- 10 hours ago
Escape To The Country - Season 26 - Episode 28: Nottinghamshire
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Short filmTranscript
00:03on escape to the country we get to toast the merits of some stunning period properties I
00:09can see you sitting over the glass of rosie right now but there's always room for some
00:15familiar modern comforts this is pretty close to what I would do if I was designing something
00:21there can be a lot to get your head around I must have absolutely no idea that's not
00:29very helpful Chris and some tricky decisions to make we've made it harder in a lot of ways so thank
00:36you very much
01:02with its sprawling ancient woodlands and stories of heroes passed down through generations
01:08Nottinghamshire is perhaps the world's most legendary county the Amazon forest is known
01:16as the lungs of our planet the giant forest of California is home to the largest trees in the
01:22world but if you're looking for a forest full of folklore and legend then this is it Sherwood
01:28Forest because if these trees could talk imagine the tales they could tell the county of Nottinghamshire
01:36is situated in the East Midlands of England the area is synonymous with the legend of Robin Hood and with
01:45epic
01:46castles and extensive woodland it's not hard for tourists to imagine themselves following in the
01:51footsteps of his merry men the present residents are pretty merry too people will talk to each other when
01:58they pass each other on the street always happy to have a chat people have time for people up here
02:04so
02:04it is a very friendly place to be it's a county of contrast we've got Sherwood Forest then you've got
02:10Nottingham itself which is sort of a very busy busy city and the countryside around here it's just
02:16lovely to pick up the countryside and the urban side of the county the food scene in particular is
02:21amazing it's so diverse you can literally have anything from casualties to Michelin star there's
02:27literally something for everyone the market town of Southwell is often referred to as the jewel in
02:34Nottinghamshire's crown and is renowned for the two lead-capped spires on the minster known locally as
02:41the pepper pop spires crop well Bishop is a picturesque village with a strong farming heritage famous
02:48for producing stilton cheese it's surrounded by countryside so if you love walking and or cheese
02:56it's a great spot to explore
03:09after years in the fast-paced world of investment banking today's buyer is finally powering down his
03:16computer for the last time and trading in city life for the peace and tranquility of the countryside
03:25former investment banker shane was born in canada but lives in greenwich southeast london
03:31i haven't lived in a city with less than three million people since i was 19 years old
03:38but he's found more residents doesn't always mean more community like guarantee that half of people live
03:45in london couldn't tell you three neighbors that live within a one block radius
03:51having taken early retirement he's now looking for a quieter location i live on a very busy street big city
03:59so just
03:59want to slow things down a little bit we're big fans of the show my mother loves it we've been
04:04watching it for years
04:05and uh so i thought why not apply i knew i wanted to remain in the uk and i know
04:11that i didn't want to
04:12be in london and i travel quite a lot so i need access to the airport sea throw and gatwick
04:19friends have recommended nottinghamshire he believes the county should offer what he's looking for
04:25as well as a larger garden for more pets there's currently enough room for my two cats to run around
04:32but the plan is along with many others to adopt a couple dogs he'll be assisted by his friend chris
04:41who made his own escape from london to raise his family in his hometown of newcastle i will try to
04:48keep
04:48she on track and i'll try and keep him focused on the job in hand but that is easier said
04:52than done
04:55shane likes modern interiors and needs a minimum of three bedrooms plus a garden big enough for two
05:02dogs he travels a lot so wants good transport connections to london and to be in a community
05:08all for a maximum budget of 1.1 million pounds
05:19moving from london out to the countryside shane does have a very healthy budget but i think even
05:26he's going to be a little bit surprised at just how much you can get for your budget in gorgeous
05:30nottingham
05:34we're kicking off our search with a property near the middle of the county in the village of eekering
05:39but before we go see it i'm meeting shane and chris in one of the county's many forests
05:45one of the few places shane hasn't visited previously you have been traveling i have a little list here i
