Help! We Bought a Village Season 4 Episode 4

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Transcript

00:01Owning a property abroad is the ultimate goal for most Brits.

00:05It's like a dream come true. It's just so magical.

00:09But for some, a conventional home just won't do.

00:13A lot of it was ruins, but we fell in love with it.

00:18They're setting aside their fears.

00:20The key is to never look down.

00:23To do something remarkable.

00:25It's a mammoth task, really.

00:27Resurrecting Europe's lost villages.

00:29I think any sort of rational person would probably not try and do that.

00:34In this series, we meet the brand new pioneers.

00:38I think I'm a bit all over the place. It's like it's a big day.

00:41Delving into their village's past.

00:44I think that's powder flask.

00:47And we revisit those who already made the bold leap.

00:53And are still battling to keep their dreams alive.

00:57One year. One year without some disaster.

01:00But can they win the race against time?

01:03At the moment, it just feels like everything's falling down and nothing's going up.

01:06To turn crumbling buildings into family homes and successful businesses.

01:11It's a really big moment.

01:13Oh, bless you!

01:16Or will it all fall down around their ears?

01:20Oh, come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out!

01:23oh dear as they try to restore the past to build their future because there's a whole village to

01:31be built yet today our villages reveal some extraordinary secrets in normandy paul and

01:41yip unearth a treasure trove come bearing news paul letters full of clues to la bouillière's

01:48past this is gold dust really for us here at la bouillière just because it gives us a window into

01:55yeah who lived here how things were just a snippet into everyday life and in italy

02:03rabatana's diffused hotel could be about to get another room i didn't know this was in here

02:15after our savior sets foot in a cellar that's been locked up for decades what a find meanwhile in

02:25galicia a savior from london is back in the village he adores first night and uh a calf is born around

02:33the corner brilliant but four years after paying a deposit his deadline to buy o pencil is fast running

02:40out my deposit was non-refundable and she could easily have just taken the money and said no

02:55as our village saviors attempt to resurrect europe's lost hamlets it's often their love of history that

03:00helps them power through the hard times that's definitely been the case for paul and yip from

03:06kent now the custodians of la bouillière just west of paris the couple bought their village for about

03:12the price of a new car and they're busy trying to resurrect this 200 year old farming community

03:18it's crazy really coming from two people that at school didn't have any interest in any history

03:28and now we feel very passionate about that and it's the history that hooks us into it recently the

03:35couple have had both personal and financial struggles but the magic and mysteries held in

03:41double years crumbling walls has kept them moving forward we feel very proud to be a tiny part of that

03:48history and so we want to do it justice we bought it we took it on and we owe it to it to do what we can

03:56do to keep it standing

03:57it's summer in normandy come bearing news paul paul and jip want to share some exciting information

04:15about the boeda family who were closely connected to the village the couple discovered some clues to

04:22their past while sifting through the contents of their new cottage we first came across the name

04:29boeda on a line sack yeah on a grain sack in there so that kind of piqued our interest really and then

04:35as we carried on clearing out um the house we came across more and more things with that name on didn't

04:42we so we've got these two letters that we found from earnest boeda the dad to andre the son

04:48one's from 1954 and the others from 1955 it was wasn't that long after the war was it so i guess

04:55people were still reeling and trying to recover from from that these letters were written about 15

05:02years before andre bought the cottage so they must have been treasured possessions that he brought with

05:07him when he moved in from research and the deeds it looks as though andre boeda the son bought this

05:17property from the picot family in 1970 and then he sold it on in 1997 and i'd always wondered whether

05:28ernest his dad had bought this and passed it on to andre but it seems more so that andre was based in

05:36paris he worked for the railway and andre bought this house maybe as a base for when he came and

05:44visited family possibly that's it the letters from father to son give a fascinating insight into their

05:52relationship and they're surprisingly timeless so the first letter essentially talks about a room so

06:02it looks like ernest needs to know from his son whether he's interested in some room that's

06:07available for rent or something he hasn't heard from andre the letter is very much a father and son

06:14letter isn't it where the father's kind of like come on son pull your finger out that's it this room

