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00:01Buying a home abroad is a big step to take.
00:04This is my piece of heaven now.
00:07But imagine taking that to a whole new level.
00:10I'm down! Amazing.
00:13The ghost villages of Europe are crying out for help.
00:17It's just like Battle of the Somme, innit?
00:19And a strong-willed few have answered their calls.
00:23Our whole world, our whole life and belongings are now in Ichaka.
00:27In this series...
00:29There's a real sense of history and you can feel it.
00:32We rediscover the settlement's time left behind.
00:36Like ten people living in the whole of Rabatana now.
00:39Where once it would have been thriving with schools and shops.
00:43And meet the intrepid Brits.
00:45Trying to get this board in the hole without falling through.
00:49Who are trying to save them.
00:51It is more tricky than you imagine.
00:55But can they turn these crumbling villages?
00:58This is going to be a big crash.
01:02Into beautiful homes.
01:04This is no longer a ruin.
01:06It is now a chateau.
01:08And successful businesses.
01:09One are gorgeous.
01:13Or will it all prove to be...
01:15That was a close shave.
01:16...beyond their grasp.
01:18As it stands at the moment, in two years' time it might collapse.
01:21As they restore the past to build their future.
01:25The village has come back to life.
01:27And that's exactly what we set out to do.
01:37Today...
01:38Stand keep clear.
01:42Peeling back the layers at a neglected French hamlet.
01:45And that is why I stand well clear.
01:48Meanwhile in Normandy...
01:50These are the old traditional scales that are dying out now.
01:54A master craftsman breathes new life into his village.
01:58When we're doing any renovations here, we are trying to keep it as traditional as possible.
02:02And in Spain...
02:03We've had massive storms for a good three weeks.
02:07A saviour battles to free his settlement from nature's grasp.
02:12It's the first one out of the way. It's about 155 to go.
02:27When the abandoned villages of Europe are taken over by our saviours,
02:31such has been their decline that many of the buildings are at risk of collapse.
02:35And costly emergency repairs are often required.
02:4170 miles from Caen, in northwest France, lies the hamlet of Le Oud.
02:48Dating back to the 17th century, Le Oud was once a vibrant farming community,
02:53where generations of French families worked the land and reared their livestock.
02:59Falling into disrepair in the latter half of the 20th century,
03:03some of its buildings might have been lost forever.
03:05If not for village saviours Paul and Louise,
03:08who purchased Le Oud in 2020 for €160,000
03:12and set to work reviving its fortunes.
03:20When you look at it all and you think, we made this...
03:24Yeah.
03:24..we created a place where people like to come and stay.
03:29It does give you an awful amount of pride.
03:33We've had people come back more than once, you know.
03:36Some several times, yeah.
03:37Several times some people, you know, and we did that.
03:40We created that space that otherwise would not be there.
03:46Today, Louise and Paul are working in the old farmhouse.
03:50Their dream, to bring it back to life and to be their forever home.
03:54With their builders arriving imminently, their job is to remove the remaining internal structures.
04:00Part of the deal was, they'll keep the price down, we do the demolition.
04:03It's the principal farmhouse for the little village.
04:06And we would like to make it our forever home.
04:09So it's not going to be for rental.
04:11So it'll be our place for us.
04:14We think it's absolutely beautiful.
04:16We think it's a beautiful old stone building.
04:20Bags of character.
04:22Something that's going to be a real pleasure and a joy to live in.
04:25With the 300-year-old building lying empty since the 1960s, it's not yet clear if those years of neglect
04:32have stored up any trouble for the couple.
04:38Stand keep clear.
04:43And that is why I stand well clear.
04:48Don't tell me they've actually nailed a piece on, my God.
04:50No.
04:51Oh, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.
04:52What have you done?
04:53I can just take that off my foot.
04:57Oh, ball.
04:58It's all right, good job, I've got the technos shot.
05:01Yeah.
05:04Right, I need a hand with this bit, please.
05:09You can take that in.
05:10Yeah, hang on, hang on.
05:11Because I'm going careful, even if you're not.
05:15Ow.
05:16Does that hurt?
05:18It does a bit, yes.
05:18Yeah, I'm sure.
05:21Hang on.
05:23Right, I can't go any further this way.
05:26That's okay.
05:33Ow!
05:34Ow!
05:35Oh, oh, oh, oh.
05:37Hit my fingers.
05:39Ow.
05:41Ow.
05:45Actually, my fingers are okay now, I just whacked it a bit.
