ETTC 3 Aug

many come to define what the english landscape is all about but who was he and where did he create this wonderful backdrop well join me in just a moment and i'll tell you [Music] on today's show i help a newlywed couple who want to start their married life in the countryside and they're overwhelmed by the houses on offer you get the whole thing the whole thing the whole thing oh wow that's amazing it's amazing wow but they're not always on the same page i think it's it's nice as it is oh and there we'll disagree well today we are in shropshire and this is just one view of western park and its glorious landscape that was created by none other than lancelot capability brown back in the 1760s since then his work has become as big a part of the british psyche as the poetry of wordsworth or indeed the paintings of turner now later on in the show i'll be back here at western park to learn a lot more about the life and work of a man whose legacy has for many since defined the very idea of the english landscape itself landlocked shropshire is one of england's largest counties and borders wales to the west as well as four english counties flowing through shropshire the river 7 is the country's longest river at 220 miles its most famous crossing point is at iron bridge built in 1779 and the first bridge to be made from cast iron it's an impressive reminder of the industrial revolution which began in this region in the 18th century the extent of shropshire's undulating landscape can be appreciated at the top of brown clee hill the highest point in the county at over 1 70 feet set in a valley in the shropshire hills is the small town of clun whose 15th century bridge arches over the river from which it takes its name its norman church sits on one side and on the other the haunting ruins of clun castle larger settlements include the medieval market town of ludlow with its eclectic mix of architecture including the distinctive timber frame buildings that are so prolific throughout the area with its mix of architectural heritage rich history and striking rural scenery shropshire is a compelling option for those wanting to start a new life in the countryside [Music] now given its stunning landscapes and picture postcard views you may be reasonably forgiven for assuming that house hunting here in shropshire is always going to be an expensive business but prepare to be pleasantly surprised because currently the average price of a detached property here is 276 000 pounds that's a whopping 50 000 pounds below the national figure and if you want even more for your money well head west over towards the border with wales and the county of palace and there you could get even more bang for your buck but as always there are hot spots to be aware of not least ludlow with its reputation as the foodie capital of england always command something of a premium but on a day like today with the landscape bathed in glorious warm summer sunshine well you can perfectly see why today's buyers want to move here 20-somethings ruth and jason who both work for a large insurance company have only been married for a year they first encountered each other at work we actually met on our very first day at work my very first day at work and i sat next to him at the office i think i made the first move at christmas party i guess we were we were pretty petrified of each other on the first day weren't we you were well i was scared of her and she was scared of all the new people that she was working with she just come from another office and thought that everyone hated her because no one was talking to her and me being petrified of this pretty girl who's now sat next to me i couldn't talk to her so it was an awkward first day but they got over their initial nerves and for the last three years have owned a victorian semi in the town of aldershot in hampshire once home to the british army it's a former military town um it's got a lot of uh sort of like market towns around it um the military's actually left now so it's kind of in a transition period and there's a lot of new housing going up it's quite handy for london but i suppose the downside is it's quite built up there's not too much space there's not lots of areas that you could have children running around and there's a lot of neighbours and it's the pitter patter of tiny feet that's prompting the move we really want to have a family in the near future and i just have this vision of them growing up in the rolling countryside and being able to run around and have lots of space to play and grow up in a more natural environment but they might need a mansion if ruth gets her way when i first met jason i wanted eight children and quite quickly that became clear that that wasn't an option so i did go down to four but we settled on two or three ruth and jason can both work from home and that's given them free reign to choose where they want to live so having done their research they've settled on shropshire we think it's a really beautiful area kind of a hidden gem i think not a lot of people know about it we really like the ludlow area the market town is just beautiful and we think that'll be a really great place to live and they're not afraid of a project as jason is a dab hand at diy my interest in diy came out of curiosity more than anything else i think i like to see how things work take things apart i like exploring and then fixing it i've done a lot of stuff in the house here and i'm pretty pleased with the work i think you are eventually uh maybe not when it's particularly messy but it's something that's very very satisfying once you're done and ruth on the other hand is a self-confessed domestic goddess i've been baking since i was a little girl with my grandma i love making any kind of cakes biscuits breads i do it in my current small kitchen but i would absolutely love a huge country kitchen with a big island where i can bake lots of home-baked goodies and hopefully take them to my new neighbours so they like us it's a dramatic move for both of them as they'll be leaving friends and jason's family behind but they're looking forward to a complete change of lifestyle it's a complete unknown