Suffolk Escape to the Country

In 1939, one of the most spectacular and important discoveries in British archaeology

was found right here in this field.

Find out what it was - and where I am - in just a moment.

Today, a mother makes three when it comes to our couple's new home.

We're giving your mum a really lovely house.

-THEY LAUGH

-Goodbye!

So with two ladies to cater for,

there's only one colour on our minds.

-It's pink.

-It's pink!

-We like pink.

-And it's thatched.

-And it's thatched.

-Oh, yes!

Today I'm in Suffolk,

and these are the Anglo-Saxon burial mounds in Sutton Hoo.

And it was here at the beginning of the Second World War

that archaeologists excavated one of the mounds and found the remains

of a 90-foot-long, 1300-year-old wooden ship.

The wood had decayed but the imprint remained,

along with one of the finest troves of Anglo-Saxon treasure ever found,

which we believe belonged to one of the earliest monarchs of England.

So it's no surprise that experts have dubbed this site in Suffolk

Britain's very own Valley of the Kings.

Our property journey today will take us to the borders of Suffolk and Norfolk,

found in the east of England, with the North Sea firmly by their side.

Although a large percentage of this region is farmland,

it's arguably water that the area is most famous for.

With a combined coastline stretching for almost 150 miles,

waterways are also a prominent feature inland.

The Broads National Park mostly lies in Norfolk, and extends to form

part of the county border with neighbouring Suffolk.

Further south the River Alde twists and turns its way

across the landscape, en route to the sea at Aldeburgh.

Pastel-coloured 19th-century holiday villas line the seafront

and there's a long pebbly beach that's a perennial favourite -

no matter what the weather.

Head upstream from the coast and you'll come to Snape Maltings,

an arts and cultural centre that plays host to the famous Aldeburgh Festival,

started by composer Benjamin Britten in 1948.

And it's a great spot to begin your own journey

if we've inspired you to explore more of this delightful county.

Until recently, Suffolk was a very good deal for property hunters

because the average price for a detached house

stood below the national figure.

But in the last year across the whole of East Anglia

there's been a very marked increase in house prices -

the fastest in the whole of the UK, according to one survey.

And now in the county the average price stands at £328,000,

which is £20,000 above the UK average.

This is in part due to good links on roads and rails back into the capital,

and these are some of the reasons that our house-buyers today

are moving to this beautiful county.

Retired project manager Les and accountant Dorothy from Leeds, in West Yorkshire,

already know what they want from their prospective new life

in the East Anglian countryside.

It would just be really nice to be in a bigger garden

and a nicer house, fewer neighbours

and a nice country house.

We had a house when we first got married which was in the country,

and we moved here because of the children and education.

So I'm really, I suppose, trying to get back to that, where we started.

Married for more than 40 years, this couple first met down the pub

after helping out some friends.

We went out as a foursome to accommodate this growing passion

between these two people,

and after about six weeks that passion faded and we carried on.

There was a very strange conversation one evening when Les said,

"I know we're not going out, but would you mind going out with me?"

Which was kind of cute.

He probably doesn't remember it!

Having been in their current house for 36 years,

there's lots they love about where they live -

particularly for proud born-and-bred Yorkshireman Les.

It's been the perfect place to bring up children,

but time has moved on and the children are now prompting the move

as their expanding family are more than 170 miles away.

We'd like to pop around for Sunday lunch, go to the pub on quiz night,

or something like that.

Quality time we get with our children and grandchildren

is quite limited, so that would be a real plus for me, to be closer to them.

Of course, then there's the grandchildren,

and we have to consider them.

We have actually promised them a treehouse in the new house

so we may have to deliver on that.

And it's going to be the best treehouse you've ever seen!

As well as bringing them closer to their children,

there's another important point to the move as Les's mother,

also called Dorothy, will be joining them.

She currently lives about seven miles away from us

and we're looking to...

In our growing years we recognise the need to be closer together

and to give ourselves mutual support, and hopefully

we'll find a place that will accommodate all of our needs.

Once they've found the perfect place for them all,

keen gardener Dorothy junior is looking forward to experimenting with the local flora.

Things that grow really well here just actually don't like it down there at all,

so it's a new challenge for me to learn how to grow things

and what will grow well, and what I can do, and how I can do it.

So it will be really exciting.

And when it comes to enjoying their new life,

sports fan Les is the man with a plan.

Sport, of course, has this added benefit.

It's a great intro to meeting new people.

