Help! We Bought a Village Season 4 Episode 33

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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.

00:21The 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.

01:14Oh, bless you!

01:15Or will it all fall down around their ears?

01:18Oh, come out, come out, come out, come out, come out, come out, come out, come out!

01:24Oh, dear.

01:25as they try to restore the past to build their future because there's a whole village to be built

01:32yeah today a Spanish saviour juggles the multiple demands of his lost village any one time there

01:43could be eight to ten different jobs running in parallel here one thing's for sewer I don't get

01:48bored while in France another hamlet calls out for help so I've got jobs every day I wake up every

01:55day I do the job go to bed think about a job wake up do another job and that's my life elsewhere in

02:03Normandy oh my god we've just bought a money pit here this is never gonna end saviours are having

02:10to dig deep abandoning the project really isn't an option for us at this point

02:18when the ancient villages of Europe were first constructed it's hard to imagine that the

02:31original builders would have envisioned these structures still to be standing many centuries

02:35later indeed few were built with longevity in mind and often building techniques were more

02:42primitive in the past storing up problems for our modern-day village saviours such as the case

02:49at Lou in northwest France the owners of the 17th century village Louise and Paul have had more

02:55than their fair share of problems with their array of properties when you have some of the black moments

03:03like okay I've got a phone call oh the walls falling down on the sheets and I'm going oh my god does that

03:09mean the building's about to fall down then Louise rings up and go oh the kitchen's flooded because

03:14we had some rain and then the power has gone down because there's been a lightning strike somewhere

03:18and that's like another flood I'm like oh my god yeah we've just bought a money pit here this is

03:24never gonna end so there's been moments have gone what what have we done it's September

03:37and Paul and Louise are dealing with another major blow they've discovered their farmhouse has been

03:46built without foundations and needs underpinning a hugely expensive job with Paul away in Paris with

03:53work Louise is keen to let the builders know that they want to go ahead with the work good morning

03:59good morning all right so you had a little report I have and he said basically we can go ahead I mean

04:11it's either that or abandon the project I mean if we can maybe cut a few costs later on we'll have to

04:18have a chat about where we can maybe save a little bit in certain areas without jeopardizing obviously the

04:23integrity of the project it's not good for anybody because I know it's a job you don't

04:29particularly like to him no it's not good for us because you know we got out we got to pay for it and

04:35we didn't anticipate that but at the end of the day we've got to get it done the only way forward yeah

04:41yeah yeah so it's a go so okay okay so we'll get digging yeah digging starts in earnest as well as

04:52delaying the completion date of the renovation the underpinning is going to cost Louise and Paul an

04:57extra 14,000 euros plus materials on top of their already stretched a hundred thousand euro budget

05:03basically we need to get it done abandoning the project really isn't an option for us at this

05:10point we had an amount of contingency money that we were keeping back for emergencies and basically

05:19we've blown that now we're not really in a good position if anything major goes wrong after this you

05:26know all these unforeseen things just puts your nerves on edge you know so fingers crossed we'll be okay

05:33before Kelton and Stuart can begin to dig down to create pockets to fill with supportive concrete

05:44they first need to remove the existing floor so I've brought the concrete up along the side of the wall

05:51enough room for us to get in there and take the soil out so we can get to the underpinning I've left

05:58this section at the moment so we can get supports off of this concrete base under these beams to take

06:05the stress off of the off of the walls basically so the whole underpinning pad is going to be one

06:12metre 300 wide so in total so it's quite a depth of concrete got to go out and underneath the wall but as the

06:23work moves outside the excavations are brought to a halt by mother nature I mean like even this little

06:32pocket here I've only gone in a little bit yeah and we got that much of water in it yeah yeah we can't

06:38risk we can't risk digging it out and then no because we'll fill it with concrete and if it rains

06:45it's just it's just going to drop yeah yeah because you got you can't just leave the hole can you no no we

06:52need a good you need something to put put in it yeah a good weather window that we can get the hole

