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Help Bought Village Season 04 Episode 31
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Fun
Transcript
00:00A lot to be responsible for.
00:02Sawyer coming to help!
00:04In this series...
00:05Keep clear.
00:08We step into the forgotten villages...
00:10On this beam here, there's some medieval writing.
00:13To meet the brave new visionaries...
00:17This is gonna be fun.
00:19...and seasoned saviours...
00:21On top of the world.
00:23...who are fighting to bring these abandoned settlements back to life.
00:27We're just trying to pick up the pieces, really.
00:29And hope they somehow go back together.
00:31As they turn ruins into homes...
00:33...and rubble into extraordinary businesses.
00:37And you can just lay down and sleep under the stars, literally.
00:40But will they buckle under the strain?
00:44Good way to get it out!
00:46Or find the strength to see it through?
00:49That weighs a ton.
00:51As they restore the past to build their future.
00:55I can't believe it!
00:57I bought a village!
01:06Today, we meet the new custodians of a hamlet in France.
01:11This is the big barn.
01:12This was used in the medieval times.
01:14It's all made of oak.
01:16Just so fascinating to have all this history in our village.
01:20Meanwhile, another set of saviours...
01:23Preserving the history of Lehu is important.
01:25This thing's been here over 300 years.
01:28...fight to give their own settlement a new purpose in life.
01:32I think that there is a certain amount of pride in making it a useful place again.
01:40And we're back with Neil in north-west Spain, as his battle to save his village continues...
01:45Okay, test time.
01:48...the modern age finally arriving with his new water system.
01:52Whoa, yeah, there's plenty of water.
01:54It works!
01:57When our village saviours first purchase one of the many abandoned settlements of Europe...
02:12...it's often the case that they never fully understand just what it is they've bought.
02:17That is, until they start to peel back the layers.
02:23Such is the case with the French village of La Cloutière...
02:26...80 miles north-east of the city of Rennes.
02:31While the main farmhouse dates to the 17th century...
02:34...the village's barn is thought to have been constructed in the Middle Ages.
02:38The settlement was once home to a thriving agricultural community.
02:46The residents primarily making their living from dairy farming.
02:57Ready?
02:58The battle to bring La Cloutière back to life began in 2021...
03:03...when Budo, a joiner and carpenter, and his retired retail manager wife, Tracy...
03:08...bought the settlement for 47,000 euros.
03:12The condition of our property when we first arrived was in a derelict state.
03:16You know, it was unlivable.
03:19We had to literally cut through the brambles, pull our caravan in, clear a space...
03:24...and then we started to live in the caravan.
03:26It was very difficult.
03:29First winter was horrendous.
03:31Waking up in the morning with ice inside the caravan.
03:35We were living in it permanently for just over a year.
03:40Many crumbling structures are dotted across La Cloutière's four acres.
03:44Relics of the village's previous existence.
03:47And even three years on, the couple are still unsure what they actually own.
03:52We're the cadastres, what they call a cadastres.
03:54And it gives you a plan of what you're buying.
03:57It marks it out for you.
03:58All the plots.
03:59And it just showed you these buildings here and there.
04:02And we couldn't even fathom where they were at first because the land was so overgrown.
04:06What they have uncovered, though, is remarkable.
04:11An empty doorway is the only part of the old milking shed that remains standing.
04:18Elsewhere, a bakery, once home to a huge bread oven, which would have served the settlement's residents, sits in ruins.
04:26And an abandoned 19th century cottage lies empty, devoid of life.
04:35There was six foot, maybe seven foot, of bracken and brambles.
04:39And we had to go and investigate, and it took us months.
04:42I mean, we've had the cottage, and we've been in it four times, and we've been here for three years.
04:50There's so much to...
04:51There's so much to go at.
04:52To look at, to investigate.
04:54I mean, a couple of weeks ago, I found an outside toilet building just over in the woodland, and I've only just found that.
05:04The couple are also uncovering fascinating facts about the old barn on their land.
05:16This is the big barn.
05:17I'm going to prepare it for a workshop, and it's a good space to work in for me.
05:24And we've got some history in here.
05:26We think this is old, and older than the house, even.
05:31And the reason I say that is, if you look on this beam here, there's some old, we believe, medieval writing.
05:39So we've had a French person come in here, and he can't read it.
05:42So we believe it might be Latin, or some other language.