The two best places for making new friends are pubs and sports clubs.

And they're two of my most favourite places to visit,

so I'll be actively looking for sports clubs, tennis clubs,

golf clubs, football clubs.

So, Ipswich Town - watch out!

Les and Dorothy want to be closer to family in Hertfordshire and London,

so the Suffolk borders seem a perfect choice that will also

give them a chance at that country life they're after.

But before we start our search, we're going to find a good spot

in the area to talk about exactly what they have in mind.

-Welcome to Suffolk.

-Good morning.

-Les, are you already missing Yorkshire?

-Um...

-Are you having withdrawal?

-No, I've heard it's raining,

so I'm not missing it at all.

Because this is a big move. You know, you've been in your house...

-What is it? 30-odd years?

-36 years.

Right, so it's a big move for the both of you,

particularly because you're a very loyal Yorkshireman.

I am a dyed-in-the-wool Yorkshireman, yes.

And in terms of the house, what are you looking for?

Run me through the kind of spec again.

Large garden, quarter of an acre to a third of an acre.

Large country kitchen.

Dorothy, do you want to chip in?

I think the only thing I'd add to that is an en-suite bedroom.

I've always wanted an en-suite bedroom.

And how many bedrooms in total?

Minimum two.

More than that would be lovely.

But you also need to have accommodation for your mum, is that right?

Oh, yes. I...

intuitively feel it would be better were it detached from the house,

and that sounds awful, I know.

But I'm thinking about maintaining our independence.

-And hers.

-And hers.

-And hers.

OK, so that does make it a bit more complicated,

because your budget is... Remind me of your budget?

500,000, 525 at a real push.

Right, OK, so we always take the highest, so 525.

Don't go over that!

What about style?

Are you looking for an old property or something new?

When I started looking I just realised that the modern houses

don't really work and I even said,

whatever I do I'm not having a thatched cottage.

And then I started looking at them thinking, "Oh, they're cute!"

So, yeah, anything, really - we're open to any style at all.

Well, we've got some lovely properties and they are waiting for us, so shall we get in the car?

-Let's do it.

-Let's. Suffolk will win you over, I can feel it.

With a top budget of £525,000,

Les and Dorothy are looking for a detached property

with a large country kitchen and at least two bedrooms -

one of which should have an en-suite.

They'd also like a large garden for Dorothy to make into a gardener's

paradise, and there must be somewhere on site for Les's mother

to live independently.

We have three promising properties for Les and Dorothy to view,

but it will only be after they've seen each one

that its price will be revealed.

And we'll see who gets the better deal at our Mystery House.

Our search begins in the village of Bressingham, not far from Thetford Forest Park.

It's a very picturesque village and even comes complete with

its own narrow-gauge steam railway.

There's also a village hall with an active social calendar,

a Grade I-listed church, believed to date back more than 1,000 years,

and a village shop that sells home-made local produce.

And as it happens, our first house is only a stone's throw away.

-Here we have it. House number one. What do you think?

-It's pink!

-It's pink.

-We like pink.

-And it's thatched.

-And it's thatched.

-Oh, yes!

Yes, Suffolk pink - it's a classic Suffolk house.

I mean, it's really a classic Suffolk cottage.

-It is.

-From the 17th century.

It's got a great big pitched roof because it's got another room up there.

Oh, wow. Excellent.

But first impressions, absolutely wonderful.

-Great. What about you, Dorothy?

-It looks enormous.

I'm lost for words, really.

-But you're not freaked out by the thatch?

-No, I'm coming round to

understanding how that actually works.

Most people who have them say they're very warm.

-Yeah, tremendously warm, very green, environmentally friendly.

-Yeah.

And this one's actually been done relatively recently,

maybe ten-odd years ago.

-Let's have a look inside.

-Right.

-OK.

There's no separate annexe with this Grade II-listed timber-framed house

but it does have a side entrance to the property that I'm keen to show

our couple first off, so they can start thinking about Les's mother.

Come on in.

-Back into the 17th-century.

-Oh!

-Oh, wow.

-Look at that.

That's quite a snug.

We were thinking this, with its own entrance,

this might be a good sort of living space for Dorothy senior.

Yes, actually. It's about the right size.

OK. Yeah, that would work.

Because through here is what they use as the utility room,

but it could equally be a shower...

Well, it is already a bathroom in there.

-This could be a kitchenette.

-Excellent. No, no, this is cosy.

I could see my mother in here.

-This is what we were thinking about for your mum.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-But let's go and see your living quarters.

