Worcestershire Escape to the Country

For over 100 years, this man's music has resonated in the national consciousness like no other.

But which county was he born in?

Find out in just a moment.

On today's show I'm hoping to find a home for a couple and their horse.

But one of our properties falls at the first hurdle.

It looks a little small.

But then we find a real thoroughbred.

Oh, my word!

That is extraordinary.

Today we're in Worcestershire and this is the village

of Lower Broadheath, and it was in this cottage in 1857

that the great British composer Edward Elgar was born.

He was the son of a piano tuner and it was following his dad to work

that he was able to show off his musical abilities

to local grandees in their homes.

If you're looking for a classical English landscape,

then look no further than the countryside around the Malvern Hills.

Worcestershire is situated in the heart of the West Midlands

region and its neighbours include Herefordshire to the west

and Gloucestershire to the south.

Despite its proximity to Birmingham, Worcestershire is primarily rural

and the landscape is formed of undulating hills and farmland,

stretching on either side of the River Severn,

which weaves its way through the centre of the county.

Rising up majestically from the Severn Valley,

the Malvern Hills are one of the county's gems.

Known for their natural springs, the Hills' summit

offers some of the best panoramic views anywhere in the country.

At the foot of the hills lies the town of Great Malvern,

which developed as a spa resort in the 19th century,

playing on the healing properties of the local spring water.

Away from the tourist hot spots,

Hanbury Woods is an ancient pasture where livestock once grazed

and is home to some of the oldest trees in Britain.

It's this rural scenery, coupled with delightful towns and villages,

that makes Worcestershire and the Malverns

a popular place to escape to.

The average price for a detached house in Worcestershire

is £261,000,

which is pretty much on a par with the national figure.

There are, of course, regional variations. If you want to live

near the classic market towns of Tenbury Wells, or Bewdley,

then you're going to have to add 20% on top of that average figure.

Generally speaking, the further west you go, the more rural to the

borders of Herefordshire and Shropshire,

then you get more for your money.

Let's find out which of these areas is going to appeal to our buyers today.

For the past 12 years IT consultant Nigel

and Maddy, who's an insurance broker, have lived in this

four-bedroom new build on the outskirts of Southampton.

But with their two children now finished at school

they feel it's time to begin a new chapter in their lives.

It has been a great place to live and raise children,

with good schools and good facilities,

but you feel boxed in because it is an estate at the end of the day.

-It is a very nice estate but it is an estate.

-We love this place.

We've lived here for a long time.

It's something we want to move slightly further away from,

from the hustle and bustle.

Maddy, who grew up in the States, works from home for half the week

and Nigel travels around the UK for his job.

They've chosen Worcestershire due to its mix of countryside

and transport connections to the rest of the country

and they're looking for place that's big enough for the whole family.

We've got two boys. Thomas is our youngest

and Alex is our eldest and he's 21.

It could be a possibility that they will be living with us

for the next couple of years, so we need to accommodate for them.

But the boys aren't the only ones we need to think about during our house search.

We'll need to accommodate Busby, too.

Busby is a 17-hand French Percheron horse.

He was definitely a mad purchase of mine.

I used to ride when I lived in America,

when I was a teenager, but I really hadn't ridden any horses,

or kept up the riding for many, many years.

Just by chance last summer I got the opportunity to go to France

and got to go horseback riding as a one-off

and it all came flooding back.

Why have I not done this?

I came back to England and did a bit of research and said,

"Nigel, I'm going to buy a horse".

That's what I did!

SHE LAUGHS

At the moment Busby is about 25 minutes away

and I work from home. I can't go up to see him at lunchtime

because it's too far of a drive to go up there, come back.

I'm hoping the place that we find I might be able to

ride during the lunchtime occasionally.

Whilst Maddy's busy with Busby,

Nigel will be spending time with their other four-legged friends.

We have two dogs. At the moment I take them out at the weekends.

I have to drive them down to Hamble where there's lovely

walking areas and big parks.

So, in an ideal world, I could do with something similar or a lovely

walk in the countryside to take them out just close to the house.

And when they're not with their animals, the couple are down at the

local tennis club, which serves their passion for sport and socialising.

You tend to play against the same couples quite often

and you become good friends.

Some of the people we've even gone on holiday with,

we have become that good friends with them.

Hopefully, we will still have the ideal home in the country

but still not be too far away to have a social life, as well.