05:45We don't know.
05:47We do know that in the local area, there was an old castle, and it fell into ruin.
05:52And then the local people took parts of that castle to build their houses.
05:58The other element of this is a door.
06:01So this is what we call in the trade peg joinery.
06:04This was used in the medieval times.
06:06It's all made of oak.
06:07It was held to the bracings with pegs.
06:10There was no nail fixes as such.
06:12So this was what makes us think this barn is very old.
06:17It's just so fascinating to have all this history.
06:21Since taking ownership, Tracy and Budo have created a stunning bedroom in their farmhouse,
06:30established a substantial kitchen garden, and they also have the beginnings of a small lavender retail business.
06:37The farmhouse kitchen is Budo's current big project, which he is lovingly crafting by hand.
06:43In front of us, we have a lot of work, but we knew this. This is part of the plan.
06:49We are very fortunate that Budo has got a lot of experience as a master craftsman.
06:56So we will not be waiting around for workmen. We will do it ourselves.
07:00While Tracy and Budo are still very much at the beginning of their village restoration journey,
07:15others have been carefully piecing their settlements back together over a much longer timeframe.
07:20Just under a hundred miles west of Gijón, in the Asturias region of Spain,
07:25lies Arruñada, a hillside hamlet dating back to the mid-19th century.
07:32Once a bustling farming community, the settlement fell into disrepair some 50 years ago
07:38and slowly began to crumble.
07:41Until 2005, when former boatbuilder Neil Christie from Newcastle
07:47began the long task of saving the village.
07:49It was a rather daunting sort of appearance to start with.
07:55I couldn't actually see much of it, to be honest,
07:57because it was covered in brambles and trees and everything else.
08:00It was always potential.
08:09Neil paid just 45,000 euros for four collapsing stone buildings,
08:13a small forest, a mountain stream and eight acres of land.
08:20His first job was to breathe new life back into the main farmhouse,
08:24which is now his family home.
08:27It's actually gone on a few years more than I anticipated
08:31because there's always more and more to do.
08:33We met Neil in 2022 when he began renovating some of the village's other abandoned buildings,
08:45transforming them into holiday homes.
08:49I'm trying to use as many of the traditional ways as possible.
08:52It looks more, I don't know, in keeping, to my point of view.
08:56Neil also needed to secure a reliable water supply.
08:59Sat on a hillside, a number of springs passed nearby to the property,
09:05once utilised by the farming families who previously lived at Arunada.
09:10So, Neil began building a water pumping system
09:14to bring the village into the 21st century.
09:17Now that water there is coming from 120 metres down underneath the ground
09:25where the pump head is.
09:30While some plans were progressing, a long-standing legal issue
09:34threatened to drastically alter Neil's vision for the village.
09:37Four of the crumbling buildings he believed he owned
09:40were found not to be recorded on the deeds for the village.
09:43Neil was forced to halt any plans to renovate them
09:46until the matter could be resolved.
09:49The buildings are deteriorating rapidly at the moment.
09:52This gets to a point where even I would think twice about having a go at this.
09:56It's August in Arunada.
10:04The holiday cottages are still a work in progress.
10:08With good weather over the summer months,
10:10Neil has been focused on his outdoor projects,
10:13but is keen to complete the work on his potential rental properties.
10:16The shell's more or less finished.
10:19I've got to put new doors on the upper floor.
10:23There's stairs to go in, floors to go in, plumbing, electrics,
10:26various things like that.
10:27There's lots of bits and pieces inside.
10:29In itself, it's not a huge project, but it takes time.
10:32The remaining abandoned buildings continue to have an uncertain future.
10:36Their legal status still wrapped up in Spanish bureaucracy,
10:38leaving Neil to watch on helplessly as the structures crumble.
10:43This is the Oreo, which was a grain store.
10:47Won't be there for much longer looking at the trees growing through the roof.
10:50Then you've got a rather large building as well,
10:53which when we came here, they had a roof on it.
10:56But in the last five or six years, it's gradually just in.
11:01I'd hate to see the whole thing in a hole in the ground,
11:04because that's the way it's going.
11:06For now, Neil can only deal with those matters within his immediate control.
11:11The modernisation of the village's water system is nearly complete.
11:15It's certainly a far cry from how villagers used to get their water.
11:21In centuries past, with the aid of their livestock,
11:24water would have been collected from the stream
11:26and then carried home and stored.
