- 12 minutes ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
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.
00:08But for some, a conventional home just won't do.
00:13A lot of it was ruins, but we fell in love with it.
00:18They're setting aside their fears.
00:20The key is to never look down.
00:22To do something remarkable.
00:24It's a mammoth task, really.
00:27Resurrecting Europe's lost villages.
00:30I think any sort of rational person would probably not try and do that.
00:35In 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.
01:12It's a really big moment.
01:13Oh, bless you.
01:15Or will it all fall down around their ears?
01:20Oh, 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.
01:30Because there's a whole village to be built, yeah.
01:37Today, half a couple from Yorkshire saving not one...
01:40Be careful.
01:42..but two abandoned Italian villages...
01:45If we hadn't have come along,
01:47it could have just gone to wreck and ruin even more.
01:50..got what it takes to see both projects through to completion.
01:54It's a good feeling, but at the end of the day, it takes its toll.
02:00..also in Italy...
02:01Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, Lucy, what do I do, what do I do?
02:05..a challenging olive harvest
02:07threatens to derail Lucy and Gerry's rescue mission.
02:11I'm sure I'm not the first to...
02:13..feel the financial pressures of...
02:15Mm-hm. ..agriculture, yeah.
02:18..and in France...
02:20Oh! I must remember that.
02:22Kevin and Anna prepare to open their new pub.
02:26We've been really, really busy the last few weeks,
02:29getting all of this ready.
02:31..that they hope will bring the community spirit
02:33back to their historic estate.
02:36We are within a couple of hours' work now of it being ready,
02:40so that is such a good feeling.
02:56The ghost settlements of Europe
02:58tell a tragic tale of loss and abandonment.
03:01And for experienced village saviours
03:03like Carl and Francesca from Yorkshire,
03:06whose journey started 17 years ago...
03:09..do you want me to get up, or...?
03:12No, no, no.
03:13You know, cos you're old.
03:14I am very old.
03:16They were so captivated by their stories
03:18that having already resurrected
03:20the Italian hamlet of Marais, 80 miles south of Turin,
03:24into a holiday village with two rentals and a B&B...
03:29This was outside, but it started off as that.
03:33But there was no stairs, there was no... nothing.
03:37But when they heard of a neighbouring lost soul,
03:39they felt compelled to step in again.
03:48End of 2022, we did a great, lovely thing and bought this.
03:55Yeah.
03:56If we hadn't have come along,
03:57it could have just gone to Rackham Ruin even more.
04:02The hilltop settlement of Contini sat empty for decades,
04:06but from as early as 1880,
04:09it was a thriving hamlet with roots in wine production.
04:13The cluster of buildings provided accommodation
04:15for farming families who worked the land.
04:22A century and a half later,
04:24and for just 17,000 euros,
04:27it's now in the hands of Francesca and Carl...
04:30Hot, hot, hot.
04:32...who are three years into trying to replicate
04:34their success at Marais here.
04:38We've done a lot of work, I believe it or not.
04:40It doesn't look like we have to work.
04:42It doesn't look like it.
04:43I mean, when it is finished, it will be amazing.
04:46It's just... it's going to take its time.
04:49I think that was... we were a bit naive on that side.
04:53Yeah.
04:59As you can see, the construction is...
05:01I don't know.
05:03It's as if they'd made it up as they... as they went along.
05:07Making major structural changes
05:09to Contini's biggest building
05:11is what set Carl and Francesca's timeline into a spin.
05:18Francesca's...
05:19..going to go crazy.
05:22What on earth are you doing?
05:25I'm making you a bedroom door.
05:27Be careful.
05:30But to create space for four guest bedrooms,
05:33the work had to be done.
05:34The room just feels so spacious and wide.
05:37It just opens things up tremendously.
05:40However, with Contini still some way off being habitable,
05:43the couple's rescue mission is far from over.
05:49It's a big project.
05:50It'll all come together quite quickly.