05:53have
05:53indeed let's have a look so you have been in calgary toronto l.a new york london twice might i
06:00add
06:00hong kong sydney all of these amazing cities have i missed any oh that's most of them yeah yeah pretty
06:07much it's already left it's already left well i'll tell you where it's left nottinghamshire
06:12short forest gotta add that to this list that's the plan well it's a great county isn't it i mean
06:17you're looking for countryside it's all over it really is you're steeped in lots of forest lots
06:23of history so we're going to have a great time exploring here but it's going to be very different
06:28to city life and london life prior to this my real only experience with donning i'm sure was trent bridge
06:35for the cricket and that was in stay in the city center go watch a cricket match and never really
06:40exploring the rest of it but yeah friends will be coming up to go to trent bridge and watch cricket
06:45and
06:45and for visits so chris is that why you're here exactly yeah exactly i'll be there this is very
06:53exciting we've got amazing houses to show you great but we've also got this beautiful countryside
06:58to explore walk through the opposite exactly and people to meet as well so let's get on with it indeed
07:08the sought-after conservation village of eking was a danish settlement in the ninth century
07:14and the name means circle of oak trees there's a community orchard maintained by volunteers and the
07:21park has a play area for kids plus an outdoor gym for grown-ups for the community there's a village
07:27hall
07:27where people are encouraged to socialize and less than a quarter of a mile away is our first property
07:34it has an attractive symmetry from the front but there's far more than meets the eye from this angle
07:44well shane take a look at this wow property number one and we had to show you a good traditional
07:51farmhouse it's great to see it from here we're going to get a better view if we stand up there
07:55so follow
07:55me sure yeah now this is the reason i wanted you to see it from this angle yeah there's a
08:04lot more to it
08:05than you see from the street right isn't there yeah i love that little terrace area right there for
08:10sitting especially on a day like today right yeah i can see you sitting there with a glass of rosé
08:14right now yeah there's a couple of wine clubs around here wow so you'd fit right in with a glass
08:22of
08:22rosé up on the terrace as long as you invite other people you've done your research you're invited thank you
08:28it's a gorgeous house let's get inside perfect great
08:34this farmhouse dates to the late 1700s and has been extended over the centuries
08:40to now boast over 4 000 square feet of living space we're starting our tour in the newest part
08:50you like open plan living i understand and this is the big central open plan space of this property
09:00yeah yeah oh it's less modern than i'm used to but it just has a really homey feel to it
09:09right like a
09:09country home do you cook i love cooking oh yeah he's very good yeah if you like spicy food i
09:17love
09:17spicy food well i guess being from the crook yeah yeah i love some spicy food yeah well you should
09:22come
09:22over okay somewhere in nottingham church sometimes a great cooker like that would work for you i love
09:28that style of cooker i was actually saying to chris last night one thing i forgot to put on my
09:32wish list was
09:33a cooker like that and then turn around and then you're facing out to this they've got this wonderful
09:38light well here is this the heart of the home like many or are you actually i like to be
09:44in the
09:44snug living room we're talking about snugs and i just don't get the concept of snugs really i think
09:50i think they were calling them closets but i think it's a closet when you're buying and it's a slogan
09:56well this is generous it carries on through there there's a pantry the boilers tucked behind there
10:02but what i'm going to show you now is a couple of rooms which i find very snug like
10:07okay but not closets at all okay no no no
10:13so you get a second area with a dining table again doors leading to the outside
10:19wow but there's more through here keep coming
10:23so a very snuggie cozy room that it's not a closet no no no living room how do you feel
10:30being in this
10:31room it's like it is cozy i'm not sure i'll lay it out this way but i love the light
10:40in it you can
10:41imagine just sitting here and reading right oh good reading room i like it yeah yeah you can see that
10:45and you've got a room about the same proportions just the other side it's being used as an office
10:51at the moment is that something you need ongoing yeah i would like to have an office possibly yeah