11:28But those days are long gone.
11:33Neil's new system features a huge water storage vessel
11:37filled from an underground well
11:39that will pump fresh water to the various houses around the village.
11:44OK, test time.
11:46When it gets down to here,
11:48it will start the borehole pump up to pump the water into the tank.
11:53When it gets to the top, it'll stop it automatically.
11:55With the system only recently completed,
11:59Neil is keen to make sure it works.
12:02Still on rudimentary electrics, but the other end's connected.
12:06So now we can actually do a test run to see if the water actually does get down there.
12:12Stage one is to fill the tank.
12:15Well, it's definitely filling. I can hear it.
12:17Next, Neil goes to his plant room.
12:21Time to test.
12:23To check if the system's pressure is high enough to distribute water to the village's various buildings.
12:29Whoa, yeah, there's plenty of water.
12:31It works.
12:33It works.
12:36I'm super pleased to see this.
12:39Now that water is coming from 120 metres at the bottom of the borehole,
12:45plus another 30, 35 metres above to the tank,
12:49and all the 130 metres back down again to here.
12:52So I'm quite pleased with that.
12:53A vital part of the infrastructure to bring the village into the modern world is now complete.
12:59But with his holiday accommodation renovations still a work in progress,
13:04it's clear Neil's battle isn't over yet.
13:10Coming up...
13:12The house behind us has been empty for about 20 years.
13:15Village owners in France embark on their next big project.
13:19It's a messy job, it's a smelly job, but it needs to be done.
13:23Angela Cloutier...
13:25To have this here, it's just...
13:28It's like a dream come true.
13:29It's just so magical.
13:31Tracy and Budo have big plans for their land.
13:35The beginnings of our lavender empire.
13:48While the ghost villages of Europe have lain empty for generations,
13:57in their pasts, many have borne witness to pivotal moments in world history.
14:04Such as the hamlet of Le Où, 70 miles from Caen, in northwest France.
14:12Le Où dates back to the 17th century.
14:15Originally a farming community, livestock and families would have lived and worked side by side.
14:22But during the Second World War, with this part of France under German control,
14:26the farm was occupied by the forces of the Wehrmacht.
14:31There were Germans, Nazis, if you like, coming through here.
14:35I think there would have been quite a lot of hardship during that period.
14:39It's been through a lot, and I think that there is a certain amount of pride in making it a useful place again.
14:49Although it survived the war, not long after, Le Où fell into steep decline.
14:54And might have been lost forever if Paul, a finance director, and his wife Louise, hadn't been overwhelmed by a desire to save it.
15:07Preserving the history of Le Où is important.
15:09I mean, we know this thing's been here over 300 years.
15:12We'd like it to be here another 300 years.
15:16I think if it wasn't for us, it would have all fallen down.
15:19And it's us crazy Brits are the ones that sort of go along and go,
15:22Oh, we'd like this stone thing.
15:24It's falling to bits.
15:25It's falling to bits.
15:27But we'll have to spend a lot of money and put it back together again.
15:28The couple purchased this special hamlet in 2020 for 160,000 euros.
15:36As the latest custodians, they became the owners of seven buildings, including two farmhouses and three rental sheets, as well as a hectare of land.
15:47I mean, the place needs quite a lot of work just to be able to inhabit, never mind living.
15:54We wanted a kitchen that worked and some heat.
15:59So our initial planning was get the basics in there so we can live in the house and then get a couple of sheets up and working reasonably quickly.
16:08That was our plan. Yeah.
16:09That's what we did.
16:14We've now been following Paul and Louise's journey for a year and a half, joining them as they began to build an impressive new guest facility.
16:21What you can see here is the land where we're intending to do the next big project in the next 12 months, which is our swimming pool.
16:29The couple hoped that a pool would attract even more guests to book with them in the future.
16:35But ultimately, they intend to reinvest all new profits into saving Lou's remaining abandoned farmhouse.
16:41At the moment, it doesn't look like a great deal, but this is going to be the place where we're going to live and where we're going to make our little corner of paradise for us.
16:53If Louise and Paul were ever to call the farmhouse their forever home, the first piece of the jigsaw was to build their pool.
17:02It's exciting because, you know, they're finally breaking ground. It's going to be amazing. I'm so excited about it.