06:56what it fill the concrete and it's got a couple of days yeah already over budget and with winter

07:06around the corner Louise and Paul's aspiration to be moving in by the beginning of next summer now looks to

07:12be under threat the guys have said this isn't the best weather to do it so they're going to

07:19start on that when they've got a few days of dry weather so that the cement can set off and so that

07:25they're not digging holes and then having them fill with water there will be setbacks because with

07:30building work there always is a few setbacks but you know hopefully nothing as bad as the underpinning

07:35um but now i'm just going to be wagging my tail every day because everything they do is a step

07:43further forward to getting it done so you know happy days as far as i'm concerned the dream's alive

07:50the dream is totally alive but despite louise's optimism delays cost money and with this project

07:59already breaking the bank it's key they get the underpinning sorted soon to keep their dream alive

08:11while louise journey to being brought back to life has not been an easy one in a different part of

08:16normandy another village facing an equally tricky rebirth has been fortunate to find itself under the

08:22stewardship of a master craftsman la cloutier in northwest france even though we are the owners of

08:33everything that we have here we are really just the custodians we won't own it forever

08:41for the last three years tracy and budo from london have been lovingly restoring this once rundown

08:55settlement learning ancient trades along the way as a time served joiner and carpenter budo is more

09:04than qualified to perform all the restoration work himself there's a sense of responsibility when you

09:11buy these properties you have to take them seriously and think about the past and the future you start

09:19to touch the stonework or the woodwork and you know that hundreds of years ago someone else was working

09:24and building that you gain that sort of respect that you want to keep that going and create and make the

09:30best you can at this and keep it as authentic as possible but with a modern touch it's july

09:37today the couple are keen to finish off a job that's taken longer than they would have hoped

09:45we've got to get this tiled and watertight but the rain has slowed this process down

09:50i'm behind on this roof i need to catch up with it while bad weather has limited the opportunities for

09:56budo to work on the roof in contrast the single story structure that sits beneath was erected with

10:03lightning speed the building had collapsed that was here uh using the original footings i just built

10:10straight back off of that i think i built the the stonework of cutting the roof in in 11 days

10:15so that was a nice fast process and then the rains came now we're getting back on the weather's breaking

10:21and where you know we can push on and get this done today budo is finishing off attaching a frame of

10:26wooden battens which will support the final layer of slate roof tiles

10:34right so let's start with the first one down that end

10:40just work my way along with the spacer block and it keeps all the tiles true to form if you like coming

10:47down try to use up all my scraps of wood fill in these uh openings next tracy begins the heavy job

11:00of transferring the tiles up to roof level good exercise good exercise okay any more uh yeah we'll

11:09keep coming might as well get them up ever cost conscious tracy and budo have saved a small

11:15fortune with the purchase of their roofing slate so we uh we got these tiles secondhand they were

11:21apparently off of an old chateau we ended up buying 8 000 for 1600 euros so we were quizzing and uh maybe

11:30in the future we've got enough to do the barn as well so we've got plenty

11:35there's history to them as well so we're bringing them back to life again we're looking after the past

11:41starting recycling to the maximum when the farmhouse was first built its roof would have been thatched

11:48but by the end of the 19th century slate roofs had become much more widespread

11:55ever mindful of the history of their village budo's choice of roofing tools is very traditional

12:02like a machine gun so simple then i'll just go along the line

12:12and that gives me a lovely straight cut for my first tile on i like the french and i love the old

12:19tools the french use as well some of the old tools like you know these are old these are probably 100

12:23years old these and it's not just the french tools that budo has been won over by

12:29he also holds their building techniques in high regard the roofing system here in france is different

12:36to the uk in in the uk we nail and fix the tiles where here in france we do it on a hook

12:45we put the tile in we hook the tile on then we run another hook next to the tile

12:53there we go there we go that goes in there and one on there the french will be screaming at me now