Or maybe even build a tennis court in Busby's paddock.

No.

All that's left to find out is how much we've got to play with

for this move to the Worcestershire countryside.

The budget for the move will be £550,000.

Nigel needs to be close to motorway connections for his work

and Maddy's head office is in Bristol

but they would also like to be close to the Malvern Hills

so we're concentrating our property search with that in mind.

-Welcome to the Malverns.

-Thank you.

-Very nice to see you here.

You don't really know this area very well, do you?

No, it's the first time we've visited here, to be honest.

Why this area? It's strange that you trust us this much.

-Yeah.

-It's looking for a property of the right price

in an area that's still close enough to where we work,

where we need to commute.

I've still got family around Bristol and Bath which I'd like to be able to commute to.

You've got the M5 and the M4 corridor, obviously,

an area I can work in and Maddy can work in.

That's the driver for this.

What's your budget?

Right, well, it's £550,000.

There is a lot of ask for that, really, for what we want

because, obviously, land is important to us.

In terms of house, we are a little bit more flexible on that.

-Converted barn.

-Yeah.

-That's what I'd like.

That doesn't sound very flexible at all!

-You definitely want a converted barn.

-That's been my dream.

It's not the be-all and end-all but it's that kind of open plan...

-Open-plan space, yeah.

-..which I quite like the idea of.

You know, yeah, that is our dream

but we're willing to be flexible on that.

-You've got a horse, Busby.

-Yeah.

How much land..it's an acre a horse, isn't it?

It is, exactly. But they don't like to live by themselves.

-So...

-Nigel's face is like that.

-"Another one!"

-Yeah, an acre upwards would be ideal.

-But more than an acre, ideally.

-More than an acre, ideally.

So you'd like Busby on your land?

Absolutely, that would be a dream for us.

You've got two boys, are they living at home or have they flown the nest?

They're getting closer to flying the nest.

We've got a 21- and a 19-year-old.

Both of them do currently live at home.

What I'm getting at is how many bedrooms do you need?

OK, a minimum of three bedrooms just in case they do come along with us.

So, yeah...

We have some lovely houses lined up.

-I hope that you like them.

-Yeah.

-OK, great.

-Follow me.

-Thank you.

For a budget of £550,000 Nigel and Maddy would love a barn

conversion or, alternatively, a house that's open plan

and light inside.

They'd like a minimum of three bedrooms in case

the boys move with them.

For Maddy, it's less about the house and more about the horse.

She would like a property with at least one acre of land.

We've lined up three properties currently on the market

for Nigel and Maddy to view

and at each one I'll be quizzing them on the cost.

Our last house, the mystery property,

could please one of our buyers but at the expense of the other.

So, Maddy, how long have you been away from America?

Because you've got this wonderful West Country,

sort of, American accent.

Yeah, I came over as a university exchange student in 1989,

actually to Bath College.

I met Nigel, erm,

-and graduated and stayed. I've been here since 1989.

-Oh, right.

-Quite some time.

-Time enough to get the accent.

It's a bit diluted now.

We are seeing just one property today

and that's located in the small village of Birtsmorton,

not far from the borders with Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

The nearby village of Longdon has a large range of amenities including

a parish church, primary school and plenty of space to walk the dogs.

It's a ten-minute drive from our first house.

-Nice.

-Cute. Yeah.

-Very nice.

This is a house that is quite unassuming from the outside.

I actually think you're going to love the inside

-but what are your impressions of the exterior?

-Nice.

It's cute. It looks a little small.

-You should hold your judgment until you go inside.

-It looks nice on the outside.

-Let's look.

-OK.

Maddy doesn't need to worry.

I'm confident the inside,

which has been considerably extended and renovated, will impress.

Come on in.

-This is your sitting room.

-That's cosy.

Crumbs, it's nice. It's quite large, actually, isn't it?

-It is large, do you see what I mean?

-Yeah.

-That's a wood-burning stove?

-Yeah, a wood-burning stove.

And you'll see later on that you have your own source of fuel,

-so that won't be a problem.

-OK.

-I guessed that from the outside.

Basically, this would have been a farm worker's bungalow

but it was extended this way and at the back

-so it's almost quadrupled in size.

-OK.

I'm very surprised, looking at the outside,

doesn't feel like the inside.

Let's look at the kitchen.

-This, I think, is a really lovely space.

-Wow!

Oh, crumbs, yeah.

-That's beautiful.

