipated.

The plough will turn the barley from top to bottom

and open up the surface area.

How often do I have to do this?

Well, three or four times a day, Ian.

After resting for five days, the barley is now germinated,

transformed into green malt.

And we can see that the roots have developed little shoots

coming down the back of the barley corn.

This is now ready to be loaded into the kiln.

The green malt is loaded onto a corkscrew conveyor belt,

which carries it to the kiln

which can hold between five and 15 tonnes of grain at a time.

In here, we have the green malt that we've conveyed from the malt floor.

It's dropping down from the main elevator now,

filling the small kiln where it will be here for 21 hours.

We're going to be applying lots of heat, lots of fan power

and drying that malt at temperatures -

anything from 75 centigrade up to 105 centigrade.

This process stops the growth and dries the grain

and by varying the airflow, kilning time and temperature,

malts of different colours and flavours can be produced.

The malt is then shipped off to brewers,

but before they go, there's one more important job for Ian and Janet.

-Thank you very much.

-Cheers.

-To your health.

Ian and Janet have certainly got a flavour

of Wiltshire's malting heritage,

but for now, it's time to return to our house hunt.

Onto property number two

and we're heading north-west to the village of Nympsfield

over the border into Gloucestershire and just under an hour from Swindon.

Set on the path of a former Roman road,

Nympsfield is within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

This pretty leafy village has two churches and a country pub

and is dotted with traditional stone cottages.

On the outskirts of the village is house number two,

a Grade II listed barn conversion set on the edge of a courtyard.

So, as you can see, quite a different offering from house number one.

-Yes, it is, isn't it?

-Completely different.

So, this is the dairy, the part that I'm showing you,

which is this half of these C-shaped buildings.

Well, wow, I think, really.

-Well, it's very different to the last place.

-Very special.

Can't wait to get inside and have a look at it. Please, let's go!

With living space high on their agenda,

I'm banking on the sitting room delivering the wow factor.

Into the star attraction, which is this room.

-Yes.

-Oh, goodness.

-That would suit you, wouldn't it?

-It would indeed suit me.

Yes, I think so. Lovely, big room.

Log burner, underfloor heating throughout.

Plenty of room for pictures, Ian.

There's plenty of room and it's a nice, nice room to sit in.

What about you, Janet? What are your first gut impressions?

It's a lovely big room and it's actually sort of cosy as well

if you keep the furniture in one end.

OK, well, this is the main room of the property

and off here on the right is the kitchen.

Come on through, then.

This is, again, a very different space.

-Oh, yes.

-Yes.

It's designed to cook in as opposed to eat in

and I think, to me, that's a big plus.

There's plenty of cupboard space. It looks good.

And there's still room for a chair or a couple of chairs

or a small corner unit.

-No, I like the kitchen.

-Yes, I like the kitchen very much.

Good. So, there's thumbs up for the kitchen.

Yes, big thumbs up for the kitchen.

So, one of the unusual things about this house is the master bedroom

currently is on the ground floor so let's go and have a look at that.

OK.

The ground floor also benefits from a large hall,

big enough to accommodate a dining area.

So, more positives than negatives so far,

but it remains to be seen if they will compromise

on having a downstairs master.

So, this is the resplendent...

-This is lovely, isn't it?

-It's a big bedroom.

Yes, it is.

-Makes the bed look small.

-It does, yes, yes.

And then you've got a sort of a bathroom in there - en suite.

Oh, very good.

I suppose my question when I was looking round it for you guys is

there are only two bedrooms upstairs - two guest rooms.

They use them as guest rooms upstairs.

And my question is would you want to keep this as your master bedroom

or would you want to turn this into more downstairs space

and use one of the rooms upstairs?

I could use this as my escape room as well

because there is the seating in here as well.

You could have a piano in your bedroom!

She could serenade you every morning.

I haven't actually looked round to see where else it might fit,

but I'm not sure about you on the ladder, Ian, decorating.

I think this is definitely a specialist job

for the decorating, isn't it?

-Larger than I would attempt.

-You might get someone in.

Well, I'll let you explore upstairs on your own in just a moment,

but let's have a look in the garden.

I can see the cogs whirring as they figure out

what to do with the huge master.

Outside, the gardens come with an outbuilding

and are enclosed behind a stone wall for privacy

with views over the neighbouring church.

Hopefully enough for Janet's green fingers.

-A more modest-sized garden.

-Yes, it is and perfectly adequate.

This is the sort of size you're looking for?

-This is perfectly adequate, yes.

-Now I know!

I could see some nice shrubs or pots round the outside.

-You've got a tree for your birds thingy to go.

-Yes.

A walnut tree. Yes, you'll have walnuts all year round.

What do you think the price of the property is?

