Dorset Escape to the Country

Welcome to Escape to the Country.

Now, the legendary owner of this very modest cottage

called it his "earthly paradise".

But who was he and where are we?

Well, stay with us and I'll tell you.

On today's show, we're helping a couple

who are taking a break from their busy careers

find a new home and a whole new business venture in the country.

The journey proves to be educational...

-You said, "Give us something to think about."

-Yeah.

It certainly is something to think about.

..and amusing.

-And now look up.

-THEY LAUGH

BIRDSONG

Well, today we are in Dorset and this is Clouds Hill cottage.

Now, back in the 1920s,

it was standing by a quiet and sleepy country lane.

Now, sadly, the road is a little bit busier,

but it's significant because it was once home to TE Lawrence,

better known as Lawrence of Arabia.

During the First World War he had shot to international fame

leading the Arab tribes in revolt against the Turks,

but tragically in 1935 Lawrence was killed in a motorcycle accident

just a few miles down the road from here.

But when you look around this gorgeous landscape,

it's perfectly clear why a man like that would fall in love with Dorset.

Situated on the south coast of England,

Dorset borders Devon to the west,

Somerset and Wiltshire to the north and Hampshire to the east.

Largely bypassed by the Industrial Revolution,

Dorset has retained much of its rural charm

and over three quarters of the county

is still in agricultural use today.

Without a single motorway or city within its borders

and its mild south-coast climate,

it is perhaps unsurprising that the life expectancy here

is higher than anywhere else in the country.

An extraordinary landform celebrated for its impressive life span

is Dorset's Jurassic Coast.

It's England's first Natural World Heritage site

and its fossil-rich cliffs

recall millions of years of the Earth's history.

Attractive seaside villages

punctuate this awe-inspiring coastline

and one of the most appealing is West Bay

with its working harbour, cliff-top walking trails

and fine pebble beaches.

This appealing county provided the backdrop

for the novels of its most famous writer, Thomas Hardy.

And much of its ancient beauty that so inspired him

remains unchanged today.

Now, at £60,000 above the national figure, the headline news

is that your average detached property here in Dorset

does not come cheap,

but of course the devil is in the detail.

There's no doubt those figures are somewhat inflated

thanks to the popularity of coastal hot spots

such as Lyme Regis in the west and Sandbanks in the east,

one of the most expensive bits of real estate anywhere in the United Kingdom.

But as a general rule, the further north you go up towards Somerset,

the more affordable properties do become.

But for today's buyers, well,

they can cast their net as far and as wide as they like,

because they've got a seven-figure budget

and ambitious plans to go with it.

When Mark and Michelle bought their five-bedroom 1930s home in Henley

ten years ago, it was virtually a wreck.

But Mark, who is quite a handy man,

gutted and completely renovated the place.

Since they met in 2002, they've been busy with demanding careers,

Michelle in telecommunications and Mark in the aviation industry.

But recently they decided to put work on hold

to look for a new more balanced way of life in the country.

I mean, we love Henley, so we love the house, we love Henley, but

what we wanted is somewhere where we could start a business together.

And just looking round this area, it's really difficult to do that,

to get the land we're looking for.

And, you know, Dorset is very much the area that we've settled on

to start looking at and exploring those ideas.

I've got a real relationship with Dorset,

I spend a lot of time down there in the Forces,

I was based on RNAS Portland during my time in Royal Navy.

And I...miss it. I really missed it. I love the Jurassic Coast.

I love the walking and the relaxed feel of it and the space, really.

They know they want to begin a business together in Dorset,

but they're not entirely sure what it will be.

And they're hoping the properties we show them might spark some ideas.

I'm really open, I just want something to come along that's going to grab hold of me.

I want a property that is going to give me an opportunity,

maybe it's got holiday lets currently,

I've always had an idea of doing some really high-end luxury,

even with their own little swimming pools.

Make a place for people to come to.

But we don't just want to stop there, we'd like to have potential

to maybe start a little microbrewery, a vineyard, anything like that.

I'm not saying that's going to be it, we could make cheese even.

I'm just looking forward to getting my teeth into a new project.

-Yeah.

-It's quite exciting,

we could possibly do something completely different

that right now sitting here we don't know about yet.

Aside from building up their new business,

there are other things they're looking forward to doing when they move to Dorset.

For me, it's just the fresh air

the space is something that's really attracting me to it.

We've just got a new puppy, Chester, who's eight months.

he needs a lot of walking.