it's something that we we want to do we know we want to do it for various reasons but it's exciting in that we just don't know what to expect [Music] ruth and jason would like to focus their property search around the market town of ludlow so i'm meeting up with them in shropshire to find out what sort of house they want well guys it now falls to me to officially welcome you to shropshire ruth and jason how does it feel to be making this move oh we're so excited we really can't wait excited to see what you've got for us let's get down to the reasons behind this move jason why now um i think we just got to a point in our lives where we're looking to start a new chapter uh family being probably the the main focus so moving to the right place to start that i think and in terms of your respective jobs you're in a very enviable position in that you can actually work from home you can move with your job yeah our jobs are quite agile and we can work from home so we thought why do we live near london so busy and congested let's move somewhere stunning like this like this so just remind us of your budget our budget is 400 thousand pounds and for that you are looking for we would like a four bedroom house with a large kitchen diner we would also like the potential to add holiday let's a manageable garden and something we're really keen on is character period features or something a bit quirky you want what everybody wants on escape to the country i suspect but uh 400 000 pounds for four beds and a holiday let thrown in even here in shropshire that's quite a challenge have you looked around and seen what the market can offer you here we actually haven't seen any houses yet so we've given you quite a challenge but we think you're up to the task we are going to have to pick through what the market can offer us and i suspect we are going to have to cover some miles we've got a lot of weights didn't we come on let's go [Music] with four hundred thousand pounds to spend property hunting novices ruth and jason would like a characterful home to grow into they would like it to provide four bedrooms and a large kitchen diner outside the grounds should include a manageable garden and the potential to add holiday lets and because jason's handy with a hammer they'll consider a project we've lined up some premium properties for our two insurance advisors to compare but i won't be revealing the price tag of each until right at the end of each tour our mystery house might offer ruth and jason the perfect house to raise a family in but with a twist on their business idea [Music] our first house is in the village of lee brockhurst around 11 miles north of shrewsbury the small market town of wem is the closest option for a wide selection of independent shops the town was virtually destroyed during the wars of the roses before being rebuilt only to suffer a disaster that sparked an infamous story in 1677 a girl called jane chern dropped a candle which started a fire destroying most of the wooden buildings in wemb and melting the bells in the church tower however back in the small village of lee brockhurst under a 10-minute drive away property number one is surrounded by quiet countryside right then here we are this is property number one what do you think of that it's amazing yeah wow now you don't get the whole thing i'm sorry to say but you do get the lion share of it uh everything to the right of that little wall there uh oh wow yeah so all of those little skylights are part of your property it's absolutely stunning i've it's gorgeous i'm very impressed yeah is this sort of thing jason that you'd have gone for definitely um conversions are pretty high up on my list of favorite properties so you know why because someone's already converted it makes sense converted about 11 years ago the former barn is effectively a new build within an older shell and retains many classic original features to the side of the barn is a cavernous garage which we'll explore later [Music] okay ruth what about this thing wow yeah this is amazing your face yeah whales are plenty this is incredible it's absolutely perfect there's an island yes exactly i wonder when you notice that and look at the beautiful beam that is so stunning and then to the left there you've got utility room oh wow and downstairs as well which is quite handy jason looks quite happy it's a very very good start i can see you casting your diy eye around all the finishes just as i do and i think you know there is nothing here that you know distracts me at all the finish is absolutely spot-on yeah he's definitely not allowed to rip anything out good right let's see what you think of the rest of it now this they've got set up as a dining room come kind of study but this is a huge space really it's lovely like i really like the beams yeah everything it's beautiful and i think this room is so cosy and characterful this is gorgeous i love the wood burner yep i love the banners i think cosy is definitely the right word for this yeah that's what i i think that's what i'm after with a living room i think it should be cozy i'm not massively into sort of open plan with the ground floor getting the seal of approval i'm keen to see if we can keep the momentum going upstairs which has the four bedrooms ruth and jason asked for they include a large guest double and two smaller bedrooms to make use of in the future there's also a large family bathroom with roll top bath and of course the master and then finally this is the room that we think you would want for very obvious reasons because it has the ensuite as well wow yeah it's lovely this is a really nice room it's really nice this must be bigger than what you've got now it's around about the same size but obviously this has got an ensuite we'd be very spoiled with this now then we do have to talk about the price at some point before we get carried away however i think we should uh take a pause and have a look at the outbuilding because i suspect this is where your diy will come into its own outside the main space is to the front of the barn but there's also a rear south facing walled garden and of course that double garage which could be converted to a