05:52You keep telling me that.
05:53I know, I have to keep telling myself that as well.
05:55I don't know.
05:57I don't know.
06:10I don't know.
06:15I don't know.
06:21I don't know.
06:26I don't know.
06:32I don't know.
06:38I don't know.
06:40I don't know.
06:45I don't know.
07:02I don't know.
07:18I don't know.
07:22I don't know.
07:31I don't know.
07:41I don't know.
07:49I don't know.
07:49I don't know.
07:57I don't know.
07:59I don't know.
08:07I don't know.
08:20The guests are here for three or four days.
08:22And we've got more guests arriving next week.
08:25Once it starts going, once it gets into its momentum
08:28and there's nothing much to do here,
08:29then I can go to the other property and do work up there.
08:33It's a good feeling, but at the end of the day,
08:35it takes its toll.
08:46While taking on one of Europe's abandoned settlements
08:49isn't for the faint-hearted,
08:51each rescue mission provides the opportunity
08:54for our village saviors to put their own stamp on
08:57as they restore and rebuild.
09:01On this side, we want one slightly higher for the optics.
09:05Yeah.
09:06Which is exactly what husband and wife Kevin...
09:10I must remember that.
09:12..and Anna are trying to do in Western France.
09:18We'll actually be back to where we started this morning.
09:23Their large estate, La Roserie,
09:25to the north of the city of Poitiers,
09:28comprising of a main house, separate gite,
09:32a large central courtyard,
09:33and 11 other derelict buildings,
09:36was primed for redevelopment
09:38when they became its latest custodians.
09:42The scale of it is really quite impressive,
09:46as well as being quite daunting sometimes.
09:54Traditionally, this hamlet would have been a major winemaking area.
09:59That's evidenced by the fact that we've got the pressoir and the wine barn.
10:05It would have been a wealthy landowner who owned the property and the buildings
10:10and a significant amount of land.
10:13For the past four years, the pair have welcomed guests to their holiday jeet,
10:18and in a bid to bring back a sense of community to La Roserie,
10:22they've been turning the old carriage house into an English-style pub.
10:27It's for our use, friends, family.
10:31It's just for fun.
10:33It's not a commercial venture.
10:34But we've got the space.
10:36We thought, why not use it?
10:39It's now early August, and the day before Anna's 60th birthday,
10:43which will be celebrated with the grand opening of the Doghouse pub.
10:48They covered up the wires there.
10:51Still got a little bit of cabling to cover there.
10:54And please, please, and it will dry very, very quickly
10:58in this temperature at the moment.
11:00Having got the electrics in
11:02and introduced some of the interior details,
11:07today's all about the finishing touches
11:09and prepping the party food.
11:13That, like the new village watering hole,
11:16also has an English theme.
11:19Just made some scones,
11:21and I'm just about to move on to the sandwich fillings.
11:24We've been really, really busy the last few weeks
11:27getting all of this ready,
11:28particularly being difficult for Kevin
11:30because he's had to do all of the heavy work.
11:35We first started the project mid-March.
11:38We've overcome certain obstacles,
11:40particularly with Anna's back.
11:42The pressures have been there,
11:44but 11th hour, just in time,
11:47we are within a couple of hours' work now
11:50of it being ready.
11:51So that is such a good feeling.
11:54The following day, after a final push,
11:58Kevin and Anna's new pub
12:00Yes, it's Dog House!
12:02is ready to take centre stage at La Rosalie.
12:07Starting out life as the carriage house in the estate,
12:11they've transformed what had become a derelict space
12:15into a warm and inviting pub
12:17full of character.
12:20This has come on at overnight.
12:23It looks, I think, fantastic.
12:26Nobody has seen it in its finished state,
12:29so it'll be absolutely amazing this afternoon
12:32when we've got about 50 friends coming along
12:35and they can see it
12:36and they can share the opening with us.
12:45Bonjour!
12:46Ça va?
