Peak District Escape to the Country

This magnificent fortress was one of the first to be built after

the Norman Conquest, although it's 250 miles, at least,

away from the site of the famous battle of 1066.

So why was it built here, and where am I? Find out in just a moment.

Today's house-hunt is a journey of peaks and troughs.

-It has a wow factor.

-Mmm.

-Good.

It's a little bit smaller for a master bedroom than we wanted,

really.

But can we end our search on a high?

Love the view. Can't get any better than that.

To wake up every morning and see those views are great.

Today, I'm the glorious Peak District,

and this is Peveril Castle,

that was built by a Norman knight by the name of William Peverel,

who was the illegitimate son of William the Conqueror.

It's situated here, overlooking the market town of Castleton, because

it was used to protect the Peakland Forest that used to

cover this area, and over which the king had royal rights.

By Tudor times, it had fallen into disrepair,

but a careful upkeep still maintains the sense of majesty,

and gives you great views down the Hope Valley.

The Peak District is an upland area of England spanning

parts of five counties, including Yorkshire and Cheshire,

with the lion's share in Derbyshire.

The 555 square mile national park was the first of its kind

established in the UK, in 1951.

Today, the park attracts almost ten million visitors a year, drawn to

the stunning countryside and 16,000 miles of footpaths and bridleways.

Although the park takes in some of the Pennines,

don't be fooled into thinking its name relates to mountains.

The term peak is thought to derive from the Anglo-Saxon tribal

settlers, called the Pecsaetans.

Over the centuries, many generations have made their mark

on the landscape.

Within the Derwent Valley, building of the neogothic Derwent dam

began in 1902 to meet a growing requirement for water supplies.

The picturesque reservoir was used during World War II

by the dam buster pilots

as a training location for their bombing raids on Germany.

There are also historic towns such as Tideswell,

where the great wealth built up from the medieval trade

in wool and metals was used to erect the impressive church

of St John the Baptist.

Little changed from its completion six centuries ago

and known as the Cathedral of the Peak.

So, whether it's awe-inspiring landscape,

glorious feats of engineering or rich pickings of history,

it's clear the Peak District has much to offer

those seeking somewhere for a rural escape.

When it comes to property shopping in the Peak District,

don't be fooled by the average prices

of the counties that it takes in.

For instance, in Derbyshire, the average price for a detached house

is £212,000, which is great value.

But when you go inside

the border of the national park

then you're going to be paying at least 80% premium on top of that,

which makes it the second most expensive national park

after the New Forest.

Smart money might head to the fringes, to Glossop or Matlock

but our buyers today definitely want in.

So let's meet them and find out where.

Dee, a property manager, and Rob, a self-employed maintenance man

from Staines in Middlesex met via a chance encounter in a DIY store

four years ago.

I put my basket down and Rob was in the same place looking for lights

and he nearly tripped over my basket and it went from there, really.

We ended up talking about property because I'm in property

and he's in property and we ended up going for coffee.

We're on a very similar wavelength

and we laugh at the same things, we like doing similar things

and we just got on so well and we still do.

He used to call me Upney.

One stop from Barking.

Still do.

With shared humour like that, it wasn't long before Rob moved in

and found himself proposing.

When you get to our age...

We're not young people and we got on so well, we just thought,

"Let's just run with it. Life's too short."

But it was some news from Dee's daughter

that hastened the couple's decision to make a move to the Peak District

to be close at hand.

Last year, my youngest grandson developed diabetes type 1

and he was only two and a half

and it was a life-changing situation for my daughter

and she needs a little bit of help.

I want to be a grandparent and help and enjoy that part as well.

Cos I'm actually quite good at being a grandparent, aren't I?

I think I've got a child mind, haven't I?

Definitely.

Family concerns may be the key factor driving Dee and Rob's choice

of rural location but they're also keen to leave behind

the hustle and bustle of life in the M25 commuter belt.

Every day there's some form of aggression on the roads.

Because people are just so eager to get from A to B.

Whereas up north, it's the other way.

It's like, "After you," at the junction. "No, after you,"

and you can be there for ten minutes. It's lovely.

It has got really, really busy.

People hurling abuse at you on the roads,

carving you up and we don't need that any more.

We want semirural.

We want to be in a little community.

You know, they'll be more time for my baking,

more time for Rob's photography.

