North Yorkshire Escape to the Country

This stunning stone relic

behind me brought some 12th century French elegance to the

wild and windswept landscape of medieval England

but where in the country am I? We'll find out in just a moment.

Today's house-hunting couple are history lovers who want to

put down roots for the future

and our properties have quite a story to tell...

-Oh, gosh.

-It looks incredibly original.

..giving them lots of ideas.

That was like pressing a switch. Did you see her face?

In which direction - up or down?

Today I'm in North Yorkshire

and these are the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey in the stunning North York Moors.

Built by Cistercian monks, construction of the abbey

started in the early 1100s and it went on to become

one of the wealthiest monasteries in all of medieval England.

This setting is timeless,

for the Moors have always been a highly desirable place

to set down roots as they were over 1,000 years ago.

As the largest county in England, North Yorkshire covers

over 3,000 square miles and is one of the most rural in the country.

The region boasts two national parks -

the Yorkshire Dales in the West and the rugged windswept North York Moors.

Both have inspired authors and artists throughout the ages.

On the edge of the Moors National Park, the vista from Sutton Bank

overlooking the Vale of Mowbray has been described by author

and vet James Herriot as England's finest view.

In the Southern Dales is a dramatic limestone rock of Malham Cove,

which inspired 18th-century writers and 21st-century film makers when

it was used as a location for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.

North Yorkshire has its fair share of historic towns and villages.

The market town of Helmsley received its charter in the 12th century

and today, the streets retain much of that medieval feel.

The 900-year-old castle still cuts an imposing figure

despite being almost totally destroyed by Cromwell's army

during the Civil War.

But arguably, the county's hub is the city of York, whose ancient

streets continue to infuse the books of many contemporary writers,

including Kate Atkinson and history novelist Sheila Kelly.

This idyllic county is perhaps more affordable than you may

think, as prices here reflect the national average

and come in around £267,000 for a detached home

but if you want to get your hands on a slice of the Dales

or the North York Moors, then expect to pay a premium of

up to 20% for a house within the boundaries of the National Park.

Although, with views like this,

you could argue that they are worth every penny and that's why

today's buyers have set their sights on finding a home here.

University lecturer Hugh and carer Ruth met through an internet

dating site almost two years ago. At the moment, they both live

separately, Hugh in the town of Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria and

Ruth in a semidetached property on the outskirts of the city of York.

I live on a bus route, quite a busy route into York

and it does start quite early with the buses.

But tiring of the 75-mile journey that separates them,

they're ready to take the plunge and buy their first shared house

together, but it isn't just Hugh and Ruth to consider.

This move would be the union of two large families.

-Between us, I have six children and Hugh has three children.

-So...

-You've got four girls and two boys.

-And you have...

And I've got three boys, yeah.

We're not sure how many of our children might actually be

living with this but it could be at least three or four,

potentially more because quite a few are away at uni.

Before they met, Hugh had been widowed for eight years

and Ruth was bringing up her children on her own.

The two single parents quickly realised

they had a lot in common, not least a love of the countryside.

I really like being out in the open.

I love particularly hills and I love climbing and walking.

-You love keeping animals, don't you?

-Yeah.

And chickens and so, open space, green space, trees.

And if we get a nice sized plot of land,

I can fill it with a lot of animals.

And their decision to move to North Yorkshire is the perfect compromise.

To me, as a Yorkshire lass, there isn't a finer county than Yorkshire.

We've looked all over

but we've decided we need to live within an hour of York

and so the only viable option

for us is the North York Moors.

As well as an affection for all things rural,

Hugh and Ruth share a love of the past and between them

have amassed a sizeable collection of historical artefacts

from Roman Britain to the First World War and now

they have ambitions to turn their passion into an income generator.

We want to have a business based on those artefacts,

so a kind of living museum where people come into the museum

and they take part in activities which are related to history.

But just what form this heritage business might take

will depend on the kind of property we are able to find them.

It could be that we run history weekends where people come

and stay and they dress up.

It could be that it suits more a sort of, um, tearoom...

It's not just somewhere that we're going to live in.

It's going to be our livelihood, our business, our passion, our interest.