12:49Would you like a drink?
12:51The busy courtyard
12:52quickly becomes reminiscent of La Rosalie's glory days
12:56when the estate was teeming with life.
13:01While the welcome drinks receive a mixed reaction...
13:08C'est bon?
13:10C'est anglais.
13:11Oui, oui.
13:13Will the Hamlet's first-ever pub go down better
13:16when they officially open its bar?
13:23Coming up...
13:24This is a really sad amount of crates.
13:27We're back at Lucy and Jerry's Borgo
13:29as they face a make-or-break olive harvest.
13:33We're paralysed by indecision and inclement weather.
13:38Also going round in circles...
13:40So is the top step where it should be?
13:43No, I don't think so.
13:44Carl and Francesca try to push on at Contini.
13:48Ooh!
14:00For centuries, Italy has been one of the great agricultural powerhouses of Europe.
14:06But modern farms don't rely on the labour they used to
14:09and rural villages have struggled to survive.
14:14Having also been hit by an earthquake,
14:17the odds were really stacked against Borgo Monticoli
14:20to the northeast of Rome.
14:22That was until three years ago
14:24when Lucy and Jerry from London arrived.
14:2820 centimetres apart now.
14:31With aspirations to revive its rich farming history...
14:36I reckon there's the shadiest patch.
14:38..and to rebuild its crumbling properties.
14:46We've achieved so much,
14:49probably not what we thought we'd achieve.
14:52We thought we would be further with the house
14:56and less far with the farm.
14:59Yeah.
14:59And that's ended up flipping due to what's under our control.
15:03Yeah.
15:05After being awarded an EU grant to rebuild the main farmhouse,
15:09work is stalled until they secure a planning permission.
15:13But while they wait,
15:15they're being kept busy with the other phase of securing the Borgo's future,
15:19honouring its agricultural history
15:21by reviving its olive farming roots.
15:25There's always farm jobs to do
15:27and we try and, like, balance farm and house jobs.
15:33The next big farm job is the harvest,
15:35so that's the next logistically important thing.
15:41It's now August
15:42and time for Lucy and Jerry to assess their olive groves.
15:47Look at that Pianello there.
15:49Yeah.
15:49We pruned them really hard last year.
15:53The leaves and the vegetation is so much, like, lusher
15:56and thicker and greener.
15:58We're actually going to have a really good amount of fruit this year,
16:00which is a big boost to the finances.
16:04And it's a relief,
16:05as they've already taken pre-orders for their oil.
16:09We've got loyal customers now.
16:11Hopefully we'll get even more loyal customers
16:13who will subscribe to receive oil monthly.
16:17So now we're lucky that it's really at the stage of
16:21the more oil that we can produce,
16:25the more we can sell.
16:28A few months later, though...
16:30Oh, it begins.
16:33As the time comes to harvest their trees,
16:36the weather conditions threaten to undo all their good work.
16:42Look, then there's the sun.
16:45I...
16:46It's like, it starts raining,
16:48then the sun comes out, and then it rains.
16:50We're paralysed by indecision and inclement weather.
16:58Climate change would have been less of a concern decades ago.
17:02But early villages would have also monitored Mother Nature
17:05during the olive harvest,
17:08albeit without modern forecasting tools to help.
17:13If you pick them and they're wet,
17:15they oxidise faster,
17:17so getting them to the mill quickly and in good condition
17:21is, like, the key to really good oil.
17:24Harvesting around an unpredictable forecast...
17:27OK.
17:29Right.
17:30..does, however, have an impact on how fruitful...
17:33This is a really sad amount of crates.
17:36..each of Lucy and Jerry's daily trips to the olive mill are...
17:41Because it's been raining, we've had to pick so on and off.
17:44But anyway, it is what it is.
17:48Ah!
17:51Ah!
17:56..arriving at the mill,
17:59their olives are unloaded...
18:01Gracias.
18:02..and swiftly put through the press...