05:47Oh.
05:49It's your foot I'm more concerned about.
05:51But don't even these bits of wood.
05:56Paul?
05:57Yes?
05:58Paul?
05:58Stop.
05:58Why?
05:58We need to have a look at your foot.
06:00Well, I'm going to move this beam first, then we'll have a look at my foot.
06:02We need to stop now and have a look at your foot.
06:07Okay.
06:08Okay.
06:09We'll stop and have a look at my foot.
06:11As all our village saviours know, ancient structures hide many hazards.
06:16Paul has sustained a small injury from an old nail.
06:19Thankfully though, he's okay to carry on.
06:22And as the couple get back to work, they uncover more secrets from the past.
06:27We think there, there would have been, in that corner, there would have been maybe an old fireplace or something.
06:35I love the little bit of mystery and intrigue.
06:38It's all part of the fun of renovating this kind of house.
06:41Because you don't know when you're going to turn up something of interest.
06:45So there could have been another chimney at one point.
06:48Basically, this is your chimney cover here, your hearth cover.
06:53The heart of the home, the fireplace, that once stood in the farmhouse,
06:57would have likely been kept to light most of the day.
07:00Keeping the residents warm, it would also have been used to cook meals to feed the hungry farm workers
07:05after spending long days tending to the land and their livestock.
07:26Oh my gosh.
07:27And there we go. With a crash and a wallop.
07:30Thank God no one was hurt in the process.
07:32Too much anyway.
07:33Just move those bits of wood out the way.
07:35Yeah.
07:36And then we are done.
07:38It's been hard work, but they've made great progress and uncovered more mysteries from the past.
07:45All in a day's work when you're saving lost villages.
07:48I think we're feeling tired but satisfied.
07:51Yeah, yeah.
07:51But I thought it would come down with a bang and the end and it came down with a bang
07:54and the end.
07:55Today was another big step on the journey actually.
07:57It was.
07:57It was the last bit of the upstairs demolition.
08:00I had a feeling it was going to be one of the nastier bits.
08:02Yeah, it was.
08:03And we only had one nail through the foot, didn't we?
08:05Yes.
08:06One nail through the foot, one set of bent fingers and that's about it.
08:09Fortunately, you've already had your tetanus jab, so...
08:12Yes.
08:14Otherwise, got the house done, died a lockjaw, not good.
08:17So...
08:21Help we died in the village.
08:22Yeah, help we died in the village.
08:26But it's all good.
08:27All good.
08:27We sorted, aren't we, bub?
08:28Progress.
08:29Well done, you.
08:30And you too.
08:31Now everything has been cleared, it's a waiting game for the couple.
08:35Until the builders arrive, it remains unclear whether their historical structure is sound enough to be saved.
08:51Saving Europe's lost villages is not for the faint-hearted.
08:55Many become bottomless money pits, taking years to bring back to life.
09:01One former Spanish ghost village is almost two decades into its restoration.
09:05Arunyada.
09:08Located 100 miles west of Gijon, the village is comprised of four stone buildings, a small forest, a mountain stream
09:15and eight acres of land.
09:19Neil Chrisley, originally from Newcastle, has been lovingly restoring Arunyada brick by brick since 2005.
09:30It was a farming community.
09:32These places, they grew bit by bit by bit over a couple of hundred years as the community developed.
09:39And of course, until the end of last century, they went the opposite way.
09:43Everybody moved out.
09:46So far, Neil has restored the main farmhouse and modernized the water supply.
09:51I'm really pleased to be able to restore the village.
09:55It's certainly been a big adventure, there's no doubt whatsoever about that.
09:59Best part of 20% of my life spent doing this, and hopefully it'll last for many years to come.
10:08Now Neil is focusing on giving more buildings a new purpose in life.
10:13A hundred years ago, these buildings would have been simple homes for farming families.
10:18Soon, they'll begin a new life as holiday accommodation.
10:23Today, the mayor of the local town of Taramundi is on-site to catch up with Neil and wife Rosa.
10:30And the restaurator, how's it going?
10:32Yes, yes, yes.
10:34A little bit, a little bit.
10:36Very little bit.
10:39It's very intense.
10:42With Taramundi suffering from a shortage of holiday rentals, the mayor is hoping the extra visitors will help boost the
10:49local economy.
10:53Here, eventually, there's a kitchen in the center, in the corner, in the corner, in the bathroom, in the bedroom,
11:03in the bathroom.