-OK.

-Mind your head here. That's one of the lintels.

-OK.

I'm only little, so I'm fine.

So this would be your sitting-room.

-Wow.

-It's quite homely.

And a good size for you guys?

Oh, I think so, yeah.

Because we've also got a kitchen/dining area at this end.

-Oh, right.

-OK.

So this end has this dining room

that flows into, through these...

desegregated walls, into the kitchen.

OK, it's not massive, is it?

-OK.

-It's...

It's... The dining room's wonderful.

I can see...

Christmas, I can see fires blazing,

I can see the family sat around the table.

It's just a tad small in here. It's been ticks everywhere so far.

-It's just kind of half tick for this room.

-Half a tick.

-Well, upstairs we have five bedrooms.

-Oh, goodness!

Let's go and look at the master bedroom.

There are two further floors to this house, as the roof space has been

converted into a large attic room with a separate bedroom complete

with its own stairway.

One storey down, the first floor has three additional bedrooms

including this good-sized double, a more narrow single,

and a smaller room currently used as an office.

The large Jack-and-Jill-style family bathroom can be used to access

the master, which is our next destination.

This is what they're using as the master bedroom.

Fireplace here and a little - sadly not an en-suite -

-but a little airing cupboard there.

-Right.

As often happens in these old buildings,

upstairs is a little wonky.

So I don't think there's a true or straight floor anywhere upstairs.

It doesn't feel too wonky.

-I've seen worse.

-What are your thoughts?

Uh, OK.

Off the top of my head it looks a little small.

It's a shame that's not an en-suite.

-Yes, it looks like it is, doesn't it? It's a tease.

-It does, yes.

Tempting, but not.

-Let's look outside.

-OK.

-Yeah.

The house sits in just under half an acre of land,

with the front facing south.

There's also a separate garage in matching Suffolk pink,

and out the back there's a large mature garden

with a variety of fruit trees and a vegetable patch.

Plenty to keep Dorothy's green fingers busy.

It's a fairly substantial garden.

Is it, sort of, sizeable enough for you?

Yeah, I think it's workable.

My only concern is the back is north facing,

which might be an issue.

I'd have to work out where the sun was going to be.

There's a shed for you, dear.

-Yes, a shed.

-A whittling shed.

-A whittling shed.

It's very nice. It's beautiful.

What about the price?

What do you think this is on the market for?

I would say...

499.

I think that's optimistic.

I would say top end of budget, at least 510.

Very good. Well, in this case your husband is a better gauge.

-Really?

-It's actually on the market at £500,000.

-Wow.

-So, uh, it's a big property.

-Yeah.

-There's lots of rooms.

I mean, whether it's going to work for you inside,

-I suggest that you go and have another review of all the rooms.

-OK.

And then we can meet at the front and talk about what happens next.

-OK. Thank you.

-Thank you.

Comfortably under Les and Dorothy's budget of £525,000,

this 17th-century period property comes with five possible bedrooms,

an attic room, and a generous snug

that could be converted for Dorothy senior's use,

as well as a double garage and a large garden.

Oh, wow.

Oh, I know two little boys who'd love this!

-It's great. What is it? What can I do with it?

-Yeah.

-Oh, look, straw.

-How interesting.

That's the roof.

It's hard not to like this house.

As soon as you walk up the drive, it's just beautiful.

I think the big plus for me is this is quite spacious

and it seems very light.

I think in terms of my mother, the space just won't work here for us,

which is a great pity

because the rest of the house is absolutely perfect.

It's a great first house.

I'm wondering whether Dorothy senior, Les's mum,

is going to find it quite convenient living in the same space.

I guess we're about to find out. Hello, everybody.

-Hello.

-Finished?

-Yes.

I was just talking about your mum and whether she would fit in here.

-But we can discuss that in the car because we're heading on to house number two.

-OK.

East Anglia has some of the best farming land in England,

a fact borne out by increases in the value of prime arable land here in recent years.

And Suffolk's beautiful countryside in particular has a rich

agricultural heritage.

Cereal crops, sugar beet and oilseed rape may be big business,

but at the other end of the spectrum smaller producers tending fields

of colourful flowers for the burgeoning freshly cut market

are flying the flag for home-grown flora.

With this in mind we've sent Dorothy and Lesley to meet Francis Boscawen

at her farm near Dennington.

So what kind of soil do you have here and what flowers grow well?

It's quite heavy soil,

-so I have to put in lots of compost to lighten it up.