holiday let subject to planning permission this is amazing this is an absolutely huge space there's so much room and there's another third again behind that stud wall wow the possibilities what you do with this are just endless so with everything on their wish list accounted for does it come in significantly under ruth and jason's 400 000 pound budget how much jason do you think you're gonna have to part with to get hold of this one i'd be confident saying something around 395 yeah i was also going to say 395 but definitely i think right at the top end of our budget if it were 395 you could afford it if it were somewhere in the order of three seven four nine fifty wouldn't that be good i probably wouldn't believe you believe me this is three seven four nine fifty yes wow wow that's amazing brilliant look you're excited i'm excited what more can i say the house is yours go and explore it make some plans see what you might do with the change you know it's under budget and i'll come and find you later off you go brilliant happy days in the sun in shropshire where it's sizzling today [Music] 25 000 pounds under budget our first house is a converted barn with exposed beams and characterful features it has a large kitchen with an island four bedrooms and the grounds include a double garage that could be converted to a holiday let and it's all situated in a quiet rural location there's just so many things you could do with this space it's huge it's the options are this is really throwing a spanner in the works doesn't it it's almost too many options you want a workshop now it could definitely be divided up things like that i think i think the house itself there aren't really any negative points that i can see it's absolutely beautiful the only downsides i would say to this property are potentially the location it's in quite a rural setting there's no shop there's no pub no access to schools walking distance the house however may make up for that overall property one has been a real eye-opener in terms of the budget that we had we didn't think we would get anything close to this so it's we're very excited to see what's lying ahead now you know it's nearly 30 degrees here today do you have any idea how hot it is at the moment it's just gorgeous isn't it it's so beautiful well i think this was a great start clearly a property that's on our list for the future definitely good yeah we love it it's beautiful well we've got plenty more to tempt you with but don't forget about this one [Music] the longest river in britain the seven cuts a diagonal path through shropshire on its journey to the sea in the bristol channel for centuries it was an important trading route and was instrumental in sparking the industrial revolution transporting coal and iron from the midlands to coastal ports the coming of the railways heralded the end of commercial river traffic and today the seven is mainly used for leisure but local man nigel winfield has recently taken to the water with a new venture a scenic tour using a 25-foot raft so we sent ruth and jason to ironbridge gorge to explore the seven using this serene mode of transport so where did you get the idea to run these tours it was um actually from canada back in 1971 is when they first started the 25-foot raft trips and why this particular stretch of river is there anything special about it there is it's the birthplace of the industrial revolution so we have a lot of tourists that come through here specifically for the bridge but also other activities around the area and how far will we be going today it's just a short ride two kilometers we do but we take our royal time on the river so no rush at all you ready to be kidded up into your buoyancy eight yeah sounds good okay let's go the specially made rafts can take up to 16 people and are some of the largest in the uk nigel's experience includes white water rafting in canada but the river here is a little calmer the seven at iron bridge is steeped in history and takes in many of the iconic sites associated with the industrial heritage of the area okay folks so if you just look behind you here big red tile cooling towers the only red tile cooling towers in the whole of the uk and it's part of the formerly known as ironbridge power station and it was decommissioned last year taller than blackpool tower i've been told so yeah really nice the seven runs along the bottom of ironbridge gorge created 15 000 years ago by flood water cutting through the limestone rock as the river cut into the landscape the red soil revealed raw materials including coal limestone and clay rich deposits that would later be used by industry how deep is it at the moment it's about 20 feet here that's the great thing about these refs we only need 15 centimeters of water so we can venture in places that other companies can't go it may seem peaceful now but 200 years ago during the heyday of the industrial revolution this stretch of river was a hive of activity today the only reminder of that industry are many of the old warehouses now museums that line the riverbank so you would see up to 72 boats lined along here all the way to the bridge from the museum of the gorge which is the old seven warehouse and they would actually just be waiting there to be loaded up so you'd have a big telegraph pull cargo would drop in and then they would fill up the boats and send them down and some of the boats were three times the length of this boat 75-80 feet and they'd carry up to 60 tons so our job's quite easy ruth and jason are finishing their tour at the famous bridge that gave the area its name built in 1779 it was a revolution in design and engineering both the practical structure and potent symbol of the age and why make it ornate what function did that serve i think it was just at the time it was to show off it was to say you know look at us look at what we can do you know we build out a cast iron now no more wooden bridges so it was it was a statement it was the first ever cast iron bridge in the world and from that the birthplace of the industrial revolution really took off but after a pleasant afternoon on the river learning about the county's heritage we need to turn