10:55so you've got those options
10:58shane is currently writing a couple of books and this home previously belonged to a children's author
11:04so perhaps he'll be inspired upstairs the middle floor has the required three double bedrooms as well
11:12as three bathrooms each with a freestanding tub look at the size of this bathroom wow it leads us
11:18through to this now what about this for a main bedroom yeah this is very nice again and the
11:26windows i mean it's all yeah it's very very light it's plenty big enough too is it yeah i think
11:31you
11:32need a bit more space go and have a look around there and see what else you get okay if
11:35you thought
11:35that big bathroom was for this room you would be right okay because what's one big bathroom when you
11:41can have another oh right okay i guess you would use this as your ensuite right probably yeah i would
11:47think but then it sort of begs the question what is yeah that for come let's discuss let's think about
11:53it so i'm thinking it could be he's off and he's thinking that could just be one giant wet room
12:02sauna
12:03uh right yeah yeah yeah that's not a bad idea actually on the top floor there's another pair
12:12of bedrooms one with an ensuite then a separate staircase leads to a sixth bedroom above the main
12:18suite the land covers nearly half an acre and includes a former barn with planning permission to
12:26create more living space as if there wasn't enough there are mature fruit trees
12:32vegetable beds and still plenty of garden for shane's prospective two dogs to run around in
12:39so there's lots of potential you've seen the whole house it is stunning how much do you think it's on
12:45the market for 1.1 so 1.1 million pounds yeah okay i'll taste slightly more 1.2 this house
12:54is on the market
12:55for offers over 1 million pounds okay wow wow okay it's a little bit less than i thought it would
13:02be
13:03wow wow so do the numbers add up to a sound investment for shane
13:09this 18th century property has a huge kitchen six bedrooms four bathrooms and almost half an acre of
13:17land all available for offers over one million pounds i was really thinking country type houses i was
13:26looking for something more modern but i like it a lot more than i thought i would like something like
13:31this i can see the attraction of living in a place like this in a village like this
13:36very pleasantly surprised it's a lot of house really and for what it's on for i think it's
13:41something that certainly deserves consideration you've set the ball rather high looking at this property
13:58as shane has lived in some of the largest cities in the world including the big apple we thought
14:05we'd send him to discover not new york but newark on trent the river trent is its hudson river northgate
14:13station it's grand central the spire of saint mary magdalene would be its skyscraper and the 12th
14:20century castle would be well new york doesn't have castles so newark wins hooray
14:29and if this doer upper can pull itself together by tomorrow maybe it could be shane's mystery house
14:36the castle is most famous for being the site of king john's death in the year 1216 anno domini
14:43is that light i think so and shane wouldn't be the first city slicker to settle here before
14:53living here i'd always lived in big cities i've lived in manchester london istanbul and i have
14:59really kind of dug myself in over the last eight years it is very typically friendly and sociable as
15:06a small town you get to know everybody and yeah i'm stuck here i'm not moving i love it
15:12you've got loads of shops you've got all the cafe and you need to go if you want to go
15:16and then you
15:17can visit the countryside very easily and the travel is quite convenient in addition to the town's rail
15:23links it's just off the a1 and within 40 miles of nottingham lincoln and leicester but really there's no
15:31need to go anywhere else we have got vibrant cafes we've got some lovely pubs in newark some of the
15:38i
15:38think some of the best in the area and we have a very good art scene going on with a
15:44lot of local
15:45artists and some galleries that operate in newark as well which is fantastic one gallery is housed in
15:53the town hall along with a museum and there's another dedicated to the town's importance in the english
15:59civil war so although they only named it once there are plenty of reasons to be a part of it
16:06here in newark
16:15for our next stop we're making our way to the north of the county headed for the market town of
16:20rettford at the heart of the town is the market square lined with georgian buildings the pedestrianized
16:28shopping streets offer a range of independent stores plus bars and restaurants to socialize in
