- 2 months ago
Escape To The Country - Season 26 - Episode 25: Cambridgeshire Borders
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00:02today's escape to the country is positively blooming it is the rose arch of dreams yes
00:11that is straight out of my vision book we have properties through the ages I think it looks
00:17really really neat really really tidy he just loves the fact it was built five years ago no
00:22if that's true and gardens that go on for miles I know you didn't want a lot of law and
00:31I am gonna
00:32hold my hands up and I'm giving you a lot of law for a young couple itching to set up
00:39home together
00:39I can see the grin on your face you're just yes is that is the tear in your eye hay
00:44fever or
00:44tears real tears it's a it's a pleasant mixture
01:12this East Anglian County is famed for its low-lying Fenlands
01:18that give rise to big skies it is of course Cambridgeshire
01:25there's a term in the property business called the Goldilocks zone somewhere not too far from a city
01:31or a town commutable territory not too expensive in other words somewhere you will find the perfect
01:38porridge unbreakable chairs and really comfy beds somewhere just right just like Cambridgeshire
01:48today we're exploring the countryside along Cambridgeshire's borders with Hertfordshire
01:53and Suffolk the pretty villages of Great Shelford and Little Shelford were recently named as some of the
02:02country's most desirable commuter hotspots I've lived here all my life I love that it's such a strong
02:09community I love that it's all really accessible I don't drive myself so I get the train everywhere
02:13and I love that you can go to London you can go to Cambridge and whatever you want to do
02:17you can be
02:17able to find it the town of St Ives not to be confused with its Cornish namesake sits on the
02:27banks of the
02:28River Great Ouse its lively market town atmosphere and waterside location draw many a home buyer there's
02:36lots of green areas lots of wildlife is all around here as well and it's great very nice atmosphere
02:41everyone's so lovely too and then such a happy place to be
02:48right time to get this show on the road before we do that we need to meet today's young couple
02:52who've asked us to help them escape to the country
02:57hi I'm Lauren hi I'm Lewis we're currently living in Stevenage with my parents and we're looking to buy
03:03our first forever home together we've been sort of going between each other's parents houses for a
03:09little while now and I think we're both kind of ready to sort of have our own space have I
03:13start
03:13making our own lives together Lauren works in marketing and Lewis is an actuary both commute
03:24to London several days a week it's really important for us to have greenery around for health reasons
03:30we've both had some horrible things happen in our lives so first we find the countryside really healing
03:36and calming Lauren has a clear vision regarding the color scheme for the couple's new rural sanctuary
03:45as you can see I really like the color pink so when we have our future house I am hoping
03:50to have a
03:51pink front door if Lewis will let me thoughts Lewis I think I wouldn't be my first choice I have
03:59to
03:59admit a few little touches I'm not too opposed to okay that would be fine
04:06Lauren and Lewis want a detached property but they will consider a semi it must blend character
04:13with a contemporary interior and have four bedrooms a decent sized garden and close to a station with
04:20links into London their budget 750,000 pounds
04:32what's exciting is that this is Lauren and Lewis's first house together and they're so sure about
04:38wanting to escape to the country wanting that peace and tranquility and only dipping in to the busyness of
04:45London when they have to work before our canter around Cambridgeshire commences I'm meeting Lauren
04:55and Lewis on the banks of the River Great Ouse Lauren and Lewis this is exciting we're all buying our
05:05first
05:05house together we'll have a spare room for you if you called me but you've known quite early on right
05:15this is what you want to do this is the plan yeah yes yeah I've always wanted a cottage and
05:20I've always
05:20wanted to live in a village and have a characterful home so that's something we talked about quite early
05:24on didn't we and we just wanted like a calm countryside life for our future and future children as well
05:29hopefully I've got a Pinterest board of literally my dream house so yeah I have in my mind the sort
05:35of
05:35house that I want and everything on our kind of wish list we agree on as well which is great
05:40that was going to be my next question
05:43because it is your first house together I think I think we're sort of looking for similar things
05:48there's nothing on there that screams oh I'm definitely not okay with that I feel like we're very much
05:52opposites attract he's the analytical mindset I'm the fashion marketing girly a bit more creative
05:57it sounds like the perfect combo to me actually let's go house hunt
06:04we start in the cambridgeshire village of yelling four and a half miles from the town of st neots
06:10on the main train line to london despite the shouty sounding name yelling is a peaceful village