11:04Yes, yes, yes.
11:05And here, the sofa, the sofa.
11:08Yes, yes, very good.
11:09A small apartment, but enough.
11:12Yes, yes, very good.
11:15Very good.
11:16Very good.
11:17The restauration is that, if not, this would be a village that would be abandoned.
11:22The Taramundi benefits, above all, in the image we give to the outside and the people who visit us.
11:27Because it's not the same that the visitor sees a village restaurated and beautiful, with gardens, with flowers, with plants,
11:34with houses restaurated,
11:36to see ruins.
11:37That, logically, is very different for the image of the village.
11:42We've got the intentions of actually helping the tourist industry in one form or another.
11:49It's inspiration for others as well.
11:51I mean, they've sent quite a few prospective purchase of individual buildings.
11:56And they say, why don't you go and see Neil and Rosa?
11:58So, it works in both directions, you know.
12:02By what we're doing, I think, is actually a benefit to them as well as vice versa.
12:08Neil's vision to breathe new life into Arañada is slowly coming to life.
12:16But, three months later, there's a major blow, with bad weather ripping through the village.
12:21The devastation is widespread, with dozens of trees damaged.
12:26And while the village's buildings are relatively unscathed, a lucky escape was made when a huge landslide saw several tons
12:34of mud fall within a few metres of one of Neil's houses.
12:38We've had massive storms for a good three weeks, on and off, with horrendous rain.
12:45Maybe six months of rain in a week or two did cause a bit of a upheaval in the normal
12:52plan of action.
12:53With the storm now passed, the clear up must begin.
13:05It's actually damaged a few trees around the site, because we've had some horrendous gusts of wind and bushes uprooted,
13:14snapped in half.
13:15So many ancient trees were devastated by the winds.
13:19But the geology of Arañada meant that they were already extremely vulnerable to these kind of weather events.
13:27We're walking on a, literally a mountainside of rock underneath here.
13:31And it's this Bizarra, the rock which has got a sort of grey, shiny surface.
13:37And it's impermeable, the water run over the top of it.
13:41And the next thing you know, of course, is the soil drops on the top with all the leaves, things
13:45grow.
13:46They can't sink their roots into it.
13:49They go horizontally, which is fine if there's not much wind.
13:52But if you get sort of the height of these, plus wind, the momentum of force is going to be
13:57massive.
13:58The clean-up operation will take time.
14:01Only then can Neil get back to his building works.
14:04As all our saviours know, breathing new life into these lost villages is often a case of one step forward
14:11and two steps back.
14:16Well, okay, that's the first one out of the way. It's about 155 to go.
14:27Coming up.
14:31Tracy and Budo ensure nothing goes to waste at La Cloutière.
14:35I don't think I'd fancy doing this by hand with an axe.
14:39And at Lowell.
14:41Sling it in the bucket if you don't mind.
14:43Louise and Paul have concrete plans for bringing the fun to their swimming pool.
14:48It's a bit like making a cake, isn't it?
14:50It is like making a cake, actually, yeah.
15:03When our village saviours take over the stewardship of a settlement, it's not just the many abandoned buildings that are
15:10desperately in need of care and attention.
15:12Often these settlements cover large expanses of land, neglected for years and crying out for rejuvenation and rebirth.
15:21Such is the case at La Cloutière in northwest France, dating back to the Middle Ages.
15:29Wow, look, it's like butter for a knife.
15:31The village's oldest structure is its medieval barn, but it also boasts a 17th century farmhouse, a bread oven and
15:42an abandoned cottage.
15:45The four-acre settlement was once home to a thriving farming community who kept herds of dairy cattle and worked
15:51the land to feed themselves and their families.
15:56For the last three years, it's been home to Londoners Tracy and Udo.
16:05I love the untouchedness of everything. Seems to be, you know, left as it was for years.
16:10I'm a carpenter and joiner and I love everything that's to do with wood.
16:14And here we have an abundance of woodlands, forest.
16:18I mean, our whole land is covered in trees. I just love the countryside.
16:25Much of that plentiful supply of timber has been used for the ongoing renovations of the village's farmhouse, including the
16:33main bedroom, where Master Craftsman Budo has created a cosy hideaway for the couple.
16:38It was important for us to get in this room.
16:41I put a lot of effort into the joinery to make it luxurious for us.
16:45I thought I'd make up some nice sash windows in oak and I made the oak doors which I'm making
16:50throughout the property.