And just being by the coast, being by the sea,

lots of long walks is really what I'd really like to do more of.

Yeah, I'm hoping I'm going to do a lot more mountain biking down there

or cross-country mountain biking.

I do a lot around here at the moment,

but I noticed the hills are a lot steeper in Dorset

than they are around here.

-That's one problem, so I'll probably get...

-A lot fitter.

I hope so, yeah.

But what's the budget

for a property with business potential in rural Dorset?

So the budget is up to a maximum of 1.5 million.

And then, really depending on if it's absolutely perfect,

doesn't need any work on it, the 1.5.

Actually, we would look at something a lot less than that

if it had massive potential and we can use some of the capital

to actually do the property up.

Mark and Michelle particularly like

Dorchester and the countryside around it,

so we're focusing our search within 30 miles of the town.

I'm catching up with them by Dorset's scenic coast

to learn some more about what they're hoping to find.

-Hello, Michelle. Hello, Mark.

-Hi.

-Nice to see you.

-Nice to see you.

-On a gorgeous Dorset morning. Look at that!

-It's fantastic, isn't it?

If you want a coastal view, they don't get much better than this one.

Horses, sheep, everything, setting the scene for you

for what I think is quite an ambitious move.

Yeah, I think it is. It's...

We're quite comfortable where we are at the moment,

but we're trying to challenge ourselves

and make a complete move and change of career and look for something

completely different.

Well, let's talk about this ambition.

And we can't go much further without talking about the budget,

-which is a very, very handsome £1.5 million.

-Uh-huh.

-Uh-huh.

But for all that, you yourselves don't want a massive house, do you?

No, that's it. We don't want...

It's just the two of us and our dog, Chester,

so we don't need a house to rattle around in.

It's really a property with a business,

so whether it's an existing business or just opportunities,

outbuildings, somewhere we can add some value and we can actually start something together.

So, leaving the business element to one side, give us an idea,

-Michelle, of the sort of property that would suit the pair of you and the dog.

-And the dog, yes.

So, ideally, probably about four bedrooms, something like that.

We sort of like big kitchens, I do a lot of cooking,

so a really nice farmhouse-type of kitchen would be great.

Obviously, the quainter the property is...

Dorset's full of beautiful thatched cottages and sea views, obviously.

So if some of that was involved, that would be really good.

Well, we've got three properties which I hope will tempt you

and, who knows, maybe one of them could be your new dream home.

-That'd be fantastic.

-Let's go spend some money, shall we?

-THEY LAUGH Let's go.

-Sounds good.

With a very healthy budget of £1.5 million,

Mark and Michelle are looking for a four-bedroom period property

with business potential.

They're interested in holiday lets, but are very open to suggestions

and like the idea of an outbuilding that could provide the foundation

from which to create some kind of cottage industry.

They'd also like a decent sized plot

to give their dog, Chester, plenty of room to play in.

We've found three very different Dorset homes for them to look at

and each of them has business potential.

One will be our Mystery House, which is such a rare piece of real estate

it's unlikely our buyers would have seen anything of its kind before.

Now you say you've explored Dorset,

you've obviously grazed its property market presumably sort of online.

Describe the perfect property for me.

I think something that's quite traditional,

got plenty of character, is in the right location,

maybe has a pub that's walking distance,

fairly close to the coast.

We want the ideal, I think we know already that compromises have to be

made when you're buying properties,

so you want everything at the start and you have to rein yourself in.

-Well, let's see what you think of property number one. I'm quite excited about this one.

-So am I.

We're beginning our search

in Whitchurch Canonicorum,

20 miles west of Dorchester

and just a mile from the coast.

The village is nestled

in the Marshwood Vale in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It has a pub and a school with a village hall

and its church, known locally as the Cathedral of the Vale,

is one of only two churches in England

to have survived the Reformation with the shrine and the remains of its patron saint intact.

Just a few minutes' walk from the church on a quiet road is our first offering.

This is property...number one and I think it really sets the scene

in terms of your classic Dorset home.

-Definitely. It looks lovely, doesn't it?

-Yeah, it's gorgeous.

-Fantastic front door.

-Beautiful front door.

The thing to point out is that that bit

is just the owners' accommodation.

-OK.

-Because this has a huge holiday complex that way.

-Uh-huh.

We'll deal with the home bit first,

and then we'll deal with the business,

-and then we'll talk about how much it might cost you.

-OK. SHE LAUGHS

Come on, then.