16:36outside st swithin's church is a grade two listed cannon captured at sevastopol during the crimean war of
16:44the 1850s during that century the population doubled from 6 000 to 12 000 and the town became linked to
16:52london by rail today the station offers a direct route to the capital in under 90 minutes and just a
16:59short 15 minute walk away in a quiet pocket is our next property
17:07so we're taking you from farmhouse to the grand house well it just screams open my open plan
17:16on the outside i would say it looks very light very airy it's just a sense of space it's bespoke
17:21one of a kind and i think they've done an excellent job let's find out what we can
17:26yeah you're like can we get in stop telling me about the outside all right i won't tease you anymore
17:31come
17:32this home was designed by the current owners and completed in 2023 it includes a 10-year build
17:43warranty and is full of cutting-edge features as well as environmentally friendly ones highly insulated
17:50and with underfloor heating it's been given a very favorable epc rating this is a bit different
17:56isn't it you couldn't get more of a contrast you really couldn't for what you saw this morning
18:03farmhouse and now we've walked into something new but they've kept a lot of natural materials
18:08just different right so we've got the metals we've got the brickwork it's almost like a loft
18:13conversion in a city where they keep the brickwork and they keep the you know some of the original
18:18thing and just open the light up and cleaned up this makes me think of like sort of lower manhattan
18:24but then you look there and there's forest through the window you probably wouldn't get that lower
18:30manhattan probably not no come on let me show you through here well this is about as open
18:36plan as it comes right i mean look at this i think this hands down goes as one of the
18:41biggest
18:42i can't even call it a breakfast bar you know no it's not it's not at all is it yeah
18:47this is
18:48amazing entertaining space it really is cooking music beautiful beauty of the garden right again the
18:55brickwork the way that everything is laid out is just so clean yeah yeah and this is probably pretty
19:01close to what i i would do if i was designing something on the money i can very much think
19:06share living here well let's keep this good momentum going let me show you the other room over
19:11here great great alongside the kitchen is a utility room a shower room and a study that extends into the
19:21garden then back across the double height entrance hall is the main reception room and look at this
19:29for a living room yeah this is super nice too again it's just a really open room the way they
19:34furnished
19:35it the owners the design is amazing but the way they furnished it is uh pretty impressive too
19:40yeah obviously it gets a lot of light through here just the way that it's done it's just very modern
19:50that blend of clean modern lines interspersed with the surrounding natural world creates a green
19:56glow that continues upstairs up here sit three bedrooms in a row and at the opposite end of the
20:03landing is what i propose as the main bedroom now this one is a blank canvas you get that full
20:11glazing there looking under the trees high ceilings yeah and turn around look up there
20:21wow there's your bathroom so through there you've got a shower bathroom toilet dressing area right
20:27you hit up the spiral stairs and that's your bathroom yeah plenty big right i love these floors i
20:35really do i think while it's a modern house it's not cookie cutter it's not all boxes is it and
20:42so it
20:42still gives you character still gives you some quirks even just the shape of the room the fact that it's
20:47not square yeah it's nice touch i think it's time for you to get off explore on your own
20:53okay and then come tell me what you think of the whole property afterwards right all right thank
20:57you thank you very much you are released thank you oh wow
21:04it's expecting this after the master bedroom i think if this is a guest bedroom the guest should
21:09be very happy yeah your bedroom absolutely another right what a fantastic view these windows that go up
21:18into the roof i think are magnificent and they really show off those wonderful trees everywhere
21:25you go here is bespoke it's beautiful it's ultra modern but it's also got so much character
21:31i mean this is just a dressing room right so you don't really need a lot of light but
21:35you would just get the aspect of the forest but this gives you the top of the trees and the
21:43sky
21:43i mean it's amazing building today doesn't it yeah
21:50outside the low maintenance landscape gardens wrap around the home and feature multiple zones for