-Yeah, yeah.

But it means it's really a good fertile soil, so that is a good thing,

and once things are established they do really well.

Things that grow well here,

well, these roses, the dahlias, all the perennials.

I think the annuals would like a slightly lighter soil.

How many species do you have here, and what's your favourite?

Oh, probably 40 different species.

And at the moment I think the roses are my favourite.

What would you suggest are the best plants we should grow?

You could have, like, a cutting garden.

Oh, that would be nice.

-And pick everything, you know, for your house, like I do.

-Yeah.

-Just have your own cutting garden.

-Excellent.

And that's easy maintenance, is it?

-Well, it's just like growing vegetables really.

-Oh, OK.

-So if you like growing vegetables.

-Oh, yes.

-I don't know if you do.

-No, no, yeah, we do.

Yeah? Just have an extra row on the end.

The UK's own flower market has become a shadow of its former self,

at only around 10% of the size it was during its 1970s heyday.

Imported flowers have often been treated in some way

to help them survive the journey.

The big advantage of locally grown flowers is that they're as fresh

as they can possibly be - often picked that very morning.

These are sweet Williams.

These are cornflowers, and these are ammi.

So this species, how difficult is it to get them to grow and flower when

-you want them to?

-Well, these are biennials.

I grow them from seed and I'll sow these seeds now for next year.

These were grown last year.

These are annuals.

So they can either be grown from seed at the beginning of this year,

or, in fact, these were all grown from last autumn.

And I've planted them all together

so that they're all flowering at the same time.

Frances has been growing flowers on her Suffolk plot for four years now,

and her beds stretch across about two acres.

And she has an expert tip when it comes to picking.

So, if you just cut quite low down on a flowering stem.

Don't worry too much.

Flowers take water up overnight,

so cutting the flowers lowdown and early in the morning helps

with water retention, making the cut flowers last longer.

Largely self-taught, flower arranging has been a passion

that Frances has long cultivated,

and so with their cut flowers gathered, Dorothy and Les are about

to get some expert tuition in this ancient art.

There's records right back to the Egyptians of flower arranging

and the ancient Chinese dynasties,

and then you get the Dutch masters with the beautiful tulips,

the sort of still-life paintings of tulips,

and that style of flower arranging is very popular at the moment.

Do you arrange the flowers from one direction

or to view them from any direction?

I think you want to be able to see them all the way around, really.

I think when you're using lovely fresh things like this,

it just looks very natural.

-They are gorgeous flowers.

-You know, it's flowers in a jug

but it's quite a skill when you're doing an arrangement to also get

that really natural look.

It certainly seems like a very creative pastime,

and I think I can see Les in particular starting to bloom.

Let's hope this continues as we get back to our house-hunt.

Our property adventure continues

as we make our way to the village of Heckfield Green.

Local legend has it that the nearby country village of Hoxne

was where King Edmund of East Anglia hid under Goldbrook Bridge

after his defeat by the Danes in around 870 AD,

until he was found and taken prisoner for refusing to

renounce his faith - a scene commemorated at the village hall.

The village also has a charming local shop, a friendly pub,

and an old phone box that's been converted into a book exchange.

House number two is a mere five minutes' drive away

from the village centre.

There's a pink house over there,

-but it's the white house that we're looking at.

-The white house.

What are your thoughts about the outside?

Um, it looks quite substantial.

It's obviously had pieces added on,

so I'd be interested to see how they've done that.

It's intriguing, it's nice, it's square.

I can't tell much more from the outside.

Well, unlike the first house, which had amazing kerb appeal,

I think this one, you know, perhaps the outside could be spruced up.

But I think inside, it's going to offer you perhaps more to play with.

-OK.

-So, shall we look inside?

-Yeah.

-Please.

-Let's do that.

Despite an external facade that's very different to our first house,

this corner property is also believed to date back to the 17th-century.

But I'm sensing Dorothy and Les aren't quite convinced of its charm just yet.

Let's go straight into the kitchen.

I think this is going to be, well, certainly a very different offering.

Oh, yes.

-Now this is a dine-in kitchen.

-Is this what you wanted?

-Yeah, it's getting there.

-This is a country kitchen.

-Yeah?

It's kind of what you imagine when you think of a dine-in kitchen.

What's nice is I remember this morning when you were saying

you'd really like a dine-in kitchen that opens out into a sunroom.

-Yes.

-Aha!

-And then into the garden.

-Which is really another sitting-room...