This four-bedroom, Grade II listed stone farmhouse

dates back to the 16th century and has plenty of period charm.

-Let's start at this end. Study in there.

-OK.

-And then this is your principal living room.

-OK.

It's nice. It's got some good character because of the beams.

-It's quite, quite cosy, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It's whether it would be big enough for us.

-I think it feels smaller

-because of the beam in the middle.

-Yeah.

-But on the whole,

it's very quaint and cosy.

-Come and have a look at the kitchen space.

-OK.

-Let's look at this.

-Ahh! This is a really good size, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-A lovely size.

-There's an enormous utility room through there.

-OK.

-But this is nicely appointed.

-Yeah.

Nice and open plan as you can see and it leads out onto the courtyard,

-which we'll explore a little bit later on.

-OK.

-And that's the business end of it.

-OK.

-Is it your sort of style?

I like the fact that it's quite open plan,

so you've got your open plan area

but you've got a nice kitchen table as well.

Well, let's have a look upstairs quickly at your accommodation

-and then we'll deal with the business end of it through there.

-Perfect.

Also on the ground floor adjoining the kitchen is a cosy snug

that could be converted into a formal dining room.

And next to that is another characterful reception room

with a beautiful inglenook fireplace.

Upstairs there are four double bedrooms,

one of which has a walk-in wardrobe and en suite.

There's also a family bathroom.

Well, this is perhaps one of the lightest rooms at the moment of the four to choose from.

This isn't currently the master, but it could be if you wanted it to be

cos there is a bathroom next-door.

-OK.

-Yeah, nice feel to it.

I like the scaled ceilings, we have that in our current house,

-so it's something we like.

-Yeah.

-So this really, I suppose, completes the picture for what you get as the owners.

-Yes, exactly.

-Just about right for us, I think.

-Good. A few cosmetic changes,

-but nothing that a man like you couldn't do.

-Absolutely.

-You've done it all before anyway, haven't you?

-THEY LAUGH

Yes.

I'm not certain the style of the interior is exactly to Mark and Michelle's tastes,

but I'm thinking it's probably

the business potential that's going to be the main deciding factor

for our buyers when it comes to choosing a property.

So I'm interested to hear their reactions

to what this place has to offer.

-So, here we are, the main event.

-OK.

-This whole complex contains eight separate holiday lets.

-OK.

-They're currently turning over just under...£100,000 a year.

-OK.

-A good turnover.

-Of which about 50,000 is profit.

-OK.

-Sure.

They have a lot of return customers, 25% are returns,

so that means that you walk into an existing business with people already booked in.

-OK, so there's plenty of goodwill there already.

-Absolutely.

-The courtyard's nice, isn't it?

-Very nice.

-So we've got eight to choose from.

-Let's have a look at the biggest one, which is that one.

-OK.

These brick and stone holiday cottages are currently operating

at a 40% occupancy and were originally the farmhouse stables.

Now, it's going to be very interesting to learn

how this compares with the...the market that you're going for.

Yeah. I think the space seems quite good.

I like that wall, the fact you've got that natural part of it.

I think we would probably... Yeah, we would do quite a bit of renovation, I think.

It's got that potential, hasn't it?

It has and that's what we've asked for,

-so the potential is here, I think.

-Yeah.

Also included in this holiday let package,

in what was originally the farmhouse barn,

is a games room and a superb indoor heated pool.

Outside there are more than two and a half acres of land

that includes a pond and a paddock.

Well, this is a view we haven't seen before.

This is the back of your bit, the owners' accommodation.

Which in itself is the sort of beautiful property

-we would happily sell on its own.

-Yeah, exactly.

-Yeah.

So there's quite a lot with this one.

-What do we think it's worth, then?

-Oh!

-Difficult.

Probably 1.35, something like that?

I think there's a little bit of maintenance work to do here,

I'm going to go a bit lower and, I think, about 1.25.

Well, as we're in the world of decimals, you're 100 grand apart,

but this could be yours for 1.3.

-Ahh!

-Split either side.

-You straddled it nicely.

-OK.

-Yeah.

Well, there's a lot to explore with this one, we have kind of skipped across the surface,

so why don't you go away, have a good look around

-and I will find you a little bit later on.

-Smashing. Thank you.

-OK.

-Off you go. Enjoy.

Under budget at £1.3 million, this period property

offers a ready-made holiday let business with eight cottages

that can accommodate up to 36 guests,

a games room and an indoor pool.