06:20needs to be rented are you going to rent it or shall i give it to these other people so it is kind of it's

06:25quite funny in terms of andre's laid-back approach yeah the second letter ernest is telling his son that

06:35they've been staying with friends in paris they've had a lovely time their friend victor paid for the

06:40champagne no he mentions that we don't not normally treated like this it was obviously a real something

06:47that stood out for them a real treat yes and it's a nice letter where it seems like ernest is sharing

06:52with his son um you know their petty vacances this is gold dust really for us here at lebouliere just

07:03because it gives us a window into yeah who lived here how things were just to snip it into everyday

07:11life isn't it absolutely even though paul and yip still don't know much about andre boeda or why he

07:18bought and sold the cottage these are historical breadcrumbs and the couple are keen to follow the

07:24trail wherever it leads i've been in touch with the notaire who facilitated the sale of that house

07:33haven't we she's given us a kind of um some instruction on where we can go to go further

07:39the back so we're really looking forward to doing that and kind of allow us to dig a dig a bit deeper

07:45that would be amazing

07:47the empty and abandoned villages our saviors are rescuing across europe all pose monumental

07:59challenges whether it's crumbling stonework or leaky roofs it's never easy bringing them back from the

08:05dead but the little village of openso in northwest spain is giving one of our saviors a unique problem

08:12because he decided to buy it four years ago and still hasn't got the deal across the line

08:18martial is a londoner with a bar in hackney and he fell in love with openso when he was looking for a

08:26holiday home it's just beautiful you just got a whole green valley in front of you loads of land

08:32there's no one driving past all i can hear is the birds there are five houses here a collection of

08:38outbuildings 75 acres of land including a forest a river and a breathtaking waterfall in its heyday

08:46this village was fairly self-sufficient and the locals grew potatoes maize and wheat as well as raising

08:53cows pigs and horses there were five families living here there were like 40 plus people there was

09:00plenty of kids here there used to be a school and the kids used to walk along the mountain tracks to

09:05go to school every morning over time the village slowly emptied so it was put up for sale by former

09:12residents benny and senen when they moved to a nearby town martial spotted it in 2019 and agreed to buy the

09:20village for about 225 000 euros

09:23marcial put down a deposit and planned to make up the shortfall by selling some moorings he owned in

09:43kent basically i'm swapping this for 30 hectares in spain in galicia benny and senen gave him a year

09:49to come up with the cash but red tape in the uk tied up the sale of his moorings and he missed the

09:55first deadline luckily the couple agreed to wait another year and then another my deposit was non-refundable

10:03and she could easily have just taken the money and said no but um i thank my lucky stars that she

10:09granted me my wish we last saw martial in 2021 on holiday again in openso still yearning for the day

10:19he'd finally become its custodian it's just fantastic i love it just please i'm going to be able to come here

10:26all the time it's summer 2023 marcial's moorings still haven't been sold but he's been given one

10:40last year to come up with the money for the village and he's back for a holiday with his daughters

10:44celestine and alice all right this is our swimming kit yeah benny and senen are letting him stay for free

10:51and despite the disappointments of the last few years marcial's love for this special place shows

10:57no sign of fading i'm very happy to be here very happy we've only been here less than 24 hours we've

11:03uh we've already had um fog rain and a beautiful sunshine welcome to galicia and in what could be a

11:10sign that openso is finally ready for new beginnings the village has magicked up a welcome gift first night

11:18and uh a calf is born around the corner it's brilliant although nobody lives in the village christian

11:25is a local farmer who rents the cow barn and a few fields for a thousand euros a year

11:32these kinds of agreement are common practice in spain that's the church and we are there

11:40so marcial needs to know his deeds inside out if he takes over we've got the house we've got the river

11:47the waterfall is down here there's a whopping 45 fields included in the sale all together

11:56they come to 31 and a half hectares but they're all spread out so marcio would like to make some

12:03informal changes once he takes possession the long-term plan is to consolidate the property by

12:09swapping with the neighbors uh so mutually beneficial swaps it's so much easier really if you can have a

12:14a nice patch that's your own being able to stay here this summer means martial can get a head start