With plans to marry soon and a new home and business on the horizon,

our quirky couple are excited about the next chapter.

This is the beginning of a new life for us, isn't it?

It's very exciting.

I never thought I'd find anybody that was quite as in tune with me.

Quite as mad... Quite as mad as you!

Well, we're both a bit mad and that's fine.

Hugh and Ruth would like to be in or close to the North York Moors

National Park but within an hour's drive of York for Ruth's work

and for visiting her elderly mother,

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

I met up with our couple in God's own country to discuss

the detail of their proposed move.

Hugh and Ruth, welcome to the North York Moors.

It is a beautiful spot but you must tell me,

why do you want to buy a house in this part of the county?

I can't think of anywhere I'd rather live, really.

This is a gorgeous part of the country and for me, I can't beat it.

-But it's not just the two of you with this move.

-Yeah.

How many people are in this family?

Nine children between us.

-So we're looking out for... We've got to think of 11 people?

-Yeah.

-And their needs.

And also we've got Mum as well to consider, cos I'm sure she's

going to want to come and stay occasionally, isn't she?

Yes, I'm hoping weekends she'll come and stay.

Because you've got all these wonderful business ideas going around,

I'm taking there's going to be a degree of flexibility.

You're going to be looking at perhaps finished houses,

but also houses with potential to adapt for what you're after?

-The word potential is a very good word for us.

-Mmm.

We'd like to excavate, uncover, develop, rebuild, rework -

anything you like.

And if you want to run a business, obviously, you don't

-want to be too far off the beaten track, I'm guessing?

-No, not really.

-Preferably the edge of a village would be ideal.

-Yes.

No modern houses, please!

So we don't want a new build.

-Probably wanting a house with lots of character and charm.

-Yes!

-Potential is the big word.

-Yes!

-The keyword.

-Yes.

-A castle!

-OK, a castle.

-That would do us. That would do nicely.

OK, then. And well, let's see, you know.

Remind me again of your budget, please, you two?

-Um, 580,000, thereabouts.

-OK.

-Yeah, a bit of flexibility.

Yeah, we're a bit flexible either way.

I'm not going to find you a castle within the national park for that amount of money.

-We can live in hope!

-You're meant to say no!

-Yes, well, keep smiling and we'll see how we get on, shall we?

-OK.

Follow me and we'll get started. Come on.

Hugh and Ruth have a maximum budget of £580,000 but ideally,

they'd like to spend much less,

leaving room to make improvements and to fund the business.

They'd like at least three bedrooms,

preferably with the potential to extend, to give them

space for the older children to stay during the holidays.

For Ruth, outside space is important to accommodate chickens

and her smallholding ambitions and finally,

the two history fans would like an older property with character.

We've selected three distinctive vintage properties for them to view,

which will indulge Hugh and Ruth's love of history.

Each offers plenty of options to develop the home and business.

The final property, the mystery house,

could provide the ticket to a brighter future.

Our first house is in the village of Appleton le Moors,

just within the North York Moors National Park.

The village has a thriving community and social scene,

centred on a well-regarded pub and village hall.

The French Gothic-style church was described by John Betjeman

as a little gem among moorland churches.

Some of the village residents have grazing rights on Appleton Common

and verges along the wide streets are part of the common,

so it's not unusual to find sheep roaming here,

something that might charm animal lover Ruth.

House number one is positioned on the edge of the village

and has a historic pedigree which should appeal to our buyers.

So we're starting off actually in the National Park.

We're just across the boundary -

this will be the first village as you go across -

to bring you house number one.

-Gosh, it's unusual.

-Yes.

-I like the windows.

-Yeah. It's like a coaching building.

Well, I think you're very close.

Because the original building dates back to around 1750

-and it was a stable block...

-Right, right.

..attached to the farm next door and that's why you have those

wonderful sandstone and limestone arches there.

This is the land. There aren't acres behind us

because you've actually got a farm behind and to the side of us

and I think on that note, we should start looking at the house.

-I'd love to.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Yes, thank you.

This stone-built, arched-windowed stable block has been extended to the left-hand side.