21:57chilling out in the sun
22:00how much do you think this is on the market for hmm i must have absolutely no idea
22:07that's not very helpful chris have a guess a million offers in the region of a million okay
22:16i would say 850. you're getting better at this am i right this one's on for offers over
22:23one million pounds okay right okay and i'm getting worse
22:29offers over one million pounds for this striking contemporary home with supersized features including
22:36an open plan kitchen and a grand main bedroom with a split level ensuite it's energy efficient with a
22:43high epc rating and has a secure landscaped garden ideal for pets it's just very clean minimalist new
22:53it's a good combination of modern technology fittings a very open plan i love the exposed brickwork i love
23:00the fittings and the bathrooms are amazing everything is just very clean anyone that knows me knows my
23:06style would say this is much more me clearly it's absolutely brand spanking new it's modern design modern
23:13build and it looks incredibly modern it's a very very impressive property
23:25despite its excellent transport links and peaceful countryside nottinghamshire offers better value
23:31property prices than the national figure the uk average is around four hundred and thirty eight
23:37thousand pounds compared to the county average of three hundred and forty six thousand but if you like
23:45the area you'd better be quick as that affordability means demand is high and rising particularly for
23:52detached properties local estate agent sarah smith can explain more we've seen a steady growth this year
23:59i think it's a result of regeneration that's in the area and so that's naturally kind of encouraging
24:05people to come to this area i think apart from the obvious like the price and the value yeah why
24:11would
24:11they come into nottinghamshire i think generally because of the regeneration but also because of what
24:18we've got on the doorstep and there's some great cultural and culinary places which is a real draw for
24:24people i think just the location the lifestyle the natural beauty that we've got that's a huge draw i think
24:30for a taste of what else is on the market how about this lovely blend of modern with traditional
24:38it boasts a shaker style kitchen a good sized sitting room and three bedrooms upstairs set against a rural
24:47backdrop it's priced at 280 000 pounds or if you fancy something a little older this delightful elizabethan
24:57cottage has red brick features and exposed beams throughout it comes with four generous bedrooms a mature
25:05garden to the rear and is on the market for 475 000 pounds as for the rental market available options
25:15include this
25:16terraced home in a rural hamlet with three bedrooms gardens front and rear plus use of a double garage for
25:24eight hundred and seventy five pounds a month
25:34yesterday we introduced shane to some traditional countryside living with that gorgeous period property
25:40but then we showed him something very modern everything he'd asked for and he seemed to love
25:45them both so today with our mystery house it's going to be a blend of the two let's see what
25:50he thinks about that
25:54we're traveling to the east nottinghamshire village of south clifton the location of our mystery house
26:02the village is a designated conservation area due to the historic importance of many of the buildings
26:08yeah this is a quiet village
26:13yeah not piccadilly circus that's for sure
26:18it's surrounded by cycle routes and footpaths where shane and chris are taking a stroll while i go
26:25prepare the property
26:27in the heart of the village along a gated drive is our final offering we do like to mix things
26:33up with the mystery house so this is it a petite house with a living room and a kitchenette plus
26:40an
26:41en suite double bedroom upstairs well that could be for when friend chris visits
26:48of course that's not all there's an even larger annex with a double garage that shane could use as a
26:54gym plus a lounge opening to the garden a decent sized kitchen and again an ensuite double bedroom upstairs
27:03so that's the weight bench and visiting family sorted too
27:07but of course that's not all either for there's a third building packed with modern finishes
27:13wrapped up in character and it's this one that could be the mystery home for shane
27:21look at this bolted ceilings it's got period features it's got charm and underfloor heating now that's the modern touch
27:32so it's three for one the kind of deal former investment banker shane would snap up
27:41welcome hello to the mystery house wow it's a bit different isn't it what you've got
27:48is a barn conversion yeah okay but the reason it's a mystery is because this one gives you three for