12:20on these negotiations and sign the paperwork for the new deadline on the purchase and he's positive that

12:26this time openso won't slip through his fingers i haven't crossed the finishing line yet but um it's not far away

12:36coming up

12:46in rabatana martin counts her blessings as she uncovers an ancient fireplace this is honestly the first time

12:53i've been genuinely pleased that something's been so badly made because it's just incredible it's just

12:59falling apart and paul and yip have a battle on their hands in la bouillie

13:06feel like i need to complain to someone who's in charge of the weather i'm getting soaked

13:12most of our saviors say the same thing about what happened when they first set eyes on their villages

13:30that they were smitten instantly and it changed their lives forever that was definitely the case

13:36in southern italy when the abandoned village of rabatana cast its spell over martine a former wine

13:42merchant from norfolk it's just fascinating now there's lots of the windows with no glass in them

13:49it's you know crows are flying in and out birds are nesting in there it was like a time warp people

13:55seeming to have just got up from the table and gone rabatana's courtyards were once bustling with

14:01people shops and animals but changing demographics and a succession of landslides left it bereft and

14:08deserted martine came across it on holiday and knew she had to make it her home i just felt that i'd

14:15moved into another world and actually i have because it's just so different from anywhere that i've ever

14:20lived before it was the best decision i'd ever made in my life really

14:31it's february and for over 10 years martine has been saving rabatana one house at a time

14:38so far she's transformed four properties and created what's known as a diffused hotel

14:43with rooms scattered across the village all right i think everything's done

14:50martine is hoping to add to her offer by transforming the rundown cellar or cantina

14:55under her most impressive holiday let the mandarin suite that corner is going to be the kitchen the

15:01kitchen sink is going to be here so i can actually wash my dishes and look out at the old town which

15:07will be just absolutely beautiful she's decided to shift the bathroom out of the main living area to

15:12free up space for a sofa bed that will allow her to accommodate extra guests and bring in more cash

15:19it also means she can make a feature of one of the sellers hidden gems

15:25i'd forgotten there's this fireplace which is so lovely

15:30in here there's going to be a little pine table that i bought then on the top of it

15:35set quite a high white porcelain hand basin with taps coming out the side here so we've got all of the

15:42waste disposal hot and cold and everything under here already so what i want to do is take out as

15:48much of this as i can to see if what i plan to put in here is going to fit originally this fireplace

15:54would have been used for cooking and for boiling water to wash and clean with but later when this

16:00part of the cellar was used as a living and sleeping space it was probably considered too big and

16:05impractical so it was blocked up oh my goodness me martine intends to salvage these vintage bricks

16:16so it's lucky the builders who filled in the fireplace scrimped on mortar hardly any cement in here

16:24this is honestly the first time i've been genuinely pleased that something's been so badly made

16:29because it's just incredible it's just crawling apart there's nothing nothing at all

16:38soon martine has removed all the bricks and successfully exposed the old fireplace

16:44looking really good it's a big space isn't it absolutely beautiful this particularly is lovely

16:51so it's time to try out the table it's not heavy it's just gonna be awkward i think but will it be the

17:00right size it'll fit it's incredible it's almost made to measure once all this is cleared out and

17:11that's gone that's gone that's gonna be perfect some jobs down here like plumbing and installing the

17:19kitchen appliances are in the hands of local tradesmen but martine is doing whatever she can

17:25to move things along too hey that includes building up her collection of renovated furniture to give the

17:32finished cantina the perfect ambiance the sooner that i can start taking some money from this new

17:40project the sooner i can definitely invest in the other possibilities that i've got here the tourist

17:48season is now just a few months away and progress in the cantina has been steady but it's far from ready

17:54for guests martine knows the village will only survive if it's also a thriving business and not just a

18:00monument to the past so now rabatana needs to pay its savior back for all her hard work

18:06i have got a possible booking six weeks for may if it can be ready oh that would just be amazing

18:14okay i think that's it it looks a lot better looks like a new piece of furniture

18:29over in normandy paul and yip also have the tourist season on their minds

18:34sometimes the work they do in la bouillère is urgent and risky today though it's more about aesthetics