The property has an unusual layout

but scope to provide accommodation for a themed holiday business.

With that in mind, I'm showing our buyers the business option first

since the entrance to the property leads into a small kitchen area

which is part of the existing holiday cottage.

It's quite an unusual start with our first property.

I've brought you through the kitchen/dining area,

because this side of the property is holiday let potential.

-Right, OK.

-Yeah, yeah.

There's also, next door, a sitting room as well, if you want.

-Ah, OK.

-Or you could make that another bedroom.

-Yes.

So you've got potential.

But if you wanted extra income, people coming to stay,

perhaps a workshop, they wouldn't impose on the rest of the house.

And the remainder of the house where Hugh and Ruth would live

is back through the small kitchen

and the sitting room looking out to the front.

So I'm going to call this part your house, because we know that could be

the business, so this is where your property, in a way, would start.

This would be your main sitting-room.

-This is light. This is lovely, light and spacious.

-It is spacious.

-Yeah.

-I like the fireplace.

-You've got to have a burner, haven't you?

-You have, yeah.

-Still more to show you.

Now I can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen a kitchen ceiling

-quite like that.

-Gosh, that's er, unusual.

-A slightly larger kitchen than the other one.

-Yeah.

You can sit in here.

Not too bad, I'm not sure that we'd get our big table in here

when it's full-on family occasions.

If Ruth is worried about the lack of kitchen space,

there is a generous utility room which could be knocked through to,

along with a family bathroom on the ground floor.

But we're heading upstairs to find once again,

an unusual layout of rooms.

There's a mezzanine bedroom above the kitchen and beyond that,

a loft bedroom with restricted headroom.

There's also a large storeroom for Hugh

and Ruth's historical artefacts.

The master is accessed via the mezzanine bedroom.

-So in a way, this is the modern part of the property.

-Right.

Cos this is where the master bedroom is,

-although it doesn't have an en-suite.

-Quite small.

-It is.

It is. Now they did have permission to take it to the boundary edge,

but thinking of the way you live your lives

and how you want to run your business, I would extend out.

-I'd reapply for that permission.

-I think so.

-You could do quite a lot with that end of the house, I think.

-Yeah.

So Hugh and Ruth could create a double storey extension up to the fence,

offering, subject to planning permission, a larger master

and further accommodation below.

The house sits in a quarter of an acre of land.

There is a substantial garden at the front of the property

offering space to keep chickens,

along with a large garage workshop.

But Hugh and Ruth are keeping their cards close to their chests

and I'm keen to see what they really think of this converted stable block.

Very interesting. There's a lot of features in there.

There's a lot more work that could be done on it. I do like it.

-It is...

-Yeah, I like it.

-Yeah.

I'm not sure it's big enough for the children coming back

and the kitchen is fine, a bit on the small side.

Well, shall we see if you've got any money leftover in the pot to

-perhaps make it perfect for you?

-Mmm.

Shall we see who wants to go first, then, because I'm going to ask you?

-I hate this part.

-You've got to put a price on this property.

-I know.

-I think around about 400,000.

-OK.

But Ruth disagrees quite a lot.

-I think, because of where it is...

-In the national park?

In the national park and in a village, I think, five. 500.

The asking price is £360,000.

-Wow!

-Gosh, a lot less than what I thought.

-Well, we could build a separate museum.

-Yeah, there you go.

I want you to start thinking about this,

because you haven't decided exactly what the business is going to be.

-No.

-No.

-Fancy another wander on your own this time?

-Yes. Thank you very much.

-Please do.

Our first property comes in under budget,

giving Hugh and Ruth over £200,000 left over to develop the house

and historical holiday business.

It's a former 18th-century stable block offering a separate

holiday let, four potential bedrooms

but it lacks the land for Ruth's smallholding plans.

Good gracious me!

-It's like being in a tent!

-It is, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Like a sort of campsite. I think I know a little boy who'd like this.

If we use the first two rooms for a business,

then it would limit us on bedroom space for when the children

come back from uni, so I think it could be problematic.

I like its quirkiness, I like the features.

I don't think we'd have enough room for all of our stuff, though.