Now, I was very good last time,

but I think you've got me quite stumped this time.

-Would you like to go first, Ian?

-No, I've got no clue at all.

I would put it at about £495,000.

I think that's far too low.

Um, you know, it's still got to be up at the top somewhere.

It's got to be up at...

..£535,000.

£535,000.

Well, I think your wife has got her eye in

because this is actually just a little bit under that.

It's on at £525,000.

So, if you go inside and have a look round upstairs,

then we can meet out the front and take it from there.

OK, yes, lovely.

This Grade II listed barn conversion comes in under budget at £525,000,

giving them a huge master bedroom,

a very spacious and characterful sitting room,

a large, modern kitchen, a manageable garden,

within reasonable distance to Swindon

all set in the glorious Cotswolds countryside.

-This is a sweet room, isn't it?

-Very cosy.

-Yes.

There's your sloping ceilings.

Well, yes, I'm not keen on sloping ceilings,

but you don't need...

You know, there's plenty of clearance, really,

as you come round here.

No wardrobe, is there?

So you'd have to construct that in here?

Yes, yes.

I've always really wanted something like this - a barn conversion -

and this was just what I wanted, really.

The lounge is huge, it's super-sized,

the master bedroom is super-sized.

However, we are lacking one extra room

that would be a study which could be converted into a bedroom

because we could not accommodate the family all together

at any one time here.

Unfortunately, I don't think this house would be for us.

The ground floor is fantastic.

It really is. Really nice.

We could do lots of things with it. It's nice and spacious. It's good.

The kitchen layout is really, really good. Really nice.

The downside is the lack of storage upstairs.

-Are you all done inside?

-We are, yes, thank you.

Very good. I'll just pull the door.

Right, well, we're all the houses done for this day,

but tomorrow is another one so we better get some rest and relaxation.

-OK.

-Off we go.

It's the second day of our property tour in Wiltshire.

We're with Janet and Ian from Brentford, West London,

who have £575,000 to spend on a rural home.

Coming up, we discover the basic house requirements...

I like the sound of the spa and the swimming pool.

..and I rediscover a hidden talent.

It's been a while since I've laid bricks.

Day two here in Wiltshire and I have this growing suspicion

that the sheen may have come off this countryside dream for Ian and Janet.

There's a few things that Ian said

about being far away from the motorway back to London

and I have this feeling that he'd quite like

to have a base back in the smoke.

And although Janet is very keen on bird-watching and having views,

she did say there were a few too many leaves on the trees

out in the countryside.

So, for the mystery house, we're going to take a bit of a risk

and show them a property that allows them to keep their flat in London

and gives them a countryside base with a lake view.

So, bearing in mind that neither of you are very familiar with Wiltshire,

what are your first impressions as we've been driving around?

The countryside's really beautiful.

The roads are not quite what we're used to living in London.

And although the distances are quite short,

the time to travel between them seems quite long.

Ah. In the sense that they're windy country roads?

Correct, yes.

Yes, that is the perils of living in the country(!)

We're staying in the Cotswolds with our mystery house,

travelling east to Howells Mere,

half an hour from Swindon and its transport links to London.

Now, this is a very mysterious mystery house

so I needed to bring you here to set it up

because usually we'd bring you to a village,

but this mystery house is in its own brand-new village.

This is called the Lower Mill Estate

and it's a huge development around the Cotswold Water Park.

Basically, it's 550 acres of nature reserve.

Oh, that would suit me down to the ground!

-Exactly. It is bird-tastic.

-Yes.

And 400 acres of that will never be built on

so it's a permanent nature reserve.

One of the reasons we brought you here,

cos it's a slightly unusual offering here,

because we got the impression that, actually,

there's lots of things about living in London that you quite like

and, you know, in an ideal world,

you might like to keep the place in London

because there you've got lots of travel and stuff,

but have a country residence as well.

This is relatively close to London. It's 90 minutes from London.

It's about 20 minutes to the motorway so it's good access.

This is the slightly unusual part because these are second homes.

-For a month a year, you have to vacate this property.

-OK.

But it does have this huge community.

So, behind us here is the sort of village

so there's a shop and a spa and a swimming pool and a sauna.

I like the sound of the spa and the swimming pool.

So, let's take our brollies and find it.

Excellent. Good.

The mystery house is a detached lakeside property

of contemporary design over three floors.

So, this is the house I wanted to show you.

-Very nice.

-It is very nice, yes.

Lots of open space, isn't there? Nice view.

We thought of you, Janet,

cos you've got all these lovely sedges and brushes for the birds.

-You've got swans, you see.

-Yes, yes.

-I could soon make friends.

-You could soon make friends.