17:14And while the contractors got on with the construction of the pool, Paul and Louise pulled up their sleeves and began to demolish some of the centuries old internal structures of the farmhouse.
17:24It's quite hard work, this.
17:34By October 2023, their outdoor swimming pool was finally complete, leaving Louise on cloud nine.
17:43It's something that makes me happy.
17:46And it's daft, really, because it's the swimming pool, you know, but I guess it's something I never thought I'd have, especially not in such a beauty.
17:54It's a beautiful setting, so it's quite emotional.
18:06It's now June 2024, and the couple are feeling confident about their future.
18:13The pool was a big investment. We're talking about 55,000 euros. Ouch.
18:17However, is it worth it? First signs are good. We've had our best spring ever. It's certainly helped bring people in.
18:25And our summer bookings at this stage are well ahead of past years. So we'll see at the end of the year. But so far, the signs are good.
18:31July and August time in the high summer, we'll roll it back. People will be sunbathing. People will be swimming. It will be like a proper holiday resort. And we will be sitting down there watching going, mission accomplished.
18:49With the pool now complete, Louise and Paul can fully focus on the renovation of the old farmhouse, which will eventually become their dream home.
18:57Rose Cottage, the redevelopment, is the last big project. It's going to cost us about 100,000 euros. We'll do all the work we can ourselves, but it can't go over budget.
19:06So Louise can't have a marble ceilings and grand tiles. We've had to make some choices already for the budget.
19:12Yeah. But it should work. After that, we'll be heads down running the business for the next few years.
19:20Until then, it's time for the couple to roll up their sleeves.
19:24The house behind us has been empty for about 20 years. What we're working on now is the demolition we've agreed to do before the builders come in.
19:30Upstairs now, mattresses, waste, straw, goodness knows what. So we need to clear it out a bit.
19:37It's a messy job. It's a smelly job, but it needs to be done.
19:4817 miles away at the historic farming settlement of La Cloutière.
19:52As Tracy and Budo lovingly bring their village's farmhouse back to life, they're also breathing new life into the land.
20:00As well as farming dairy cattle, in the past, La Cloutière would have also fed itself, working the land to grow vegetables and feed all the families who lived here.
20:11Returning their village to a self-sufficient way of life is a big part of Tracy and Budo's dreams.
20:17At the minute, we're growing for ourselves. The long-term plan is for us to grow enough food and selling the produce.
20:28We are also growing our own lavender. I actually dry the lavender and sell it online.
20:35And having this extra bit of income will obviously help us put it back into our renovation.
20:42Today, Tracy is readying the soil with lime fertilizer before planting this year's lavender crop.
20:51It doesn't actually take long. It's actually quite a quick process, really.
20:57And I get to smell the lovely lavender as well.
21:00We just love lavender. And there is just so much products we can make.
21:07And also, because it connects us to the bees, we want to encourage the bees to pollinate the flowers.
21:16Budo is an avid beekeeper, and we are looking to make candles.
21:21So we'll incorporate the beeswax with the lavender as well.
21:25So, we'll roll this out.
21:31With the soil fertilized, Budo and Tracy lay a membrane along the full length of the planting area.
21:38I'm sure they have tractors that can do this sort of thing.
21:40You grab that side.
21:47And we'll work our way up.
21:50There we go. Yeah, that's lovely.
21:55There we go.
21:59So, what we'll do now is we'll peg it down all the way through.
22:02And that's the system we'll have.
22:04All the way.
22:05All the way down.
22:09And this is absolutely fantastic for stopping the weeds coming through.
22:15This is essential, I would say.
22:18Yeah.
22:19I'd recommend anyone having a lavender field, do this.
22:21It's safe to come in here, keep using the...
22:24...shrimmer in between and damaging the plants.
22:27Well, that was a good look.
22:28That nearly worked on there, anyway.
22:32Next, Budo marks out a suitable distance for each new plant,
22:36while Tracy burns a hole in the membrane.
22:41Great job, Trace.
22:43Finished.
22:44We've got 30.
22:4530, okay.
22:46We normally have 25 in a row.
22:48Yep, but we're gonna...
22:49But because the rows are getting longer...
22:51Yep.
22:52...because of the angle of the road going away...
22:53We'll just add more.
22:54We're gonna get more plants in.
22:55Doesn't it?
22:56Can I give you these, Budo?
22:57Yeah.
23:01I'm just trying to pick out the more mature plants.