27:55the price of one we're diversifying your portfolio a little bit okay so you get one two and a third
28:01dwelling wow all on this plot wow that's an amazing wrap around acre of land yeah beautiful
28:08well it's mysterious i think it's quite interesting from the road you've got no idea to you correct
28:13but yeah i can't wait to see some more okay let me show you some more great
28:20this collection of buildings were first raised in 1752 but the interiors are modern as they were only
28:27converted to residential dwellings from 2012. look at this wow wow yes wow indeed love the fireplace yeah
28:37the fireplace is very focal got lots of natural materials again yeah feels open and airy and light
28:45all around yeah courtyard here great floors yeah i was actually saying it feels quite homey yeah it does
28:52it's very modern on the inside the floors are beautiful yeah but you have the period element of
28:58the beams and the height of the ceiling it's rustic and feels comfortable okay yeah let me show you some
29:06more great great this building is arranged in an l shape around a courtyard so from the main living
29:15room you turn left into the kitchen another amazing kitchen i think yeah beautiful isn't it lovely
29:22yeah very modern central island again yeah yeah yeah yeah but look at this i mean they're glazing all
29:28the way across right yeah straight out into that courtyard all light in here that's one thing that strikes
29:34me about you know for a kitchen to have windows looking out of the terrace like that it really is
29:39again i wasn't really expecting this kitchen after that right sort of go rustic and again was expecting
29:46maybe a slightly older kitchen but it's all very modern while keeping with the beams and the stonework
29:53you know a lot of houses you walk into and you can kind of figure them out right away when
29:57you walk in
29:57you can go okay i bet you there's two bedrooms up here now we're through the main reception room
30:02into the kitchen and i still don't know what if it's back there what's over there what's so it's kind
30:08of
30:08it's still a little bit of a mystery right i mean we're getting there bit by bit
30:12well the next bit is further along from the kitchen where beyond a family bathroom is the
30:19main bedroom which comes with an ensuite shower so this is one of the four bedrooms right it's got
30:27ensuite and the door right out onto the garden yeah nice little quaint yeah these barns used to be
30:33stables right yes yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah i love how they've kept the beams beams are cool
30:41through here well it continues in this sort of style great throughout the property yeah i can very
30:47much see you living here mate i think it's um it's a bit more to your sort of needs almost
30:53that you don't
30:54need to have too big too many bedrooms easy living sort of nice kitchen nice room outdoor living i think
31:02this i could see you very much being very comfortable here you take those happy feelings
31:06go explore the rest okay i can't wait to hear what you think when you've seen it all okay we'll
31:11see you
31:11in a bit off you go above this bedroom is another with a window that would amuse the cats
31:20then back at the other end of the building there's another ground floor ensuite bedroom with a room above
31:25that's used as an office and features a low opening onto the lounge mezzanine good luck chris
31:35well that was very easy fun for you right yeah i'm not gonna do that again
31:41did you bang your head no no well i like the way it flows onto the kitchen kitchen flows onto
31:48the
31:48courtyard so it's not a super modern open plan but it kind of flows room flows to room nicely
31:54it's not boxy and you know kitchen over there yeah it's dining room over there i think flows
31:59is that flow describes this quite well actually yeah across the gravel driveway is the largest addicts
32:08well similar sort of theme right high ceilings beams all coming out into another courtyard
32:15but it's a good size yeah i mean you could almost turn this into maybe a office slash study area
32:22i don't know
32:24and then tucked into the garden is less of a man cave and more of a man house
32:30that could be shane's writing studio or a self-contained rental the substantial one acre plot
32:36includes the patio areas a vegetable patch and a small paddock previously used for sheep and alpacas
32:44there she is so how much do you think this is on the market funny i knew you were going
32:50to ask me
32:50that and i was thinking about it i kept getting distracted by all the buildings um i would say
32:591.15 okay 1 million 150 000 pounds correct i'll go i'll go quite a lot low i'd say 850.