-I like the kitchen, the kitchen's very nice.

Very nice, yes. Very spacious.

So what do you think about the sunroom?

It's nice. It's nice how it flows out from the kitchen.

It's almost like a dining room, isn't it?

Yeah, open plan.

Yeah, open living, which is nice.

You can have guests sat there and be cooking.

It's very nice, it's all windows.

Yeah, it's very light.

Yeah, it brings a lot of light into the kitchen.

Also, underfloor heating throughout.

All these parts have underfloor heating.

These are the living quarters. Let's go through to the sleeping quarters.

Sounds good.

Whilst it may not be a barn conversion,

the light open-plan nature of our first property

is drawing our buyers in.

As well as the kitchen and sunroom,

there's also a utility room with space for the white goods

and a further living room at this end of the property.

All the accommodation is arranged across one level

and the three bedrooms are just down the hall.

They're all doubles and all of them have en suite bathrooms.

There's also a spacious study which could be turned

into a fourth bedroom

and a rather stylish family bathroom,

which just leaves the master.

You've got three big bedrooms

and this is used as the master bedroom, it has an en suite.

This is the master? Yeah.

It's a little bit tiny...

I'm surprised because the proportions are so big for the kitchen

-and then...

-This is quite small.

A little bit boxy and not a huge amount of storage,

although they have some.

There are also two, three other rooms equally the same size, really,

-but you could perhaps take your pick.

-Yeah, yeah.

But they all have en suites so you've got three bedrooms

all with en suites and a family bathroom and a toilet.

-I know the interiors are your bag.

-Absolutely.

-But the exteriors are very important to you?

-Absolutely.

-I think you're going to like the outside.

-I look forward to that.

And I think Busby will feel at home here too

because as well as a large wraparound garden

with decked and lawn areas,

a wooden bridge leads you to a coppice

and beyond that two enclosed paddocks.

All in all, there's three acres of land here

but it might involve a bit of work to turn it into a home for the horse.

-So you have your own woodland.

-I know.

-Very nice.

It's quite nice.

-What's particularly nice about it is it supplies all your wood for the log burner.

-Yeah.

-Then you have this very nice vegetable garden.

-Yeah.

And some outbuildings,

but this is where we need to talk about the access,

because this is not an equestrian property

and for you to make it an equestrian property you're going to have to lose that greenhouse,

probably lose the other side of this tack room

and build a driveway that comes down the side of the garage all

-the way along this property over the two brooks into the field.

-Right.

It's worth considering, yeah.

-We also have to think about the budget.

-Yes.

How much do you think this is going to cost you?

I'm going to say it's on the top of the budget, really.

I was going to say 550.

I'm going to go a little bit lower, I'm going to say 525.

OK, this is on the market for 575.

But the owners are quite open to negotiation

-so I think you could definitely get it in your budget.

-Really?

-OK.

I'm going to let you explore inside because we haven't looked at all the bedrooms.

-You might find one that's more suitable to your master bedroom needs.

-Absolutely.

Also I'd like you to have a look around this side

and see what you might do there.

-See you later.

-Cheers.

Priced at £575,000, our first house is just slightly over budget.

It's a much extended, detached country home

situated in a beautiful rural setting.

The accommodation is spacious

and open plan with a light kitchen diner and adjoining sunroom.

There are three bedrooms, all with bathrooms en suite.

The outside space includes a large garden and two paddocks

offering plenty of room for Busby and another horse,

should they want one.

Wow! It's spacious. Let's have a look at this bedroom.

-Another en suite, Nige, look.

-Yeah.

-A shower.

-Nice shower, nice decorating, really nice.

-Yeah.

This looked so small on the outside,

it was amazingly, deceptively big on the inside.

I really like the decor, I like the way the house flows.

I like the openness plan.

I'm quite amazed at, for the money, what you can get in Worcestershire.

I love the interior.

It's a really stunning house.

Outside has obviously got a lot of land, so ideal for the horses.

Yeah, absolutely stunning.

I really was impressed with this house, all round.

How's the weather?

Well, it's not raining.

-Typically English.

-Oh.

-Well, a sunny response to house number one?

-Absolutely.

Super, absolutely loved it.

That's what we like to hear.

On the banks of the River Severn is one of Worcestershire's

most historic and scenic towns.

Bewdley has long been an important river crossing

and by the 18th century it had become a thriving inland port

with goods arriving from all over the world.