16:51This room is our one room of luxury. We just needed it so badly. And now we're here, we feel
16:58so much better.
16:59As well as the bedroom, their work in progress kitchen is also being handmade by Budo.
17:05Luckily for the couple, they have a plentiful supply of timber close by.
17:10But it's not just being used to make doors and kitchen cabinets.
17:17So, we're in our woodland, one of our woodlands, we've got two.
17:22And basically this here is our heating, our energy. It's all in the ground growing ready for us. So, it's
17:28a win-win situation.
17:31The other good thing about this forest is, as well, a lot of the species of trees that are growing
17:36here are what we call coppicing trees.
17:38So, you can cut them and they regrow. You can reuse the wood. So, it's an endless supply for the
17:44farmhouse.
17:44Which is perfect.
17:47In centuries past, the families who called La Cloutière home would also have made use of the rich rejuvenating forest,
17:54chopping timber for both heat and building materials.
17:59Unlike those previous residents of La Cloutière, these days Tracy and Budo have some useful labour-saving devices on hand
18:06to help convert their trees into timber for their fuel.
18:11I don't think I'd fancy doing this by hand with an axe.
18:17We're wasting nothing, you know. Everything's being utilised.
18:21It's also given back to the earth where we put the wood chippings down, they rot and the cycle all
18:27begins, you know.
18:28Which is a lovely system, you know. It's the old ways. It's a bit roughy-toughy, you've got to work
18:32a bit hard now and then.
18:33But the rewards are brilliant, aren't they in the end?
18:37Especially on the pocket.
18:38For a village of this size to stay alive, caring for the land is as important as saving the homes
18:45and crumbling buildings.
18:47And with Tracy and Budo focused on both these aspects, as they rebuild La Cloutière, their village's journey back to
18:54full health improves with each passing day.
19:05Like Tracy and Budo, another English couple living in France are equally focused on the care and maintenance of the
19:12land that surrounds their substantial settlement.
19:15It's June at La Oul.
19:17Louise and Paul are taking a break from their demolition work at the old farmhouse, focusing on landscaping improvements around
19:25their pool.
19:26So today we're going to be making some cute stepping stones as a way up to the pool.
19:32This is our turtle that we use.
19:35I just wanted something that would be a little bit amusing.
19:40It's just a plastic mould which we'll fill with cement.
19:44Making batches of the turtle stepping stones three at a time, this is an ongoing project for the couple, which
19:51they hope to have finished by the end of the summer.
19:53So, sling it in the bucket, if you don't mind.
19:58I'll start mixing it up.
20:03It's a bit like making a cake, isn't it?
20:05It is like making a cake, actually, yeah.
20:10I think this is good consistency, this.
20:13Everything seems better, yeah.
20:14One more, I think, for now.
20:17Give that a bit of a push.
20:21Well, it should be level with the edge of the mould.
20:25Maybe a little bit less, but I have to level it out a bit now.
20:30Yeah, I see it's leveling quite nicely.
20:31And I can see that we're missing a bit in the bottom here.
20:33I'll put a bit more in there.
20:36Down on this bottom pool here.
20:38Yeah, in particular there.
20:40I think that's it.
20:41Yeah, I think that's it.
20:43Since we've started the season and we've had people coming to stay,
20:47we've kind of had a bit of a hiatus and we haven't made many,
20:50but now we've got a little bit of a lull.
20:52It's a good opportunity at the moment to try and get some done.
20:55Right.
20:56I'll put this one over here.
20:57Yeah.
20:59We just need to wait until maybe tomorrow morning,
21:02when they're nice and set, and then we can continue the path.
21:08Drying paving stones using the heat of the sun is not a new process.
21:126,000 years ago, during the time of the Pharaohs,
21:15the ancient Egyptians were masters of creating pavers.
21:20Mud would typically be dug from a river bank and then poured into a mould.
21:23Workers would then stamp on the mud with straw added to help solidify the mixture.
21:29The hardened final product was then used to cover roads and courtyards.
21:33With the sun doing all the hard work, Paul and Louise's turtle pavers are ready to be laid.
21:40Sadly, the little poor flipper things have broken off,
21:45but that's no problem because when I put them in the ground,
21:47I can put some cement in to make sure they're okay.
21:51At least his head's on.
21:52The other one's head came off as well. That wasn't nice.
21:56So, this is going to be the turtle superhighway to the pool.
22:03So, my next turtle's going to go sort of there.
22:08So, roughly I've got my turtle where I need him to be.