We haven't got enough time for all this.

Everything's a bit of a rush at the moment.

It's not just hobbies they hope to make time for.

Their trips to the Peak District are a reminder

of the importance of community.

Everyone's got a smiley, happy face and everyone is very, very pleasant.

The people are so friendly.

You just go walking down the streets and everyone chats to you.

In the '50s, when we were children, that's what people were like

and I think the attraction is that as well.

That people actually do talk to you

and it's not such a busy, hectic schedule that you have down here.

Now with the house in Staines sold

and the dream of relocation firmly in place,

the pressure is on to find that new country home.

Just to be able to walk the hills, see the sunsets

and be near our family.

I can't wait to go.

We're very excited about it.

We just so want to be up there.

Dee and Rob wish to focus their house search

within the Peak District National Park

and would like to be in easy reach of Bamford for Dee's daughter.

But before we get house-hunting,

I'm meeting them in their desired region

to find out more about the property they're hoping to find.

I love the Peak District, so thank you for bringing me here.

This is quite a big move. It's the first time you've moved together?

-Yes.

-How does that feel for you?

Well, it's quite exciting because we've been thinking about it

for a year but family is here and we just love the people here as well.

Rob, do you share the love?

I love it down here.

-It's so beautiful and the people are so friendly.

-It's a great spot.

-Yes.

-And in terms of the property that you want to buy,

what's the spec of the house that you're looking for?

Well, we would like to have three bedrooms minimum

and an en suite as well as a bathroom

because we really would like to have friends and family visit us.

Oh, gosh. With this on the doorstep, you'll have to battle them off.

Yes. I think so.

And in terms of the main room, what's the important room for you?

We do like a kitchen-breakfast room

because that is the hub of our accommodation.

That's where we do a lot of our socialising,

so that would be a must.

What about you, Rob? What are you looking for in the house?

Detached, tranquillity and views.

-Views?

-Hm.

-There are plenty here.

Quite a smallish garden would be fine.

It doesn't have to be large at all.

Anything in terms of outhouses or anything like that?

Somewhere for storage for my tools and a small workshop would be great.

It's not a huge priority cos I could probably put one in,

as long as there's space.

Are you fussed about the period, inside or out?

Well, outside I think it would have to be appealing to us

but it's got to be homely.

The homeliness, cosiness is quite important to us.

Remind me again of your budget. How much money have we got to spend?

About 500,000 maximum.

Well, it sounds like you've got a reasonable clear idea

of what you're looking for.

Hopefully we've found houses that fit the bill.

-All we have to do is go look at them.

-Thank you.

For a maximum budget of £500,000, Dee and Rob want

a detached property with at least three bedrooms,

including an en suite for guests.

They'd like a large kitchen-breakfast room,

a small, low-maintenance garden and views.

Plus, Rob would ideally

like a workshop.

We've found three fantastic properties to tempt them with

and at each one, I'll be asking them to guess the price

before I reveal it.

Our final offering will be the Mystery House,

which could push them in a new stylistic direction.

But first, we're heading to house number one.

So, are you a bit nervous about the move? It's quite a big move.

-We're more excited, I think.

-Do you know, we thought about it last year,

where we were going to move to, and it suddenly struck us

that you have to have family near you

if you're going to move somewhere remote.

And, Rob, does it feel like an adventure to you

or something new or...?

That's how we approach it, as an adventure.

We'd move today if we could

and I'd be quite happy sitting somewhere beautiful,

looking at water with the sunset or sunrise

and I'd then sit there all day.

It's the peace and tranquillity that we really want.

We are approaching retirement and we've had busy lives

and it's something that when we come up here and we see it,

we really crave it when we go home.

Our first property is located 11 miles from Dee's daughter

in Bamford, on the fringes of the Peak District National Park

in the village of Dove Holes.

There's evidence of the area been settled in Neolithic times

with the remnants of a henge monument still visible.

More recent places of worship include St Paul's Church,

built in 1878.

With a pub, cricket pavilion and its own train station

connecting it to Manchester,

the village is surrounded by countryside.

Located down a private lane and made from local Derbyshire stone,

it's the first property.

Here we have it, house number one.

-Wow.

-It's rather stunning.

Beautiful. It looks quite quirky.

-Obviously well looked after.

-Hm.

-It looks loved.