our attention from cast iron back to bricks and mortar second house is in the village of richard's castle five miles south of ludlow and right on the border between shropshire and herefordshire named after the norman castle the once stood here to defend the border with wales today the village features a 12th century church with a separate bell tower there's also a pub and a village hall with lots of community events house number two is just up the hill from the pub and is a little less rural than our first right guys here we are property number two what do you reckon because you get the whole thing the whole thing the whole thing oh wow okay i was thinking it was hot yeah i bet you were yeah hey what do you think of that jason that is big that's a lot of house it is a lot of house that's packed me up a bit not only do you get the whole lot but everything to the right of that front door is currently set up as a two bed holiday light oh wow that's amazing both a home for ruth and jason and a potential holiday lit all under one roof our second house dates to the 1800s and gives jason an opportunity to open his toolbox as it could benefit from some internal reworking the layout is quirky because inside has been divided into two with the main accommodation on one side and a self-contained two bed holiday let on the other but we're starting with what would be ruth and jason's bit so this is the main houses living room as it were complete with uh multi-fuel wood burner as you can see uh all accessed off of that hallway and then the room you can see beyond us that lovely fireplace that would be the living room of the holiday lips but at the moment they you know use it for themselves of course because it's not busy i really like this i'm really pleasantly surprised coming inside i think i wasn't expecting it to be quite so lovely yeah i mean i've called it quirky i mean how would you describe it i i think it is quite quirky um it's it's very cozy very very cosy yes and that's something i really like the kitchen also is really lovely have a look at this it's nice isn't it it's very sweet this little archway this sort of sprung brick arch is quite a sweet feature with the cast iron column radiator uh underneath it yeah that's really pretty i just wonder if it's lacking a bit in work top space um i'm hiding some of it [Laughter] but you're right i mean it i mean this sort of suggests an island here isn't it this little table i think it's it's nice as it is oh and there we'll disagree could you make it work the end of the day whatever the boss says close yeah i know the feeling mates come this way the rest of the ground floor includes a further kitchen on the holiday left side and in the main house there's a study upstairs there are three bedrooms for them including a single and one in the eaves complete with skylight so this is currently the master the biggest one of the three in the main bit of the house i suppose nice and big this room the owners haven't really done anything with at all but they have set about this which i think is rather nice this is the new all sweet wow yeah this is a huge ensuite jason i i think it's almost too big the configuration's odd i think it just needs a rethink that's what this one needs it does need a bit of thought um but i think the space that's on offer and in particular it's location let's not forget ludlow just down the road that's why we're here the upstairs of the holiday left side features two further bedrooms a double and again a single in the eaves as well as a shower room but the fact this house is divided is possibly sowing a seed of doubt outside the rear garden has a terrace running along the full length of the house which leads to a level lawn and there's also a timber workshop and greenhouse really nice garden yeah nice and quiet they've got obviously half of it sort of turned over to something of a sort of vegetable uh and produce patch we probably kill all those vegetables by accident wait give it again give them a chance you never know you might become green-fingered um now in terms of price have you been able to kind of think about what this one might be on the market for my guess would be around 390 000 pounds 390 yep i'm going to go a little bit lower and say 375. this is on the market at 350 000 pounds wow wow yeah that's the web that's why we're here that's a surprise has that changed anything i was really thinking it was going to be close to the top of my budget so it's definitely given me a bit more to think about now come on then off you go go and explore start planning i would it's a great location it's a great property and let's face it it's at a great price [Music] under budget by 50 000 pounds our second house a detached 19th century cottage comes with a total of five bedrooms a large kitchen and two sitting rooms the property has been divided up to include a self-contained annex but i think that wish for a holiday let is becoming less of a priority so this is the master bedroom of the holiday lat it's big it's really nice in here i think this would make a nice holiday but be nicer if we could uh knock through and expand into the house and make it one big house again the layout for me is just quite bizarre and i think it would need quite a lot of work to put it how we would want it in terms of keeping the holiday section i'm i'm not so sure now for me that was that was a you know one of our requirements it was something we really wanted but this this property feels like it's suffering as a result of having the holiday that hey ruth how you doing hey good thanks have you redesigned it then jason yeah pretty much yeah yeah i thought you might well look i think it's been a really interesting day a long day and certainly a hot one who's for cold beer crowded i'm in shropshire with a four hundred thousand pound budget helping young newlyweds ruth and jason find a family home for the future up next will our mystery house deliver the goods oh wow oh gosh [Music] wow i love it and i find out more about the man who changed many of britain's landscapes forever wow look at that fantastic isn't it absolutely isn't it just beautiful well as we head into our final day of