13:02there we go no french roofers no

13:07so we're going to keep going up so the next one will drop in here

13:11and if i would go in there so we've got tile underneath tile overlapping the underneath tile

13:17and then the next hole starts up and that's how you continue all the way up through the roof

13:21but what i love about it is if you have a a cracked tile slide it out put a new tile in place and it's

13:28as easy as that it's important for us to have things that are easily maintained in it because

13:32you know our age is catching up and it's you know in 10 15 years we're going to be a lot older and we

13:37you know it's it's going to be a lot tougher we want to be able to go up there and do things a little

13:41bit easier we're keeping to like traditional building methods which are more simpler i think anyway using the

13:48efficient french hook system as long as the sun keeps shining on la cloutier budo should be able

13:54to finish tiling the roof in a matter of days

14:04coming up

14:07in spain a village savior has a pressing need to build a new safety barrier

14:12like a glove perfect and a blue

14:21louise and paul's builders fix the old farmhouse's foundations it needs to be done it's a mammoth task

14:28really

14:38while some village saviors have tight deadlines others simply love to take their time to enjoy

14:47the process and learn new skills along the way

14:50located in the astorias region of spain lies arañada

14:59the eight acre site perched on a hillside consists of four buildings a small forest and numerous

15:05streams and springs supplying the village with water

15:10almost 20 years into his village transformation neil christie from newcastle is still not finished

15:17but that's not what drives him time actually heals a lot of things as well because trees grow and

15:23plants start coming through and now it makes some things look much better than it did it's now it's

15:29less more established

15:34as far as owning it more or less knew what i was launching into from the beginning

15:39and obviously you always find something that you don't anticipate it's got its problems but there again

15:46it's uh it doesn't distract me from getting on with it really it's a lot of superficial there's no

15:52major construction now it's the peripherals that actually fun enough to take all the time

16:01it's november and today neil is continuing to repair damage caused by recent wild weather

16:08it's a job that's really well overdue being done it's a rather large sort of precipice of a wall

16:15it's come to the point where the temporary fence that was along there got destroyed in the recent

16:20storms so now what i'm doing is putting a proper fencing wall along the edge of this i think it's 20

16:26meters long so it's going to take a little while to do to build the hybrid wall come fence neil is

16:33using a mixture of precast hollow concrete blocks linked together with horizontal wooden beams to act as

16:39safety barriers so that will go on this end but i'm also certainly certainly going to have to

16:52cut the slots in the bottom of it because obviously it sits over the top of that so

16:57like many of our village saviors neil has built up an arsenal of power tools over the course of his

17:15many renovations ready for any eventuality like a glove perfect the idea or the concept of what i'm

17:33doing is this they actually form a column that's just over a meter high there's one of these every

17:39two meters right to the end here in the second block small block up and the the top one i'm

17:46putting a 30 millimeter hole and there's going to be some wooden posts doing horizontally so it makes

17:53like a bar fence even with cement it could with a impact collapse so to prevent that happening i've got

18:03some i think it's 16 millimeter diameter rebar which this is a three meter length obviously far too long

18:09but that is going to go down here like so and i'm going to drill two holes in the base concrete

18:20rebar or reinforcing bar typically made of steel is used in masonry structures to give added strength

18:27it's also not a new invention the romans used rods made of iron or wood to construct their arches

18:35featured most famously in the coliseum in rome as well as their viaducts and aqueducts

18:42many of which still stand to this day

18:49once neil's rebars are locked into the base he'll pour concrete into the upright hollow void

18:54to give further reinforcement for me that's the proof of concept okay i'm quite happy with the

19:01way things are going to progress with this the biggest problem i've had a problem here is the

19:07multiplicity of different jobs on the go at any one time when you get down to these kind of things

19:12it's not 100 important but it gets to a point like it is now where it is important so it takes

19:18precedent over other things any one time there could be eight to ten different jobs on

19:23and running in parallel here one thing's for sewer i don't get bored there's always something to turn to