18:40and they're focusing on the well that greets visitors when they first arrive

18:45this is the well in all its glory it's over seven meters deep and since it's at the gateway to the

18:51village it needs to make the right impression just now it's looking a bit sorry for itself

18:57it's only mud holding that together it's shocking really isn't it barely anything holding it together

19:04when paul and yip first moved to la bouillère the well was one of their most exciting finds

19:09hidden as it was behind years of vegetation

19:11we're in we're in ready stay quiet everyone shh that's deep this well when we first got here was

19:21up here it was a huge dome it had a roof on it didn't it but it was quite ugly and we don't think

19:29it was original because the stonework was all very different quite different the couple had to

19:35remove the stone canopy because a large ivy root had made it unstable but now that the

19:42the elements for a while it definitely needs rebuilding so this is what we're going to do

19:47dismantle that down to the ground clean it all up and then i can start laying on top of that

19:53and you know the worst thing to happen today is for him to be nosy and fall down the well

20:02that's better

20:05in the past the well would have been an essential hub of village life

20:09it would have supplied not only drinking and washing water but it would have been vital to

20:14irrigate the crops since la bouillère is connected to the mains now the well has become little more

20:20than a quaint reminder of the past but paul and yip hope to use it in the future for watering plants

20:26and flushing toilets

20:34all the mud's cleaned out now so now we're going to get the mixer on that out get a nice mix going

20:40and start building it back up paul and yip have years of renovating under their belts

20:48well let's let that mix but when you're putting a 200 year old village back together

20:53things rarely go to plan oh look the rain and mother nature seem to have got out of the wrong side of

21:01the bed the weather's against us today yeah so we've got our lovely summer parasol out which is

21:07usually to shield us from the sun but it's shielding us from the rain fully prepared

21:13just like the original builders in la bouillère paul and yip are experts at reusing old materials

21:21and the well is being rebuilt with granite stones they found scattered around the village

21:25yeah like a wedge that goes in no and they've learned from experience that stone masonry is more

21:35complicated than it looks that sort of size yeah

21:45you need to be a bit like goldilocks when it comes to choosing your materials

21:49too small uh oh no no a bit too big no sorry this is what this whole process involves any over

22:03here it's got to be right because then they all just they lock in spin it around a bit that's it

22:10it's just a lot to fill the gap there you go look at that i'm loving that one beautiful that is paul

22:29there you go despite the weather paul and yip have made a flying start

22:33but when the rain gets too heavy i feel like i need to complain to someone who's in charge of the

22:42weather i'm getting soaked they have no choice but to down tools because their mortar could be compromised

22:53the weather's beating us it has we got a bit done anyway if it was a nice summer's day like it

23:00ought to be yeah it'd be a joy to do yeah but if we have another good dry day at it we'll have it all

23:07done all paul and yip can do is hope for a change in the weather over the next few days because the

23:12concrete they've laid needs to set and knowing la bouillière there's always the risk of another job

23:18suddenly reaching the top of the critical list

23:21coming up in openso the taps have run dry and the culprits are on the loose the cows walked

23:33across the electric wire so the pump stopped working and we can't work out why and in la bouillière

23:40we're testing for oxygen paul and yip are experimenting probably ought to send a budgie

23:46or a candle down the world we won't be sending the budgie down bless the budget

24:02back in galicia it's nearly three weeks since martial and his daughters arrived in openso

24:07for their summer break and today they're cooking sunday lunch it's a very simple one it's just a

24:14roast chicken and mash there's nothing like a bit of hunger to get children to help

24:21anyway alice is good at cooking so i'm not going to discourage it i can't wait till she does a whole

24:27meal for me martial is separated from his wife but his french mother-in-law margot has been staying

24:33with them and they've all been mucking in together the glorious scenery and the chance to reconnect

24:39with nature has made the holiday a huge success but they've just hit a bump in the road and it could

24:45ruin the rest of their summer as well as their lunch we've had a bit of a problem the the water

24:50stopped coming up from the source on the other side of the river the cows walked across the electric