-Yeah. The garden is particularly beautiful, I think.

-So far, so good.

-Good.

-Yeah, so far, so good.

-Quite stunned.

-Hm.

-Let's see if we can make you very stunned when we go inside.

-Hm.

Follow me.

Built around 1850, this was once a miner's cottage and attached barn.

Now a single dwelling, the front door leads through a hallway

and into the largest of the reception rooms.

This is the main sitting room.

Oh, very cosy.

Very, very snug.

-We like snug.

-It has a wow factor.

-Hm.

-Good.

You've got a multi-fuel log burner, which whacks out a lot of heat.

We like log burners.

-I could see us sitting in here.

-Yeah, snuggled up.

And I love the deep windowsill.

The window ledges are lovely, aren't they?

I know that the kitchen is very important to you,

-so let's go and look at that.

-Hm-hm.

Retracing our steps takes us to a spacious

and recently-refitted kitchen diner.

Come in. What do you think of this?

-Very nice.

-Ah, good.

-Yeah.

-Cooking, wine...

-Yeah.

-..eating.

Yeah. No, I think it's ideal because if we were having people for dinner,

you know, they could be sitting in there while I'm cooking.

It's set out quite nicely actually

and I like the eye-level ovens as well.

It's a good working kitchen.

-And I like the big drawers. Big drawers are great.

-Yeah.

You've obviously worked with kitchens quite a lot

-and this is quite a high-end, modern kitchen.

-It looks very nice.

Is that the sort of thing you were looking for?

It looks nice that I don't have to take one out.

So far this pair of property professionals seem impressed

with the finish and design here.

The ground floor also offers a utility running off the kitchen,

as well as a snug,

study

and WC.

From the kitchen diner, the first of two staircases

leads to a double bedroom, served by a Jack and Jill shower room.

But we're taking the other staircase from the hallway,

which goes to a family bathroom serving another decent-sized double.

And one smaller bedroom plus, of course, the master.

Wow factor again.

It's cute. I like it.

It's sort of quirky and it looks as if you have a little bit of a view

as well from the skylights.

And you've got a sort of step up into what could be used...

thought of as your en suite but it's actually a Jack and Jill.

So the idea is that when people come to stay,

-you lock this door off and you use the family bathroom...

-OK.

..and they have that as their en suite.

That's very well thought out.

Yes. So far, so good.

Such high standards as well.

-Everything's just been done so nicely.

-Yes, it is.

I see little spots of rain, so maybe we should get outside

-and see the garden before it gets too damp.

-That would be great.

-Does it rain in the Peak District(?)

-Never(!)

DEE LAUGHS

The property is surrounded by gardens to all four sides

including a large cottage garden to the front

as well as an area of tiered planting with a patio and pergola.

Then to the side is a lawn space enclosed by dry-stone walls,

giving countryside views.

So you get quite a nice elevation.

It looks really nice landscape down over to Dove Holes there.

This is really very nice. Very homely.

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

Maybe...

485.

-Rob?

-I'd say probably 510.

Actually it's pretty much directly in between those two.

It's on at 495.

OK. Certainly one to consider.

Go back inside and have a good old look round

and see if it tugs at your heartstrings

-and I'll collect you at the front and then we can continue on.

-Great.

OK.

Oh, that's a very good first house, isn't it?

I mean, there's not too much to fault it on.

It's sort of perfect in almost every way.

I'm not convinced that Dee is completely won over.

But maybe she's holding her breath for the other houses. Let's see.

Under budget,

this impeccably-presented

detached cottage

has one more bedroom

than Dee and Rob asked for,

plus a Jack and Jill bathroom,

giving flexible guest accommodation.

There's a modern

and spacious kitchen diner,

and it's enclosed

by well-kept gardens

and surrounded by countryside.

This is nice.

This would make an ideal guest room

and then they can have the en suite and their privacy.

And their own staircase.

-I love the floor.

-Love the floor. It's really nice.

And it feels spacious but cosy.

Every room had been very well thought out

and there was some very nice features.

It has the en suite, it has the bathroom,

it has the log burner.

It's very cosy and snug, which is what we want.

The kitchen is beautiful.

It has everything we're looking for.

I found it quite breathtaking. It's very beautiful.

The gardens are stunning.

Inside, I don't think I'd change anything.