18:08..to produce the type of oil the pair strives for.
18:12It's spicy still.
18:14Yeah.
18:15Jeez.
18:16That's a good thing, though.
18:17That's a good thing.
18:19Well, the quality may be good,
18:21the quantity they're pressing is still a concern.
18:26Normally, we turn up at the mill with one tonne of olives,
18:30something like that.
18:31Yeah.
18:31Today, we turned up with 300 and a bit kilos.
18:35Yeah.
18:35Which is really not ideal,
18:39so we've just got to hope that the rain stops.
18:41There is, like, a massive economic incentive
18:44to make enough oil that we can sell
18:46so that we can fund, like, the next phases of the jobs.
18:57Over 300 miles north in Piedmont,
18:59with almost 20 years of experience under their belts,
19:03Kyle and Francesca know all too well
19:06what a costly business being village saviours can be.
19:11You look quite cool.
19:13You've done a good job there.
19:16Under my supervision, of course.
19:18Of course.
19:19No more so than as they continue restorations
19:22across at their second village, Contini.
19:25I can't get through to you.
19:27Look, you're going to have to move your ladder.
19:29How do you do it before?
19:30Put your ladder up against the other side.
19:32That's it.
19:34After reconfiguring the layout of the biggest property
19:36to maximise space for new guest accommodation.
19:40There you are.
19:42Today, they're fitting a spiral staircase.
19:48Sourced second-hand,
19:50along with other furniture to keep costs down.
19:57Okay.
20:00How many?
20:04None.
20:05Oh, what am I doing now?
20:07I don't know.
20:11Spiral staircases of all shapes and sizes
20:14can be found in building design across Europe.
20:18Influenced initially by the Romans,
20:20it was in the Middle Ages
20:21when they became a well-established feature,
20:24especially in castles.
20:26The continuous curve
20:27providing a swordsman's advantage
20:29for right-handed defenders.
20:32Oh, my God.
20:35But now, in the 21st century...
20:39So, is the top step where it should be?
20:41No, I don't think so.
20:43I think it has to go in this corner.
20:45The battle falls more in their construction.
20:49You see, I don't know
20:50with the distance you have
20:53between each...
20:54Do you understand what I'm saying?
20:55Yes, I do understand what you...
20:57It's just a matter of juggling them around.
20:59It's quite close here.
21:01That's all overlapping.
21:07Okay.
21:08And the extra challenge these days...
21:12Oh.
21:13Oh, it's little, isn't it?
21:15Is that, on average,
21:16humans have got taller
21:18than they were centuries ago.
21:20Oh.
21:21What are you holding on top?
21:22Just in case it goes.
21:23Oh.
21:25Oh.
21:25Because there's only a piece of wood
21:26just wedged in here.
21:27Oh.
21:28Oh.
21:32You see?
21:33You got up.
21:36Getting the staircase erected
21:38is an important step forward
21:40in completing the structural changes
21:42to the building.
21:44So we have the white walls
21:45painted all white.
21:46It looked really good.
21:47Yeah, it looked good.
21:49And with the more decorative phase
21:51of the project on the horizon...
21:58in between bookings at Marais,
22:00Carl and Francesca
22:01are keen to upcycle
22:03the other items of furniture
22:04from their second-hand haul.
22:10This is the top
22:11to the wardrobe
22:12that's going in Bedroom 3.
22:14Hoping older pieces
22:16will be in keeping
22:17with Contini's history.
22:19This was advertised
22:22a lady where
22:23her father had passed away.
22:25It would probably cost more money
22:27to buy the modern stuff.
22:29Which is nice
22:30and clean and tidy
22:32but just to put a bit of
22:35effort into something like this
22:37to look quite spectacular
22:39when it's done, believe me.
22:41As Carl gives the wardrobe
22:42cornice a whitewash...
22:47Francesca's going for
22:48a darker look
22:49for one of the bedheads.