23:06The seedlings Tracy is planting were created from cuttings from last year's lavender.
23:11This self-sustaining farming method keeps costs low...
23:15...and increases the profitability of their harvest.
23:19Watering teams here.
23:20Mercy, Budo.
23:21See, Budo.
23:23These seedlings are just from last September, aren't they?
23:26And look how lovely they are.
23:27Yeah.
23:28They soon grow.
23:29Yep.
23:30The lavender definitely likes it here in Normandy.
23:33The beginnings of our lavender empire.
23:35I can smell the lavender.
23:38Yeah.
23:39How beautiful is this though?
23:40Yeah.
23:41Just wonderful.
23:42Magical.
23:44And in like one year they'll be like that.
23:46That was last year, wasn't it?
23:47Yep.
23:48The whole field is turned purple from end to end.
23:52The people going by on the road, they'll just love it.
23:55And they come and buy our products?
23:57Yeah.
24:00Budo?
24:01Yeah.
24:02Give me a high five.
24:04There we go.
24:05First row of 2024, 30 lavenders planted.
24:11To have this here is just, it's like a dream come true.
24:15It's just so magical.
24:17And just today planting, I just love being out here.
24:21I just get so much joy.
24:22For our village saviours, bringing settlements back to life is not just about saving crumbling buildings.
24:29It's also about bringing back nature and the wildlife that would have once thrived.
24:35For Trace and Budo, every day marks a big step forward for La Cloutier's future.
24:45Coming up, Neil makes a geological discovery.
24:49It's a small chunk of quartz stone.
24:52They used it to hold the top of the chimney pots on.
24:55And in France...
24:59We're down there.
25:01...Louise and Paul's demolition proves exhilarating.
25:06Well done, you.
25:07Thank you, babe.
25:20Back at the village of Arañada in northern Spain, Neil is continuing his work to bring modern-day amenities to his ancient village.
25:28Next, hot water, powered by the sun.
25:32By installing these, it's going to give us more than enough hot water to cover the entire summer period, in fact, probably most of the year.
25:42The panels themselves are going to be going on top of here.
25:48There's going to be a frame system built all the way along here.
25:52I've got ten panels, and they're going to be level facing almost due south.
25:57So it gets the benefit of the sun, which will be around here in about an hour's time.
26:05Before the panels can be installed, Neil needs to level the area with his digger.
26:10And it's not long until his settlement reveals more hidden history.
26:28As you can see, it's a small chunk of quartz stone.
26:32As I said, it's absolutely everywhere.
26:34They used it in construction.
26:36In fact, most of the buildings in this area actually use a chunk of quartz on the top of the chimneys to hold the top of the chimney pots on.
26:45Like a stabiliser for the roofs.
26:48With enough earth shifted, Neil moves on to building a frame for the panels.
26:55Very simple.
26:57Cold water goes in the bottom, heats it up, pumped up through the top.
27:00Takes the water out, hot water out, they're all linked together in series.
27:05And then it's pumped up to the storage tank and transferred to the other tanks.
27:09The plastic, pretty robust, but I'm building a decent frame so that they are stable.
27:17Should the wind get behind them or anything like that, I'm not sure how long they would last with full of water as well.
27:22So I'm just, at the moment, just marking out exactly where the cuts are going to have to go.
27:32So far, so good.
27:47Just double-check that measurement.
27:50That should be 50 inches, which it is exactly.
27:54That, theoretically, now should sit exactly as it does.
28:05One down, only 19 to go.
28:11If you look at the overall costs, including all the plumbing and everything else,
28:16round about 2,000 euros or thereabouts for everything.
28:18So, if you calculated the amount of electricity in equivalent,
28:24you may be talking about 2 or 3 years in reality.
28:28It lasts at least 10 years, I would think.
28:31I mean, that's pretty solid stuff, yeah.
28:34As with everything at Arunyada, completing the project is still a while off yet.
28:39No sooner does Neil begin work on one project when something more pressing demands his attention.
28:44Having discovered water ingress to one of his properties,
28:48he needs to create some new drainage to solve the problem.
28:52As far as finishing jobs round here, difficult, very difficult.
28:58There's so much, so many parallel tracks going on at the same time,
29:02and I sort of jump from one thing to another.
29:04Much to the annoyance of my wife, of course.
29:06I'm sure she wants the thing finished and done with.