I was quite shocked how nice it was.

It was like we'd designed it ourselves.

I think I could see Dee and myself living here.

It's well thought out, well designed.

I could move straight in.

This garden is a mass of colour.

I don't have any flowers left at all at this time of year.

-Hello, are you all done?

-Hello.

-Hi.

I was admiring the garden one final time.

-It's beautifully kept.

-It is beautiful, isn't it?

-Full of colour.

But we're going to have to get the wagons rolling

-cos we've got another house to see.

-Great.

Follow me.

Keen photographer Rob is eager to capture the wealth of landscape

in the Peak District with his camera.

And some of the most well-known beauty spots

are the reservoirs of the upper Derwent Valley.

Not only are the serene vistas here man-made

but looking after them is not simply a case of leaving things

up to Mother Nature.

Today, Dee and Rob are meeting Gordon Danks,

one of the many volunteer park rangers,

to find out about the work that goes into conserving and managing

the area and how they might get involved.

This is absolutely stunning.

The view is spectacular.

So what do you do as a ranger?

The Peak District National Park has a duty to the landscape

of the area, the local population and the visitor to the area.

So the national park ranger is the interface

between those three bodies, really.

So we can be the eyes and ears of the national park.

When we move to the Peak District,

-can I actually volunteer to come and help?

-You certainly can.

There are lots of opportunities for conservation volunteering

and volunteering with the ranger service as well.

Becoming a volunteer ranger takes about 18 months

with a training course and formal examination.

Becoming a conservation volunteer is a much simpler process

and involves offering to help out with such tasks

as footpath building, tree planting or clearing invasive species

such as rhododendron.

So why do you have to cut the rhododendrons?

Well, the rhododendrons are a Himalayan plant

planted by the Victorians in people's gardens.

It's now escaped quite happily into the woods

but it excludes virtually anything else that's growing here.

You can see how thick it is underneath,

so you get no regeneration of trees.

The leaves of the rhododendron also carry a bug called phytophthora,

which can kill larch trees.

Allowing it to get out of hand could have very serious consequences.

We're trying to eradicate it from here

and if those trees do get disease, they'll have to be clear felled.

Then there's the potential of run-off from that land

into the reservoirs, discolouration of water

and that could easily take the water supply out of action.

In order to keep on top of the problem,

five hectares of rhododendron have already been cleared

but there's still a lot more to go.

With each medium-sized plant producing around a million seeds

a year, as well as being able to sprout from cut stems,

the ongoing efforts of volunteers are vital.

Well, Rob, do you think this has interested you enough

to do a bit of conservation work when you move up

-to the Peak District?

-Most definitely and I can't wait.

-Well, carry on then.

-THEY LAUGH

With Dee and Rob keen to lend a hand with the important work here,

we're turning our attention back to finding their new home in the area.

In a bid to get Dee closer to her daughter,

house two is just a four-mile drive west of Bamford.

Lying south along the Hope Valley in the village of Bradwell.

A former lead mining village, Bradwell,

or Bradder as it's known locally,

is a collection of picturesque houses

clustered about the hilly landscape of the Hope Valley.

The building of St Barnabas Church here in 1868

was funded by Samuel Fox,

a local-born man who invented the folding umbrella.

There are several useful shops including a bakery,

plus a selection of pubs.

We're at the village outskirts where,

adjacent to a public bridleway,

house number two is located.

This is it. This is our second offering.

-Hm.

-And it was, as you can see, built in 1992.

Yes. It looks a lot older than that.

-Yeah.

-Very in keeping, isn't it?

-A nice big garage for you, built into the house.

-Yes.

I like it. I like the location and it looks really attractive.

Yes. I'm intrigued to see what it's got inside.

It looks quite big.

A good response to the traditional appearance

of this modern-built cottage.

Inside, this individual home is less conventional

with a hallway leading diagonally into the property,

creating several uniquely-shaped

reception spaces,

starting with the lounge.

It's a slightly strange layout in the house.

-As you can see, this is a sort of triangular room.

-Hm.

Slightly eccentric.

We like eccentric.

It's interesting. It's quirky again. It's different.

I like the fire.

It's a nice little cosy snug.

-And a big window.

-A very big window.

But you could actually take that and make it a door or an archway

-because it actually goes into the conservatory next door.

-OK.

Here, what do you think of this?