The town's prosperity at that time is reflected in its impressive

Georgian architecture today.

Nigel and Maddy enjoy socialising and are real foodies,

so we're offering them the chance to step back in time

and experience a taste of the past.

Nigel, Maddy, good morning. Welcome to the Copper Pot.

They're meeting the owner of an 18th-century food shop

in Bewdley Museum, Nick Trustram-Eve.

I really like engaging with people on bringing history alive

through the food.

It's really nice to get people to actually taste

what the past was like.

How do you source the local... those old ingredients?

They are still available, we just don't use them

in British cooking generally today.

How do you know they used these ingredients in the olden days?

We have surviving cookbooks.

For example, one of the ones I use is Hannah Glasse.

This is a facsimile copy of it.

-We're working from the original recipes.

-OK.

In the 18th century these books were produced for the expanding

-middle classes, what we call the middling.

-OK.

We see from this what is available and what they're eating.

One of those recipes is a salad called Salmagundi

which contains herbs that aren't readily available today,

but the museum has its own garden

where these old-fashioned varieties are grown.

One of the first ones we've got is this, salad burnet.

It's been used in this country since the 16th century.

It was used for medicinal purposes

and also it was used to induce perspiration,

a bit like a curry in Indian cooking.

You can have a taste of that.

If you have a chew of that, after a few seconds,

you will find you suddenly get a clean cucumbery taste.

-Mmm.

-How about that?

-Mm.

You suddenly get that sort of crunchiness and it's cucumber.

That'll go in our salad.

The other one we're going to use from here is winter savoury.

It's quite a hot taste. Have a chew of that.

-It's very peppery.

-Mm, definitely.

So use that very sparingly on the Salmagundi.

The herbs are then added to the main ingredients, chopped chicken,

pickled anchovies, eggs and onions arranged on a bed of lettuce.

The salad is being served with other foods from the Georgian era,

onion pie, salmon en croute and a beetroot pancake.

When you're eating in the Georgian period you get a real mix.

We would have had all of these on the table for the same course.

It doesn't matter whether it's sweet, or savoury.

It's so colourful, as well.

What's the origin of the name of that salad?

Because it seems quite an unusual name.

Salmagundi, it's worth making just for the name.

Hey, guys, come and have a Salmagundi.

It may come as a sort of changing of names from the French,

from an Italian, literally for pickled meats.

We have pickled anchovies in there

and you may well have had more pickled meats, pickled vegetables.

There is another nice story for Salmagundi

that they were eaten in the Caribbean.

So it's associated, perhaps, as being a pirate food.

I love this idea of rufty-tufty pirates,

"Oh, let's have a fresh salad!"

With Nigel and Maddy's taste buds tingling,

it's time to tuck into the delicious bounty of Georgian food.

Nice.

Mm, very nice.

Now that our buyers have sampled England's historic culinary

delights, let's hope the final two properties also whet their appetite.

But that's all to come tomorrow.

It's day two of our property search in Worcestershire

and our mission is to help Southampton-based husband and wife

Nigel and Maddy find an equine retreat close to the Malvern Hills.

Still to come, we have two properties to unveil,

including the mystery house which could be the dark horse!

-It's massive!

-Wow!

It's glorious summer weather for our second day of property shopping

and we have widened the net somewhat

in order to get that balance of all that lovely horsey

land for Maddy and a big, nice house for Nigel.

We're seeing two properties today, rather unusually.

The first one gives lots of land, the mystery house...

I think it's going to be a challenge for Maddy.

We're beginning the day by heading south-west over the border,

into Gloucestershire and to the hamlet of Kilcot.

The closest village for services is Aston Ingham,

which has a Victorian church, a rather attractive village hall

and a tennis club.

And our second property is just a five-minute drive away.

-House number two.

-Oh, my word.

-That is very pretty.

-It is a pretty house.

I notice they have solar power on the roof.

These are actually hot water pipes, so these heat the water.

So, on a hot day like today you don't need to turn the immersion on.

-OK.

-It's a handsome stone property.

You can see it's been extended at the end there, about 30 years ago.

-Yeah.

-You can see the different stone.

One thing about this house is that it's not an equestrian property.

-Mm-hm...

-No need for a long face - hah!

Because...it could so easily be one.

Much more easily than yesterday, because look at this.

-Two loose boxes.

-OK.

Actually all opened up inside.

Wow, OK, that's a good size, yeah.