-Right.

..on the back of the house.

-There's a little snug here, and then a more formal sitting-room this way.

-Right.

-OK.

Passing through the snug area, we arrive in the main living space.

Here we have what they're using as the sitting-room.

It's nice and light, isn't it?

I feel that I'm not quite getting what you're feeling

about this house, whether you like it or you don't like it.

Just feels a bit...stark somehow.

It's a lovely house, it's a nice location,

-but it's just got...a lumpy feel to it.

-A lumpy feel!

-It's a bit like a snail, isn't it? It's sort of goes in a spiral.

-Yeah.

The reason we brought you here is because it just makes

a lot more sense in terms of the layout, the space.

We've got an option outside for an annexe...

-We wondered about that.

-..for Dorothy senior.

-And upstairs, also, is a much more logical layout.

-OK.

The rest of the ground floor holds the family bathroom,

with bath and shower,

as well as this small office space in what used to be

a second entrance way.

Upstairs we have a large double bedroom,

and a smaller double with original exposed timber beams,

as well as a third room currently used for storage.

But it's the master I want to show our couple next, as it has something

very high on Dorothy's list.

There are four bedrooms on this floor.

Well, there's only this floor. Four bedrooms on this floor.

This is the biggest. And it does have a very nice en suite.

-Oh, good.

-Up some steps to the big bath tub.

-Excellent.

-It's a nice big room.

-Is there...

-That's a walk-in wardrobe.

-Oh, good. OK.

-Suddenly there's a lot of storage.

There's a lot of storage, yes, that's fine.

Big, square, roomy. I like this room.

-I think it's very nice.

-You're both very quiet and still.

I don't know whether that's just a Yorkshire thing or whether you're

-just...

-No, not at all. I'm just wondering where mum's going to go.

Ah, good point, follow me.

Sitting next to the main house there's a decent-sized outbuilding

that used to be a double garage, that could be converted into

a dwelling if Les and Dorothy are up for the challenge -

with the right planning permission, of course.

-Come on in.

-Wow.

So, this, we were imagining, is your conversion potential.

-Right.

-Yeah, I think the footprint's big enough.

The present owner had a microbrewery in here, so there's plenty of water,

-and drainage, and electricity.

-OK.

I mean, is this what you were thinking of when you were talking

-about a converted outhouse?

-Yes, very much so, yeah.

Yeah, it's got potential.

-Let's step outside and talk about the price.

-OK.

Outside the enclosed garden faces south,

which is good news for Dorothy's horticultural plans.

From the back here you get a kind of better idea of the layout

-of the two properties together.

-Yes.

Plenty of grass to cut, that's for sure.

Uh, yes, it's not exactly...

..bursting with flowers.

-Put our stamp on the garden. That's easy.

-Yeah.

What do you think the price of this one is?

I think...420.

-I would say 480.

-OK.

So, yes, you again, once again more accurate.

-It's on at 485.

-Right.

-So £485,000.

You seem a bit ambivalent about it. You're not jumping for joy.

I'm more excited about converting the little garage, to be honest.

-I could get quite excited about doing that.

-OK, good.

Well, have a wander around, see if you can get excited about the house

where you're going to live.

-And I'll see you round the front.

-OK. Thank you.

-Thank you.

Coming in well under budget at £485,000, this 17th-century property

comes with four bedrooms, a large country kitchen,

a good-size garden and a separate outbuilding

ripe for conversion for Lesley's mother.

I think the annexe part of it is perfect.

We could really work with that and make it into a really nice space

for my mother-in-law.

But there was just something...

Didn't get that nice comfy, cosy feeling when I walked through.

It was like there was something missing

but I couldn't quite tell you what it was.

I think we could make my mother's bit really nice.

But for us, I think there'd be a lot of work involved.

So, come on, Team Yorkshire, we're all done here.

-We can pack up our bags, head back to the ranch.

-Right.

-Get ready for our Mystery House tomorrow.

-Oh, yeah.

Our Suffolk borders odyssey continues,

as we're helping Les and Dorothy from Leeds, in West Yorkshire,

find their own little slice of country life

with a budget of £525,000 -

not forgetting they need room for Les's mum, too.

Still to come, our Mystery House causes quite a stir.

Excuse me while I take my jaw off the floor.

-What do you think?

-It's ama...

I'm waiting for the but. There has to be a but!

And I'll be visiting a Suffolk farm where everyone pitches in.

Hello, kids!

Oh, yes.