-This is different as well.

-ALISTAIR LAUGHS

-It's unexpected.

-Yeah.

-I love the high ceiling.

-Hm-hm.

Very nice and spacious.

It's very different and I do like the way the conservatory

is part of the house rather than an attachment to it.

I'm not sure what I'd use this for.

There's lots of options.

There's lots of things going through my head. They're not negative.

Good. So just bear this space in mind when we look at the kitchen,

which again is...interesting.

So this is the other side of the fire

with a little seating area and then through into the kitchen.

We were really wanting a kitchen diner with one big room

rather than little pockets of areas.

-I'm thinking the same way.

-Right.

-It's very nicely done but it's quite dark.

-Yeah.

And to us, the kitchen is the heart of a property.

It'd be great for a family home, all these little compartments

but we would rather have an open space as a kitchen diner.

Well, we've almost completed the circle downstairs,

so let's go upstairs and look at the four bedrooms.

The ground floor also offers a utility and cloakroom

but I sense Dee and Rob are puzzling over how to use

some of these uniquely-shaped spaces.

Upstairs, the intriguing geometry continues

with a central square landing set at right angles

to the sleeping accommodation.

To the rear of the upper floor, the first of the double rooms

has lovely views to Bradwell Edge and Win Hill.

While set at the front is another good-sized double,

currently fitted with a high sleeper bed.

There's also a smaller corner room used as a study

that could be made into a single room as required,

plus the family bathroom.

And finally, bedroom four, the master en suite.

This is the biggest, really.

It's a little bit smaller for a master bedroom

than we wanted, really.

I don't think it would quite work for us.

It's got a big en suite that goes along.

-There's a big bathtub in there as well...

-Hm-hm. That's good.

..so it's not too small. Let's go out into the garden

-cos the setting is very nice...

-Right.

..and I think the house is very beautiful from the outside.

And let's talk about price.

A somewhat lacklustre finish for the interior of this house

but there's something that may surprise them outside.

Tiered gardens surround the property

and provide not only a large covered wood store and a couple of sheds

but a two-storey detached and semi-converted barn.

It's essentially a workshop.

A two-tier, stone-built workshop.

The upstairs is a sort of teenage den at the moment

but you could develop it if you wanted.

-It's quite large when you take into account it's got that as well.

-Hm.

Yeah. A fair-sized plot, nothing too massive.

-The plot's fine.

-Yeah.

-When you're a bit older it might be a bit of a challenge.

-Maybe.

What do you think the price tag on this one is?

Gosh, it's tough. I'll take a random guess at 450.

Hm. I was thinking a little bit of the same until I saw the workshop

and I think maybe I'd go for more - 475.

OK. So this property is on the market for 495.

Oh.

OK.

Price is perhaps reflected in the location.

It's a very popular village.

Yes, it is a great family house, I have to say.

And that's a great teenage den.

But we don't have a teenager. We don't want a teenager.

Good. Well, explore it because there's lots

to cast your eyes over and I'll see you at the front.

OK.

Oh, it's such a shame cos from the outside

and from here, the house is a total cracker.

But inside the layout is not quite right for them.

You can't win them all.

Again under budget, this recently-built,

detached stone cottage

has a kitchen-breakfast room

and separate dining room

with conservatory space.

There are four bedrooms

plus a detached and versatile annexe

and a charming village community

on their doorstep.

Oh! Oh, I could see you in here.

A nice workshop.

I'd have no problem with this. It's fabulous.

A good little annexe for someone you know, if they come and stay.

It's like a little house on its own, isn't it?

When we arrived at house number two, I was actually quite excited.

It looked quite magnificent from outside.

It looked so nice because of the stonework. It looked quite regal.

I found the layout a little bit strange.

I think for a young family it'll be much more appealing

but for us coming up to retirement,

I think with the strange shapes and the furniture we have already,

I think it would be a bit awkward.

The quirkiness started off to be quite nice and interesting

but in the end, the main problem for me was the kitchen-breakfast room.

It was a little bit dark.

Every room there was something quite not right

and the further we went, it wasn't the house for us.

The house we want would want to be homely and cosy

and I think this was more a quirky, teenage house.

So, Rob, if you just pull the door behind you

because we are done for the day. That's our two houses up.

And get ready for the Mystery House tomorrow.