And then, follow me.

OK, so...this is all yours.

Really? Oh, my gosh!

That is such a pretty paddock. How many acres?

The whole plot is about 3.2 acres.

-Is it all fenced off?

-It's all fenced off.

-Oh, it's...unbelievable.

-It's a huge plot. We'll explore a bit later on.

-Yes, please.

-OK, so we've won over Maddy.

-Yeah.

-Just got to convince Nigel.

-Yeah, let's wait and see.

-Let's look inside.

'Good reactions to our second property

'but we've got a lot to do to beat the first house.

'We're heading to the newer part of the house via a dining hall

'and study room.'

I'm going to whizz you through those rooms into this big, lovely room.

-This is the extension.

-OK.

-So, this was put on about 30 years ago.

-Yeah.

But it gives you the big volume.

It's a good space, there's no question,

and it's got good aspect windows and it's light

and you can see out to the garden, so we've got some positives.

It's just you've spoiled me with the first house.

I'm sorry, that's just the way I am. Just showering blessing on you both.

-You have to choose.

-Yeah.

-But there are lots of lovely features.

I mean, you've got to think about the space here,

because you've got a lovely south-west-facing sort of room.

-Yeah.

-Very nice, big log burner.

-Light and airy.

-Yeah, it's nice.

-It is a nice room.

-And you've got to think long term.

-You're not going to have any costs to heat it.

-Yeah.

The other house had underfloor heating, which is quite expensive.

Is it, yeah? Let's see the rest of the house.

So bossy.

'As well as the living room, there's also a dining room and separate

'dining hall with wood-burning stove at the older end of the house.'

You come through this smallish snug,

down some steps into a smallish kitchen.

-OK. Oh, yeah.

-Pretty small kitchen.

And then through here you've got another small dining room,

so my thought is that you might want to remodel this in some way.

Cos through here you've got a huge utility room.

So, it feels to me there's lots of small bits

-that could add up into bigger rooms.

-Yeah.

It's going to take some thinking on how we could make it

-to how we like it and...

-Absolutely.

Depends what the price is!

But also you've got to remember this is a beautiful plot.

Absolutely stunning.

And the location you can't change, the house you can change

cos it's not listed, so you could build out, build a sunroom...

That's true.

'Upstairs, this property has four bedrooms - three of those are

'doubles and there's a smaller, single bedroom and family bathroom.'

Unlike the last house there are lots of steps up and down.

There are indeed.

-But this is a much bigger master.

-This is huge, isn't it?

Yeah, it's a good size.

It's lovely, it looks out the fields and the paddock and the garden.

-This is a lovely room.

-Yeah.

Through here you've got a very nice en suite.

No, it's beautiful.

-Mm.

-Beautiful.

-The B word. Very good.

-Beautiful, but needs redecorating.

It's whether you're the sort of people that like to do

that sort of thing, whether you like to get architects in,

-knock down walls...

-Yeah, yeah.

-We're not DIY people, are we?

-Certainly not.

-So...

-Well, these are not the sort of things you'd do yourself.

-No, no.

-It's whether there's money in the budget.

-Exactly.

-That's the key question.

-Yeah, that'll be the big question.

Luckily it's the question I'm going to ask you very shortly. Follow me.

'Along with the paddock and outbuildings,

'the garden, to the side and rear of the property,

'is made up of patio areas with steps leading to a large lawn

'and great views of the surrounding countryside.'

I get the impression the outside is a winner,

the inside has a few question marks.

I want to like the inside, I really do

-because the outside is just so gorgeous.

-There's a lot of work.

Huge amount of decoration. As you say, probably a lot of remodelling.

So, how much do you think it's on the market for?

I say it's on the top of the budget - 550?

I'm going to go lower cos I think they realise it's a lot of work

to do to the house, so I'm going to go for...

500.

Well, if you split the difference it's on the market for 530.

-OK.

-OK.

-So, you'd have £20,000 to remodel.

-Yeah, yeah.

Which is a considerable budget for what needs to be done in the house

-cos it's not insurmountable.

-No.

Why don't you two go inside and have a look around, maybe try and put on

your imagination goggles and see through the decor

-and see if you could make it work for yourself?

-Sounds good, let's go.

Let's have a look.

'On the market for £530,000, our second property

'is under Nigel and Maddy's budget.

'It's a detached, stone-built former cottage,

'sitting in three acres of land.