Aw!

Day two of our property search here in Suffolk, with our quietly spoken

Yorkshire couple, and it's going to be an interesting Mystery House,

because, remember, this is not just a property for Les and Dorothy,

but also for Les's mum.

And the Mystery House gives Dorothy senior a great annexe,

but the compromise is will the main house please our couple?

Let's find out.

What do you think we might show you for the Mystery House?

I guess it could be a barn conversion.

It could be a church or a school conversion.

It could be a big manor house that's divided up into sections.

-But somehow I have a sneaky feeling it's none of those.

-Hm!

For our final property destination we're heading to the small village

of Mettingham on the southern tip of the beautiful Norfolk Broads.

The nearby historic market town of Bungay has been holding regular

weekly markets since 1382 -

a tradition that continues to this day every Thursday by the Buttercross.

The town also has its own castle built by the Earl of Suffolk

in around 1163, and now open to visitors, complete with tearoom and gift shop.

Our Mystery House is less than ten minutes' drive away.

-Oh!

-Ta-da!

Oh, look at this.

-Oh, boy.

-A little house.

-Yeah.

-Aw.

I think you've rung a few bells there.

So the mystery is...

Well, the mystery is that we're given your mum a really lovely house.

-THEY LAUGH

-Goodbye!

-I'm sure she'd be very happy.

-As you can see we've got a fantastic annexe

here, and a fantastic old thatched 500-year-old cottage.

-Uh-huh.

-Lots and lots of outhouses. About an acre of land.

-Wow.

-It's a whole kind of package.

-Right.

Excuse me while I take my jaw off the floor.

-What do you think?

-I'm waiting for the but.

There has to be a but!

Well, there isn't really a but in the sense that, unlike the other

properties, we've always slightly struggled where to put your mum.

-Yeah, I know the feeling.

-Here it's sort of even-stevens.

-Amazing.

-So, let's go and look where your mum might live.

-OK.

This property's the oldest house we're showing Les and Dorothy,

dating back around 500 years.

It has a thatched roof and the walls are a mixture of cob and brick.

But we're going to tear up the rule book as we're leaving the main house

for the time being, and making the annexe our first stop.

-Here, this is a bit more like it, isn't it?

-Oh, wow. This is good.

Yeah, I'm speechless really. It's everything that we would want.

-There's plenty of room.

-What we would want. She would want.

-She likes space.

What do you think Dorothy senior will think of this?

I think she'd love it. I think it's perfect.

The thing that strikes me is if we'd have sat down and planned something

and designed it from the ground up, this is more or less what we would have done.

So this is perfect. Absolutely perfect.

So the big question is - will the house be perfect for you, too?

-Yes.

-Let's go and look.

-Yes.

This annexe was added in 1983 and has a large double bedroom,

modern shower room, and its own separate garden with pond.

As we head to the main house I'm hoping our couple will be just as

impressed by what they find there.

-So here things get a little bit more tight.

-Yeah.

To me, as a rank amateur, it looks a very nice, cosy kitchen.

It's not quite the country kitchen I had in mind, but it's very nice.

-No question about it.

-Speaking as the chief cook and bottle-washer -

and a left-handed cook at that -

it flows the right way for me, so, yeah, no problem with that.

I presume the utilities are somewhere else, the washing machine?

Yes, on the other side of this wall there's a sort of garden room,

a sort of like conservatory, so this is an addition.

Through that rather lovely arch we're going into the cottage

-and there the beams are quite low.

-Right.

-So, mind your heads.

-We're going back in time.

-We're going back in time!

Passing through the rather grand dining room,

we make our way to the living room.

So this is the sitting room. Amazingly big ancient beams.

-Amazing that it's not listed, actually, this building.

-Yes.

But it's not a huge room. But it's got a lot of features.

It's about as big as our front sitting room.

It's nice. It's quirky.

Now, upstairs there's only two bedrooms in this property.

-Right. One each.

-One each.

And they are historic.

-OK.

-Mind your head.

-OK.

-So, lean forward until you see the round mirror.

-OK.

Upstairs the smaller bedroom is currently used as a single.

It has a sloping ceiling and exposed beams mirror the rest of the house.

Immediately next door there's a cosy but modern family bathroom,

leaving us with only one room left to explore.

This is what's used as the master bedroom.

-Oh, nice big room.

-Yes, I think the bedroom...

It's certainly bigger than the one we have now.

So, you've got two bedrooms here.