Unfortunately, we're seeing it on a slightly overcast day,

but, I mean, the whole point of this property

is that it's got all this lovely outside space.

You see all the balconies on the three levels.

Can't wait to have a look inside.

The property seems to have caught their eye on the outside,

but it remains to be seen if it's the house

or the thought of spending more time in their London flat that appeals the most.

Nice to be in from the chilly summer air.

Step into this lovely new space.

Yes, very nice. Very light, isn't it?

And you get a bigger dimension of space

cos of the window going out that way as well

so it creates an illusion of more space than there actually is,

even though it is quite spacious.

You've got the big kitchen,

lots of work surface, granite worktops,

all the mod cons, lots of light coming in from all directions.

Can you see yourself...?

Cos we were worried that it might not be cosy enough for you.

Oh, yes, I could do.

Yes, with the doors shut, the stairs are separate.

Well, I imagine this would be good for your art.

Yes, you could get the odd bit in here.

-Yes, it would, wouldn't it?

-Lots of walls to cover.

I suppose what we're interested in

is whether this whole idea of keeping the place in London,

having this place as a sort of second home

really appeals to you or would work for you.

It does appeal, I think, yes. And it would work.

We thought about it walking down and it does appeal to us.

-I mean, a lot of questions to ask.

-Shall we have a mosey upstairs?

The first floor has three double bedrooms.

Bedroom one comes with en suite bathroom,

bedroom two has an en suite shower room

and both have access to a lakeside balcony.

A stylish family bathroom serves the remaining bedroom on this floor

so they've got options here,

bearing in mind they're after extra living space.

-Very nice.

-That's a cupboard to the right, I'd imagine.

And each one has its own cupboard as well - wardrobe - built-in.

-There's the landing to go with it.

-Yeah, the lovely balconies.

-So, there's plenty of sleeping space.

-Mm-hm.

You'd probably want to change one of these into a music room or a study.

This isn't awfully big because there aren't any bedside cabinets in at the moment.

We'd need to buy some small ones, wouldn't we?

-Or you could use it as a study.

-Yes.

-Sort of a nice room to work.

Because I think you might...

Well, let's have a look. The room upstairs is very impressive.

Up on the second floor is the master bedroom

with an en suite walk-in shower room

and access to the wonderful roof terrace

where I'm going to see how accurate their valuations are.

Can you imagine having a barbecue out here?

Yes, it would be lovely, wouldn't it?

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

This is going to be difficult.

I've never seen anything like this before,

but I think I would say £475,000.

-OK.

-I think it's lower than that.

-I think it's near the £460,000 mark.

-£460,000?

Well, you're both quite out.

This is actually on the market for £540,000.

-Wow.

-£540,000. Whoa!

So, that is the price for a Cotswold Water Park second home.

So, why don't you have a look around?

cos there are rooms downstairs

and you might now, having seen the upstairs room,

want to configure what you might do downstairs

and I'll see you right at the bottom and we'll take it from there.

Oh, that's a jolly good mystery house

because it offers all sorts of things in terms of a second home,

keeping the London flat, keeping options open,

but judging by their guess of their price,

I think it might be more expensive than they thought.

The stylish mystery lakeside property comes in under budget at £540,000

and gives them four bedrooms,

one possibly to use as Janet's piano room,

a spacious, open plan living area,

a decent-sized kitchen, a wonderful roof terrace

all within reasonable distance to Swindon and London.

Location-wise, we're sort of 90 minutes from London

and 30 minutes from Swindon.

It couldn't be better.

It's light, it's airy and it's perfect.

The downstairs is just perfect.

The bedrooms are not very big. There's not a lot of storage.

There are some built-in wardrobes,

but the bedrooms themselves are quite small.

First impressions - great place, love to be here,

good for the bird-spotting,

loved the idea of the pool - heated pool - and stuff.

We've still got a minor issue on space -

where we're going to put some stuff.

There's lots of things in here we like

and I think there's no doubt about it

that it's an area we will definitely be exploring a bit further.

So, with that rather unusual offering, you guys are done.

If you head to the car, I'll catch up with you in a second.

Obviously, Ian and Janet have a quite specific brief

and specific budget, but Wiltshire has lots to offer.

Take a look.

If you're looking for a home that's thatched and detached,

this three-bedroom property in Broad Town might be the ticket.

With all the character features you'd expect from a country cottage,

it should suit the average budget - on the market for £295,000.

With a budget that stretches a little further,

this three-bedroom renovated cottage in Sutton Benger

provides a mix of contemporary and period features.

It offers stacks of character and it's on sale for £449,000.

And if you're after a property

that's right in the heart of the countryside,

then a barn conversion like this three-bedroom example

in Winterbourne, Monkton, might be up your street.