'The accommodation includes a large living room,

'various reception rooms and four bedrooms.

'Outside there's a paddock and stone outbuilding for Busby, the horse.'

The paddock, you can see my horse in there.

I can just see him grazing away happily.

From the house you could see the horse.

The outside space had so much going for it.

Inside, it's a lovely, lovely house. It's just postcard perfect.

So, I just want to like it but I don't!

Outside is absolutely stunning. It's like having your own rolling hills

and your garden is just beautiful.

Unfortunately, the inside doesn't do it for me at all.

Downstairs - total remodelling.

Upstairs - totally redecorating.

Not a contender for me.

-All done inside?

-Yeah.

Done with your head scratching about the interiors?

-Yeah.

-A lot of head scratching, yeah.

-It's a challenging property.

It very much is, yeah.

-But we do have the mystery house to come.

-Yes. Looking forward to that.

Go for it.

'We've got one last property to show Nigel and Maddy today.

'And as it's the mystery house, we're going the extra mile.

'We're heading further away from the Malvern Hills

'and into Herefordshire and to the hamlet of Weston.

'The closest village is Pembridge,

'with its pretty black and white architecture

'and a church with, unusually, a separate bell tower.

'Many of the timber-frame buildings in the village

'are over 500 years old.'

What do you think the mystery house might involve?

-I've no idea.

-No idea at all.

I have a little bit of trepidation.

What are your trepidatious thoughts?

I think the worst could be a plot of land that, again,

we have to envision, you know, building it from scratch.

Ideally, it would be great if we have the space and the houses together.

What about you, Nigel? What do you think we might be showing you?

-What do you HOPE we might be showing you?

-No idea.

You want a converted barn, say it.

Yes, I'd like a converted barn. That's my ideal house.

'With the mystery house we're giving Nigel what he wants.

'But Maddy may have to compromise.

'And I'm keen to see how she'll react.'

-Ha-ha.

-It's the barn!

Nigel...

this is your big moment.

-It's a converted barn.

-The converted barn. Looks lovely.

-It looks really nice.

-It's a huge house.

It's not a lot of land.

-Oh.

-That's the mystery.

THEY LAUGH

But there is so much land around here and the owners assure us

that you could rent acres and acres of land within walking distance. OK?

-OK.

-But I think you're "Oohs" and "Aahs" might come

-when we get inside.

-Yeah?

-OK.

-I don't want to prejudge but... Let's have a look.

-So far so good.

'So, our third house is a converted L-shaped barn.

'One wing is double-storey but the other takes advantage

'of the ceiling space to create a fantastic reception room.'

-I'm going to take you straight into the "kapow" moment.

-Oh, my word!

-It's massive.

-Wow.

Yeah, that is a converted barn. It's beautiful.

That's formal dining.

This is formal dining.

-That is extraordinary.

-Yeah.

High, high ceilings, skylights,

which is kind of unusual in a barn conversion.

OK. Get more light, yeah.

-And obviously this mezzanine area up there.

-Yes.

It's almost worrying, it's so big.

But they have a lot of stuff and it still...feels spacious.

But I'm sure we could fill it.

I'm sure we could fill it.

You've got a study at the end there, which is sort of, you know,

doors that you can shut. And also this potential,

you could have another bedroom or another second study at the top.

-Yeah.

-Spectacular.

-The beauty continues.

Coming into the kitchen, after that room, it feels a little poky.

Just a little.

-But for most of it it's massive.

-Nice Shaker-style kitchen.

It's a pretty substantial size. There's no doubt about that.

So, this would be, I guess, your lunch and breakfast room.

Yeah, every day.

-As opposed to formal dining.

-Yeah.

Can you imagine coming down in the morning,

-making yourself a cup of tea, padding around?

-Yeah, I can.

-Yeah?

-Definitely.

-I think we'd need more animals!

To fill the barn.

-It keeps on going.

-OK.

-So, follow me.

'As well as the double-height dining hall and the kitchen,

'the ground floor also features a large sitting room

'with wood-burning stove and, beyond that, a large office,

'a generous utility room and a ground-floor shower room.

'Upstairs there are three bedrooms in this property

'and they're all doubles, built into the eaves and with exposed timbers.

'Two of the bedrooms have en suite bathrooms.

'One of those has a his-and-hers sink and roll-top bath.

'And it's part of the impressive master suite.'

You have three bedrooms upstairs.

-This is yours.