24:56wire so the pump stopped working and then when we fixed that there seemed to be an air bubble

25:03and basically we've been down there three times but uh it keeps stopping and we can't work out why

25:10openso's remote location and the fact that it's a sunday means martial can't call an emergency plumber

25:17the upside of living in a 200 year old village though is that it has its own backup plan

25:23this is the original way that the openso used to get his water um so this well is about as close

25:30as possible to all the houses and um people used to just come and use a bucket and let's see

25:40and i don't have to go too deep and the water's good you might have a little bit of grass but

25:45it's basically good and i've got more than enough water here save the hot water for washing up and

25:54we're there once he has successfully bought the village marshal is planning an extensive overhaul

26:00of the water system there you go that's your dinner which relies on modern technology

26:09and hopefully in future i'll have a pump running on solar panels bringing the water up that'd be the

26:14idea but that day is still a long way off and with the prospect of no hot showers giving everybody

26:22the shivers martial and alice decide to have one last go at fixing the pump themselves

26:29i'll call you on the walkie talkies and i'll ask you to pump it and then you come and stand here

26:34and in an ideal world you'll hear water after a short walk east martial reaches the river

26:44there's a pump behind you and there's a little reservoir here my source is on the other side of

26:49the river uh and we're gonna have a little check uh just make sure um there's nothing blocking it

26:55i can tell by the overflow here that there's no problem with the water coming from the source

27:00crossing the river i suspect the problem's at the top because we've already been here

27:05but we'll have a little go and just make sure

27:15alice hello

27:24right can you hear me properly

27:25alice i can't hear you so if you can hear me

27:30can you go and switch the fuse on so that the pump might work over

27:41all right so it goes she can hear me

27:46well done alice obviously you heard me you're not going to be able to tell me if uh if there's

27:50any water coming up can you the walkie-talkies might not be doing their job but at least the pump now is

28:01this end of things seem to be working we're getting electricity the fuse is on and off it's pumping

28:06oh hello yeah you came through this time leave things on can you hear me yeah i can hear you what

28:17is happening to this i flipped the switch but i can't hear any water coming

28:25with his hopes dashed marcel has no choice but to leave it to a plumber on monday

28:30he'd like to get cracking with an overhaul of the whole system but for now he'll have to make do with

28:35the repair that will last the summer

28:41i'm very reluctant to do anything permanent to a property that feels like a tempting fate

28:45i'll wait till it's mine but in the meantime uh i i do start having ideas as to um what could

28:52be done but um i'll wait till it's mine and then then i'll then i can start

29:06in normandy there's a clear sky at last so paul and yip can crack on with rebuilding the well

29:13but before they start they've decided to carry out a little science experiment

29:19we're testing for oxygen and this is all kind of like a precursor

29:22to me going down the well the bottom of the well is covered in salt so when the stonework is finished

29:30yip wants to clear it out from the inside good friend of ours mentioned yesterday that probably

29:38ought to send a budgie or a candle down the world to check the air quality down there we won't be

29:44sending the budgie down bless the budget so we're going to send a candle down there to see if the candle

29:49survives if the flame is snuffed out it's likely because the oxygen levels are low so it'll be

29:55dangerous for yip to venture down oh wow look nice calm nice and calm down there oh we're even gonna

30:03see oh hang on it's gone out oh it's gone out already wow that's interesting that is interesting

30:10i'm really shocked by that but the air quality is definitely not good down there the candle got

30:16snuffed out at three and a half meters halfway down two three meters i'm a bit disappointed because

30:23i want to be going down there unconvinced about the validity of their findings yip has an idea to

30:29improve the result there we go look got all the gear blast out any stagnant air in the well with their

30:36leaf blower don't drop that down there because you will be going down there together after a few minutes

30:43with their blower it's time for take two of the experiment i reckon it's made a difference look

30:54we didn't get that low before did we now we're probably at the six meters six and a half meter mark

31:03candle's still burning yeah it's just gone out that's interesting though it is interesting yeah so i think

31:10not today but another time i'll try agitating the air in there a bit more more to be revealed on that