22:50I was going to reupholster it
22:52and Carl had the brilliant idea
22:55of trying to dye it.
22:57I've put one coat on.
22:59It's a little bit greeny
23:00so I'm hoping with another coat
23:01it will go more black.
23:06While tackling every aspect
23:08of village restoration themselves
23:09gives great satisfaction...
23:13It's quite ornate.
23:14That is lovely.
23:15I'm really, really happy with that.
23:17Transforming an entire ghost settlement
23:19from scratch again
23:21while also juggling demands
23:23at Moray
23:23means there's still
23:25a long road ahead
23:26before Contini sings again.
23:37Coming up...
23:42Is it last orders already
23:43for Kevin and Anna's new pub?
23:46Water is obviously coming through.
23:48That is just crumbling.
23:50While in Italy...
23:53Lucy and Jerry have a hard deadline to hit.
23:56You'd have to do another 20 nets like this
23:59to get the minimum for the mill.
24:12At Kevin and Anna's
24:13former farming estate
24:14residents of the local commune
24:17plus some of their friends
24:18and family from the UK
24:20have assembled.
24:26For the official opening
24:28of their new British-style pub.
24:35We're delighted to welcome everybody
24:38to the grand opening
24:39of the doghouse.
24:42Most importantly,
24:43it's Anna's 60th birthday
24:45and we're delighted
24:47to share it with everybody.
24:49Dog, bon anniversaire.
24:50Thank you, sir.
24:51Merci.
24:57Once the formalities
24:58are out of the way...
25:00I declare the doghouse open.
25:10Their guests can finally
25:12get a glimpse inside.
25:14C'est bon?
25:15Merci.
25:20L'organisation.
25:20Oui, en anglais.
25:23On dit, on va au doghouse
25:25quand quelqu'un a fait une bêtise
25:27ou quelque chose comme ça.
25:28D'accord.
25:29Merci.
25:30Ce que Kevin a fait,
25:31c'est simplement magnifique.
25:32De pouvoir bricoler...
25:35de bricoler,
25:36mais de garder les choses anciennes.
25:38Ah oui, ça c'est très important.
25:40Le patrimony.
25:42While in the past,
25:43socialising about Rosalie
25:45would have likely been reserved
25:47for the aristocratic landowner
25:49and his family,
25:50excluding the estate's farm workers what Kevin and Anna have created means
25:57laughter has returned to the air but the hamlet is now being enjoyed by all
26:04I think it's going to be quite a popular watering hole for local people as well as they guess that
26:15I think it's brilliant I wish I had one they smashed it and it's lovely to see it come to
26:25fruition
26:25and see everyone enjoying it as well the hard work has fully paid off yes it has yeah yes it's
26:32been
26:32a real joy to welcome everybody and share it yeah really really lovely they're still here they're
26:39still drinking so the pub is still open yeah I'll have to call last order soon ring bell again yeah
26:46yeah 10 days later while the hangovers may have cleared a new issue has arisen in one of the
26:56derelict barns causing Kevin and Anna a new headache altogether
27:02you can see there how we've got a problem water is obviously coming through
27:15and then this is very soft that that is just crumbling to identify the source of the leak oh my
27:28knees
27:28have gone Kevin needs to inspect what's happening above the old bread oven
27:36and it's here that I have the problem I'm not going to stand too heavily because if it's rotten
27:45I don't want to fall through the 11 barns which wrap around the central courtyard
27:51all share the same roof structure so a problem in one could become a problem in all
27:58so I've got a couple of rotten rafters this has bowed completely
28:07I've got to be honest it's in a much worse condition than I expected
28:11definitely this is not a patch-up job it's it's more than I've ever done but then I've never built
28:16pub before either so but we need to preserve it and it's a stark reminder that very often once our
28:24saviors rescue one corner of their lost villages it's not long before another cries out for help
28:39across in Italy Lucy and Jerry are facing their own battle
28:45as their annual olive harvest continues to be hampered by mother nature