19:40back at the 300 year old village of lou in northwest france

19:44it's october and already behind schedule because of bad weather today louise and paul's builders kelson and

19:51stewart can finally begin the underpinning work on the wall of the old farmhouse

19:58they've dug this hole here that's got a join up the other side and then they will pour

20:04the concrete into the into these holes so whilst this one sets they'll do one further down

20:11and then when this is set they'll be able to do one next to it so that eventually it will be one

20:18continuous line of cement going under the wall if this wall's not safe the house isn't safe it needs

20:24to be done it's a mammoth task really for builder kelson the process isn't without its risks the

20:33challenging part of this job is if we don't dig it in the correct position the stonework can fall on us

20:39and come into the hole and then that means we've got to concrete the hole and then rebuild the stone

20:45on top if we can do it gingerly and safely then we won't have to touch the wall which is the best

20:52scenario complicating the underpinning process is paul and louise's requirement for underfloor heating

20:59which means that the concrete needs to be set at two different levels here underneath the wall obviously

21:06we need the concrete right up underneath the wall so here we need the concrete at this level but this

21:13side in the finished floor we need it down here so we've got to create a shuttering system to keep the

21:22concrete up high underneath the wall outside's not an issue it's it's the inside that's the problem

21:28kelson is building a shuttering system from wood which will allow for the two different

21:36heights of concrete to be poured with the first hole dug and the shutter constructed next kelson and

21:45stewart begin mixing and then pouring the concrete with enough concrete poured to the floor level the

21:56shuttering box is put in place to allow for the higher level of concrete under the wall

22:03just need to top this up with concrete vibrate it which gets rid of all of the air pockets

22:08so the concrete is nice and solid

22:17with the first pocket of underpinning concrete in place it can be left to cure and harden over the next few days

22:24kelson and stewart now begin the entire process all over again digging a new hole on the other side of the

22:30doorway now that we're through we can clean the hole get some concrete in

22:53we've got two in which i'm really pleased with never quite sure when you first start quite how it's

23:00going to go we can get at least another two in tomorrow that'll be four done so good head start

23:08this is amazing

23:09uh they've really made great progress if they can do this in one day if they continue at this rate

23:18then it will be done in the couple of weeks that they said i never thought i would say that looking

23:25at a lump of unset concrete would be so exciting when it sets you know i'm gonna i'm gonna crack open the

23:34champagne it's brilliant fantastic if the project to renovate the old farmhouse is to stay on track

23:44and more importantly stay on budget the builder's target of finishing the underpinning work within

23:49the next fortnight needs to be met

23:57coming up this is what you call a proper workshop neil steps back in time to watch a craftsman at work

24:06do you think that's sharp and at low i think it's a tricky job paul and louise's builders dig gingerly

24:15to avoid a collapse we've got to be really careful if we go any further underneath we're going to lose it

24:21back in arañada where neil is taking a break from his wall construction his love affair with this

24:39area extends beyond his own village to the nearby town of taramundi today neil is visiting one of the

24:46towns museums keen to build a picture of what life was like here in centuries past

24:54we're at the place just outside of taramundi town itself it's called masanovo what it used to be was

25:00a a grain mill and it was the first place in the town actually generate electricity in the mid 1960s

25:07and it's been renovated into a museum now this is part of the regeneration plan for the tourism in

25:16taramundi from the original concept of actually producing grain and generating electricity now

25:22it's actually generating money for the town as well by bringing tourism a working museum the mill sits

25:30at the bottom of a valley harnessing the power of the river that runs through it while the mill

25:35originally produced flour to make bread its machinery is still fully functional former boat builder neil

25:43is in his element here this is part of the original mill shows the how the water actually operates the

25:52millstone you see ones there it's working from the big mill wheel outside and it's actually turning

25:59this large shaft very very slowly at the moment the entire plant is actually operated by water pressure and

26:07uh just by altering the water flow you can alter the speed of the the wheels for certain jobs for instance