22:15Dip down a bit. Sometimes there's rocks.
22:20Ah, that's better.
22:23So, I've done my rough sort of shape that I need to dig out.
22:28And see, with this, if there's any stones, I can get them out as well.
22:36It's enjoyable. You get an opportunity to try new things
22:41and get to know stuff about yourself that you didn't know.
22:45Because I didn't think I'd be able to do it.
22:47That's way too difficult for me, putting stepping stones in.
22:52However, I've been doing a good job.
22:54So, you know, I was quite pleased with myself, really.
22:56The turtles are good. They're solid.
23:00Doing this, running the sheets.
23:02I mean, the sense of achievement is enormous.
23:04It's given me sort of like a sense of newfound confidence.
23:11OK, so I'm going to put a layer of sand in here.
23:17Here we go.
23:20There's my turtle turtle.
23:22Because, obviously, he was an amputee, let's say.
23:27Put his flipper on there.
23:29But that seems fine to me.
23:31So, there we go.
23:34One turtle. Pleased with that.
23:37Should like to get them done by the end of July.
23:41Fingers crossed.
23:47Coming up...
23:50Modern technology arrives in ancient Aranyada.
23:54That means I can just stand there and watch it doing the jobs that are me doing it.
23:59And in Normandy...
24:01Need a nice, sort of creamy consistency.
24:06Budo's plastering skills defy gravity.
24:09That's the beauty of lime plaster.
24:23Back in France, at the historic farming settlement of La Cloutière.
24:28With the weather dry and bright, Budo is keen to get on with an outdoor job, finishing off the porch,
24:34which he built by hand using locally sourced oak.
24:38We had to build a porch, really, because the winters here can be very cold.
24:42The wind blows from that position at the house and the rain hits that part of the house as well.
24:47So, I built the porch there to give us a barrier between the house and the elements, if you like.
24:53This is my trade, I'm a carpenter and joiner.
24:55You know, it's all made of French oak.
24:57The whole of that porch has cost us about 280 euros in materials.
25:01But if you were having it built in England, you'd be paying, you'd be emptying your bank balance, put it
25:06that way.
25:07With the structure of the porch complete, today Budo is using lime plaster to finish the base.
25:13A technique used widely by the Romans.
25:21So, I need a nice, sort of creamy consistency.
25:25That's not here yet, but put a tad more water in that.
25:30Just a little bit more.
25:32Another mix-up.
25:39It's good to go.
25:41See the fibres in there?
25:43Pull these fibres in.
25:45Gives it a key so it all locks together.
25:49Traditionally, they would use the horse hair.
25:52When we're doing any renovations here, we are trying to keep it as traditional as possible.
25:57In centuries past, plasterers would have added hair from the manes and tails of horses to bind the mixture together.
26:05These fibres were extremely versatile, used in upholstery, for the bows of stringed instruments and also paint brushes.
26:14Today, Budo is using synthetic fibres and with his plaster now at the correct consistency, it's ready to use.
26:25If it's true to form, I'm hoping this don't drop off.
26:30It should stay on the hawk.
26:31And it's staying on there.
26:33That's the beauty of lime plaster.
26:48It's drying out a little bit quick, this plaster, so I'm having to wet it again.
26:52That's the key with lime, is you keep the water going on it very lightly so the trowel moves and
27:00you don't get suction, too much suction.
27:04The only time I can put this plaster on is when the weather is dry, mild.
27:12You don't want it too hot, because it dries out too quick, and you don't want it cold and damp.
27:19It takes forever to dry when it's wet, so we're constantly battling with the elements here.
27:25But now we're in the summer, it's July, and it's a better time for me doing the lime plaster work.
27:32Budo is keen to help his village retain its original charm, so is adopting an age-old finishing technique with
27:39his lime plaster work.
27:41I'm just setting out the panelling I want. I'm trying to mirror these down below to give it some sort
27:48of cemetery.
27:49They say that word, cemetery.
27:51So I'm just setting this out now. I'm going to put a line through level.
28:01It's actually nice work, this plastering, the old style ways.
28:06In the UK they call it pargeting. I think over here, I believe it's called stacco work.
28:16It's a bit of a slow, laborious job, but it's effective when it's done.
28:24Pargeting is the craft of creating ornamental plaster work.
28:28Italian in origin, its popularity spread across Europe in the 1500s,
28:32as monarchs like Henry VIII in England and Francois I in France
28:37desired their palaces to be as opulent as possible.