I mean, you've mentioned that two would be enough

-as long as there was one for your mum.

-Yes.

I'm just thinking if we have our kids and the grandkids over,

-somebody's on the sofa.

-Well, there are quite a lot of summerhouses.

So you could actually make those watertight and heated.

-Camping.

-They could camp out.

There's plenty of land. They could certainly camp out.

That the deal with the Mystery House.

You've got a historical, quirky 500-year-old cottage

and a modern, quite spacious annexe.

Yes. It's really interesting.

It's so different. You need to think about it.

-Well, let's go outside and think about it.

-OK.

This property sits in about one acre of land and is surrounded by rolling countryside.

The large plot includes several different sheds and outbuildings

and the garden itself features a selection of fruit trees and shrubs.

There's also a separate double garage currently used as a workshop.

-It's really nice, the sun comes out.

-It's certainly a sun trap, isn't it?

So, what are your thoughts about the garden?

Yeah, it's a nice space.

I can see lots of things I'd want to do with it.

There's certainly a scope for a treehouse in one of the trees.

-For sure.

-That's good.

OK, so how much do you think this is all worth?

-510.

-I would say...

505.

Because you've pinched 510.

-I was going to say that.

-Oh, I'm sorry!

Well, in this case you're both wrong because this is actually on the

market for £475,000.

Whoa! Really?

-Amazing.

-So, have a good wander round.

-OK.

And when you've seen everything you want to, I'll meet you at the gate

-and we can press on.

-OK, lovely.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

Good. Very good!

Again coming in well under budget at £475,000 this thatched cottage comes

with two bedrooms, two reception rooms, a very large garden,

and of course that separate annexe perfect for Dorothy senior.

Oh! This is a lovely workshop, isn't it?

-Isn't it perfect?

-I'm afraid you just might lose me for days.

Good!

I'm over the moon in terms of the garden.

I have reservations about the main part of the house.

I think it would need some development work

to kind of open it out and to make it feel a bit more airy.

But then again the price allows that in the budget,

so there is the possibility of doing that.

It's amazing. I didn't expect anything like this.

It feels like it's just dropped out of a fairy tale.

The fact that it's not very big as a main house

and it only has two bedrooms is a bit of a concern,

but thinking about part of why we're moving is to be closer

to our children, so that we don't necessarily have to accommodate

all of them all the time.

Oh, look at you two. Like a picture in your new home.

We're in our country cottage.

-Right, it's not yours yet, so let's go and gather our thoughts.

-OK.

The majority of Suffolk farms are medium-to-large enterprises

covering hundreds of hectares and producing thousands of tonnes

of crops each year.

However, not all the farms in this agricultural county are producing

for the commercial end of the market.

On 12 acres of lands just outside Ipswich, a new model of farming

is being pioneered by a group of committed locals.

The Oak Tree Farm is Suffolk's first community-supported agriculture scheme.

A not-for-profit social enterprise where volunteers get their

hands dirty and share the risks and rewards of farming.

I've come to meet owner and former IT engineer-turned-farmer Joanne Mudhar.

We're a community-supported agriculture scheme.

So the way we do community-supported agriculture is our members -

we have about 50 households who are members of the farm -

and they come along and we all work together on producing the vegetables

and then we share out the harvest each week equally between everybody.

How egalitarian. That's wonderful. Who came up with this idea?

-Is this your baby?

-The farm is my baby.

I didn't come up with the idea of community-supported agriculture.

There are actually several schemes around the country and a network,

the CSA network.

But the way we do it, yes,

that was really something that evolved within our community.

As all good ideas, it started around a pub table about six years ago

and it's evolved from there.

-What was the soil like when you moved here?

-Absolutely appalling.

-Really?

-It was like a child's sandpit.

There were no earthworms in it. It was literally the colour of sand.

And as you can see,

it's now become the colour of sort of milk chocolate.

We want to make it a dark chocolate colour. That's our aim.

-Is that the goal?

-Absolutely.

Members of the scheme sign up for a year

and pay a weekly amount of about £9, which gets them a vegetable box

for a commitment of about two hours a week in the summer months,

and one hour in the winter.

What do you do with pest control? Because I can see you've got a bit of blackfly.

We have got a bit of blackfly.

But what we tend to do is we just leave it and let nature find its equilibrium.

I've been seeing a lot of ladybird larvae in there,

and so they'll really enjoy the blackfly.

And the more ladybird larvae we have the better,

basically, because they'll eat the blackfly.