28:50it's been raining for the last week hopefully it will stay clear today the reason it's quite
28:57stressful is because it's set us back by about a week and ultimately if we don't finish the harvest
29:04beginning of November then we're delayed bottling all the oil we're delayed shipping the oil and if we
29:11can't ship the oil to the UK in time we've promised everyone orders in time for Christmas
29:17so we're gonna have to pick extra fast adding further pressure is that they've also committed
29:23to harvesting more trees than ever before we're picking in our neighbor's grove up on the hill in an
29:32attempt to kind of expand the amount of olives we're picking so we picked some of Marco's trees last
29:38year and it went well so he's asked us to pick another four or five hundred but with just a
29:46pair
29:46of them doing the picking it's crucial they take advantage of the break in the rain
29:53so you'd have to do another 20 nets like this to get the minimum for the mill
30:01this might be worth doing a long net you know this row okay well that's fine we can move sideways
30:07maybe we'll see Marco today I don't I don't know that he'll venture out because for Italians
30:11this is too wet to do anything but later that afternoon Marco does pop by
30:20and is pleased with progress
30:24it's clear that for staying here if you weren't there who did that work of cleaning
30:33I would never be able to see it so beautiful
30:37well I'm happy
30:40I'm happy to see you guys
30:41no the harvest was all done by hand and it was done by the scale ramping down on the leaves
30:48so there were no nets, there were no nets, there were no trees, there were no nothing, there was all
30:53in the hands
30:54standing up on the leaves it was dangerous
31:00yes but I always liked to be able to grow up in the trees and Jeremy said no
31:04No, no.
31:05You take the water cooler, because it's true that it's faster.
31:09No, man.
31:10Just turn the down to the incident.
31:11Eh, yes.
31:13While electric olive shakers make things safer
31:16and speed up the picking process,
31:21unlike their predecessors,
31:23Lucy and Jerry can't call on a team of villagers to help.
31:31Jerry's just going to roll the net up now.
31:32I think he'll put it in and then he'll just go down the hill.
31:36And as they move across the grove,
31:39their other modern machinery,
31:41when combined with the slippery slope,
31:43throws up brand new hazards.
31:50Lucy, what do I do? What do I do?
31:52That would have never happened in the past.
31:59What do I do?
32:02Oh.
32:13That is up there with the closest I've come to going.
32:19Geez. Yeah, that was quite terrifying.
32:21Four or five tonnes sliding on 40-degree angle
32:26with that level of wetness.
32:27Oh, my God, that tractor was so close to tipping.
32:36That was a close shave.
32:39Keen not to risk further accidents
32:41or damaging any more of the ancient trees,
32:44they decide to call it a day.
32:47The net is pretty messed up after that as well.
32:51The perils of working solo and in damp conditions...
32:57..having taken their toll.
33:01I reckon we've picked 200 kilos of olives today.
33:07Yeah, we've not picked much. It's been a hard day.
33:09Mm.
33:10I just hope the growth dries out a bit.
33:14Every day you lose, you're conscious that it's another day
33:16where you could potentially not be getting people's orders
33:20in time for December,
33:21and then people start asking for refunds
33:23because they want it for Christmas.
33:28I'm sure I'm not the first farmer to...
33:31..feel the financial pressures of agriculture, yeah.
33:37Which is probably why...
33:39People don't do it anymore.
33:40..we're the last people in the village doing this.
33:48Coming up...
33:49It's hot in here.
33:52..Karl unearths clues of Contini's past.
33:55And that was the main road they used to walk here
33:58all the way to get to Aquitermi 100 years ago.
34:00..and there's a change of pace...
34:03Gosh, this is rapid.
34:05This is almost too fast.
34:07..for Lucy and Gerry.
34:12Oh!
34:14MUSIC
34:25In Northern Italy, it's now early August,
34:29and Carl's hard at work at Contini
34:31fitting new lights in the kitchen.