Ah, you're finished. You've seen enough.

-Have we got close, that's my question?

-Mmm...

-Interesting.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Good area.

-It's nice. I'm not sure about the lack of land.

-No.

I think you're being polite, now, aren't you? You're disappointed.

Well, let's see how I get on with the next house with you two. Come on.

As England's largest county with nearly half the area national park,

North Yorkshire is not only a rural delight, it is also home to pretty

stone villages and market towns, many of which contain historic gems.

The handsome market town of Pateley Bridge in

the south west of the county is an example

as it's the home of what's believed to be the oldest sweet shop

in the world, which has been trading continuously

since the early 19th century.

It is one of the few authentic sweet shops left still selling

traditional sweets and chocolate.

It is also a local business success story,

so we're sending our entrepreneurial buyers

to meet Keith Tordoff, whose family have owned the shop for 20 years.

-Is it really that old?

-Yeah.

The building itself dates back to the early 1600s but the actual

sweet shop started trading in 1827, so that is 184 years

and it's absolutely validated in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Clearly you have a lot of sweets here.

Oh, from very early times, we've got liquorice root, obviously,

which is natural, where all liquorice products come from.

We've got the traditional boiled sweets,

the humbugs that people remember, and then obviously

we go to the range of retro sweets like the raspberry bonbons,

the fizz whizz, obviously bringing us more up-to-date.

-It's a lovely building. Astonishing building. I like the fireplace.

-Yes.

The fireplace is totally original and that's where obviously

the boilings would have been done over the fire.

We've got equipment such as the original tills,

the original Avery weighing scales.

Although much of the confectionery is manufactured off-site,

Keith's son Alexander still produces boiled sweets in the

traditional way in the shop, boiling a sugar mix over the old fireplace.

Once the colouring and aniseed flavouring has been added to the mixture, which is

now around 250 degrees Celsius, it's shaped and left to cool down.

So how long do you actually knead it for?

The colourings you use can affect it.

I mean, if these are black, it can sometimes stay a lot more hot for a lot longer.

Then the congealed sweet mix is fed through a Victorian rolling

machine which helps form the sweet drops.

Everybody should have a go at making sweets!

-Everybody needs to do this. Can I take one?

-Absolutely.

-They are hardening up already.

-Mmm! Still warm.

To go hard - 10 or 15 minutes.

I mean, to be fully set, it'll be about seven hours.

Keith's shop has a history stretching back 200 years

and business hopefuls Hugh and Ruth are keen

to find out the secrets of its long life.

Have you got any tips on running an historical business?

-Number one, you've got to have an interest in what you do.

-Mm.

Ideally, a passion for it.

That will rub off on people.

Your customers will realise it, your suppliers will realise it,

you gain a knowledge of your product

and everybody then speaks to you about it.

That's the dialogue which is so important in business.

Hopefully our buyers will have been motivated by Keith's business story

and it will inspire them to develop their own venture.

In the meantime, we need to find a home with business potential,

so it's back on the road.

For our second offering, it's a short hop

to the village of Cropton,

which lies on the border of the national park.

Cropton's a quiet settlement, dotted with attractive stone cottages.

It's home to a family-run inn and micro-brewery

and it's exactly one hour's drive from the centre of York.

Although the national park boundary divides the village,

our second property is just outside the park

and, therefore, not subject to its stringent building regulations.

House two is situated on the high street in the heart of the village

and is another property with a rich heritage.

Ruth, you're looking puzzled.

I'm trying to figure out which it is,

whether it's the chapel or the house.

Come on and have a look at the house.

Which would you like it to be?

Er, they both look very interesting.

Yeah, I'm not sure whether I like the church, or the house.

-Let's start with the house, attractive looking property?

-Mm.

-Very.

-Very historical, I feel.

So you can't decide which one you'd rather see.

What if I told you that they actually come together.

-Oh! Wow!

-Gosh, yeah.

-Right.

-That sounds good.

-Yeah, we like that idea.

This is the old schoolhouse.

-So that is a school.

-Ah, not a chapel.

It does look like a church or a chapel but that's the old school.