06:16home to just over 300 people the focal point is the village hall that also serves as the local pub
06:24with the nearest shop a six-minute drive away in Papworth
06:31the first property we're showing Lauren and Lewis is this quintessential thatched cottage built in the
06:37early 19th century originally a row of six farm workers cottages today it's a stylish semi-detached family home
06:48so you've got this lovely driveway with the double garage yes perfect and then it is the rose arch of
07:10dreams yes that is straight out of my vision board it's picture perfect yeah and so we thought we'd start
07:16there
07:16yes yes yeah ideal yeah and then see how it goes yeah it's stunning let's have a look inside let's
07:22head in
07:25I happen to know that Lewis whilst not against thatched roofs is not quite as in love with them as
07:33Lauren but I'm hopeful that the interior of this cottage will appeal to his more modern aesthetic and also provide
07:41Lauren with all the period charm she's after
07:44she comes through the beam hallway there's an office there look at this gorgeous parlor room that's what I would
07:51call it nice nice and bright and nice lovely and then look at this space oh that's very nice isn't
07:57it
07:57it's really bright as well it's a triple aspect which is rare especially in a cottage I like this cottage
08:04yeah it's so light yeah it's beautiful lovely and bright isn't it absolutely stunning and the ceilings amazing
08:10excellent it really feels very homely in here which is lovely doesn't it yeah it does so we've got these
08:16two reception rooms and then you have this gorgeous bonus space really
08:21wow which can be anything leading into the kitchen but there's so much you can do yeah beautiful you know
08:28you don't have to have a table you could have sofas in there and it becomes your summer reading room
08:33with a bar
08:33or something yeah exactly yeah it's your summer space I think mm-hmm and then you're into this really light
08:40kitchen again and all of this is underfloor heating by the way on the ground floor it looks lovely
08:46yeah it feels nice nicely modernized isn't it and that's kind of the thing I wanted if it was going
08:50for character like a little bit of modernization in there and that does seem to you seem to have done
08:54that really nicely here
08:57the contemporary cottage vibe continues upstairs so you've got three bedrooms there the bathroom a loo and then this would
09:09be your room wow
09:10again it's just so bright there's just so much light in here a bit of wardrobe yeah so I can
09:16have that you can have all that
09:17yeah
09:21there's really no need for arguments over space up here in addition to the family bathroom with its roll top
09:27bath there's a single bedroom another single used as a study and the fourth and final bedroom
09:35oh nice another really decent side bedroom yeah this is lovely really nice nice window yeah nice natural light it's
09:42getting it's just so bright and air in here isn't it it feels like a good size as well it's
09:45a good space for sure
09:49outside above the detached double garage there's a bonus bedroom
09:55wow
09:56and an annex as well there you go this is great yeah this could be our third bedroom imagine guests
10:02staying here
10:03i think they'd love that they'd love it yeah this is great a little space on your own bathroom yeah
10:07brilliant perfect
10:12the south westerly facing garden features a large paved patio perfect for alfresco dining and a generous expanse of lawn
10:21to the front which extends to the side and includes a small orchard of apple plum and cherry trees as
10:28well as some veg plots
10:32yes
10:33fancy growing your own veg absolutely you want to don't you yes yeah yeah yeah you're green thumbed
10:37yes it'd be great it's lovely a wildflower field at the back as well it's just stunning yours to look
10:43at to even walk through because there's a gate it belongs to the farmer
10:47and yeah they've sort of just let it grow into a wild meadow which is just gorgeous isn't it it's
10:54beautiful i've mentally moved in already i can imagine every room i love it it's stunning
10:59i can see the grin on your face you're just yes is that is the tear in your eye hay
11:04fever or tears real tears it's a it's a pleasant mixture
11:07it is time for us to talk about the price of the property i'll let you go first
11:14um i have a rough idea i think it will be right at the top of our budget maybe 750
11:20000 pounds
11:21okay i'm going to i'm going to match it yeah it's about 750 000 pounds
11:27i like how you both said about yeah about give or take plus or minus yeah well it is now
11:34on the market for 675
11:38wow okay yeah wow it's been reduced in price to account for the fact that the roof probably has about
11:48another five years
11:49and then you get that done so they've sort of accounted for that in the price okay fine yeah okay
11:54that makes sense yeah
11:55all right that's good that's that's doable
11:59this semi-detached thatched cottage has three receptions a family kitchen breakfast room
12:05four bedrooms a separate study and a detached double garage with guest annex above
12:11blessed with a generous garden it's on the market for six hundred and seventy five thousand pounds
12:22my first impression of the house is it's lovely and well kept it's a beautiful setting there's the the the