With a stylish contemporary interior,

it overlooks the village church and has a price tag of £675,000.

The Industrial Revolution saw a golden age of canal construction

between the 18th and 19th century.

One such canal, the Wiltshire and Berkshire,

opened in 1810.

However, the onset of the railways led to its decline

and by 1914, it was declared abandoned.

35 years ago, a group now known as the Canal Trust

formed to tackle the dilapidated canals.

With the help of volunteers and the local community,

the trust is fully committed to returning this historic waterway

back into a navigable state.

I've come to meet the trust's company secretary, Chris Coyle,

to find out more about the Wiltshire side

of this epic restoration project.

This canal was built to connect the Thames and Severn up at Cricklade

and the River Thames at Abingdon

with the Kennet and Avon Canal down at Semington.

We've got about 10 percent of it in water so far.

So, the total length is about 70 miles

so we've got about seven miles in water.

-But still another 63 to do.

-Yeah, and we're working hard on it.

We need lots of support and lots of members.

What's going on in this particular stretch?

Well, this is a very important site. What we've got here is three locks.

We've got a dry-dock, we've got a salt pit

and we've got a maintenance yard

and we've applied for planning permission

to restore all of these as an education and resource centre.

A restored canal would be extremely valuable to the county.

The Kennet and Avon Canal is worth £25 million to the Wiltshire economy

through tourism and employment

so the trust's work is vitally important to the community.

So, now we're moving on to this new section

where we've got the three locks to restore -

this lovely original dry-dock, which we're standing in, to work on.

So, this is where they'd bring in the boats to...?

To repair them.

I'm assuming that with 100 years of use,

there must be quite detailed maps of the canals.

Sadly not. We've lost all records from the original canal company.

What we do have is the Ordnance Survey maps

that they started producing in the 19th century

and we've got our own drawings and engineering drawings now

so our engineers have got to do some detective work

to work out what things look like,

how they worked and what the engineering was behind it

and then we try to reproduce that.

From day one, a vital part of this project has been the volunteers,

without whom the restoration work wouldn't happen.

A scheme like this doesn't come cheap

so the need to involve the community in fundraising

as well as seeking business partners is key.

So, who and what is going on here?

Well, this is Kath Hatton who is our fundraising director.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Hello.

-You don't get any fundraising from the government, do you?

-No, we don't.

No, we have to raise everything ourselves through our membership

and through donations and through applying for small grants

and local landfill tax credits,

which has given us quite a bit of money.

I feel like I need to make some symbolic...

Yeah, we're not going to let you go without you actually doing something

to contribute to the canal.

What we're doing is just repairing the wharf wall that we built.

Well, that looks pretty good.

It's been a while since I've laid bricks(!)

It's an amazing job they're doing here,

preserving the country's industrial heritage for generations to come.

Now to return to the property hunt and catch up with our buyers.

Time to find out what Ian and Janet think

about all these properties we've been showing them.

I'm not entirely sure what their response is.

I think the mystery house did open up the possibility

of having the flat in London

and having a second home in the countryside,

but I'm not sure that house is exactly the one they want.

Let's find out.

So, it seems to me that the first two houses didn't quite fit the bill,

but the mystery seemed to throw up some ideas.

Yes, you're quite right.

We found the mystery house a far more interesting possibility.

What do you feel about this idea of hanging onto the London place

and having a sort of second home, as it were, in the countryside?

I like the idea a lot, actually, yes.

It does suit us down to the ground, really,

to be able to get back and enjoy theatre and restaurants

and, of course, visit relatives as well there.

It appeals a lot, that idea, yes.

We really have had enough of living full-time under a flight path

on the way to Heathrow.

We've had enough of being in a cramped London flat all the time.

-And traffic jams, parking runs.

-And we really do want to get out.

What do you feel happens next?

We will be looking for something else,

possibly, as you say, on the two lines -

be able to keep the London flat and to move to the country as well.

Well, I hope that we've provoked some thoughts

in our perambulations this week

and it's been very nice showing you around.

Thank you very much. We've enjoyed it a lot.

Yeah, thank you very much. It's been great fun.

In some ways, I think we may have driven Ian and Janet back to London,

but on the other hand, it's a valuable learning lesson.

You come to the countryside with all these dreams

of living down a little lane with the cows in the fields

and then the reality of spending some time here, looking at houses,

driving around, you realise,

"Maybe I'd quite like to keep one foot in the city."

Still, that's our work done here in Wiltshire

so make sure you join us next time for more Escape to the Country.

Although Janet and Ian liked elements of our lakeside mystery house,

they concluded that it didn't deliver sufficiently in terms of space.

However, they are pursuing the idea

of keeping their London flat as a bolt hole

and are continuing their search for their dream home in the country.

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