26:16this one pull it out

26:22and you can see by the amount of water flow it's uh it's getting to starting to move it properly now

26:27this region is literally run by water everything was oriented around water including the agriculture the

26:34crops although now a popular local museum the original mill was established here in the late 19th

26:41century a vital resource that would have helped feed the local population with its flower production

26:50neil is passionate about the history of this area and what a museum like this can teach tourists

26:55about the heritage of a town like taramundi for me this is very important that they can see what it used to be

27:04like this is a an old method of uh crushing grain there's a bit of grain you put it in there

27:15and turn it into flour and the wheels are just the next standard version of this tiny little machine here

27:22to me it was wow it's like uh stepping back in time and i think a lot of people still think that way

27:28when they come here another attraction where you can step back in time is the museum of cutlery

27:34here neil is visiting a local craftsman antonio who produces handmade pocket knives this is what you call a

27:43proper workshop fantastic i really enjoy watching antonio doing this he's a skilled craftsman

27:57this is the blade of the knife coming up now it's either carbon-based steel or chrome and it's very very

28:04hard a stamp identifying the maker is hammered onto the surface of the blade

28:21like his father before him antonio is carrying on a tradition

28:25that's been handed down through the generations he's cutting the handle down now for the knife

28:32and there's this special wood called bock which is really hard wood and it lasts a long time

28:37this is a complete traditional way of doing them been doing well he's been doing 50 years and the

28:41family probably over 100 in the same building

28:45next antonio takes the roughly hewn knife handle onto the lathe for further refinement

29:01we've got to cut a slot in it now by hand as well yeah

29:10exactly how much to cut into it

29:12from raw materials we're getting towards the shape of a blade

29:25now he's taking the shape of the blade itself he's filing down the blade

29:29with the knife almost complete antonio adds some decorative flourishes

29:49a final buffing up and the knife is ready to be used

29:52do you think that's sharp

30:02well it's just indescribable really the

30:05the end product it's actually done by hand every part of it made from the basic materials they're

30:13continuously busy which is good for taramundi and for them taramundi really is expanding its

30:19uh reputation for tourism that's it's lifeblood really it's um it's lives on tourism

30:27really good place to live there's no doubt about that it's one of the best moves ever made

30:31to come here in an era where ghost villages and their traditions can easily be lost forever it's

30:38clear neil takes great inspiration from artisans like antonio keeping the past alive through their

30:45dedication to their craft

30:56back in northwest france with louise and paul their builders kelson and stewart are under pressure to

31:01complete the underpinning work to the old farmhouse before the bad weather arrives

31:08there's a lot of discussion about this doorway i think it's a tricky job

31:12i don't really want to interrupt them while they're deciding what it's going to be like you

31:16know an idea well if we would have liked to have gone further underneath right because if we go any

31:23further underneath we're going to lose it obviously it's two ends of a wall there's nothing joining

31:27the wall together across the doorway so we've got to be really careful

31:35we've done our excavation as far as we dare go we can't go anymore because if we go anymore we're

31:40going to lose the stone so now we're creating shuttering we'll get some concrete mixed up and

31:44get it filled up so is it the stone stays where where it is at the moment so we don't lose it

31:52when the old farmhouse was first constructed the arched doorway would have been one of the trickiest

31:57parts to build with huge stones to lift into place it's likely a pulley system was employed

32:04using livestock to heave the masonry skyward despite the largely simple design of the cottage the archway

32:11gifts the property a welcoming architectural flourish

32:20as well as the pressure of the changing weather there's more pressing urgency

32:25the stone here has started to move and there's a real risk it could all collapse

32:31while kelson shovels the concrete in place at the door louise is keen to have a look at the progress

32:36upstairs this is great you can get a real sense of how much space there's going to be for the rooms

32:46stewart and kelson have used their time efficiently working indoors when it's been too

32:50wet to work on the underpinning as a result the majority of the timber work for the upstairs of the property