29:09I've only got 24 hours in a day.
29:10I work about 12 of them already, so I've got to sleep some time.
29:21To begin the rebuild of a lost village,
29:24you often first need to demolish what was already there.
29:27And in Normandy, that's exactly what Louise and Paul are doing to their old farmhouse.
29:32Now, I can go up and move the mattress,
29:35which is the tricky bit,
29:37because I want to make sure I don't come through the ceiling as well.
29:39You always do the fun bits.
29:41Well, you can do them if you want to, Lou, but I don't think you want to do this bit, do you?
29:44No, probably not, actually.
29:46Let's see, can I move it?
29:49That's the first question.
29:51Ew.
29:53Oh, my God.
29:55Hello, Smokey.
29:57There's a cat up there.
29:59It's the cat's alternative residence, I think.
30:01Right, Lou, this is a box-frame mattress, so it's heavier than I thought it was going to be.
30:08So we stand well clear because it's full of wood.
30:11OK.
30:13Oh.
30:15Well, thank goodness they don't make mattresses like this anymore.
30:18Exactly.
30:19I mean, anything could be living in it.
30:22Lots of things probably are living in it.
30:25Lots of things are living in it.
30:26Including what the cat's was.
30:27Yeah, oh, the cats aren't going to be very pleased with us, are they?
30:30No, they're not.
30:32Yet another box-spring is waiting to be removed from the upstairs.
30:36They first became popular in the mid-19th century, and given this one's location, it could be that old.
30:42I'm actually going to have to cut the floorboards to get to this mattress, to put this floor down on top of the mattress.
30:48So this is the insulation layer between the animals, who are downstairs, and the people who are upstairs in this part of the building.
30:54Interesting.
30:55Paul's discovery is a fascinating peek into the past usage of this building.
31:02It wasn't unusual for farmhouses like this to be inhabited by both families and their livestock.
31:08As they slept, they would have drawn warmth from the animals below.
31:11What we'll need, Lou, is I'm going to rip the mattress to pieces by hand.
31:28OK, I'll go and get some bags.
31:30Yes, please.
31:33With the dirty old mattress filling removed, Paul needs to draw on all his reserves of strength to heave the heavy wooden frame to the edge of the upper floor.
31:43Oh, my goodness.
31:45Oh, do you need me to come up and help?
31:47Lou, I just need you not to say anything for a minute.
31:49OK.
31:50Let's see if I can get this down. Stand well back, Lou.
31:53We're back, we're back.
31:55This is going to be a big crash.
32:03We're down.
32:04Oh, my God.
32:05Thank God for that.
32:07Well done, you.
32:08Thank you, babe.
32:10Thank you, babe.
32:11That's amazing.
32:12With the big objects like the mattress now dealt with, there remains decades worth of old timber and junk still to remove.
32:20He's got stuck in now, that's it. He's got a bit between his teeth. He's not going to stop now till he's finished.
32:25He likes to see it through to the very end.
32:28Exactly.
32:29I'm going to put through a few bits of wood down, Lou, if I can.
32:33Yeah.
32:34Watch out there.
32:35Oh, I get very nervous when he's doing this stuff and it's dangerous.
32:38Yeah, and then she says to me about it and it makes me nervous.
32:41I know, exactly.
32:43I've got to try and keep quiet because it makes it worse if I keep going on about it.
32:47I just want him to come down now.
32:48Right, I'm coming down now.
32:49He's done as much as he can.
32:51Good job!
32:52Thank you, boo-boo.
32:56I think we're going to bite deep, don't you?
32:58I think we are, yeah. I'm hungry now.
33:00Good job.
33:01Thanks, Lou. Thanks for your help.
33:02No, it's all right. I don't feel like I did much.
33:04Let's get some lunch.
33:05Let them have lunch.
33:07I'm tired.
33:10Lunch time.
33:11Yeah.
33:17Coming up, Budo uses an ancient material to build a modern kitchen.
33:23Wow, wow, look at that.
33:25That's why I love wood.
33:26And it's going to look wonderful in Tracey's kitchen.
33:28While at Lowoo...
33:29That could be quite old.
33:32Louise!
33:33Found some newspapers.
33:35Paul makes a discovery, opening a window to the past.
33:39We'll try and iron them out and put them away safe.
33:41Oh, it's a surprise.
33:42Back at the farming settlement of La Cloutier in Normandy, Tracey and Budo's caravan days may be behind them.