house hunting it's perfectly clear that our search so far has been dominated by the need to find a home with a holiday let that offers the prospect of a fabled income for the future but tantalising as that prospect is for jason and in particular for ruth i think one thing has emerged they are looking for a home in which they can grow as a family and that is where a mystery house comes in now it is undoubtedly pretty and it has got bags of potential but not in a way in which they're expecting so let's see what they make of it in terms of the the holiday let overall i mean one thing that has the most i think is this sense that you're really looking for a place in which you can really grow as a family yeah family is obviously our our next chapter the holiday let is becoming i think more of a nice to have it's definitely it's something we've realized isn't it yeah i think the key is potential that's probably the word that we would would use we like the idea of having something that we can use in the future for whatever purpose we want to which is probably why i'm quite excited about house one [Music] we're heading north east for our last house which is in the village of hinstock around 20 miles from shrewsbury amenities in this pretty and peaceful settlement include a primary school with a good ofsted rating a village shop and a post office along with a recently renovated pub our mystery house is about a mile outside the village along a quiet lane and is a classic country cottage the perfect place to raise a young family [Music] there you go oh it's lovely that is incredibly nice really pretty isn't it so pretty yeah very very sweet and the gardens you can see are beautiful um now when it's cool you've got this part of the structure here which is about 1850 1860 and this little single story edition which i think might have been a forge at some point but it's then had this newer edition of this single story annex now if this was the first property i was showing you we might be talking about that in terms of it being a holiday but i now think you don't really want it attached to the property so i'm selling this to you as your family home happy yeah it looks lovely yeah it's got a wow factor to it appearance wise this is this is definitely my taste i think it's the most character of the lot that we've been able to show you this week with this little secret edition which i'm going to reveal later on but let's get into the property and see if you can fit your new life into this beautiful mystery house it certainly got the character full appeal they wanted but can they see their future here well starting here i guess the main event really oh wow oh my gosh wow i love it it's unusual it's gorgeous in the way that the units have been constructed out of brick with these uh little sort of infill doors i love them they're beautiful i've never seen anything like that before when we first arrived jason i got the sense that you felt this property was very much you is this you on the inside well i think if we're honest this this room isn't for me i think someone else is in charge of that one but if i had to choose one of the three that we've seen this would be number one that's interesting isn't it and it all flows really nicely into here this is your main sort of family sitting room i suppose uh dominated by that enormous wood wood burner not a multi-field but it leads on into here see this i think is probably one of my favorite rooms down here and that chimney was revealed it was hidden behind a stud wall which makes me wonder if this was perhaps some sort of uh forge because originally it was just more of an agricultural building more of a barn um but now it's this rather elegant uh dining room it's lovely i love the beams they're gorgeous the fireplace is beautiful it's got a really cozy feel i'm a big fan of all the features like throughout the property so far it's the fireplaces the beams massively solved on those well ruth and jason seem happy so far and let's not forget that single story annexed to the side of the house with its own living room small kitchenette and bathroom it's completely self-contained upstairs in the main house there are three bedrooms including a single and a guest double there's also a family bathroom with a quarter bath which just leaves the master and then finally this i think would be yours it's the biggest there's no one sweet here but you have of course got the family bathroom down the corridor it's lovely really really nice it's plenty big enough definitely very quaint it's definitely to my taste what's going through your mind i get i get the sense there's a butt oh no i think he probably is more taken with it than me i do like it a lot what's worrying you about it i don't know i just don't get that like wow feel from it but we had some whales downstairs when we turned up we lost that wow feeling i think it's hard for me to see how i would have the rooms that's interesting is that because of your taste or because of their size i think because of my taste park that thought because i want to take it outside and show you my little surprise outside the house sits in a beautifully designed garden including a section of formal lawn but just beyond that is that little surprise i was talking about well it's not that little so look at this oh wow does my tease make sense now this is the one thing we haven't shown you this week and that is land that's a lot of land wow what'd you do with it ah well this is where i think this property's potential really comes into its own because i'm thinking here a shepherd's hut that you let out as a holiday list i see i like your thinking i think it's definitely given us a lot to think about i think someone's quite excited yeah i can see and you get a ride on there mate how about that oh that's the dream so let's see how much this dream is going to uh cost you although it has got a lot of land i still think around 365 000 pounds do you jason i'm thinking because of the land is going to be a lot higher i'm going to say 390. i'm afraid it doesn't start with the three it starts with a four oh it's four two five having said that we haven't brought you here to break your