12:26the garden
12:27space in the area around is absolutely lovely the house itself is is really pretty
12:32it's more certainly more on the cottagey side than the sort of like the money side that i'm that i
12:37personally
12:37like and yeah i think lauren is definitely more leaning towards it than i am a little bit i'm still
12:42a little
12:42bit hesitant i think but there's certainly stuff about it that i really really like
12:48yes it's it's just beautiful i can envision myself in this house i can see my future and
12:53kind of see all the rooms and and what they would be and how our life would be here
13:01well here you are leaving the picture-perfect house
13:05but i must take your way because we have more to see exciting have we won him over i think
13:11so
13:11i think so have we won you over we're almost almost that was the most i was going to get
13:16right
13:16we'll get there
13:30teetering on the cambridgeshire hertfordshire border but officially in hertfordshire just lies the market
13:37town of royston i've lived here for 12 years and i've lived and worked all over hertfordshire i
13:44wouldn't be anywhere else although we're a small market town there is loads going on all the time
13:50the community spirit is amazing i think we've got more events going on than most other little towns in the
13:56area royston is home to nearly seventeen and a half thousand people and serves several more thousand folk
14:04living in the popular outlying villages such as melbourne litlington and bassingbourne
14:09there's so many amazing walks nearby there's the heath there's little country lanes country walks
14:15which is so so beautiful like i couldn't pick a better place to want to live
14:20it's very well connected equidistant between the a1m and the m11 both less than a 15 minute drive away
14:28i think we are so well positioned um we're between two airports luton and stansted we've got great train
14:36lines into london 40 minutes you can be in london 15 minutes you're in cambridge
14:42many of the buildings in the center of royston date back to the early 1600s when king james the first
14:49chose
14:49to build a country retreat here king james pub the values of excellent wine spheres and spirits it's
14:56nice to glass wine on a sunny day excellent his hunting lodge the old palace still stands on kneesworth
15:03street just a few doors up is one of the newest arrivals to royston mitre a restaurant serving up world
15:09cuisine we've been here six months and it's been wonderful six months and people are very very nice
15:17and very welcoming royston is a wonderful place it's a beautiful small town very secure safe place
15:24for kids and families a lovely place to live in there's a plethora of eateries and watering holes
15:33in the town with everything from your morning latte to your post work pint covered hi how are you
15:40hi hi nice to meet you nice to meet you i'm lewis cookie nomad is a cafe co-working and
15:46event space
15:47that was set up by emma nankivel and a couple of her old school friends in 2022 and emma's kindly
15:54agreed to fill lauren and lewis in on royston life it's a really lovely community feel around here
16:00actually it's a market town so it does get a lot of kind of traction from outside the area as
16:05well um
16:06i've actually been born and raised in royston moved away for a few years but came back really
16:11good schools as well yeah if ever you're looking at sort of further down the line um it's got really
16:16nice kind of family community as well yeah i find it offers a real good like work-life balance um
16:21offers a real nice kind of relaxed atmosphere it's not too like busy you're not kind of expected to
16:26kind of be constantly going it's very chilled very nice where i've lived in sounds a dilly yeah
16:36sounds dreamy but we have work to do finding lauren and lewis their perfect family home
16:50we're heading to the village of curtling now right on the cambridgeshire border with suffolk the
16:57nearest station with direct links to london is in cambridge a 30 minute drive away and the 300 or so
17:03residents have access to several footpaths from which to enjoy rural walks a village hall and a pub
17:11a few minutes walk from which sits our second property a modern spacious detached family home
17:21well here we are earlier on it was a house for you lauren this is the house for lewis not
17:28that you're
17:29not moving in together but this i've gone for the other side now i do like that it looks lovely
17:35i like
17:36the porch yes it's a house with character but it was only built in 2020 okay okay fine if you
17:44have
17:44any worries about a thatched roof i'm feeling like a newly built roof five years ago yeah should be all
17:50right clay tiles oak porch oak windows yeah i think all the right things yeah yeah absolutely i do like
18:00it yeah i feel like it's still got plenty of character and it still looks from the outskirts very homely
18:04doesn't it yeah i i really like the look of it to be honest i think it looks really really
18:08neat
18:08really really tidy he just loves the fact it was built five years ago no that's true
18:15shall we head in yes let's go
18:20the house was built by the present owner who used highly effective floor wall and roof insulation