34:37Meanwhile, Francesca's holding the fort
34:38across at their other village.
34:41She's actually up at Casa Marais doing...
34:44I think there's six people, even five, coming in today.
34:48We've been really, really busy.
34:50Busier than normally for July and August.
34:53But I just keep bobbing up as and when I can.
34:58Completing Contini's restoration remains a priority.
35:05But later that afternoon,
35:07having just added a new piece of equipment
35:09to his village saviour toolkit...
35:12It shouldn't be out here, really, but...
35:15..Carl can't resist, taking it for a test drive.
35:20It's hot in here!
35:27The new digger having been bought to help them get a handle on
35:30the unruly 13 acres of land surrounding the village.
35:36I'm trying to clear a path.
35:37I'm going to walk in now.
35:39Just to survey it before I start taking this in.
35:42Oh!
35:43It's so hot!
35:45I've never done a lot like this before.
35:47I need to come all the way along here and get rid of these trees.
35:52This is a lot of work.
35:55But as he makes a start,
35:56he unearths some clues on early village life.
36:02Believe it or not,
36:03top of there there's a road.
36:05It's only a dirt track, but you can walk it
36:08because there's another village up there about a kilometre along
36:10about five or six houses there.
36:12And that was the main road.
36:13They used to walk here
36:15all the way to get to Aquitermi
36:17a hundred years ago.
36:19How secure it is, I don't know,
36:21but it's all made by hand because
36:23we just didn't have the equipment,
36:25so we dug it out of the ground.
36:26If you actually look at the valleys up and down here,
36:28some of them used to be vineyards,
36:29but there were also a lot of quarries here.
36:32Half of Aquitermi was built from the quarries around here.
36:35well over a thousand, two thousand years ago.
36:40So, there's a lot of history around here
36:42and it's just left to rot and decay, to be honest.
36:47Nobody seems to care about it, but
36:50why do everybody look to the future and not the past, I suppose?
36:56Yet for Carl and Francesca,
36:58preserving the rich history here is what drives them on.
37:04And by early September,
37:06with the peak holiday season finished at Moray,
37:08they're both now free to push on at Contini.
37:12That's it.
37:14Francesca changing tack with the headboard,
37:16opting to upholster instead of dyeing it.
37:20I'm sure I'll get there in the end.
37:22While Carl cracks on with some tiling upstairs.
37:27It just takes forever.
37:29It's like battleships.
37:32This is bedroom number one
37:36and behind me, the walkway through there to bathroom number one.
37:42In the ideal world,
37:44to get this one complete
37:48before Christmas.
37:52Working tirelessly to breathe new life into Contini by the following month,
37:56Carl's tiling marathon is transforming the look of the first floor.
38:04And Francesca's upcycled headboard takes pride of place
38:09in the newly decorated third bedroom.
38:13The bed's lovely, you've made a great job of that.
38:16Thank you very much.
38:17You're very welcome.
38:21The adjoining bathroom, previously left derelict,
38:26now fitted with all the mod cons,
38:29and across the corridor,
38:32I normally just fold it like that.
38:35Carl's now striving to create Francesca's vision
38:38for a bright master suite.
38:41It looks, erm,
38:44busier than what I anticipated it to be.
38:47But Francesca likes it.
38:50This is my last one.
38:52In here.
38:57Right.
38:58It's not perfect, but
39:01I'm happy with it.
39:03That's it.
39:05Finished.
39:10Hmm.
39:12I'm only joking.
39:15It looks great.
39:16I like it.
39:18You're not just a pretty face, are you?
39:21I think this face is pretty.
39:22No.
39:23No.
39:25It's been a hectic summer for Francesca and Carl,
39:29but as experienced saviours,
39:31they've shown that they have what it takes
39:34to continue juggling the demands of two villages
39:37with very different needs.
39:50300 miles south, it's mid-November.