Both of them built around the mid-19th century,

that's why they're so close together.

Which one do you want to look at first?

I'd like to look at the school.

-That's OK.

-Yeah?

-I'm happy with that.

-Happy with going with the school?

-Yeah.

Right, let's start with the school, then.

Cropton's former village school dates back to 1874

and retains many original features, including an arched mullion window.

It's in need of restoration, but this building could make

an excellent venue for Hugh and Ruth's planned business.

So I can see you're itching to get in here.

Oh, gosh!

Wow!

So you've got a little anti-room in there.

You've got this enormous space to work with.

There's an additional room at the front, you access it to the left,

so about a third of this again.

-Really?

-Good gracious me.

-Oh, gosh.

-It looks incredibly original.

Look at those doors.

I know, look at the fireplace.

Beautiful renovation project.

Furthermore, planning permission has already been granted

to convert the former classrooms into a residential dwelling

with three bedrooms, so Hugh and Ruth could simply

begin the renovation project,

or apply to change the use of the building to a business.

The schoolhouse is a detached stone and pantiled roofed building,

which has been tastefully modernised in recent years.

So, just off this hallway, leads to our sitting room.

Now you're going to gather straightaway that this house

-isn't enormous.

-Mmm.

-We can see that, yes.

-But what you do get is some wonderful high ceilings.

-Yeah.

-There's some very nice features.

-Mm.

-Do you like it?

-I do.

-I do, actually.

-It's small.

It's pretty perfect.

I'll take "pretty perfect".

The downstairs layout also features a dining room

with another Victorian-style fireplace and a utility room.

So down this corridor...

..you have your kitchen.

-A country kitchen, I think, I'm going to call it.

-Yeah.

-This is fantastic.

-It's smaller and darker than perhaps I would like.

-Yeah.

-But...

-It does have that Victorian feel about it, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

What I haven't mentioned is that neither property is listed.

Ah...

-Conservatory.

-Ah, yes.

-Your face just lit up.

-We could extend.

-Yeah, you could push out.

-Mm-hm.

Yes, we'd have to look at the ground out there

but, yeah, a conservatory would just make this lovely and light.

-A huge kitchen.

-Yeah.

Although planning permission would be needed,

there is scope to extend the schoolhouse,

as there are no national park restrictions.

Upstairs, the schoolhouse offers up three bedrooms -

two doubles and a good sized single,

as well as a large family bathroom with free-standing bath.

We're heading to the master, which is at the front of the house.

This is nice.

-It's the master bedroom.

-I like this.

It's a very fine bedroom.

-I like the floorboards.

-Big, wide floorboards.

-The fireplace.

-Yeah.

Now the view is of your school/museum.

I'm going to keep calling it the museum now,

that business idea.

-Despite quite small windows, there's still an airy feel to it.

-Mm.

I think the character of the school and schoolhouse

has really captured the hearts of Hugh and Ruth.

Outside there's a gorgeous walled garden,

which they could extend into

and a gated paddock, ideal for grazing livestock.

So...come and take a look at your paddock.

A nice, square paddock with some beautiful, old trees.

How much for this second property?

You've got the schoolhouse, the school,

you've got nearly an acre of land...

What do you think?

Oh, 560 to 570, personally.

550?

-Are you hoping it's 550?

-Yes.

Are you? OK.

Asking price...

-..£498,000.

-Oh, oh, oh.

-Really?

-Really.

-Wow!

That's good, I like that.

You should now go and take another look around

because there was a lot to show you. Explore it on your own.

I think we'll be exploring it with added interest, don't you?

-Yeah, with new eyes.

-Yes.

Please, be my guest.

Under budget, our second property is a unique find,

a 19th-century former school and schoolhouse.

The school itself requires renovation

but, with over £80,000 left in their pocket,

it could make an excellent space to develop their business.

Also, there's more bedroom accommodation for the older children

when they visit.

The house has three bedrooms and the land includes a large paddock.

I'm thinking apartments.

-Mm, yeah, possibly.

-Two or three?

Two, or three. I think three.

Yeah, and a little bit of workshop space.

It's talking to me, this house.