It's been a good day but we'll look forward to tomorrow.

Yes, exciting.

Onwards and upwards.

Dee and Rob from Staines in Middlesex

have £500,000 to make the move to be nearer Dee's daughter

in the rural tranquillity of the Peak District.

We've shown them two great properties,

to mixed reactions,

but we've still got the Mystery House,

which could well prove to be the pinnacle of our search...

-It's really nice.

-Really?

-Love it, hm.

-Is it tugging at the heartstrings?

-Yes.

..and I get inspired with some armchair ideology.

It's poetry and furniture and sort of philosophy as well.

Day two of our property search and the Derbyshire sun

is creeping out behind the mist and shining on Dee and Rob's house-hunt.

Now, yesterday we didn't quite hit the mark

with the location of the first one or the layout of the second one

so the Mystery House is in a good location

but has a very different stylistic feel.

The Mystery House lies around a 12-minute drive south-east

of Bamford in the small village of Grindleford.

The main gateway to the Peak District National Park by rail

and part of the Hope Valley,

Grindleford stretches about a mile and a half along hillsides

either side of the River Derwent.

Many of the village buildings date back from the time

of the coming of the railways in the last decade of the 19th century,

including several pubs and hotels that sprang up to cater

to the fresh influx of visitors.

The shop is a community cooperative stocking local produce

and our Mystery House is located on a hilltop

on the edges of the village.

Here we have our mystery offering.

Oh, very high up, isn't it?

-Very high up but amazing views over Grindleford.

-Yes.

The rising sun will come up over that hill every morning.

That's beautiful.

Love Grindleford. I love the view.

You can't get any better than that.

To wake up every morning and see those views are great.

So the mystery is the house really

because it is, as you can see, not Derbyshire stone.

-What do you think?

-It's very attractive.

Those patio doors look very interesting.

Ah, yes. Bi-folding doors.

It certainly is a real countryside home, isn't it?

It looks very interesting and I can't wait to go in and have a look.

-Shall we look inside?

-Yes, please.

Let's do it.

This detached hilltop home started life as a two-bed 1930s bungalow

but has been completely renovated and extended by the current owners.

We're heading to those bi-folding doors

and the large L-shaped living area

remodelled from what was once a garage.

Take in the kitchen, living, dining, sitting space.

Oh, this is lovely.

This is definitely the social dining bit we were looking for, wasn't it?

-It is breathtaking again.

-Hm, really nice.

It's got the breakfast bar up there and room for a table here.

And then also this really nice sitting space all sort of integrated

-into the kitchen space.

-Love it.

Really nice. I like the radiator on the wall as well.

It's all rather contemporary but cosy.

It's in a nice countryside setting.

I love the trees around it.

-You really feel as if you're in the middle of the country.

-Yeah.

I really like it. It's got a good feel about it.

We can imagine friends and family here, very much so.

I can imagine cooking here and opening a bottle of wine,

-no problem.

-Hm.

The giant's portion of the downstairs is this sitting,

eating, cooking area.

There is a very nice sitting room, so let's check that out.

The contemporary styling continues into a homely snug.

Come in. This is much smaller than the other room but kind of cosy.

-I like cosy.

-Yeah. There's your little snug.

It's very suitable for us.

Cos you mentioned, I think, that you wanted a massive kind of kitchen

-and then just a little room for watching the telly.

-Yes.

-It's exactly what we want.

-This is south-facing,

so during the day you get a lot of lovely sun

and these doors open out onto the garden.

-It's getting better and better.

-It is, isn't it? It's a great house.

I think the attention to detail's so good.

I like that.

Let's check out upstairs cos it's got views and a whole lot more.

So far, Dee and Rob are responding very encouragingly

to the modern, high-end spec of our mystery property.

There's also a generous-sized utility running off the kitchen

alongside a cloakroom.

This floor also offers two of the four double bedrooms,

one of which is being used as an office,

and a sleek family bathroom with a claw-foot tub

and separate shower cubicle.

But the rest of the sleeping accommodation is on the upper floor.

Here there's a very large double, currently a nursery,

and the master suite, which features its own very spacious dressing room

and impressive shower room.

This is the master here.

This is lovely.

-It's like being on holiday.

-It is.

I mean, we still have nice views up here as well.

It's been very, very well cared for, hasn't it?