39:53And despite tricky climate conditions,
39:56by the end of the harvest,
39:57against the odds,
39:59Gerry and Lucy have managed to pick 14 and a half tons of olives,
40:05producing 1,200 litres of oil,
40:08four times out of last season.
40:12Right.
40:14Let's see what we're dealing with here.
40:16Which now all needs to be bottled and shipped.
40:20We can do it.
40:21I really think we can.
40:23Last year, they chose to bottle in the UK,
40:27but faced a massive six-month delay getting their oil through customs.
40:32So this season, they're keeping the operation local
40:35to ensure they can fulfil the £15,000 worth of Christmas orders they've taken.
40:42The harvest went really well, so we're really pleased with that,
40:45but on to something even more busy.
40:48The stakes are pretty high.
40:50We've basically got a week to bottle everything.
40:53But before they can begin,
40:55the unit they've rented needs prepping.
40:58We obviously wanted somewhere that was actually ready to start bottling,
41:04but it's so, so hard to find somewhere that is classified
41:10as a food lab.
41:11And luckily this place was classified as a food lab.
41:15Which means that as long as we get it hygienic,
41:18then we can just start bottling immediately.
41:23It's likely the Borgo's earliest villagers
41:25would have bottled directly from the press.
41:28Unbeknown of the modern food hygiene and safety standards
41:31that would follow centuries later.
41:41OK, just a little bit more.
41:43That needs plastering.
41:47This is not the funnest part of starting a small business
41:53without our own space, yeah?
41:56The pair's rebuild plans for the main farmhouse
41:59will include their own olive press and bottling room.
42:02But until then, after a fresh lick of paint and a clean,
42:06they'll have to make this space work.
42:10I'm pretty pleased.
42:12I didn't think we could get it this clean this fast.
42:15Yeah, it's amazing.
42:20The following morning, Lucy and Jerry return
42:24to set up their new equipment.
42:26This spaceship.
42:28This is our new bottling machine.
42:31Label their packaging and begin bottling.
42:42Gosh, this is rapid.
42:44This is almost too fast.
42:47Their assembly line quickly becomes a well-oiled machine.
42:52That's perfect.
42:54Happy?
42:55I'm very happy, actually.
42:57And for the first time in weeks,
43:01they stand a chance of hitting their deadline.
43:06What's my pace now?
43:08I don't know, but I don't have space for your pace.
43:13Smells nice.
43:16Within four hours,
43:18the pair have got over a thousand bottles ready to dispatch.
43:25All of this work is going towards rebuilding.
43:28Yeah.
43:29The houses in the village.
43:30I actually feel, for the first time in a long time,
43:34like we've actually achieved something quite good.
43:39And by the end of the month,
43:40as they pack the last of their international orders...
43:44This is going to America, so I need to bubble wrap it.
43:47There's even more to celebrate,
43:49as their UK deliveries have landed.
43:53In 11 minutes, the customs clearance was finalised.
43:57Really?
43:57So last year was six months, this year was 11 minutes.
44:00That's pretty good.
44:01Phenomenal.
44:02Almost unheard of.
44:04And it means in future years, it's really encouraging as well.
44:08While the building phase of Saving the Borgo remains on hold,
44:11when it comes to reigniting its farming roots,
44:15it's been Lucy and Jerry's most successful olive harvest to date.
44:25Next time...
44:26Ooh!
44:27Well, you're up.
44:29Kevin and Anna are forced to scale new heights.
44:32This is not just DIY.
44:35If it goes wrong, it's a horrible, expensive mistake.
44:39Lucy and Jerry begin a brand new phase of their Borgo's resurrection.
44:43The dream is to get the lake fully functioning.
44:48And Francesca and Carl prove there's always something to learn
44:51when saving a lost village in Europe.
44:54We'll just test the shower.
44:56There's no end on it!
45:13That's all.
45:27This is my first time.
45:28You're having a tomorrow's healing with us,
Comments