32:56is now in place a comfortable home for us is the end result that we the desired end result really

33:05fundamentally it's something that we've designed for us you know it's like our little dream project really

33:16with paul working in paris during the week he's been out of the loop returning home for the weekend

33:22louise is keen to bring him up to speed with the progress of the works this is the underpinning

33:28on this corner that they've done that's big um how far down would they go walk on it now oh my gosh

33:35about four feet okay so that's good and this is where they've built up the wall here wow and and they

33:42said they're going to shave off this concrete so that it matches as follows the contour it follows

33:49the contour of the wall i like that and they've also done here so it looks like there's another

33:54underpinning there one two three four five six seven eight yeah they've got a ninth one to do under there

34:01well that should hold it it should yeah they've worked amazingly really yeah well maybe we can crawl in

34:09under here can you crawl in and no not with my hip no okay should we go around yeah try not to fall in

34:15loop yeah this mud is really sticky yes well it's been very wet this week so i'm not surprised

34:24let's have a look inside what these guys have been doing wow that's a lot oh my goodness

34:32we've got a ceiling yeah yeah i'm dead keen to have a look upstairs actually let's have a little

34:42look you can get a real sense of the space we're going to get upstairs yes because before with all

34:47the junk and straw and beds and who knows what oh wow oh this is a nice size isn't it

34:57stewart and kelson have not only pushed the project on they've succeeded in completing

35:02the underpinning in time as well as also making good progress inside the house

35:08better than the thought was going to be in a week i'm going to paris happy this afternoon

35:12so i know i can leave things and lose capable hands happy man yeah good as it gets yeah yeah

35:19after an initial fear that the project was about to be derailed louise and paul are delighted that their

35:25dream is now back on track coming up i've got one tile so i've got one chance and that's it it's now

35:38budo's turn to feel the pressure while in arañada that's the first of goodness how many i've got to do

35:47neil's wall begins to take shape it'll go through here and that one goes into that one there

35:55back in france at the historic farming settlement of la cloutier where budo is

36:11making good progress with his roof tiling loving these french tools aided by the ease of the french

36:18hook method of laying slate tiles and then by pushing it into that crochet it locks it in

36:26makes it nice and sturdy it's very important that when you start with these type of roofs

36:32that you start off right you start with plumb lines down the roof and everything works to a nice

36:37straight line so i'm happy now this system's going to go quick and i think i could have this done in a

36:42a day or so most bi wires if you've got a right scaffold and you're a bit protected you can do

36:49this sort of thing yourself my trade is a carpenter and joiner doing anything in wood but doing all

36:55these other little trades saves us such a lot of money we've got a quote for the roof above which i'm

36:59going to do um and that was over 10 000 euros in labor and then whatever the tile price would cost so

37:07it shows you how much money you're going to save look at that what a system eh no wonder the french

37:15can have two hour lunch breaks they make their working life easy the recycled slates that budo is

37:22using is likely to have been quarried in northwest spain in the galicia region which is where the vast

37:28majority of roofing slate used in europe originates spanish slate has for a long time been preferred by

37:36roofers because of its extremely slow water absorption rate which makes it highly resistant to

37:42cracking in low temperatures the hook system also reduces the chance of tiles being damaged as there

37:49are no nail holes which can weaken a tile's integrity four weeks later and with other projects having

38:01delayed the finishing of the roof today budo is laying the very last tile

38:08thank god last hole going on just got to put me cut in

38:17quite doing doing all aspects of uh building work really uh i've been fortunate in my life

38:23uh to be a foreman on a site doing all trades you know i don't look at this as a chore as such

38:30it's just something nice about these old houses they they warrant being brought back to how they

38:35would have been two or three hundred years ago you know with a layer of mortar applied to the apex of

38:40the roof budo positions the final ridge tile

38:44now i've got to just cut a little piece to go over here and cap this end off i've got one tile

38:56so i've got to do this i'm going to be cutting it here along here and keeping this bit to put that