18:27high performance double glazing plus low energy lighting throughout to result in a b rating for
18:34the property's environmental impact the average rating in the uk is d similarly high standards were
18:42also applied to the interior which just oozes contemporary country living and here we are wow
18:51you get a feel for the house as soon as you come in not what i expected really no it's
18:58a great though but
18:59yeah i don't know it's much bigger and more open plan straight away than i expected i love the space
19:04the fireplace there is exceptional isn't it i really like that that's really cool yeah beautiful lovely
19:09open staircase as well yeah i love that oak yeah yeah i love that i love a bit of oak
19:14that is gorgeous
19:15family room here just everybody's in like adults around the outside kids messing around in the middle
19:19yeah yeah no it's lovely on to the kitchen let's go can't wait let's have a look
19:26so this is the utility with the downstairs loo door to the garage
19:31excellent yeah into this huge space this this kitchen is amazing i approve that island is
19:39spectacular yeah yeah that's lovely nice yeah it's really well done so much space this is the perfect
19:45size to be honest fun cooking if we've got people over i feel like i like the open plan a
19:50bit as well
19:50because we do love hosting especially you with your big family as well yeah this is yeah really
19:56high up on my list yeah this is this is really good for me you prefer this one already i
20:00think a
20:00bit more i think i i think so yeah i don't know if it's obvious yeah i mean you know
20:05i'm about to
20:06i'm about to ask you for a game of cards but go upstairs go and discover that see if the
20:15space works
20:15for you and then meet me outside okay okay we'll see you soon looks like lewis is totally on board
20:25i
20:25don't know why i'm whispering it's been obvious to all of us
20:29the space on off for downstairs is replicated upstairs with four generous double bedrooms this
20:36one being the largest oh wow very spacious in here it's lovely this bedroom is massive isn't it
20:43and the views are stunning fields yeah it's beautiful let's have a look at the ensuite
20:49that's really nicely done as well it's nice to have an ensuite as well that was something that was
20:54missing in the last house and it's quite nice to have there's another double also with an ensuite
21:01at the rear of the property and a third double next door this shares a luxury family bathroom
21:07with a separate bath and shower with the fourth and final double set up as a twin oh wow this
21:14room's
21:14a really nice size as well nice and bright in area again isn't it yeah it's so big like it
21:19doesn't
21:19look like there'd be this much space in here but it's fantastic isn't it
21:25that's 2 800 square feet of living accommodation dealt with time to tackle the garden which might
21:34be more modest in size but is just as exquisitely designed
21:40this is a lovely lovely space and that's barbecue that little i don't i don't know what to call it
21:47but
21:47it's just it's not little yeah yeah it's the centerpiece of the garden that it's made for
21:53entertaining this garden yeah definitely we could do that there's a nice little area for vegetables
21:58there and yeah i feel like it's the perfect size to be honest right let's talk money yeah okay how
22:04much
22:05do you think this property is on the market for i am going to guess 725 000 pounds i'm going
22:16to go
22:17630 000 pounds oh my gosh wow i i overwent on the last one so now i'm unsure yeah and
22:26maybe a bit low but
22:27yeah it is on the market for exactly the price that lewis guessed oh wow okay 725 000 pounds
22:38okay and only been on for two weeks oh wow okay yeah yes this modern detached family home offers a
22:47huge
22:48living room a sleek stylish open plan kitchen diner four roomy double bedrooms two of which are ensuite
22:56and a beautifully landscaped rear garden it's on the market for 725 000 pounds
23:04i feel like it still has a lot of nice character in there the staircase itself is beautiful
23:09i would say it's maybe a little bit too modern for me that being said i'm not against it by
23:14any means
23:15it's beautiful it's high spec it's so well done i think there's so much attention to detail in there
23:23as well the kitchen space is amazing like there's loads of open space the bedrooms are huge it's just so
23:28bright and airy the views are are amazing the view from the master bedroom of just rolling fields and
23:35horses and sheep it's it's stunning it's waking up to every morning it's just amazing
23:53we're winding up our day just a couple of miles from our second house at branches park a 1500 acre
24:01estate that's been restored to its former glory and is now run as a private events venue
24:09i'm being very auntie sonali and bringing you to a wedding venue
24:15it's just nice to know where where they are just in case
24:21wedding venue aside let's talk about the living venues that we have seen today in the houses we're
24:27viewing we said how peaceful and quiet it was and how calm and serene we felt exactly what we want
24:32really isn't it so yeah you're not buying a flat together which is probably what most couples and