The house itself has three reception rooms and four bedrooms

and outside there's more than two and a half acres of land.

-OK, so this...

-Yeah, they're all very similar.

-Yeah.

But, again, it's a real blank canvas, isn't it?

-You could easily do a lot with it.

-Yeah.

-There's certainly food for thought here.

-Yeah.

-It's a good first property to see, isn't it?

-I think so.

When we first arrived, I thought,

beautiful thatched Dorset cottage, this has got a lot of potential.

Coming into the main property you've got to duck a few times

to get through the doors, but, yes, good first impressions.

A little dark in some of the rooms,

so I think you could easily lighten those a little bit.

Plenty of scope. The property size is a really good size for us.

I think I'd want to make some sort of personal changes to it.

I think from a business perspective

the fact it's got the eight holiday lets

plus the pool, I think overall it's a really nice package

and certainly a really good start to our search.

-Oh, squeaky door! Out you go.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Well, I think that was quite an impressive start, really.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-A business all ready to go, it's a beautiful house

-and it's more or less where you want to be.

-I think so, yeah.

-Have we spent any money yet, though?

-SHE LAUGHS

-We've got two more to see yet.

-We have indeed.

THEY LAUGH

Dorset has a rich farming heritage and one of the crops it's known for

is the fundamental beer ingredient barley.

And demand for this grain isn't set to slow down

thanks to a craft beer revolution that has taken hold of the country.

There are now over 800 breweries in Britain,

which is more than at any time since the Second World War,

with up to 50 independent microbreweries opening up each year.

One of those here in Dorset is Sunny Republic,

which set up 18 months ago in two restored grain-drying barns

where they produce more than 12,000 barrels a year.

And since brewing is one of the business ideas Mark and Michelle are considering,

they're here to meet Brent Smith, the company's founder.

I've been in the industry about 26 years now with my wife, Rosie,

we worked for the largest breweries in the world,

and we just wanted to do something for ourselves

at the same time as making the big move from London,

cos we've got young children, and start something down here

in what we think is the most beautiful part of the British Isles.

Beer has been brewed in the UK for centuries,

but Brent is one of a new generation of brewers

who are challenging conventions by experimenting with new styles

and seeking out unusual flavours.

I guess this is where the magic really all starts.

There's about 120 beer styles in the world

but there's only four basic ingredients of beer.

Barley, hops, water and yeast

so it's amazing you can get 120 from four, really.

Where do you get your ingredients from?

Do you source them locally or is it...

Some of the ingredients are sourced locally.

There's only two hand maltings left in the United Kingdom.

Just up the road from here is one

and they source the malt from 26 local farms for us.

Malt is germinated barley or other cereal grains that have been

dried in a process known as malting.

It provides the fermentable sugars that are needed to make beer.

What we've got here is three types of malt for you. Or malted barley.

This is pale malt.

It tastes like a Nutri-Grain bar. Pretty tasty.

-Mm!

-Malt, if you like, is the soul of beer.

It's going to give the beer its body.

It's going to give the beer its potential alcohol

and it's going to give the beer its colour, as well.

The next one here is crystal malt.

Got a biscuity sweetness to it.

I think it tastes like the base of a cheesecake.

Yeah. Digestive biscuit.

Like a lot of craft beer companies, Brent and his wife, Rosie,

have an onsite bar where they have weekly tasting sessions.

As well as promoting their product, the customer feedback

they receive helps them refine their recipes and create new ones.

I've got two beers for you to try today.

The dark, traditional style ale and we've also got true lager

so they are very different beers.

Ooh!

I really like that. That's got sort of toffee notes to it.

That's more about the complex layering of malts.

It's got lots of different dark malts in there where

the lager is about refreshing and freshness.

-It's more about the hops, really.

-We could stay here all afternoon.

-THEY CHUCKLE

-Exactly.

But before our buyers get too comfortable,

we need to return to finding them

a property with the potential to create a business of their own.

Our search takes us further inland

to the village of Hazelbury Bryan,

16 miles north of Dorchester.

Situated in the peaceful Blackmore Vale,

this attractive North Dorset village has some handy amenities

including a farm shop, a pub and a village hall.

Just down the road is our second property, which doesn't come

with a business but does have eight acres of land offering

a blank canvas from which Mark

and Michelle can create a completely new venture of their own.

This is a very different proposition to property number one.

We showed you an existing business that

was very much in the mode of what you've been thinking about.