Yeah. Ready to move on?

-It's really nice.

-Really?

-Love it, hm.

-Is it tugging at the heartstrings?

-Yes.

-Are you all right with it?

-I'm very happy with it.

Well, the final part of the puzzle is the price,

so let's go in the garden and talk about that.

The hilltop aspect of this home continues to be maximised

in the garden with a patio area off both the kitchen and snug.

There's also a detached garage,

whilst a large area of south-facing lawn

takes advantage of the views and the sun.

So it's not a huge plot but is it enough garden?

Oh, it's more than enough, isn't it?

-We don't want too much gardening, do we?

-No.

-What do you think the price of this one is?

-Well, we are in Grindleford.

I would say above our budget.

-About 510.

-Hm-hm.

I'd go a little bit more above and say 535.

Well, you two are very good at guessing the prices.

If you could pool your efforts cos once again

it's right in between the two.

-It's on the market for 525...

-Hm-hm.

..which I know is over your initial budget.

But we have spoken to the owners and they are open to negotiation

and they could possibly come down

-and you're in a very strong position, so...

-Hm.

It's food for thought.

So why don't you head back in and have another look round?

I know you're enjoying looking round, so you can continue

your enjoyment and I'll collect you out the front

-and then we can go and find somewhere to discuss.

-Great.

Thank you.

I think we might have got them.

Granted this property is over budget

but Dee and Rob would not need to

make any further improvements

to this stunning hilltop home.

And with a buyer for their own property,

they're in a good position to negotiate.

It fulfils their dream of a kitchen and living area,

plus there's a snug and four bedrooms,

including a luxurious master suite.

With a sunny, manageable garden,

there are also inspiring views across the Hope Valley.

-Beautiful.

-A shower and bath, really nice.

A high standard.

Oh, this is nice.

It's quite versatile because we could maybe have your desk in here

and obviously there's a bedroom, so it could be quite flexible.

The Mystery House was delightful and it is extremely pleasing to the eye.

When we came inside and saw the standard, it was very pleasing.

We were looking for a very solid house

and one that we could bring up to spec.

Rob's quite capable of bringing a house up to spec

but to actually move into somewhere already done to a standard

that we really, really admired,

it was stunning and very homely.

The theme followed through the whole house,

from the bathroom to the kitchen.

I couldn't have designed it better myself.

The kitchen is perfect.

There isn't anything I'd change about the kitchen.

Could we live here? I think we could.

I think we'd be very happy.

I think the views alone would make us extremely happy.

The Mystery House definitely had the wow factor.

This house is a real contender.

They're going to be king and queen of the valley here.

It's a fantastic view.

-It is a good view.

-It's beautiful.

ALISTAIR CHUCKLES So did we end on a high for you?

-A big high.

-Very much so.

Right, let's find a spot to gather our thoughts.

The timeless beauty of the Peak District

often belies the amount of industry that's taken place here -

from milling to mining.

Large-scale production may have more or less disappeared

but in an innovative pocket of the Derbyshire Peak District,

manufacturing is returning to its regional roots

and that's tree roots.

Because artist and designer Gavin Munro

has had the rather unusual idea of growing furniture

directly from trees.

-Good morning, Gavin.

-Good morning, Alistair.

-How are you doing?

-What a beautiful day.

They told me I was going to come and see furniture growing in the wild.

-Explain that to me.

-Well, this is our furniture orchard.

Instead of growing trees for 60 years, at least,

cutting them down and making them into smaller and smaller bits,

we grow trees directly into the shapes of chairs and tables

and lamps and useful objects.

And then you've got something that's sort of unique, beautiful

and will last maybe for hundreds of years.

It may sound bizarre but tree shaping is nothing new.

The ancient Greeks grew stools,

whilst 1,000 years ago, the Chinese were planting trees on pits

filled with rocks in order to create furniture from the roots.

Gavin is a relative newcomer to botanical craftsmanship

and his first crop of chairs, lamps and other items

is still in the ground but he's been working on the prototypes.

This is actually four trees grown into one piece.

You've got one tree here, another one coming along here

-and we've grafted these into one solid piece.

-Ah.

There's no joints. Nothing here is going to come loose.

This was the point where we realised,

"Oh, we can in fact do this."

And this is when we planted this.

It's so beautiful. It's poetry, really.