24:39maybe that's my own experience because i was the same age buying my first property with my yeah yeah
24:43you're not doing a stepping stone property you're not going oh let's get an apartment or something
24:47no you're going all in you're already buying the family home yeah and possibly a home that you could be
24:53in for decades really it sounds like yeah and growing into the house like growing as a as a family
24:59in the future as well that's really important for us do we need to go see a mystery house
25:04yeah because because i think we're sort of split in the middle leaning more towards one for each of
25:10us so i think maybe that that third one might sort of okay stick us in that stick us together
25:14in
25:15middle somewhere i'm very excited to see the mystery house let's see what we can do
25:32if you're thinking about buying in and around the cambridgeshire borders here's the lowdown on property
25:38prices presently the average cost of a detached home in the uk is just over four hundred and
25:50eighty five thousand pounds and in neighboring herpfordshire to the south however it doubles to
25:57more than nine hundred and fifty thousand pounds
26:03of course there are properties to suit all budgets we've cherry-picked a few more that are also on the
26:10market now this characterful 18th century grade two listed cottage features a cozy reception a newly
26:19fitted kitchen two bedrooms a modern shower room and a courtyard garden it's on the market with a guide
26:26price of 289 000 pounds for offers over four hundred and seventy five thousand pounds you could own this
26:35handsome detached victorian property with a bright sitting room a second larger reception a vaulted kitchen
26:43breakfast room and four bedrooms outside enjoy a paved patio and a manicured lawn with a summer house
26:50ideal for hobbies or a teen retreat
26:55just over the eastern county border in suffolk renters can find this victorian terraced cottage with an open
27:03plan living dining room modern shaker style kitchen two double bedrooms and a courtyard garden available
27:11for 1390 pounds per calendar month yesterday was a day of two halves a home for lauren a home for
27:21lewis
27:22both almost right for both of them it is time to properly test them with the mystery house this is
27:29a
27:29couple who know what they want however if a property doesn't fit their personal picture-perfect vision
27:36down to a tee but has the potential to are they willing to come together and put the work in
27:45our mystery house lies in the village of wentworth four and a half miles west of the cambridgeshire cathedral
27:51city of ely as well as having a direct train link to london ely has all the amenities lauren and
27:58lewis
27:59could need including twice monthly farmers markets vintage markets and the popular foodie fridays
28:06held through the spring and summer months
28:11wentworth village is a 10-minute drive from ely in the middle of the east cambridgeshire countryside
28:18the mystery house is only a hundred meters away
28:22cool but isn't this what you're after this every morning in the evenings whenever you want it's
28:28this piece that you're on absolutely yeah this tranquility is just it's lovely
28:37whilst lauren and lewis explore the village with its bookshare bus shelter i'm taking you for a sneak
28:43preview of the mystery house an idyllic detached thatched cottage
28:51so far it's been a house a piece they're both happy with two different houses this is a property
28:58for both of them the mystery house because it is a house for the future
29:06this might be their first home together but this search has never been about finding them a starter
29:13home no no from the off it's been about finding their forever home and this property whilst just
29:20perfect for the two of them now has the potential to expand it can adapt with them as a family
29:27this
29:28property dates back to the 1500s but it's not listed which means they have freedom to create
29:35any extra space that they need
29:40in short it's a property that can grow along with them
29:46well welcome welcome to the mystery house your own little haven in cambridgeshire
29:54it's beautiful it's stunning it's newly roofed and ridged like that that is
30:00brand brand new okay so you don't even have to think about it yeah it's so beautiful isn't it so
30:06it feels very private and very secluded already which i really like as well it's like our space
30:11yeah our own space yeah isn't it i like that yeah it's really keen to get stuck in and have
30:15a look
30:15same me too i will not make you wait anyhow let's go
30:22this cottage has been beautifully maintained by the vendors and still leaves scope for lauren and
30:28lewis to make their mark she's got the hallway the cupboard under the stairs oh lovely oh it's so
30:35nice in here yeah it's very pretty imagine just snuggling up here with the fireplace on it's so cozy
30:43through this dinky door oh wow there's a second reception used as a shared office
30:51it's lovely in here oh this is plenty of space isn't it look at this look at that oak windowsills
30:56as well i really like that nice beam as well i like the size of the door as well yeah
31:01it's very
31:02cute hidden secret it's quite different to the space of the second house yesterday do you see yourself