-Good, so obviously no pesticides.

-We don't use any pesticides at all.

And it's not just humans that work on the farm.

Hello, kids.

-Oh, yes.

-Aw! So we've got the...

-Are you hungry?

-They are hungry ones.

-Would you like to feed them?

-Yes, they sound hungry.

-Great stuff. There you go.

-Good.

So, what's the thinking behind the pigs?

-Well, the pigs are really...

-Over your backs, girls.

..our secret weapon against weeds, and they dig our ground for us.

So when they moved onto this patch of ground about two weeks ago,

it looked like the patch over there,

which is just absolutely covered in weeds.

So they're marvellous. They eat the roots, they absolutely love it,

they love to dig.

Tell me about your low-carbon strategies.

-Presumably the piggies play their role?

-They certainly do.

By peeing and pooing onto the soil they're adding to

the organic matter of the soil, the carbon matter of the soil.

And also our cows, we use a technique called mob grazing

where we keep them in a relatively small area for a short length of

time and then move them really regularly.

And that's a way of encouraging the grass to release carbon into the soil.

And we encourage our members to lift share, cycle,

and also take it in turns to collect their vegetables for the neighbours

and then drop them off, rather than all drive to the farm.

Joanne and her team estimate that the amount of carbon they emit

through their activities is more than matched by the amount they're

putting back into the soil,

which would make them a rare carbon-negative business.

I'm interested to find out what the attraction of such a set-up is,

so Joanne introduces me to one of the farm's members, David Dodd.

So if you were going to sell it to someone who was living nearby in

Suffolk, what would you say is the top draw of the farm?

The top draw of the farm is you can come out, be free, and enjoy life.

-Especially if you're retired.

-It's like a supercharged allotment.

Yes, but it's very much a shared allotment.

I learned a lot of my growing from allotments and I found it got quite competitive.

It's also an awful lot of work.

They reckon you need about ten hours a week to do an allotment.

And this is two hours a week in the summer?

This is two hours a week in the summer, one hour in winter.

So it's less of a commitment.

What do you end up with? What do you get in your weekly veggie box?

-You get beans and...

-Beetroot.

-..and lettuce, and beetroot.

-Cauliflowers.

-Cauliflowers.

So, basically, if you think of the time of the year,

the crops that are out at that time, that's what you get in your box.

Yes, completely seasonal.

We eat with the seasons.

It seems to be an inspiring scheme,

and I'm heartened to hear that projects like this are springing up

all over the UK, with around 65 small community farms

already up and running.

I think we might be onto a winner with the Mystery House,

but let's find Dorothy and Les and see what they're thinking.

-Hi, guys.

-Hi.

-How have we done.

Have we managed to win these Yorkshire folk over to Suffolk?

-Absolutely.

-Oh, that's good!

I didn't expect that. But, yes.

And how have we done with the houses?

Two out of three, I think, is pretty good.

-Two out of three?

-Mm.

-So, which ones?

The first one and the last one.

-So tell me about the...

-For me, anyway.

Tell me about the... Because you kind of...

I thought you'd ruled the first one out.

The challenge with it is making accommodation for Les's mum.

But Les did have some fairly clever ideas yesterday

about what we possibly could do.

-So I think it's worth looking at again.

-Right.

And the Mystery House, Les?

The Mystery House really had me scratching my head

and reassessing my values in terms of what we were looking for.

It was two big ticks in both of the garden and in terms of my mother.

And I think the price is quite reasonable,

and I think that leaves quite a bit in the budget to get an architect in

and look at the house and say, look, how can we do things?

So, what happens next? What's the next stage?

I think, for me, I'd like to go back to see house number one

and the last house.

Just to have another look around, look at the village,

look at the surrounding areas.

It's been a magnificent journey the last three days, and you've given us

really good food for thought,

re-evaluate some of the things we've been thinking about.

Well, it's been a great delight and I hope everything sorts out,

and that your mum makes a decision and likes one of our houses.

But whatever happens, do stay in touch.

-We will.

-We will do that, thank you.

-Thank you so much.

I think we did a nifty job transplanting a fiercely proud Yorkshireman down to Suffolk.

Of course, the acid test will be whether his Yorkshire mother comes willingly, as well.

But it seems to me that Dorothy junior and Les had a good time

under our guiding wing.

So make sure you join us for more good times on the next edition of

Escape To The Country.

And if you would like to escape to the country in Northern Ireland,

Scotland, Wales, or England and you need our help,

why not apply online at...