hearts we'll be at your bank account uh the owners know what your budget is so there is a conversation to be had i'm still excited i'm still excited excellent excellent i suspect you might have to do a bit of arm first actually it's a lot of money it's all of your budget let's be honest with you this is an asset that you'll be investing in that's the key thing i mean jason knows what i'm talking about don't you absolutely yeah i completely agree with everything you're saying excellent well look um go and explore and i will come and find you later on thank you priced at 425 000 pounds the owner is willing to discuss an offer closer to ruth and jason's budget it's a classic country cottage dating to the 19th century with a large kitchen three bedrooms and a separate annex and it does include a large paddock that could be developed for camping or glamping subject to consent there's a lot of potential there's definitely things that we could do i i think i need to convince ruth of those things though i think that jason is probably a bit more taken with the property than i am from my point of view i think it's a bit more daunting for me i think of the practical elements whereas he tends to just fall in love with something well that's it our house tours are over we have given you lots to discuss haven't we yeah right then come on let's go 300 years ago britain's most influential garden designer was born lancelot capability brown transformed england's country landscapes in the 18th century today his name is synonymous with our most celebrated stately homes from the sweeping grounds at stowe in buckinghamshire to the vast estate of chatsworth in derbyshire capability brown made picturesque parks look like paintings to find out more about this landscaping legend i've come to western park in shropshire which he created in the 1790s to meet carol evans director of a festival celebrating his birth how did he get this amazing reputation well he actually didn't have a particularly impressive start in life born in a village in kirkhar in northumberland he stayed in school a lot longer than most children did left at the age of 16 and then went to work on the local estates and i eventually got taken on as a head gardener um at stowe in buckinghamshire where he spent 10 years really honing his craft meeting the great and the good who flocked to see this amazing landscape he sort of built his career and convinced people that he was an amazing not just gardener but a creator of estates with great capabilities now his nickname of capability brown just to be clear doesn't relate to some rather immodest take on his own abilities but it was about his view of landscape and its potential wasn't it absolutely so he was christened lancelot but his uh marketing trick in a way if you like is supposed to have been going out walking around the landscapes with the owners and saying that they had great capabilities for improvements and that seemed to have stuck and we're not sure if anyone actually called him capability to his face because whenever you see the records he's always referred to as mr brown lancelot brown capability brown's trademark was to create natural looking elegant landscapes he swept away the symmetrical formal gardens of country estates and replaced them by planting woods fashioning parkland and digging lakes he often embellished his designs with an architectural flourish here at western park the temple of diana punctuates the tree scape every master stroke was deliberate it was all about the view trees were used to perfectly frame vistas a water's reflective qualities doubled the perspective one of his designs at western park is the private pleasure ground a place for the gentry to enjoy a gentle stroll and one of only five that exist today wow look at that fantastic isn't it absolutely isn't it just beautiful this is just a wonderful example of the sort of work that brown put in gorgeous cooling lakes with the most wonderful trees all different shapes all different species so you've got a whole variety of different things for your eye to play with and then they reflect perfectly into the lake as well this is completely artificial yet it's been made to look as if it's always been here for thousands of years brown's new designs were far more practical than the formal gardens that came before although today they still take some looking after that job is down to head gardener martin g whose family first came to western park in 1803 a decade after brown started working here how difficult the job is it it is quite a large job you can imagine because quite an extensive area but um i've been brand intended these gardens to actually be low maintenance when things kind of you know get busy and start encroaching you obviously have to take a view and and and cut things down the victorians added an awful lot of rhododendrons and because red dentures are quite invasive and so we've been taking i lived over taking 80 percent of the residents out just to open views of like where we stood here i mean to be fair carol it's not often you get the chance to talk to somebody who's got a direct connection some two centuries back in history to the same place i mean that's extraordinary oh it's it's fantastic and it's a bit of living history really if you don't mind me saying that how do you feel about making some living history well i've been causing other things in my time capability brown worked on half a million acres in his lifetime across england and wales with an illustrious client list that included the king six prime ministers and half the house of lords over two centuries may have passed since his death but today we continue to admire his visionary work that has changed the art of landscaping forever well we've certainly seen some stunning views this week not least of course those created by capability brown so we're better to have my final conversation with ruth and with jason than here in the rather glorious surroundings of western park as you've seen it's already inspired me and i'm pretty sure it'll inspire them too [Music] hi guys how you doing hello great thanks fun week i think it's been so good thank you so much you've shown us