Not whispering like the last one.

It's got a nice feel to it.

I like most things about this house.

A touch on the small side.

This house has excited me.

I think the house itself was a little bit smaller than we wanted.

To be honest, quite a lot smaller than we wanted.

The other features make up for it.

-It's quite exciting, given us lots of food for thought.

-Good.

-That's what we were hoping for. Happy, Hugh?

-I'm very happy.

-Yes, there's so much here for me to get excited about.

-That's brilliant.

What a way to end our day.

Guess what, we've got the mystery house lined up for tomorrow.

It's the second day of our property search

and, on a maximum budget of £580,000,

we're helping history lecturer, Hugh and Ruth, a carer

from the City of York, find their first shared home together

here in North Yorkshire.

Coming up, we mind the gap with the mystery house.

How would you both feel living near a train station?

-Excited.

-Yeah?

-I like trains.

And I meet the next generation of national park rangers.

This morning we're going to be show them our mystery property.

Our two, with the love of the unusual, are quite difficult to

surprise but, with this house, I really think

we're on the right track.

For our third property, we are

heading back into the national park and to the village of Glaisdale,

which has a journey time of an hour and a quarter back to York.

The hillside village lies on the banks of the River Esk

and it's famous for Beggar's Bridge, a pack horse river crossing,

built by Thomas Ferries in 1619.

The village grew in the 19th century to house workers

from the nearby iron ore mines.

Glaisdale is popular with walkers,

as Wainwright's coast-to-coast walk passes through the centre.

The village also has a station, which is

on the Middlesbrough to Whitby line, with four trains a day.

I've brought us to the village of Glaisdale

and I'm going to be honest, your mystery house is around here.

How would you both feel living near a train station?

-Excited.

-Yeah.

-I like trains.

-What about you, Hugh?

-Trains are fine by me.

I had a student house next to the railway line once and I loved it.

-How close to the railway line?

-Oh, as close as that house behind us.

-Really? That one there?

-Yes.

-That is the property we have lined up for you to see.

-Really?

-That is the mystery house.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Are you ready to take a look?

-Yeah.

-Come on, then.

We'll have to look left and right, we have to cross these tracks. Come on.

So our mystery house, built in 1867, was at one time the ticket office

and upstairs the station master's quarters.

So you have seen the mystery house from one side of the platform,

-let me show it to you from the other.

-Gosh.

-It's quite a handsome building.

-Yeah.

It looks robust, doesn't it?

What about living in a railway house,

do you have any passion for the railways?

-I love railways.

-For locomotives?

-My father was an engine driver.

-Was he?

He drove all the old steam trains,

the Mallard, the Flying Scotsman and so on.

It's sort of in the blood.

-So the thought, perhaps of living in your own ticket office...

-Oh, yeah.

-Yes.

-It's quite appealing.

Right, well, I think we should start inside and then

we will talk about the land afterwards.

I thought our railway-themed mystery property would appeal

to our two history buffs.

This property doesn't just offer Hugh and Ruth an idyllic,

if unusual, place to live,

but also the opportunity to take on an up-and-running business.

First, let's deal with the living space.

Let's bring you into the station master's house.

This is where they would have sold the tickets.

It has been adapted into the family home.

Here is your kitchen but also a very large dining area.

-Mmm.

-I like this.

It's a very nice kitchen.

Before we continue through to the house, I just want to mention,

you can see the conservatory, we walked through it.

The owners have a licence

and they have been serving afternoon tea, lunches.

-They have even been opening in the evenings for dinner.

-Right.

-Gosh.

They have been running it from Easter through to September.

It's been extremely popular with the walkers, hikers and tourists.

You would need to notify the local authority that it was

a change of ownership but the licence is still open.

If you did want to run a tearoom, or something along those lines...

-There's a business.

-I'm going to plant that seed.

All right.

As well as the kitchen/diner,

there are two further reception rooms on the ground floor.

You have got a small sitting-room there

and then you have a second, much larger one, here.

-Pleasantly surprised.

-It's an absolutely beautiful room.

-Good size?

-Yes, it's a decent size.

It's a reasonable size, yes.