34:02But for now, that only applies to their sleeping arrangements.
34:06The caravan still serves a vital daily function for the couple.
34:10This is my kitchen.
34:13This is where I do all my cooking.
34:15It's not the ideal kitchen for everyone, but it's served us well.
34:20Budo has been very busy working on our new kitchen, which is inside the farmhouse.
34:28And everything he will be making from scratch.
34:32And I can't tell you, I'm just so excited to get in there.
34:36I'm actually now counting down the days.
34:40Poor Tracey.
34:41She's been cooking away in that kitchen for three years.
34:44I obviously, you know, got on with it.
34:46I adapted with the cooking in the caravan, but I just, I need the space.
34:52Like, when I prepare certain things, you're lacking the space.
34:56You have to move everything, and it is a pain.
35:00Pressure's on me now.
35:02She's a very good cook as well, Tracey.
35:04So, you know, she's looked after me and her.
35:07So I need, she deserves a good kitchen, you know, and I'm going to make it for her, and I'm going to finish it.
35:12And it's a dream kitchen.
35:14There's not many people that will have a kitchen like that.
35:19To ask someone to custom build that kitchen for you, you are probably looking from start to finish maybe £70,000.
35:26And how much is it going to cost us?
35:32I think from start to finish maybe €7,000.
35:36If you have the knowledge, you can save a lot of dosh.
35:42I just cannot wait, really. I'm so excited.
35:45And on that note, no pressure then, eh?
35:50Like the ancient dwellers who would have first lived here, Budo is drawing on materials that are available to him close at hand.
35:58So, that's probably about 170 to 180 years old.
36:04Oak grows very slowly, takes time to get to this size.
36:06We carpenters, we use oak, and the reason we use it is its longevity.
36:12It lasts for such a long time.
36:13I mean, there's still buildings standing in the world that are a thousand years old and made of oak.
36:19Oak will last for hundreds and hundreds of years if maintained, looked after.
36:25But I will shortly be planking this up and getting it ready for the drying process to get it ready to use.
36:31I turn this into a product, you know, I turn this into something, whether it's furniture, parts of a building.
36:39And today, mirroring the work of the 17th century craftsman who built the farmhouse, Budo is turning local timber into a product for the new kitchen.
36:49I've got some sweet chestnut here, which is another beautiful wood.
36:53It comes from the oak family, actually.
36:55This wood is going on the interior of the cabinets.
36:57It's not going to be painted, it's going to be finished in its natural state.
37:00So you won't see this until you open them doors and then it hits you, this beautiful, sweet chestnut.
37:09As Budo skillfully begins to mill the timber, it's clear that his affinity with wood is deeply ingrained.
37:15Give it a little brush.
37:16You can see it's still slightly wet, even though it's been drying for a long time.
37:30Look at that grain pattern, look.
37:31I could make a tabletop out of that.
37:34How beautiful is that, eh?
37:36But this is where you really see it because the light's coming down.
37:39Wow.
37:40Wow, look at that.
37:42That's amazing.
37:43That's why I love wood.
37:44You know, it's such a beautiful material.
37:47It's never the same.
37:49Every time it's a different shape, different pattern.
37:51Just so beautiful.
37:52And it's going to look wonderful in Tracy's kitchen.
37:57By drawing on the ancient and natural resources he has close at hand to rebuild La Cloutière, Budo is helping the village to retain its proud historical identity.
38:08Back at the 300-year-old village of Le Roux in northwest France, where Louise and Paul are continuing their interior demolition work on the old farmhouse.
38:24With nearly all the existing upper floor now removed, Paul is able to visualize how their new home might look.
38:31We're going to have a nice open-plan living, kitchen, dining room at the far side.
38:36I'll have a study to do my work down here.
38:39Utility at the back.
38:41Upstairs, an art room for Louise when she has time for her hobbies.
38:44Bathroom.
38:46Then a big bedroom and dressing room just for us.
38:49Hopefully, less than a year from now, we'll be in.
38:51That's the plan.
38:53There's an awful lot of work still to be done before they reach that point.
38:56Contractors will do the bulk of the renovation, but to save money, Paul and Louise are quite happy to get their hands dirty.
39:02So, what I'm going to do first, I'm going to try and rake the stuff off the top.
39:08Ah.
39:14Paul has invested in an array of power tools to assist him in the demolition.