28:43These are sort of the old traditional skills that are dying out now.
28:49They don't tend to use too much.
28:53It's about taking your time, you know, it's using different types of tools from the past.
28:57I make a lot of my own tools for lots of different things.
29:00Like I made this little tool here, which is basically mitered at both ends so I can come into the
29:06corners to create this beading.
29:11So that's as far as I can really go with that as it is now.
29:14For Budo, saving La Cloutière is a real passion project.
29:19Step by step and brick by brick, he's slowly taking his village back to how she once looked.
29:25The way we're living now, I have a lot more time to explore my craft
29:29and all the other skills I've accumulated over the many years of working in the building industry.
29:35In the commercial world, you're rushing, rushing and everything has to be done on a deadline.
29:38This doesn't. We're taking our time and we're hoping that when we're finished here,
29:42this will last another couple of hundred years for the next generations coming along.
29:55Back in Arunyada, Neil is still dealing with the devastation wreaked by the recent storms.
30:01Having dealt with the damage to over 150 trees and bushes,
30:04Neil is now turning his attention to the landslide which nearly washed away one of the village's ancient dwellings.
30:11Such was the mass of earth that moved.
30:14Neil has been scooping up mud for several days.
30:18This isn't the first lot, no.
30:20I've moved about 10, 12 tons of it already.
30:25I'm hoping this is the final time for this.
30:29Luckily, Neil's investment in heavy machinery means that, despite the devastation caused,
30:34he's not massively out of pocket.
30:37So far, so good. I'll take it away now.
30:40And even though the landslide has seen a cloud descend over the village,
30:44Neil still managed to find a silver lining.
30:49I have a good topside coming out of there.
30:51I want to keep it for a future planting and planters and greenhouse and various other things like that.
30:59Just as he thinks things are beginning to go his way again, Aaron Yarder decides to give Neil another headache,
31:05as his digger makes an unfortunate connection with some underground cabling.
31:12These red pipes I put in before are actually for sort of just lighting around the place,
31:21because it's really pitch black here. There's no street lights as such.
31:25It's very close to the surface, which I didn't realise how close it was.
31:30It's fixable, but it's another job to add to Neil's never-ending to-do list.
31:36So I'll cut that off square. You can get couplers.
31:39I've got plenty of this pipe, so I'll dig that out and put a fresh piece in.
31:44Problem solved.
31:46Despite the mishap, Neil's passion to save Aaron Yarder never wavers.
31:51Things like this don't frustrate me at all. I mean, it's part of the experience of the place.
31:58I mean, if you don't embark on a complete ruin expecting everything to go, it's a plan all the time.
32:06Well, you know, puppy, now it's the time is to put my spades down and I'm off for a cup
32:13of tea.
32:18Three months later, and despite his best intentions to kickstart the renovation of his potential holiday lets,
32:25Neil's projects are once again put on hold, having recently received surgery to correct an issue with his hand.
32:32The problem was, trying to do things like holding nuts and bolts in the right hand in places I can't
32:39see,
32:40you couldn't actually feel where they were.
32:43I'm pleased it's done now. It is actually improving, little by little already.
32:47I've got some feeling back in my thumb, which I didn't have before.
32:51Until such time that his hand is fully healed,
32:54Neil has hired Wayne to manage all aspects of the maintenance of Aaron Yarder.
32:59With eight acres of land, it's quite the task.
33:03OK, I've got to the stream.
33:04You've got all the way through? Yeah.
33:06Well done, that man.
33:07There's a bit in the middle, but I haven't done yet.
33:10You can't get to, no, I'm not surprised.
33:11Around the edges.
33:12Well, next week maybe, eh?
33:14Yeah.
33:16Oh, hey, very good.
33:18Is that you for the day then, eh?
33:19Yeah, I reckon so.
33:20Fine.
33:22Good job done.
33:25Neil's not one to let an injury completely stop him from working on his village.
33:33Ever inventive, Neil has built a remote-controlled lawnmower.
33:37Using modern technology, he hopes to tame some of the wilder aspects of his ancient village.
33:43This is a sort of crawling chassis turned into a lawnmower.
33:50I bought it as a sort of semi-kit, I suppose.
33:54A very powerful little tool, actually.
33:55The biggest problem I had with it is it didn't really like the steep angles.
34:00So I built some stabilizers to stop it getting over a certain angle so it won't flip over backwards,
34:07because it's quite steep in places here.