three really cracking houses let's get down to to the reality of the situation which is that you want to move have we managed to find you a house that you can move too i know that you love the first one i do yes and i think that you jason fell in love with the last one a mystery house yeah i think that's that's fair to say so which one of the two is tipping the scales of your future well i think after talking about it a bit i just absolutely loved the first house and now that we've had a discussion i think it's the most practical house for us and for our potential family so i think at the moment we are definitely very interested in house one wow was that a difficult thing to agree on it wasn't uh i think my judgment was a little clouded by seeing property number three it took my breath away and it was exactly what i would choose if we were looking at a brochure if you like but casting my mind back to property one i did feel very very similarly about it well so bernie question what happens next so i think we'd like to go back for a second viewing and see if we can be a bit cheeky and speak to the neighbours about having a look in their garage conversion just to see what they've done interesting so are we talking what days weeks months away well we're we're in the area at the moment so uh strike whilst the iron's hot i suppose so it's not days weeks or months it's hours away this is the second viewing brilliant guys fantastic well i feel rather ashamed that we've just got tea for you really we should have champagne we can taste you nonetheless here's to you well done [Music] cheers well as ruth and jason rush back to have another look at property number one i've got time to reflect on what has undoubtedly been a thoroughly enjoyable week and what i've really liked about these two is that they've really embraced the whole process of house hunting they've judged each one on its respective merits just as they should do and i'm sure have now come up with the perfect conclusion so as they now set about planning their future well they might take a leaf out of capability brownsburg country life like the landscape that surrounds it is all about what you make of it i'll see you next time if you would like to escape to the country in scotland wales england or northern ireland and need our help you can apply online at bbc dot co dot uk forward slash be on a show flying fox's king cobra is a magic to be found over on bbc4 later in thailand earth's tropical paradise at nine and charlie and the rich brothers take a look back at their favorite top of the plots new garden rescue is here on bbc one next good morning manchester a property boom like no other wow there's not been development on this scale in any other european city but how will this affect the people who live there just becoming so desirable and being forced out a city of two tales we want manchester to be this cosmopolitan city but at what cost monktosia billion pound property boom coming soon to bbc2 and iplayer good happening every two minutes someone in britain is reported missing i can't understand how she just disappears he could just be anywhere new in a haystack we just want him home safely there is always a ticking clock follow the real human stories as they unfold in a race against time i just thought that he was going to turn up but he didn't this is not looking good reported missing starts wednesday the 12th of august on bbc one and iplayer antiques road trip in 45 minutes swing slides and magical playgrounds just some of our garden rescue favorites now on bbc one [Music] charlie dimmer boys the rich brothers and the garden rescue team have a treat in store too much entertainment they have come to the rescue of hundreds of british gardens now it's time to look back and pick their favorites this looks really cool fabulous as they celebrate the very best i don't like it i love it from extraordinary eco gardens thank you so much to exotic designs oh my gosh no way gardens inspired by people is this the garden that you dreamed of absolutely i think that's a thumbs up and places it's the most beautiful garden i've ever been in therapeutic spaces wow and the most extraordinary transformations it is perfect [Music] welcome to garden rescue top of the [Music] plots [Music] which gardens are we looking at today then boys today we're gonna be looking at family gardens and actually if you look back we've done loads of family-focused spaces lots of swings slides climbing frames nature projects loads yeah nice simple spaces that are safe to play i don't know about you lots of memories for me as a child growing up i mean for you two it must have been just yesterday yeah i mean yesterday we were climbing trees you know playing in the stream chucking stones to each other always playing in the garden oh yeah you'll want a playtime in a minute do you remember that garden in shrewsbury the firemen steve and his wife roxy yes and their garden for their children it was a packed garden wasn't there lots of fond memories from that all our rescues are something to be proud of but our first top of the plots family garden was for roxy and steve who wanted a space for their two kids and their older cousin to enjoy charlie's design focused on creating the ultimate magical playground with a climbing wall raised den and swings here is a little door that takes you through a tunnel that leads to this section here it's hard to imagine all that would be in our garden it will fit honestly i did measure it it's a big garden so it's a mammoth job for the team to get it stripped back david's first job is to start the secret garden making some mini hills and hollows for the kids to play in what's perfect is there's been loads of excess turf and soil already dug up from the garden we've got from under the patio we've got it from under the path here so basically i'm shifting it from this one big lump into hopefully about four of the mounds creating these really fun routes through it but it's slow work so come back to me in about four hours and i've probably got it finished while david's moving mountains harry's making a hobbit-style door for the secret garden this rustic door is going to