39:04capping on over there so i've got one chance and that's it means i've got to go buy another tile if i

39:10don't get it with the pressure on to make the perfect cut budo wields his masonry saw with the

39:19poise of an open heart surgeon

39:24success so that's the bit that's going to go on there now so i'll put a little bit of cement on that

39:30i'm going to go away leave that for an hour just to dry off a bit i'll cut it clean fill this in with

39:42the rest of that on there job done that's the roof on thank god next job as all our saviors know when

39:52one project is finished a short pause in hostilities is all you can count on before the village cries out

39:59for more help so i'll just keep working getting jobs done get this kitchen done for trace uh we've

40:05got another adventure we're doing over on the barn so uh i'll get onto that as well and then working

40:10through the house so i've got jobs every day i wake up every day and do the job go to bed think about

40:15a job wake up do another job and that's my life back in arañada where neil has returned to his wall

40:30building while the project has moved forwards he's not as far on as he would have hoped it's uh progressing

40:37slowly very slowly because every other day it throws it down with rain just uh not really sensible

40:44to do it with the amount of water everything's saturated from one end to the other including me

40:49with a pause and the down pause today neil is working on the upright columns for the structure

40:55that's the first of god knows how many i've got to do but that will go on there

41:04there'll be another one exactly the same that side the rails will go between the two

41:10so what i'll do is just to demonstrate how it's going to happen it'll go through here and that

41:20one goes into that one there and that's cemented in and there'll be another one two blocks up on here

41:26as well so it'll be pretty stable when it's all cemented up having made a good start inevitably northern

41:34spain's climate strikes back you can see the water lying on the top of these even the blocks that

41:41have been cut out have got about two inches of water in the bottom of the the the holes here so

41:48that isn't a good idea to start putting concrete in there so well i think i'll have to give it up for

41:55today and wait until it gets dried out a bit a few months later and making good use of dry spells

42:07neil's wall is almost finished the railings are as you can see very strong they are treated so they're

42:15not going to rot away or anything like that it'll take a lot of years i would think and now it's just

42:20a pretty new exercise really to make them in keeping with the rest of the buildings it will

42:25look properly decorative at the end of it as well and i think it'll make a big difference to the

42:29appearance of this part having safely secured the top of the wall with his solidly built structure

42:36he's decided to replicate the design to make safe another exposed high wall on the terrace below his house

42:42the idea is exactly the same type of structure is going to continue where these green yellow marks

42:53are and that will go the entire length of the entire terrace part of the reason for wanting to do this

43:03is in the summer we do spend a lot of time sitting out here in the longer days it's absolutely spectacular

43:10views around here it's part of the reason for the family picking this particular place because it's

43:16um it's nearly all our land around here so nobody can do anything with it the view's not going to

43:22change so it's perfect for us two decades into his village savior journey and neil's transformation

43:29of arañada is remarkable to behold and the fact he's doing it all himself is simply the icing on the

43:37cake you think oh just get a load of people in to do things and i i don't want to do that it's an

43:42expression in spanish it's a poco poco it's little by little and that's precisely what i'm little by

43:49little and eventually you do get the results i can sit back and say look i've done it i'm quite satisfied

43:57with the end results but if you're getting somebody to do it how do you explain what you want to see in

44:02your mind's eye it's not possible so for me that's part of the enjoyment if you can call it that of

44:08doing the the work yeah physically it's hard work at times but i get satisfaction out of seeing the end

44:14result and that inspires me to continue with it next time anticipation builds for louise and paul

44:29the more that gets done the more i get excited about the possibility of moving in at la cloutier

44:36budo unearths a treasure trove from the past that was a lovely little find and uh that's definitely

44:42going to go in my man cave and in northern spain we're back with a couple who having completed one

44:48part of their village are moving on to an entirely new phase if we don't do some control demolition in

44:54in the next few months then the walls will fall out as well

45:14so

45:16so

45:27you

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