34:10You know, a bit of frown of it actually disappearing over the mountainside or something like that.
34:16While he's not able to lift a hand to work on the land or his many properties,
34:20he is able to give his recuperating thumb a good workout.
34:30This is confidence work, you see.
34:33I quite like it, to be honest, now, because that means I can just stand there and watch it doing
34:38the jobs that are me doing it.
34:48Coming up...
34:49I'm always learning. I've gone to a high level in carpentry and joinery, and I'm still learning.
34:54Budo calls on more ancient skills to stay true to his village's heritage.
34:59If you keep your mind open and you keep learning, you just get better.
35:03And at La'uld...
35:04We have found a couple of issues. Well, they're quite big issues.
35:08Louise and Paul's builder delivers some bad news.
35:12What we really need to do is underpin it.
35:13This sounds expensive.
35:26Back at the farming settlement of La Cloutière in Normandy,
35:30today, Tracey is making cuttings in the lavender field,
35:34as the couple slowly begin to establish a blossoming agricultural venture.
35:38Because they're young plants, I'm going to actually cut all the flower heads off.
35:46That helps the actual plant itself to put the energy back in, so it's not concentrating on the flowers,
35:52it's concentrating on making the plant stronger.
35:57This lavender will not go to waste.
35:59I'll dry this and it will probably be turned into little lavender sachets or even tiny bouquets.
36:06All these cuttings that we've done here have actually come off what we call the mother plants.
36:11These were planted a year and a half ago, so hopefully next year these plants will look very similar to
36:19this.
36:19It's such a lovely feeling to know that we can look and plan to the future.
36:25Meanwhile, as Tracey looks to the future, Budo is concentrating on the past,
36:31continuing his decorative plaster panelling work on the porch while still respecting the village's past.
36:40Everything old is just lovely to me.
36:43Tracey and me love the old stuff, you know, we don't want nothing modern and too new.
36:49I like this style.
36:50I liken it to maybe a Georgian period with the windows.
36:55It always reminds me on the inside when we look out, it reminds me of the victory.
36:58The HMS victory in Portsmouth.
37:00It's got that feel as if you're on the back of the ship, but I don't know, I just love
37:04all this.
37:04I love anything old and period.
37:06Putting the panelling on here, it sort of gives it a more classical style, but an aged style as well,
37:12you know.
37:13I think it looks good.
37:13Another thing, I mean, this will blend in lovely with the old buildings we've got around here.
37:19They built in them days with what they had.
37:21The abundance here was stone, wood, oak, and, you know, lime and clay.
37:28And slates would have come later on these houses.
37:31You'll see loads of houses in Normandy, you've got a slate on, but originally they would have been thatched.
37:35And this would have been thatched.
37:37And we could tell there's telltile signs of that on the chimney that show little ledges where the thatches used
37:43to sit up to.
37:46Normandy is a region renowned for its thatched buildings, a labour-intensive roofing method using locally sourced materials like straw
37:54and reeds, which were tied in place with wicker.
37:57The move away from thatch as a roofing choice coincided with the industrial revolution.
38:03Throughout the 19th century, as canals and then rail developed, this infrastructure allowed for heavier and cheaper roofing materials to
38:11be more easily transported, with slate becoming a popular and easier to maintain option.
38:17Just giving me a little guiding area to go with to set my panel out, and I'll just build it
38:23up as I go.
38:31It's so therapeutic.
38:36Now that I'm semi-retired, I could spend lots of time doing things a little bit slowly, you know?
38:45Bearing in mind, this is more sort of my hobby, really.
38:48I'm a joiner, cabinetmaker, playing around with another trade.
38:54Classrooms will be watching out there, and they'll say,
38:56what's he doing?
39:00So I put it on like that, and then I'll let that set up for a little while,
39:05just to pull the air, the air will blow on it, and then I'll mould it with the other tool.
39:11I'm always learning. I've gone to a high level in carpentry and joinery, and I'm still learning, you know?
39:16And I've been doing it since I was a teenager.
39:18If you keep your mind open and you keep learning, you just get better.
39:24Doing other trades as well, for me, it's practice, practice, practice,
39:28but listening to the old timers and how they do things, and you pick up more information and you learn
39:34something new every time.
39:35Budo's philosophy of lifelong learning is beginning to pay rich dividends for their village.
39:41With such dedicated and mindful custodians,
39:45La Cloutière's rebirth and its long-term legacy look far more assured.