31:08in here yeah i do to be fair yeah it's a slightly different vision but that's not not necessarily
31:13a bad thing at all i don't think we're heading back through the main entrance hall to the rear
31:20so with this house you've got the kitchen wow through to a utility room okay i would ask for that
31:30coffee machine wow that's part of the day that is i like the kitchen services and the work talk it's
31:36good into this space this is beautiful it's so nice and light wow it's a really nice space isn't it
31:43really big oh perfect there's loads of people around it yeah and great because it looks out onto the garden
31:48yes the current owners before they decided to move were planning a huge extension okay a sort of
31:56double-sized living room and an extra bedroom on top at the back okay they were then thinking about
32:01an orangery that goes it further into the garden but you could really add to the house if and when
32:08you needed it okay okay that's good to know yeah really good to know the point is it's adaptable to
32:14what you need it doesn't have to change at all in the first few years does it no no i
32:19mean we could
32:20definitely move in as is yes upstairs a family bathroom serves a bedroom with exposed beams that's
32:31used as a reading room a second roomier double in a newer part of the house and a third and
32:38final double
32:40oh wow this is the master bedroom ah loads of space this is stunning again nice beams in the
32:47backdrop yeah this is beautiful plenty of wardrobe space as well yeah yeah i really like this this is
32:53good this is really nice yeah love it outside the garden is the stuff rural moves are made of measuring
33:04just over two-thirds of an acre it comprises a formal lawn which leads to an orchard an impressive
33:11kitchen garden a chicken coop and a 30-foot teepee frame wow look all that space the garden space is
33:21absolutely massive this is amazing fruit trees there lovely flowers everywhere you see all the brick as
33:28well it's gorgeous hello what's that down the bottom a chicken coop it's our chicken oh
33:38loris we could have chickens hello hi oh yeah do you speak chicken no
33:48in addition there's a large detached workshop and store presently set up as a games room and a detached
33:57thatched thatched garage
34:01i know you didn't want a lot of lawn and i am going to hold my hands up and i'm
34:08giving you a lot
34:09of lawn everything's just enormous there's so much space everywhere it's brilliant like they've done it
34:13so well everything's laid out with purpose and i really like it it's done so good let's talk about
34:18the price okay yeah yeah i'm definitely going to go higher i'm not sure if it's in our budget maybe
34:24right
34:24at the top range i want to say like 780 maybe yeah i think i think with the with the
34:30extra bit of land
34:31as well i think 750 000 pounds i reckon in a way you're both right okay which is strange to
34:40say but
34:41they have asked for offers in excess of 750 000 pounds okay so i would leave the negotiations if
34:49there are any to be had to you yeah okay that's what they've asked for okay fine okay okay yeah
34:58this detached thatched cottage boasts three receptions and three double bedrooms the two
35:04thirds of an acre plot includes a detached workshop with store and a separate garage subject to the
35:11relevant planning consents there's potential to extend the house in the future it's being marketed for
35:17offers in excess of 750 000 pounds i love it i think it's so beautiful inside i just think
35:27this is the countryside life that i i would just absolutely adore
35:35yeah there's so much going for this house and the aesthetic is is absolutely spotter and i think
35:39it's so like it's so nice and bright inside yeah it's it's it's delivered
35:58the decline of the british bee population has become a pressing issue in recent years largely due
36:05to urban development destroying natural habitats in 2023 plans to establish beehives in the north
36:13hertfordshire town of letchworth garden city were scrapped due to a lack of food sources in response
36:20gareth towson a contractor with the council's ground maintenance team created a bee corridor a connected
36:28route of foraging spaces to support bees and other pollinators hi gareth hello how are you i'm really
36:35well how are you yeah good thank you together with a colleague gareth launched the bee part of it
36:41initiative urging the community to transform available areas into bee friendly habitats
36:49there's so many people on board with it schools um are doing wildlife areas um friends of groups for
36:57that look after parks volunteers look after parks and residents um planting up their gardens uh shopkeepers
37:04with planters with planters and hanging baskets it's been fantastic it really sounds like you really
37:10got the word out yeah people's enthusiasm for it was was great the overarching message is that everyone
37:18can do something if you've got a small garden and you can dedicate a area of it to naturalize with
37:25wildflowers if you've only got a small patio maybe some of your planters you can put wildflower seed in
37:31and grow that if you're in a flat window box um anything really you know anything that that's
37:38that's the pollinators can come and visit and and be on their merry way the bee corridor offers resting