create a lovely detail within the garden and some of the best gardens don't reveal themselves all at once instead they create this bit of intrigue and that's exactly what charlie's done and i think that's a lovely detail split the garden up create these little hidden spaces and therefore that intrigue is always going to be there so i've cut all these to size now so what you're looking at is the door itself but charlie wants this nice rustic appearance you know it's like slightly higgledy piggledy so what i'm going to do is i'm going to scribe a nice kind of character line around the outside to give it that nice little bit of charm using a jigsaw he then cuts the curved top and child height peephole in the wood [Music] then i thought it'd be really nice to have a little off cut like this i'm going to saw in half and that's actually going to create the little handle perfect for small hands [Music] and there's another carpentry master class in the back garden where charlie is making sure the play equipment is knocked into shape so this bit is sort of ready to get the platform all good yep so shall i shall i help you or hinder you with the platform you can just say help right so platform there rail there then you know uh willow weaving maybe i want to make this feel that they're in a basket you know like a crow's nest definitely yeah yeah and then we got the sail over the top so they can hide it's a den on stilts that's exactly what it is with the mounds built for his secret garden david is piecing together the patchwork lawn and he's pretty pleased with his hills and valleys that's the last bit of turf going down on the mounds it's going to be such a fun playground for ted and betsy not only they're going to be able to run through using all the different paths they're also going to be able to run up and roll down the mounds as well and i think it's going to really conjure up that natural wonderland but also going to inspire them to use this area in quite a creative way and then they'll be down here and they can get onto the whole climbing frame and up this climbing wall which i'm going to get on now and build it to make the climbing wall he's using decking boards i'm just attaching the timbers onto the frame to create the ramp now i've got it at the goldilocks angle it's not too steep it's also not too shallow it's just right because we want ted and betsy to feel like they're really getting something out of it they've got to you know have a nice bit of exercise up onto the timber framework but we also need to realize they're not marines they are just children at the end of the day i decided to do two routes as well so we've got a tricky route and a not so tricky route both a little bit challenging but it's all about increasing the dexterity their fingers but also their cognitive thinking so it's a little bit of problem solving as they're wandering up and hopefully should be a lot of fun the garden is really taking shape a pergola and raised den are built and secured and charlie can now accessorize it with equipment to keep the little ones busy we put in these carabiners in that we can attach swings to but then also take them away and change them for maybe a scrabble rope or a punch bag or even hanging baskets were you looking at me when you said punch bag no never you're doing really well today i'm going to give you an a star harry's ready to hang his lovingly crafted door making a magical entrance to the secret garden we asked the door done i'm actually really happy with this little window a little glimpse through into the garden beyond charlie what do you think i think it is definitely don't tell your brother but the best bit of the garden i think it's fab behind harry's hobbit door in the secret garden charlie wants to create a kid-sized tunnel from plastic water piping costing around 50pm it's cheaper than willow which can be used for a more natural effect what's [Music] harry and david are driving canes into the ground to fix the individual loops of the tunnel in place [Music] oh look at that yeah i like it it seems a little bit of give as well just in case i don't want them all at that height i mean maybe put more bigger that's a bit lower lower so i don't want any higher than that the tunnel will add a splash of color to the garden and follow the path of the valleys david's created through the sculpted mounds over the play areas fabric sales are strung up to offer some shade should the sun ever come out and the crow's nest den is made secure with some final touches the team are finished [Applause] what was an unloved bland garden has been transformed into this family-friendly playful paradise but what will roxy steve and their children think oh my god it doesn't look our garden anymore does how'd you feel listen that is incredible i knew there was gonna be a tunnel the little ones are thrilled but will it get the all-important seal of approval from older cousin esme it literally looks amazing the kids are gonna love it we're gonna love it it's just fantastic [Music] i love that adventurous garden and getting kids into gardening at a young age is just so important and a great way of doing that is by getting them to grow veg now it can be very simple and you can make it fun for them now i've got sweet corn here and i'm going to be planting it in a block because it's wind pollinated it's a lovely shelter position here nice and sunny and the best thing is is actually when children pick vegetables themselves and go home and eat it now this grows to about three meters tall so it's going to feel really grand and oversized almost like jack and the beanstalk almost this is much more literally like jack and the beanstalk okay we've got some runner beans and they're fantastic because i feel like myself and children together have short attention spans so to watch the vegetable grow vigorously up these canes will be fantastic so in summer they'll be able to pick some nice crunchy fresh beans [Music] you

Channel: Dutch Boy

Views: 44,746

Rating: 4.891892 out of 5

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Id: KyXvRoL59dw

Length: 54min 59sec (3299 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 03 2020