-With the holiday lets and so on.

-Yeah.

But maybe, I'm wondering, it was too defined.

So with this one we are trying something a bit different.

It's very much about a home with land and potential to go with it.

-OK.

-But what do we think of that?

It looks lovely. So...

The fact that you've got the combination of the thatch

and non thatch.

This part of the house looks really quaint. Very pretty.

From here it's certainly very impressive.

Let's take a look inside.

I think you'll enjoy it.

This good-looking thatched farm house dates back to the 16th century

and incorporates a more recently built weatherboard

and tile extension, which is where we're starting the tour.

-This, I think you will enjoy.

-I like this, yeah.

This is magnificent. Loads of space.

It's open plan but the fact is the kitchen's bigger

-but a nice area where you can put tables or sofas.

-Very cosy feel.

Feeling the outside coming in there.

There's also a very useful utility room through there.

It's really nice.

-Like it.

-A good start, isn't it?

-A good start.

-A very good start.

That's why we came in here first.

Brilliant.

-Come with me.

-OK.

'Back across the entrance hall to the original part of the property

'is an appealing family room.'

The owners are currently moving out

so there's load of space to appreciate with this one.

-Yeah, this is nice. This is lovely, isn't it?

-Bread oven in there.

-Nicely lit.

-Yeah.

So you've got this as a very big family room and then it goes

through to this area which is much cosier. More of a snug, I suppose.

But still pretty imposing.

-This is lovely, as well.

-This would probably be the main lounge.

-I like the...

-Vaulted ceiling.

-Yeah, that's really nice.

Double height.

I get the feeling this is more exciting than our first

-property, as it were?

-Yeah, from a property perspective, definitely.

-It just feels a bit more us, I think.

-Yeah. More us as a home.

-Yes, definitely.

-Let's have a look upstairs.

Also downstairs in this older half of the house,

there's a double aspect study.

Upstairs there are two family bathrooms.

One on the first floor and one above in the attic.

There are four light-filled bedrooms.

Three are doubles and one is a single.

-This is the one that's currently being used as the master.

-OK.

It does have an en-suite but it's only the loo and a wash hand basin.

-OK.

-But it is big enough, I suspect, for you to get a shower.

-In a way I think many of these rooms are interchangeable.

-Yep.

As to which one you would pick for yourselves.

Again, it's beautiful to see all the beams.

Again, really spacious, really light.

A really nice cosy feel to the house, I think.

Good, so that's the main house. More or less.

But we have got these eight acres.

What's this business going to contain?

What's it going to look like? What are you going to do with it all?

Let's go and have a look.

I'm really pleased they've responded so well to the house.

The big question now is

whether they can see some business potential in the land outside.

What you can see here, double it over that hedge

and that's pretty much your eight acres and that is our lovely home.

You said, "Give us something to think about."

-That's what we've done.

-It certainly is something to think about.

There's plenty of scope there.

There's some outbuildings so we'd have to have a good think.

The outbuildings are interesting

but behind there is a huge open Dutch barn.

Obviously subject to the right planning consent

but the footprint of that might make an interesting holiday let

proposition in its own right.

The question is, how much might that cost you because that's going

to have a bearing on how much we want to spend

-on property number two.

-Exactly.

-Who's going to go first, then?

-Who is going to guess the price?

-I'm not going first on this one.

Mark can go first on this one.

I'm finding this one really difficult because it's a lovely, lovely house.

I'm going to go probably 950, I think.

I'm going to say 1 million.

-This is on the market at £975,000.

-Wow, that's not bad.

-Yeah.

Now, I don't often get to say this on Escape To The Country,

but that has brought you in under budget by a cool £525,000.

-You can do a lot with that.

-Could do a fair bit with that.

Go and have an explore. See what you might do

with the space, more importantly. Forget about the money for now.

Think about the space and what kind of a life you could create here.

-Brilliant. OK?

-Off you go.

-Thanks.

-Brilliant.

Considerably under budget at £975,000,

this beautifully renovated thatched home has a large kitchen diner,

two reception rooms and four bedrooms.

It doesn't have an existing business,

but with eight acres and that large Dutch barn,

there's masses of potential to create one

and plenty of money left in the budget to do it.

What do you think of this? This is a really big barn, isn't it?

This is massive, isn't it?

You could really do more or less anything you wanted in here.

It's purpose-made.

Really quite impressed with property two.

Very different to anything I've ever bought before.