-Oh, my God - look at that closet!

Yes.

-So, it's not really a closet, it's actually a dressing room.

-It is!

-Oh, my word!

-It's pretty substantial, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Again!

I like to have a sofa in my bedroom.

So I can just think about getting into bed.

-I'll let you explore cos there's a lot more to see.

-Yes, please.

But I just want to pop outside so we can talk about Busby

-and think about budget.

-Yes.

-OK.

The B word.

'Although not large enough to accommodate the horse,

'the garden is made up of a spacious lawn with raised vegetable beds

'and there's also a sheltered patio area,

'as well as a gravel driveway and single garage.'

It is actually a lovely garden.

-It's not a paddock.

-No. It's not a paddock.

-But it is beautiful.

-What do you think it's on the market for?

I get it wrong all the time but I'm going to say it's

the top of the budget - 550 - because it's a stunning, stunning barn.

I'm going above that, actually, again. 575.

-You say yes?

-Yeah, it's probably pushing the ceiling. I'd say 575.

Well, you shouldn't cos you were right the first time.

-It's on the market for 550.

-Really? On the mark.

-So, in your budget.

-Your dream barn could be yours, Nigel.

-It's big. It's huge.

-It is.

-It's almost too big.

-It's overwhelming!

Never say too big.

I mean, the thing that worries me is that room there.

I can't visualise it yet, it's just so vast - what you put in there

and what you do with it.

Why don't you head back in and explore a bit further?

-And then I'll meet you in your palatial garden.

-OK.

Sounds good, let's go.

That is very interesting

because I thought it was going to be a complete deal breaker,

not having the land for Busby, but Busby lost out.

'Priced at £550,000,

'our mystery house is right at the top of Nigel and Maddy's budget.

'It's a spacious converted barn - which is what Nigel asked for -

'but there's no room at the inn for the horse.

'The accommodation includes a magnificent dining hall

'with high ceiling and an equally impressive master bedroom.

'There are three bedrooms in total

'and the possibility to create more if needed.

'The garden is largely laid to lawn

'and there are options nearby to rent land for a paddock.'

Oh, my word - another room! Another one.

-It's like a rabbit

-warren. We could turn this into a bedroom, easy.

-Yeah. I mean, you could easily get a double bed in here.

-Yeah.

The mystery house is absolutely stunning, amazing.

I was a little bit disappointed

when I found out there wasn't enough land for Busby.

I'm in a little bit of a conundrum.

There's a few things I need to look into with regards to the

location of the house and getting to Bristol and where I need to be.

And Busby, you know, finding a livery.

But on the other hand, it is absolutely stunning.

I don't want to miss an opportunity.

This house is absolutely magnificent.

It is a barn conversion, the barn conversion I was asking for.

It's got everything. It's so large, actually.

Some of the rooms I can't even picture what to do with at the moment.

All in all it's pretty spectacular.

Going to have to drag you two away from your dream barn, I'm afraid.

Yeah, it's pretty special.

'Worcestershire is home to one of the most historically

'important country estates in the West Midlands - Croome Court.

'The former home of the Earls of Coventry,

'it was remodelled in the 18th century by the landscape artist

'"Capability" Brown,

'with the palatial interiors designed by Robert Adam,

'both trailblazers in the world of architecture at the time.

'But decades of neglect under private ownership saw

'the building fall into disrepair

'and the worst hit was the Grade I listed Red Wing.

'Today it's part of a £5 million repair project involving

'the entire house, which is being managed by the National Trust.

'I've come to meet the building's project manager, Sean Wilkes.'

So, tell me about the Red Wing.

It was a service wing to ensure the smooth running of the courts.

-So, this is where the servants, all the undesirables...?

-Exactly.

Of course, yes.

On the upper floors you would have had servants' accommodation

and on the lower floors you would have had kitchens.

And when the Trust got involved,

what sort of state of repair was it in?

It was in a terrible state of repair. It was about to collapse.

It had already suffered partial collapse, some of the internal floors

had collapsed and we got here just in time.

We're standing on a fairly significant scaffolding,

which was the first thing that was erected, along with a temporary roof.

And I think the building wouldn't have stood another winter.

We have saved quite a lot of the original building.

-Here you can see that's a new bit of oak.

-Yeah.

-And this is presumably an old bit?

-Exactly.

The bottom section was rotten

but there was enough left of the original timber to warrant saving.