33:07it's on for offers over 995 000 pounds almost like right in the middle exactly yeah yeah that's all
33:16right you're you're a little bit closer yeah
33:20offers over 995 000 pounds for this sprawling three-for-one mystery package boasting a total of
33:28six bedrooms and five bathrooms across three separate self-contained units they are all packed
33:36with period features including high vaulted ceilings with exposed beams and the zoned garden
33:42fits a wide range of purposes probably out of all of them this one's most challenging i would say
33:47simply because not only is a mixture of period and modern but just uh figuring out how how life would
33:56be really with two annexes a main building um how you actually get some use out of them so yeah
34:02it's
34:03given me different things to think about having walked around the whole place get a sense of what's
34:08going on i really can see shane living here i think he'd be very comfortable here he has the flexibility
34:13to be his own stamp on the property so put a gym where he wants to use annex for a
34:18guest room or
34:19whatever it may be but i think the flexibility and he gives them some optionality
34:36there's no doubt who the county's best known resident is as the globally famous robin hood
34:41made his own escape to hide out in this wood centuries ago but today it has another important
34:48tale to tell being here in sherwood forest is like stepping into a storybook that's come to life
34:59the towering ancient trees the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves
35:04this is home to some of the oldest trees in the uk but with a changing climate some of these
35:10ancient
35:11trees are in need of a helping hand and i've come to find out how
35:18sherwood forest covers more than 420 hectares and it's a unique habitat for all kinds of flora and fauna
35:28the rspb senior site manager for this important reserve is holly drake
35:35this place is magical isn't it holly yeah and the trees you've got everything from young trees through
35:41to the ancients but what are the challenges that these wonderful trees in this forest are facing
35:47now from climate change and everything else that's changing climate change is probably not just affecting
35:52sherwood it's probably affecting everywhere all over the globe sherwood we have seen it we have had extreme
35:58weather events if we have extreme droughts the trees go into stress because they can't access that
36:02moisture and that might potentially affect their growth in future years stressed out trees i never
36:08thought about it i know so what are we looking at around here i mean what's the age of these
36:12sorts of
36:12trees um this one here is the next generation tree so that's not one of our oldest ancients next
36:18generation i like it sounds quite funky what does that mean how young or how old would it be yeah
36:22so
36:22this is the next generation of ancients so it could be up to potentially six seven hundred years old okay
36:27um so they're still quite old trees but they are you know not at that nine hundred thousand year old
36:34so given that you've got trees that are six seven hundred years old and older they sound quite resilient
36:39why do they need our help now we want this space to be as magical as it is now in
36:44a hundred years time
36:45in two hundred years time we want to do everything we can do to protect these habitats we provide
36:50educational tools in the visitor center and some of the interpretation to tell people those stories
36:56for me we educate people they can go away they can tell their friends their families you know their
37:01loved ones all about what they've learned and that for me that inspire to educate is the big piece for
37:07me
37:09there are over 1 000 ancient oaks here the largest collection in europe and much of the wildlife
37:17that thrives in this unique habitat is rarely seen outside the forest deadwood habitats are what
37:22makes sherwood special so if there is an ancient tree that has deadwood it could be aerial deadwood
37:28what we want to do is preserve that sometimes what we do is we can put interventions in place where
37:33we
37:33actually strap the trees so behind us is one of our ancients called mr split mr split is actually a
37:41standing deadwood that is still as vital habitat as a living ancient tree so what we try and do is
37:47make sure we band it and we keep that dead hulk is what we call it so the hulk together
37:53to stop it
37:54collapsing because inside of that is the vital habitat for the invertebrate species that are here on the site
38:02one current resident of the forest is not quite as famous as robin hood but is probably older
38:09this is our major oak so it potentially is even up to 1200 years old it's been here a very
38:15long time
38:16it is our star icon to bring people here we have a lot of people wanting to visit wanting to
38:22see it
38:23and just understand how we can help protect it for the future and it looks like there's a bit a