I normally buy wrecks and do them up, but this is a lovely home.

The fact that it's got the thatch

and the tiled roof I think was a really lovely combination.

I think the space, we wouldn't feel like we were rattling around.

I think it's the perfect size for us.

Straight away I'm thinking we could do a microbrewery,

but we could have a look at what potential there was further afield.

I seriously have to think what we could do here.

The outdoor space, there's loads of it, so I think Mark and I

would really have to think about how best to use it.

I think there's plenty of opportunity

to get some holiday lets.

You've certainly got some really good options here.

Well, what a fascinating time we've had.

It's been a very good day.

You wanted lots of options, you wanted us to challenge and test you.

-We've given you two very different proposals, haven't we?

-Yeah.

-Most definitely, yes.

-But there is one more to come.

-The Mystery House!

-Tomorrow morning.

-Can't wait.

It's the second day of our property search

and with the sizeable budget of £1.5 million,

Mark and Michelle are leaving the town of Henley, Oxfordshire

to set up a home and a brand-new business in the Dorset countryside.

Still to come, the Mystery House gives our buyers' minds

a mental workout...

We asked to be challenged and you're challenging us

in terms of our thinking.

..and I discover a brand-new scheme

where fishermen are protecting the sea

and their livelihoods on the Dorset coast.

Well, as you can see, we have a glorious start to our final day

of property hunting here in Dorset

as we set about the task of trying to find Mark and Michelle a new home

for the future and, importantly, some sort of business to go with it.

Now, we are well known, of course,

for spoiling our buyers with our mystery houses,

but on this occasion, it's a real treat for me too,

because what I'm about to reveal

is a property the like of which I have never had

on Escape To The Country before.

We're about to show them a Grade I listed gem.

These are so rare and to find one on the market -

I can't tell you how excited I am.

It's one of only 2% of such properties

anywhere in the United Kingdom.

I can't wait.

The final stop on our search takes us

half an hour's drive south to Kingston Maurward,

just east of Dorchester, in the heart of Thomas Hardy country.

But before we look at house number three,

we're stopping off in the neighbouring village of Stinsford

to take in the significance of its 13th century church.

Of course, Dorset, well known for Hardy, Thomas Hardy,

-and this was his parish church.

-OK.

But when he died in 1928, his body was buried in Poets' Corner

in Westminster Abbey, but his heart, he insisted,

-was to be buried here.

-Ah.

He described this as the most hallowed part of the country.

-Are we setting the right kind of scene?

-I think so, definitely.

-Come on, then.

-Good.

Our Mystery House is moments from the church

and is set amidst 35 acres of beautiful parkland

owned by Kingston Maurward Agricultural College.

With this place, seeing is believing.

Right, keep looking down.

Keep looking down.

Keep looking down, and now look up.

Wow!

-Are you being serious?

-Yep!

-Really? The whole thing?

-The whole thing.

-Oh, my lord.

-It's one of the most perfect examples

of an E-plan Elizabethan manor certainly in the region.

We're thinking high-end residential,

dare I say it, B&B.

I know you haven't really gone for the whole B&B idea, but...

..it's with a twist, because as a destination venue...

-Amazing, isn't it?

-..it's astonishing.

Yes, it's certainly a Mystery House, that's for sure.

Do you know what, Jules?

I have not been so excited to go inside a property

for such a long, long time.

-Definitely.

-Come on!

Built in the 1590s, this Grade I listed manor house

was close to being demolished in the early 1960s,

but, thankfully, new owners stepped in

and saved the then derelict building

with a huge eight-year restoration project.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Quite a hallway.

-Yeah!

-As you can see.

It is absolutely amazing.

Obviously, the staircase is one of the door surrounds.

-All kinds of periods...

-Look at those door surrounds.

They're not door surrounds, they're castle entrances!

-Let's make use of them. Let's go through this one.

-OK.

Into the drawing room.

This is fantastic, isn't it?

It's just amazing.

-I love it.

-Your eyes just can't take in all the detail. It's incredible.

Remember I mentioned to you this E-plan

that the building conforms to?

Part of the E goes round that corner there

-as a wing.

-Oh, OK.

This is a house that has genuine wings, which is terrific.

This is a room that your guests could make use of,

because that way there is another room equally as big,

equally as beautiful and that's the library.

It's separated by a very modest kitchen, actually,

but you could have the library for yourselves on the ground floor.

This could be for your guests and you could feed them

in the dining room through here.

-OK.

-Come and look at this.