Next door, you have got a large study/office.

That originally was a bedroom

but, for business reasons, they've changed it.

You could convert that back into a bedroom, if you wanted to.

-I think we would probably have to, I think.

-Mmm.

You've also got a second conservatory.

Let's go upstairs, look at the options there and perhaps potential

of what else you might be able to do to make it right for the family.

Upstairs has two bedrooms, both doubles

and converting the downstairs study back to a bedroom,

gives Hugh and Ruth the three they requested.

This is where I do have my work cut out for me.

This is the master bedroom.

The reason I say that is because it's a good size, double aspect

but with only two bedrooms, both of them en suite in this property.

At the moment... That's the caveat, at the moment.

It's not the biggest room I've ever seen.

No, I might just fit my clothes in here.

I don't think there will be room for yours!

I tell you what you would get here, you know, if you fancied

a lie in in the morning...

-..you can see your train going past.

-Oh, gosh.

As well as having excellent transport links,

the property could be extended as, despite being in the national park,

there are nearby dwellings with recent additions.

At the rear of the house,

the land extends to around a third of an acre, offering

development potential and includes a large vegetable patch and lawn.

I've really picked up that you love this property.

-You love the mystery house but it's the size, isn't it?

-Mmm.

-It getting the whole family here.

-It is a problem.

We can't get around it,

there isn't enough room for all the children and everybody.

Or, can you?

It's a station master's house,

there's quite a lot of land at the side.

We know that people love coming here for refreshments, for teas,

-for supper.

-Mmm.

How about getting permission

and putting in a railway carriage, somewhere in the garden.

All those train enthusiasts, not only could they come for meals,

but you could actually offer a B&B facility, as well.

When the family came to stay, they could stay in the railway carriage.

That was like pressing a switch!

Did you see her face.

In which direction, up or down?

It was just like, "Whoa! I like that idea!"

I like that idea, a lot.

I'm now going to bring you back to reality.

-You know what's coming, don't you?

-Yeah.

I want you to guess the price of the mystery house, please.

I think around about 500,000 mark.

450/475.

-So 500,000, 475?

-Yeah.

Asking price is...

..£380,000.

-Right.

-Ruth, speak to me.

I've got a grin, but speak to me. Come on.

I'm thinking railway carriages.

Take another look around, have a think.

You won't catch a train, not at this time but, at least, you can

enjoy the peace and tranquillity and I'll find you when you're ready.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Our final property comes in under budget giving Hugh and Ruth

£200,000 to extend and develop the business.

The former ticket office and station master's house is the character

property with the sense of history they were after.

It offers them the chance to take on an existing tearoom,

three possible bedrooms and plenty of potential outside.

Obviously, the railway connection for me is pretty cool.

A bit on the small side but potential for extending.

I'm bowled over by it.

I think this mystery house is wonderful.

It's full of possibilities.

I think I love it.

I think I'm very interested in it but I'm not quite sure.

I need to think about the space.

Well, that's it. You've seen all our properties.

Three mystery properties, I think.

They're all unusual, aren't they,

but then you're quite an unusual couple.

So we're told!

-You wouldn't be the first person to say that.

-We love you for it.

We're going to go somewhere quiet, let's have a chat

because I can't wait to find out what your next move is going to be.

The county's two national parks offer up some of our most treasured

scenery and every year over six million visitors

are attracted to the North York Moors National Park.

But the vital skills and rural crafts,

required to maintain these cherished landscapes,

are under threat as there's a shortage of new blood

ready to take up the reins.

In 2002, the Moors Park Authority began a unique apprenticeship scheme

to train the park rangers and farmers of the future.

I've come to Sutton Bank to meet some of them.

The supervisor is Steve Young.

Good to meet you and you've brought me to the most spectacular part of the world.

-Beautiful, isn't it?

-What sort of apprentices do you have?

We were running out of people with the traditional skills we needed.

We need dry stone walls, we need fences, we need people that

can look after habitats and we were struggling to find them.

What we decided was, in 2002, let's train our own.

Has it been a huge success?

Are you getting hundreds of young people applying?

-Yes, the first scheme we ran, we got 150 applicants...