38:28lot of
38:28work to help protect it even back to the edwardian period right at the top of the tree you can
38:33see
38:34we've got chains that are from the main stem back to the limbs to try and keep it from dropping
38:38them
38:38we've also got some props so um there were wooden props in place when the fence was put in place
38:44around the 1970s to try and stop people going to the major oak because there's a lot of compaction
38:49through decades and decades of people enjoying this space you know the actual ground underneath the
38:54major oak is as solid as concrete right because of the amount of people that have been and looked at
38:58it and the kind of footwear that it's had around it so what we've done is obviously we still keep
39:03the fence line in place we let the area be more wild because the variation of flora that we can
39:09have on here the better because different flora has different depth roots so that kind of breaks
39:14up that kind of concrete pan that we're talking about we're also doing some work around the base
39:19of the oak so we're actually manually aerating the soil with the support from volunteers and trowels
39:25and a lot of hard work um in conjunction with leading soil and tree specialists in the uk
39:30because if we can do that it'll get more nutrients it'll get more oxygen and the tree hopefully will
39:35be able to get all of the stuff it needs to grow easier but it is still growing it is
39:40still growing
39:41we still have leaves um so yeah it's it's still there what we want to do is try and preserve
39:45it
39:46for as many years as we possibly can moving forward absolutely we want this to keep going it's been so
39:51wonderful talking to you here and you have so much knowledge the fact that we're getting this out for
39:55other people to learn from and to carry on this amazing heritage is fantastic yeah thank you it's
40:01been great and thank you for being part of the story it's almost impossible to imagine what the
40:08world will look like in a thousand years time but hopefully with the help of holly and her successors
40:14this mighty oak will still be around to see it
40:22well we've shown shane a great selection of houses this week and had great reactions so let's find
40:28out what he's going to do next so having spent a couple of days with us how are you feeling
40:36about
40:37moving out into the countryside 100 confirms what i previously thought that country living is definitely
40:44for me the first few properties we saw especially property number one because when i said i wanted
40:49something modern in a country setting i was pretty sure that i wanted modern but property number one
40:56surprised me how much i really liked that um you've given me a lot more to think about than i
41:02would have
41:02previously thought about which has been for me probably the the biggest takeaway you've made it harder
41:07in a lot of ways so thank you very much for that i think next steps are certainly to explore
41:15the
41:15villages around property number one property number two and just get a feel for things so if you were
41:21going back would you have a second viewing yeah absolutely i think house number one and house number
41:26two i would like to see again get a feel for the area get a feel for what's around it
41:31this is exciting
41:32isn't it isn't it you could either go for exactly what you said you wanted yeah or something completely
41:38different yeah exactly yeah and nottinghamshire is the county for you i think so yeah i'm pretty sure
41:44thank you so much for going with us on this journey and letting us in on this next chapter of
41:49your life
41:49thank you very much it's been amazing best of luck and of course when you buy let us know
41:55absolutely we'll keep in touch thank you thank you very much we've had a wonderful week here in
42:05nottinghamshire showing shane a great selection of houses and i think we've given him a bit of a
42:09dilemma he's ended up with not one but two properties that he wants to take a second look at
42:15for me i've had a chance to get to know this wonderful county and what's not to love the trees
42:21the birds the weather it's had it all now for shane i truly hope that he enjoys those second
42:28viewings and makes a decision and he moves out here very soon and i hope you join us soon for
42:34more
42:34escape to the country having had time to review the homes shane's front runner is now the modern house
42:42we showed him plus another contemporary home in the county but he needs his own house sale to go through
42:48first we hope it all works out for him as soon as possible so he can begin his new chapter
42:54in the
42:55countryside if you would like to escape to the country in england northern ireland scotland or wales
43:01and need our help why not apply online at bbc.co.uk forward slash take part
43:32so
43:37you
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