Crossing back over the central hall, we enter the northern wing,

which, in Elizabethan times, was occupied by the great kitchen.

There.

Do you think this is big enough?

I think it would work, wouldn't it?

This is... Oh, my lord, look at that.

-That's lovely.

-Again, this E-plan,

so the room stretches off that way as a little finger.

We are moving on from the first property

where we had very separate accommodation

and self-catering accommodation

to something which is much more involved as far as you're concerned,

because you're living with your guests.

We asked to be challenged and you're challenging us

in terms of our thinking, but I can see real potential here.

-Wait till you see the accommodation upstairs.

-OK.

Have a look at this.

Since the current owners bought the manor in 1998,

they've been running it as a five-star B&B

with an annual turnover of £40,000.

'All of the guest accommodation is upstairs on the first floor

'of the galleried landing.

'We're taking a look at the north wing,

'which is directly above the dining room we've just seen.'

This is something of a suite, which is rather nice,

so your guests have this lovely little lounge area,

tea and coffee and all that sort of stuff,

and then through here is the bedroom.

-En suite through that little door.

-OK.

-And quite an impressive...

-..suite.

-That's amazing, isn't it?

-This could be your master bedroom,

but there are also two further rooms upstairs

which occupy the entire top floor,

so you could separate yourselves completely

-by occupying that top floor, because it also has its own bathroom.

-OK.

So we could run that like a self-contained apartment

up there for the owners and run this as the business.

In the original E-shaped part of this house,

the suite we've just seen in the north wing

is mirrored on the other side by a second suite the same size

and in an extension built during the 17th century,

there are three more bedrooms.

All of the rooms are doubles with their own en-suite bathrooms,

and they have some wonderful original features,

including stone-mullioned windows and exposed timber beams.

Outside, the garden is just over half an acre,

which may seem small in relation to such a large house,

but it is surrounded

by the agricultural college's expansive parkland,

which includes a five-acre lake.

-Garden-wise, this is it.

-OK.

But in terms of something that's manageable

and that really sets the building off...

-That's a good-sized garden, I think.

-I think it is.

-I think it's a good-sized garden.

-So...

Don't ask.

-I'm going to ask you. I'm going to make you tell me.

-No!

What is our Mystery House on the market for?

I really do not have a clue.

But I'm going to go over 2 million for this one.

-I'm going to say 2.2.

-I'm thinking about 1.8.

1.8.

It was on the market for close to 1.8.

It's now on the market for 1.25.

-No.

-1.25 million?

-I can't believe that.

-And a million pounds under my guess.

-Yes!

LAUGHTER

Go and take some time. Explore this wonderful building at your leisure.

Fantastic. Thank you.

Take as much time as you like.

I never usually say that on Escape To The Country,

but this is a building that deserves it. It really is a first -

a Grade I listed gem that's on the market, that's for sale,

and that could really give these two the life

and the business they've been looking for.

Below budget at £1.25 million,

this extraordinary Elizabethan manor house

has a ready-made B&B business,

with three huge reception rooms on the ground floor

and five en-suite bedrooms on the first.

There's also plenty of space on the second floor

that could be Mark and Michelle's accommodation,

and it has a peaceful parkland setting.

I was just stunned.

I just couldn't believe that you'd found

something like this for us to see.

I think Mark and I thought, "It's a flat, it's an apartment in it."

So the fact that it was the whole house,

I was really, really surprised. It was amazing.

From the outside it could look quite cold and imposing,

but once you get inside it, it's really quite a nice cosy house.

Some amazing features.

The stonework, the oak beams, the oak floors,

the fireplaces. It's just incredible.

Could I see myself living here? I'm not... I don't know whether I could.

It's a fantastic place.

It's just so different to what we had in mind before we started.

You'd really have to spend some time here and really get to feel

whether this was somewhere you could call home as well as a business.

You know, buildings like this are, for me,

what escaping to the country is all about.

It certainly spoilt me and, I suspect,

it's spoilt you two as well.

Oh, it certainly has. It's been amazing.

But have we sold it?

I think there's a lot of consideration

to take into account here.

-Let's go and consider.

-OK.

Fishing has been a way of life for generations of Dorset families,

but over the years the growing decline in fish stocks

has put both this age-old local industry and the costal ecosystem

under threat.

Finding a way to reconcile the needs of both the environment and

the fisheries has long been fraught with conflicts and frustration.