31:18one with their findings positive but inconclusive paul and yip crack on with rebuilding the stonework

31:24while the weather is still dry it's going to be brilliant we'll get this done today yeah hopefully

31:29and it seems that today the stone gods are smiling on them it's a perfect shot because everything is

31:40slotting nicely into place it's fantastic this is

31:47after a few hours of hard graft paul and yip lay the final piece

31:51of their 3d granite jigsaw put it tight for me no overall good day got it done yeah um i'm just

32:01going to point it all up now as the next thing to do we're pleased with it i think it looks good

32:09the couple have to wait for another sunny morning to do the pointing but they've rebuilt so many

32:14crumbling walls in la bouillère that adding the final touches to the little well isn't a chore it's

32:19a labor of love it's amazing you know what a bit of pointing can do it transforms you know building

32:28or well or whatever you're doing it's just it's quite amazing really it makes it look loved and looked

32:34after and cared for la bouillère will be hosting more paying guests in about three weeks time

32:41so she definitely needs to look her best that just leaves one last task the first wish of the la bouillère

32:50well here we go nice and it's no secret what paul and yip are hoping for please find a way of us

33:05getting these roofs done coming up it's either it's benny or rosie there's a stranger in opensil

33:18no it's neither well i don't recognize him but has he brought good news

33:22and in rabatana a discovery in the cellar turns out to have a very surprising past

33:32my goodness me well done that man my god fantastic

33:38in galicia the plumbers have fixed opensil's water system and marcial is enjoying every last

33:55minute in his beloved village before his holiday comes to an end running a bar in east london is

34:01one thing and um being in a penso is uh the exact opposite it's seriously relaxing it's not just fun

34:09in the sun today though he also has some serious business on his agenda marcial will be signing the

34:16paperwork that gives him one final year to raise the rest of the money he needs to buy the village

34:20i've got uh benny the seller coming to uh visit me probably with her husband to see then possibly her

34:31sister and um rosie the um the agent

34:42let's see if it's benny or rosie

34:44no it's neither well i don't recognize him there's an unexpected visitor so marcial doesn't waste any

34:53time introducing himself as the future custodian

35:05jose luiz lives about a mile away and his family have farmed land nearby for generations

35:11but he has seen with his own eyes the gradual emptying of the village and the surrounding area

35:16i'm very pleased to meet uh jose luis he was born on the land so he's a young 68. he was saying a

35:22local school here where they used to walk used to have 100 children and now there's one

35:28today jose luis is here to pitch a land swap for a piece of openso he's got his eye on

35:41the land swaps until he actually finishes buying openso but it's reassuring to know that when he does

35:55there could be exciting opportunities ahead

35:58a short time later benny sennan and their estate agent rosie arrive to finalize the paperwork

36:18we're just doing a little signing we like to sign every year we come and we sign some papers

36:23this is the third extension that benny and sennan have agreed to but they've made it clear that this

36:30time will be the last and upon signature martial is committing to paying the balance by next july

36:43if he doesn't the sale could be off and he'll lose the 90 000 euros he's paid so far

36:48it's a huge risk for martial because he's still in dispute with the local council over the sale of

36:59his moorings in kent but for the sake of the village he loves it's a gamble he's prepared to take

37:07i'm confident of completing the purchase this time next year it will be mine and i can relax and start

37:15looking at the next stage which is all the possibilities of things i can do with it

37:25nearly a year later and it's june at martial's bar in east london he still hasn't sold his moorings

37:32but the big news is that he has managed to find the funds elsewhere and openso will soon belong to

37:39martial but my this is probably my last big adventure uh but i'm looking forward to it for

37:46most of our saviors the challenge starts on day one of renovations when they see the full extent of

37:52the work that lies ahead but martial has already endured five long years just trying to get to that point

38:01it's testament to his patience and determination that he wasn't prepared to give up on his dream

38:11when i put my original deposit i really thought i'd be competing the following summer

38:16then the pandemic happened so that knocked everyone sideways i would have hoped to have done it by now but

38:24most things in life take longer than you think

38:26marcial's now counting off the days before he heads to spain again with his girls for a summer holiday