39:18Okay, so, let's see if I can get through this.
39:31Okay.
39:33I'm glad I wasn't underneath that.
39:37I just need to clear the junk up, but this bay's done.
39:41It's faster than I thought it was going to be, actually.
39:42I thought it was going to take ages to cut through.
39:45In amongst all the dirt and detritus from the demolition, Paul makes a discovery.
39:52Newspaper. Ah, interesting.
39:55Any stories on them?
39:57Charles Lindbergh finished his voyage on the 13th of February.
40:02Ooh, that could be quite old.
40:05Louise!
40:07Found some newspapers!
40:08Some interesting stuff here, because there's a bit about Charles Lindbergh.
40:14He finished his voyage.
40:16That must be Havana, La Havana, I guess.
40:18La Havana.
40:20The 13th of February.
40:22The aviator...
40:24Has departed to what?
40:25Yeah, has departed St. Louis or somewhere.
40:28Flight of 1,200 miles.
40:29Flight of 1,200 miles.
40:31To the Latin America.
40:32So it's St. Louis to Havana.
40:34Flatten America, to Havana.
40:35Wow.
40:36Well, we'll try and flatten them out, we'll try and iron them out and put them away safe.
40:39Oh, it's a surprise.
40:42Charles Lindbergh was a pioneering American aviator who famously flew in his single-engine
40:47aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis, from Long Island, New York, to Paris, the first ever solo flight across the Atlantic.
40:54This historic article reports on his celebrity flying tour of the Caribbean and the aftermath of his feat, which Lindbergh used as a way to promote air mail across the region.
41:07Meanwhile, after the excitement of the historical find, it's back to the modern era to bring down the last section of the upper floor.
41:14There.
41:15That's that done.
41:16It's like pulling a tooth out.
41:17Yes.
41:18Whoa!
41:19Right.
41:20I'm going to cut here.
41:21There's probably some pivotal bit you'll cut in a minute and it'll all come down.
41:35Exactly.
41:36So, keep a hold of the ladder.
41:37Yeah.
41:44Can I wax something?
41:45Which, which bit?
41:46Well, which bit do you reckon?
41:47That bit, this bit on the end bit.
41:49Try.
41:50It's asking to be one.
41:51Hang on, wait.
41:52Oh.
41:53Oh.
41:54Okay.
42:04Oh!
42:06Oh, it's quite empowering, this.
42:08There you go.
42:09Right.
42:10Stand back.
42:16Oh.
42:22Oh, wow.
42:23That's the hope would happen.
42:25Oh, my gosh.
42:28Oh, my goodness.
42:31The good news is the top pea mustn't fallen down.
42:35Yeah.
42:36No, that's good news.
42:46I think that will do for today.
42:49Yeah.
42:50I can taste all this dust.
42:51Oh, so can I.
42:53I think.
42:55Time for a break and a shower.
42:56Yeah.
42:58And we'll let the dust settle.
42:59That's excellent progress, though, isn't it?
43:00Yes.
43:01An early day.
43:02Absolutely.
43:03And that's what they said to do, is to leave these beams,
43:06these supporting beams.
43:07Yes.
43:08And chop the rest.
43:09And get rid of everything else.
43:10That's exactly what we're doing.
43:11So it'll be mission accomplished.
43:13Exactly.
43:14It's an amazing building, really.
43:16It is.
43:17Once you take all the gloop and the rotten wood away,
43:20the structure's not bad.
43:22No.
43:23It just needs some work to bring it up to date.
43:25It's getting there, babe.
43:26Yeah.
43:27Good progress today.
43:28It is good progress.
43:29I'm proud of you, dear.
43:30And I'm proud of you, too.
43:31Having peeled back the layers at L'Ou, Paul and Louise are left with a shell, from which
43:40they can derive hope and determination to continue their quest to save their settlement.
43:46Next time...
43:47Stand keep clear.
43:52...Louise and Paul peel back the layers at their French hamlet.
43:59And that is why I stand well clear.
44:01Meanwhile, in Normandy, Budo breathes new life into his village.
44:07When we're doing any renovations here, we are trying to keep it as traditional as possible.
44:12And in Spain, Neil battles to free his settlement from nature's grasp.
44:18It's the first one out of the way.
44:19It's about 155 to go.
44:22...
44:37Well, I feel good.
44:51You
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