'As well as repair work to the inside of the Red Wing, craftsmen

'are making good the damage to the exterior brickwork of the building,

'again by mixing the old with the new.

'Each brick costs £80 and has been specially made

'so they can be cut more easily.

'I'm meeting bricklayer Tony Cunningham to see

'if I can lend a hand.'

This bit that you're doing here is obviously a bit specialised.

Yes, there's a lot of damage on them.

And we're replacing them with new bricks.

-So, you need gloves cos of the lime.

-Yeah. So, it's lime...?

It's lime mortars, yeah. Lime putty on it.

'Lime mortar is more flexible than cement,

'allowing the building to breathe and move,

'making it much better suited to an historic structure.'

Hold it firmly in place.

Hey, presto.

OK.

-Can I do the one above?

-And then we go on the one above.

-That one?

-Yeah.

'There are many ancient examples of the use of lime mortar

'as a building material, from the Pyramids to the walls at Pompeii.

'But because of its alkaline content, it can burn the skin,

'so extra care has to be taken.'

Just make sure the whole brick's covered in the lime.

'You also need to work quite quickly before the lime dries out,

'and I'm keen to see if my bricklaying skills are up to scratch.'

Doesn't feel very secure.

-No, we've moved it a few times.

-Oh, no!

-I took too long.

-Possibly, yeah.

He's being very polite. I know that as soon as my back's turned

-you're going to whip that out and do it properly.

-More or less.

-Never mind.

-You can see the care that the craftsmen have to take.

Especially if I've been around!

'Once the work is finished on the Red Wing the builders will move on

'to the rest of Croome Court

'and the makeover should be completed in the next few years,

'when the whole house will be open to the public

'for the first time in its history.

'And talking of houses, it's time to find out what Nigel and Maddy

'feel about what they've seen this week.

'And I think there's a clear favourite. '

Amazing. From being the absolute motive for this move,

poor old Busby the horse has now been parked off in a nearby field.

Because, once again, the beautiful house has won the day.

My money, it's on the mystery property.

I've done quite a number of these shows and I feel that

I have the gift of guessing which house people like the best.

I think you like the mystery house best. Am I right?

-Absolutely.

-Yeah.

The mystery house certainly has a lot to offer in terms of value

for money, you know, incredible.

I feel I don't need to ask you, Nigel, but do you agree?

Absolutely 100%. It's done it for me. There's no doubt about that.

-What happens next?

-I think we're going to move fast on this one.

I think if we don't grab the opportunity,

someone else certainly will.

So, I think the next step, really, is...you know,

speak to the financial advisor and sell our property.

So, it's still on the market, so...

-And make an offer.

-Yeah.

And what's the situation with your property? How likely are you to...?

Do you smell a sale in the air?

We had a cheeky offer a couple of weeks ago,

so we might reconsider that cheeky offer to get on to this one quicker.

But I think we need to speak to the estate agent so see

if that's a possibility.

And take it from there and do our research, quick.

And in terms of your sons, do they factor in?

Obviously, Busby's off in a field somewhere.

Do they have a say in it or...?

-Er...

-We'll definitely get their input.

Yeah. It might encourage them to get on their way sooner than later,

I don't know. I mean, obviously the space is not a problem

with the mystery house because it is accommodating for them

and probably a lot more people as well.

-But, no, we will have a family chat.

-Yeah, we'll have to talk to them.

The mystery house was wonderful because it was beautifully quiet.

-We were there all day and there was not a car that went past.

-No.

But the flip side of that is it's quite a long way from the motorways.

Nigel, is that daunting for you, the commute?

It changes where I work cos at the moment a lot, by luck,

I guess, a lot of the jobs I've had have been commutable, so it would

-mean probably staying away from home more often during the week.

-Yeah.

But that's part and parcel of the work I do.

And finally, do you think that the mystery house could be

a sort of, "This is where I'm going to lay down my bits and bobs"?

I can see us definitely there for ten or 15 years, if not more.

Yes! That's what I wanted to hear.

Wonderful. That's a great conclusion. I hope it all goes well.

I hope you sell your house, I hope you put an offer in,

-I hope it gets accepted.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I really do hope that Maddy and Nigel move

to this part of the world, although, interestingly,

it seemed that Nigel was getting cold feet about the size

of his barn conversion,

whereas Maddy was very enthusiastic,

despite there being no space for her horse.

I do hope that they move here and I hope that you join us

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