39:5817 miles away at Le Ou, it's now September.
40:02Inside the old farmhouse, all the debris from the demolition work has been cleared.
40:07Outside, Paul and Louise's builders are on site, shifting mountains of earth away from the back of the house.
40:12Once removed, they should be able to give the couple an indication of the property's structural integrity.
40:19Unfortunately, some historic structures on the ground will have to be demolished.
40:25This is the ex-pig shed here that will actually have to be toppled.
40:31It's a bit of an eye sore.
40:34So, it'll be good to get that gone.
40:38Well, that didn't take much, did it?
40:40While the pig shed was beyond salvage, Paul and Louise hope that the farmhouse, their potential dream home, is built
40:47of stronger stuff.
40:49Their builders should be able to tell them soon enough.
40:52It's an amazing structure, and we want to keep it as authentic as we can.
40:57The amount of money that we need to plough into this project means that it's much better to do it
41:04for us than for Ajit.
41:06When it's done, it's going to be a lovely little home for us. It's exciting.
41:12With much of the earth now moved away from the rear of the property, builders Keltson and Stuart have been
41:18able to inspect the structural integrity of the farmhouse's back wall.
41:22For Paul and Louise, it's not good news.
41:28Come and have a look.
41:31Basically, there's no foundations.
41:33This building was built straight on this ground.
41:38So, there's nothing to stop it from sinking more.
41:42We've got to deal with it, make it safe and strong.
41:46Yeah, look at that.
41:54Keltson has the unenviable task of breaking the news to Louise.
41:59Okay.
42:00I'm back.
42:01Good, okay.
42:02Sorry.
42:04We have found a couple of issues. Well, they're quite big issues.
42:09This building is built directly on this soil.
42:14Right.
42:15Which is super, super soft.
42:17Right, okay.
42:19What we really need to do is underpin it.
42:22It's the only way of saving it.
42:25What does that mean?
42:26Like, what do you actually do?
42:26So, what we have to do is, every metre, we have to do a pocket, which we have to go
42:31under the wall and fill it with concrete.
42:34And then once that pocket has set and dried, then we have to dig next to it and do the
42:41same again, and we fill that with concrete as well.
42:44So, basically, we put a new foundation in.
42:46Right, okay.
42:47This sounds expensive.
42:49Well, it takes time to do it.
42:53I mean, we need to do what we need to do, because if we don't do this, then we're going
42:57to have issues, aren't we?
42:59Massive, yeah.
43:02Either you do it, or we scrap at the whole project.
43:05Exactly.
43:06I mean, if you could let us know what the cost will be.
43:10We'll give you an estimate figure later.
43:12Yeah.
43:12Okay, a ballpark.
43:13Yeah.
43:14You have a speak with Paul.
43:15We'll get a 100% price for you after, if you're happy.
43:19If it's going to be massively expensive, then we're going to have to have a major rethink.
43:25Yeah.
43:25Nightmare.
43:25See what we can do.
43:27Yeah.
43:27We'll have to leave it at that for now, then.
43:29Yeah, okay.
43:30And then I'll have a big chat with Paul when he finishes work, and, you know, we'll sort something out.
43:35Yeah, okay.
43:35Okay.
43:36Right.
43:37Yeah, super.
43:38A devastating blow to Louise and Paul's plans for the old farmhouse.
43:45I would be extremely loath to abandon this project at this point.
43:50I would be very, very, very upset.
43:54It's not great, you know, so hopefully it will be a price that we can work with.
44:00It's all up in the air at the moment, but we'll find a way.
44:04We generally find a way, you know.
44:06Sadly, these are the realities when you become the custodian of one of the ancient villages of Europe.
44:13300-year-old buildings are full of surprises, and not all of them are nice.
44:24Next time, Neil juggles the multiple demands of his lost village.
44:30Any one time, there could be eight to ten different jobs running in parallel here.
44:34While in France, Tracy and Budo's Hamlet calls out for help.
44:38I wake up every day, do the job, go to bed, think about a job, wake up, do another job.
44:42And that's my life.
44:46Elsewhere in Normandy.
44:47We've just bought a money pit here. This is never going to end.
44:51Louise and Paul have to dig deep.
44:54Abandoning the project really isn't an option for us at this point.
44:57Same for you.
45:00Saturday night, two minutes, three minutes from two hours.
45:03Oh!
45:15Where is she still on?
45:25This is not a perfect question.
45:26It is time for you too.
45:27I'msinind the project.
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