38:33in just three weeks this time it won't just be the perfect getaway from his busy life in london though

38:40this time openso should finally belong to him

38:46i'm almost trying to just keep myself in check really you know um but i can't deny it's exciting

38:56back in rabatana it's march and work on martine's cantina under the mandarin suite

39:09is progressing nicely since she struggled for months to find builders martine is still pinching

39:15herself every time she sees the work they're doing and she's especially pleased with the walls

39:20on this occasion she hasn't kept the stones exposed but the builders are applying a light render where

39:27they can which is practical and doesn't bury the stonework completely here this is just exactly

39:35what i wanted to see where you see that there's just like let's be on the link the relief of the

39:42different the bricks and the stones so you can see but it's behind it's sealed in so it's going to be

39:48clean um i just think it's lovely it isn't just this cantina that's putting a spring in martine's

39:54step though there's another seller under the first property she bought in rabatana that has its own

40:00remarkable history and today she's going in for the first time in nearly two decades

40:09it's like going into her head okay it's probably going to be quite dark in here

40:14incredibly because of a dispute with the previous owner martine has been blocked from getting in

40:19here for 17 years wow it's fantastic she could have taken her case to court but chose instead to wait

40:28and hope the last owner would have a change of heart the story that she told me is that she never

40:33intended to sell this part she only intended to sell the bit upstairs but it's clearly on my deeds

40:40the previous owner has now died and her children have finally given martine the keys i'm really

40:47shocked at what it's like because it's so big compared with how big the house is upstairs it goes back so

40:53far right back into the timber it is like a time capsule it's just amazing because you know they've

40:59probably moved out 60 years ago and just about left everything the cantina is so fascinating that soon

41:07martine is joined by friends who are keen to help her explore

41:14this is santiago and antonella

41:20so this is a thing that would have been hanging when they killed the pig

41:23it would be hanging and they'd and they'd pick up on it yeah exactly like a horror film there's one more

41:37chamber for martine to discover oh my god and that's at the back of the cantina well this is

41:46like a vaulted ceiling i didn't know this was in here what a find upstairs doesn't come back this far

41:54by any means so this isn't under my house this is behind my house i'm really absolutely ecstatic

42:02i never thought this would be here i just thought it was another pokey little part of the cantina

42:06as well as the structural surprises the rear of the cantina is also helping martine get an insight

42:12into the way the locals made wine here these big glass jars are the demijans yeah they're empty so

42:20when the wine had finished fermenting at the right time they would be transferred from one demijan to

42:26the other by siphoning there's all of the tube that they would use you see it's still got the residue of

42:31old tannin on it at the back there's also another item that's caught martine's eye

42:39but it wasn't used in winemaking it's heavy he says it's about 20 kilos this large basin would have

42:46played a key but slightly gruesome role in the production of cured meats like salami and pancetta

42:54my goodness me well done that man my god fantastic look at that how beautiful this is solid copper on the

43:06outside does this lovely antique piece of history isn't it used to take the hair off of the obviously

43:13dead pig this would have been used as well to melt those extra pieces of fat and that would be poured

43:18over the salami once the salami was cured it would be put in jars and that was a way of keeping it air

43:24tight the cantina is packed full of vintage treasures and martine couldn't be more pleased but

43:31perhaps most fascinating of all is a box of documents that really do bring the past to life

43:39this is like all my birthdays have come at once this is from a person from the army i think from 19

43:4829. wow martine was blocked from opening the door of her cantina for 17 years but it's definitely been

43:56worth the wait i just love anything like this i just feel that we're we've got a piece of history

44:04in our hands here today there's other jobs she needs to do around the village but it won't be long

44:09before she can delve deeper into the box of documents and bring more of rabatana's history out into the light

44:16next time enter into your home for the next week paul and yip come to a big decision this is definitely

44:32the start of a new chapter in our lives definitely while in italy left behind artifacts tell martine a

44:40story of her village's past drinking wine out of a glass like this it's just so typical and after a

44:47five-year wait martial hopes this is the year he finally buys his village this was dying really and it's a privilege

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