It's poetry and furniture and sort of philosophy as well...

but I wouldn't sit on it.

Well, no, this is the prototype.

We're only making a limited amount each year

while we're developing the process.

But while we've been going along,

we realised that it's basically a kind of manufacturing technique,

except we use air and sunshine and photosynthesis as our engine.

It took five years to grow this prototype chair

but Gavin learnt a lot from it and now his first full crop of chairs,

grown from willow around plastic moulds,

is just a year or two from being harvested.

It's quite surreal. It's like going through a chair vineyard.

Well, that's basically what it is, really, yeah.

These are the first edition.

And how do you actually make it bend? So, here for example.

Yeah. So this here, as it's growing, this will move around

and looking for its spot of light

and then as it grows, it hardens slightly.

So the idea is that as it grows,

we shape these tips into chairs and tables and all sorts.

There are currently just under 500 creations springing forth here,

each with around ten shoots requiring shaping

and another 100 unwanted shoots that have to be removed.

It means years of hard graft for his core team of three.

At a certain point we bring the branches together

and we graft them so they grow into one solid piece.

To start with, we use screws and then we slowly bring the screw out

as it grows and becomes strong.

We'll harvest this when these branches here

are as thick as this at the bottom.

Then you've got one solid structure.

Willow was selected for first editions,

as it grows quickly and grafts easily

but Gavin is now branching out into other hedgerow species,

including hazel, crab apple and oak.

But his furniture won't be finished with the felling.

It takes six months to a year and a half to season

before Gavin can get his hands on it in the workshop.

-Ah, this is the nerve centre where it all happens.

-That's right.

This is the bit that's, you know, my treat, really.

Sort of carving away the outside

to reveal the gorgeous wood and the grain on the inside.

This is the bit I've been waiting for.

We've based the furniture

on the way the farmers trim the tops of their hedges around here.

The inspiration is all around us.

So this is the back of the chair, right?

This is a little prototype sample of the tops of the chairs

and this is one of the nice details where you can actually see

how old your chair is, you can count the rings at the top.

And what sort of tools are you using?

Are you using a particular technique?

As we've been going along, we've realised that actually,

in many ways, some of the old tools are quicker, easier

and create a more beautiful finish.

There's something... There's a real pleasure tucking into these...

..and revealing the wood inside.

And with a sort of series of ever-smaller blades,

we can get a nicer, smoother finish

than you can never do with sandpaper.

Hm.

Well, they say good things come to those who wait

and Gavin will be finishing his first batch of chairs

around the summer of 2017.

I'm charmed to see such a pioneering enterprise

and one that is literally growing out of its surroundings.

Dee and Rob are not very forthcoming about what they think

about the houses but I think we may have snagged them

with the mystery one, so let's go and find out what they're thinking.

-Hello, guys.

-Hello.

We've got to the end of our week in the Peak District.

Is there a clear contender? I'm guessing that one might be.

-I think so.

-Yes.

Are you going to tell me?

-Or are you going to keep it a secret?

-It's going to be secret.

No, it was the last one.

Love the house. I think it's absolutely perfect.

You seemed to respond a lot to the modernity of the Mystery House.

Yes, I must admit we were thinking more of a solid stone property

when we first started the search but the Mystery House,

once we got inside it, it did change our minds.

It was a nice surprise.

And what will be the next step for you?

Well, the next step is that we exchange and complete

on our property.

We move into rented accommodation for a little while...

-Up here?

-..up in Bamford.

And then we pursue the Mystery House

because it did have everything we wanted in there.

It's a very strong contender.

Ah. So, what kind of timescale would that be?

-Weeks.

-Ah, great. So, it's exciting?

It's very exciting.

And scary.

Well, it's been a pleasure.

It's always a pleasure coming to Derbyshire

and I hope that you do move here super soon

and that obviously we hope that you move into the Mystery House

but all the best.

Thank you and thank you for having us.

A lovely week here in the Peak District

and we came very, very close with the Mystery House there.

And as you can see, here you have to go up a hill to get the views,

so I'm hoping that Dee and Rob find their hill-stomping feet

and take on that property cos it's a winner.

And I hope that you join us next time for more Escape To The Country.

Dee and Rob have now completed the sale of their home in Staines

and plan to revisit the Mystery House

once they have finished moving into their rented home

in the Peak District.

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