-Wow!

..that we whittled down to eight.

We've been getting an awful lot ever since.

We know, over the last few years,

apprenticeship schemes are being recognised.

It's such a shame we lost them years ago, people are putting them back in place.

What about when people say, "Well, actually, it's just a way of getting cheap labour."

Yeah, you could say that but it's the skills that we give people.

We give them the skills with their hands,

knowledge and we get them ready for the world of work.

The course is open to 16 to 24-year-olds and runs for 15 months.

There are currently between 5 and 14 apprentices on the scheme,

who make up a seventh of the authority's total workforce.

This group of apprentices is working on building a bike trail

on the top of Sutton Bank, using a limestone aggregate,

in keeping with the natural environment.

-Hi, guys.

-Hi.

Here are some of our current apprentices. We've got Barry, Callum, Annabel and Laura.

What are your dreams, your aspirations when you finish this course?

Staying in this sort of work is something that I want do.

Erm, whether it will be working for the parks,

or with someone else, I'm not sure yet.

I would like to, in the future, maybe set up my own self-employed tree surgery business.

I want to stay in the environmental sector.

Laura, what about you?

-I want to farm.

-Do you?

-Mm-hm.

What's the best part of being an apprentice, the best part of the job?

-Working as part of a team is quite good.

-Is it?

Yeah, we get to have a laugh and stuff whilst we're at work.

-Do you ever get tired of that view?

-When it's raining!

ALL LAUGH

When it's really cold, it can get a bit tiring.

Thank you so much, I know you haven't got long to qualify

so I hope it all goes well. Whatever you choose to do afterwards,

-that this has been a really good experience. Thanks very much.

-Thank you.

One lovely couple, nine children between them

and we've shown them three properties.

Have any of them come close?

Let's find out.

Hugh and Ruth, we started off with an idea

that we were going to find you the perfect property.

We were going to buy you acres and acres of land.

We were going to come up with a business proposition.

-We had question marks on everything, didn't we?

-Mm.

Have you managed to work out what it is you actually want now?

You've done something very good.

You've come in below budget on every single one,

which surprised me. It really did surprise me.

And you've given us properties which are completely

and utterly interesting to us.

Two properties which are very interesting to us

that we would want to go and see again.

I think I know which two houses you're referring to but, go on,

remind me just in case.

Property two and property three.

The mystery house.

What is it about those properties that really appealed to you both?

The properties have lots to offer.

They've got business potential.

They're both intensely historical.

The school is something that we are thinking about very,

very carefully because that school offers us space, doesn't it?

-It does.

-It could be three apartments.

It could be a wedding venue.

It could be a museum.

It could be all of those things.

It actually doesn't narrow anything down.

It also has a bit of land where you could put yurts on.

The station will bring people to it. We can guarantee that.

We know people come to that station.

-It's a great mystery property, isn't it?

-It's a lovely mystery property.

-Fantastic, yeah.

Out of the two properties, which do you prefer, Ruth?

Probably second at the moment.

Despite my love of trains, the school is pulling me in more.

I do feel that the family, you keep telling me, are the priority.

For me, I would look at that second property

because you can convert the school into additional rooms,

family rooms, bedrooms but you're also in a wonderful position,

perhaps two or three years down the line when they're not coming home

quite so frequently, that you could rent it out

or then have it to hold events.

Then you keep everybody happy.

I think that's what's going through our minds,

this balance of what's going to work out best overall.

Please let us know how you get on, if you put an offer in

on either of those properties because we'd love to hear from you.

-We will.

-We will.

-I've so enjoyed it, thank you both very much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

For Hugh and Ruth, this move isn't just about a house,

it's not just about a business,

it's a balance between the two.

I really think our school and schoolhouse will give them that.

I hope that next viewing goes really well and the two families

will finally be together under one roof here in North Yorkshire.

We do wish them all the best for the future.

I'll see you next time.

Hugh and Ruth eventually ruled out the mystery house

because of its distance from York

but they did go back to see house number two and are just waiting

for a sale on Hugh's house before they can proceed with an offer.

So, fingers crossed.

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