But in Lyme Bay, a dedicated group is approaching this sensitive issue

with a ground-breaking scheme that facilitates dialogue

between concerned parties to reach solutions through collaboration

rather than confrontation.

The organisation is known as the Lyme Bay Working Group.

I'm here to meet its project manager, Neville Copperthwaite.

We've come in more or less as mediators, really.

We've developed a model where all stake holders, you know,

all the fishermen, the conservationists

and also the scientists have got together to manage

the area in a better, more sustainable way.

How have you managed to persuade the fishermen here that this

scheme is worth getting involved in?

As much as anybody else, they want to be able to fish in the future.

They want their children to be able to fish, and their grandchildren.

So they've entered into a code of conduct,

basically, about gear limitation,

about not putting too many pots down, too many nets.

So, for instance, they can only fish with 250 pots per boat

and 4,000 yards of net, and numerous other things.

This code of conduct is voluntary and is regulated by the fishermen

themselves, which is what makes this project the first of its kind.

With input from scientists and conservationists,

they manage the waters they fish in a responsible, sustainable way.

Another of the group's initiatives is the investment in equipment

to be set up on the cob that will ensure the fishermen deliver

only premium fish.

Quality versus quantity

is very much at the core of the organisation's aims.

We would like the fishermen to catch less but earn more.

Is that really possible though?

It is possible.

What we're doing to achieve that is we're going to install

ice-making facilities inside these sheds,

so that then the fishermen can get a really good quality product

into the shops.

But you're also, as I understand it,

marketing Lyme Bay fish as an entity for the first time.

We are, yeah.

This quality underpins that branding.

What will be included in that is traceability

and sustainability as well.

Neville and his team have been overwhelmed

by the response they've received.

After some robust resistance when they first proposed the idea

almost two years ago, they now have 98% of the Bay's fishermen on board.

Alex Jones is one of them.

Do you think that this project is going to work?

That you might be able to fish less but still maintain

a decent standard of living and an economically viable business?

Well, this is the plan.

We believe we can get up to 30% more on the fish markets for our fish.

The fact that if you buy our fish, you know it's probably

caught on one of the most sustainable fisheries in the UK.

But for the fishing community here, there must be some optimism.

Yeah, I mean, the fishing industry's got to evolve

and move forward with the times.

I think this is just one way we can do that.

I don't think any fisherman's going to be unhappy

if they're getting more money for their fish.

Let's just see if we can get it to work. I think we can.

Already receiving attention from abroad,

the innovative scheme instigated here in this quiet Dorset bay

may well provide the blueprint for sustainable

fishing all over the world.

Well, it is now decision time for Mark and Michelle.

In his words, we have given them an awful lot to consider,

but, of course, there is one burning question that remains -

the £1.5 million question -

have we managed to find them their new dream home?

Well, they're just over there. Let's ask them.

This has been quite an interesting process for you,

and certainly from my point of view.

You gave us such a broad brief, really.

Have we managed to refine it any more over the last few days?

I think you've brought us some focus. Yeah, most definitely.

The three properties you've shown us are quite diverse.

I think property number two, where you had a home plus

an opportunity to start something from scratch, I think

it's helped us narrow more into that area rather than an existing

holiday letting business that is about just upgrading.

It had lots of acres,

but I think it was more the breathing space it would give us

to build a business and not have to get an income from it immediately.

But then with our Mystery House,

we went for something completely different.

An astonishing building.

Yeah, we can totally see the business side of that.

As a home, we're not so sure about it, are we?

It's so far removed from how we live today that, you know,

you'd really have to spend more time to figure out

-whether you could actually live there as a home, I think.

-Yeah.

I think sometimes that size of budget can give you too much choice.

Actually, going on this journey of finding out what it actually is

you really want has actually taken us

longer than we thought it was going to ourselves.

Thank you very much for coming down here.

We wish you all the very best of luck.

I'm glad that we've brought a little more focus to this great,

life-changing plan that you're about to undertake. Good luck.

No, thank you very much. It's been fantastic.

-It's been great.

-Pleasure.

Well, the sun is setting on today's show,

so where better to finish up than here

on one of Dorset's most famous landmarks -

the shingle bank of Chesil Beach

with Portland Bill in the background.

We've had gorgeous houses and a generous budget,

but still Mark and Michelle's search for their new dream home continues.

Maybe Mark was right - maybe the more you've got to spend,

the harder it is.

But when you've got a county like this with views like that,

can you really put a price on it? I wonder.

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