37:47points with nectar rich food allowing pollinator populations to thrive when the other thing we can
37:53do is don't forget to give them a drink as well a saucer or something like that put stones in
37:57it so the
37:58bees have got something to sit on so they're not actually in the water and and drown but you know
38:03a little chair little chair for the bees yeah such a nice idea its success has inspired similar
38:11initiatives in nearby royston with hopes for bull dock and hitching to follow suit wind community garden
38:19in the center of letchworth is one of many groups involved and richard the town's business improvement
38:25manager can share more about the project's impact
38:32when gareth approached me it was just something that we couldn't say no to
38:36because um because we're the first garden city we've got rich history of looking after i can't say
38:41no can you absolutely imagine the headline else it'd go down to welling garden city at that point
38:45wouldn't they oh yeah big rival big right you've got to show them how it's done absolutely so when
38:49gareth approached us yeah we just came on board completely so the first thing was getting the
38:53businesses on board and so if you walk around the town now you'll see the bee corridor posters in
38:58the windows most of the businesses in the town supported it secondly then we advertised through
39:02our social media and our website in relation to getting residents of letchworth on board as well
39:08because it needed them to change in relation to what plants they were growing in their gardens how
39:12often they cut the verges how often they cut the grasses and to be honest we were talking to
39:17people who just wanted to listen we were not pushing against the closed door it was all very
39:20positive and letchworth is looking great the only problem is it looks so good out here you come
39:26out here on your lunch break you don't want to go back no not at all you don't
39:33the bee corridor has enhanced biodiversity and also encouraged the whole community's engagement with
39:40nature beneficial for both bees and the soul
39:51decisions decisions decisions let's see if lewis and lauren have been able to make any
39:56or whether they are totally tall
40:04how are you i should ask after seeing three amazing houses we're okay too much choice too much
40:14choice slightly confused are all three houses still on the table yes i think we could see ourselves in
40:21different capacities at least anyway um in all three of those houses they each one has their own merits yeah
40:26exactly i agree with that i would say of course naturally the first and third one i love the most
40:31because for me a thatched cottage is just my dream we did like the second one as well um however
40:38it was
40:38a little bit more on the modern side than perhaps i would have liked but i think we will definitely
40:43book
40:44second viewings and we're not ruling it off the table by any means so at the moment three second viewings
40:50yes yes oh yeah i would i would go see each each three of them again are you going to
40:54though yes i
40:56think it's worth sort of getting another look in and taking more in as much more as possible and
41:00yeah i'm going from there i think practically the first house worked the best for us in terms of location
41:05to work it's a train line that i get every day at the minute anyway to work it's close to
41:10family
41:10so things to discuss things to think about the first house after having seen all three
41:18feels like the one in between it does yeah it does and you could be in a house by the
41:23end of the
41:24year there's no reason you're ready to move yeah yeah if vendors are ready to go yeah could work out
41:31quite nicely this could be a big year yeah big year very big we're ready to move whenever so
41:36we're excited and raring to go well you better book in those second viewings then yes
41:42phone number we'll get on the phone to him in a bit yeah and then let me know what you
41:47decide i'd
41:48love to come and see how you're getting on yes we look forward to welcoming you in whichever house
41:53we choose well cheers to uh your future the three houses that you've seen and um the hard work you're
41:59putting in now i'm done so lauren and lewis are torn between all three houses we showed them and it's
42:11easy to see why cambridgeshire has delivered on the property front so have we seriously though it has
42:18been lovely to spend time with a young couple excited about their future i think they're going
42:24to end up going with house number one that feels like the sweet spot house and with both of them
42:30very keen to move in together i don't think it's going to be long before they're setting up house
42:35here see you next time on escape to the country lauren and lewis opted not to revisit house two
42:42and had second viewings of the first house plus the mystery house but ultimately ruled them out they
42:49continue to search for their dream forever home and we hope they find it soon if you would like to
42:57escape to the country in england northern ireland scotland or wales and need our help why not apply
43:03online at bbc.co.uk forward slash take part
43:21so
43:25so
43:37you
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