Escape to the Country Season 19, Episode 38: Leicestershire

1

Derbyshire

Sonali Shah is property hunting in the Derbyshire countryside with a couple who have a £450,000 budget and hopes that this move will transport them to a village with community spirit and a complete change of scenery.

45 min

2

Cheshire

Sonali Shah is house hunting with a couple who have a budget of £650,000 and want to quit the city to find a house with great entertaining potential in the Cheshire countryside. Sonali also delves into the region's manufacturing heritage at one of the country's best preserved textile mills from the Industrial Revolution.

45 min

3

West Dorset

Margherita Taylor is on a house-hunting mission in the Dorset countryside, helping a couple with £500,000 find a character property with space for entertaining and a baby grand piano, as well as an outdoor setting to keep a keen gardener busy. Along the way, Margherita heads out to the oyster beds of Poole harbour to discover more about how they are farmed and harvested sustainably to meet popular demand.

45 min

4

Monmouthshire

Nicki Chapman heads to the Monmouthshire countryside to help a couple who have a love of the outdoors and dogs as they aim to buy their first home together with their £700,000 budget. While in the county, Nicki heads into the woods and, under the watchful eye of an expert fungi forager, learns about the art of edible mushroom picking.

45 min

5

Shropshire

Ginny Buckley is in the Shropshire countryside with a sociable couple who have £425,000 to invest in a character home that gives them space for entertaining and their beloved jukebox.

45 min

6

Somerset

Jules Hudson is on a property-hunting mission spanning Somerset and Devon's Exmoor National Park with a couple who have a £550,000 budget and a love of carpentry and the coast. Along the way, Jules visits the Wool Marketing Board's fleece-sorting depot in South Molton which grades and sells sheep wool from across the south west region, and which contributes to Britain's £35 million wool industry each year.

45 min

7

Yorkshire Dales

Margherita Taylor is rural property-shopping in the Yorkshire Dales with a retired head teacher who has £400,000 to invest in her leap to the country and has signed up her daughter to help her with the decision making.

45 min

8

Peak District

Jules Hudson heads to the Peak District with an expat couple returning from the Netherlands to their family roots and want their generous £1.5 million budget to provide comfortable accommodation for their visiting mothers.

45 min

9

Shropshire

Jonnie Irwin is in the Shropshire countryside, helping a couple with a £335,000 budget to find a rural family home closer to loved ones.

45 min

10

Wiltshire

Nicki Chapman is in in Wiltshire helping a London couple who need their generous £1 million budget to afford them space for their prized possessions - a baby grand piano and classic cars.

45 min

11

North Yorkshire

Alistair Appleton travels to North Yorkshire for today's house hunt where he is tasked with finding a forever home for a couple of keen caravaners who have £300,000 to spend.

45 min

12

Somerset

Nicki Chapman scours Somerset's rural property market with a fun-loving couple who have a £400,000 budget and a desire to quit living in a Surrey commuter town to free up more time for their hobbies in their new country home.

45 min

13

Perthshire

Jonnie Irwin heads to the Perthshire countryside to help a house-hunting couple with a £550,000 budget relocate from the city of Dundee and find a rural retreat with views, along with space for a cinema room.

45 min

14

Welsh Borders

Alistair Appleton visits the Welsh borders to help a couple who have a healthy budget of £775,000 to find a countryside home to raise their young son and establish a glamping retreat business.

45 min

15

Devon

Jules Hudson is on a house-hunting mission in rural Devon with a couple who want their budget of £475,000 to give them much more for their money than their young family currently have in the London suburbs.

45 min

16

Warwickshire

Alistair Appleton travels to the Warwickshire countryside to help a couple with a £600,000 budget finds a rural home for them and their two young daughters. While in the region, Alistair visits one of the country's last surviving water mills still running commercially and meets a miller harnessing the natural power of the River Avon to produce his flour.

45 min

17

Devon

Sonali Shah goes property shopping in rural Devon with a couple who have a £350,000 budget and high hopes of finding a country home that has a workshop for him and an art studio for her. While in the county, Sonali joins a family of wheelwrights dedicated to preserving the dying craft and responsible for repairing the wooden wheels on the Queen's carriages.

45 min

18

Norfolk

After long and demanding careers in the emergency services, this pair of house hunters are after a change of scenery in the Norfolk countryside. Jonnie Irwin guides them on their rural property tour, showing them some fantastic homes available for their £900,000 budget. Jonnie also pays a visit to 15th-century manor house Oxburgh Hall and learns the tricks of the trade used for its 21st-century restoration.

45 min

19

Somerset

Jules Hudson is scouring Somerset’s rural property market with an enthusiastic business-minded couple who have £650,000 to invest in their new life in the countryside. While in the county, Jules also visits the apple orchards of Barrington Court and, after ploughing his efforts into pressing apples, he’s rewarded with a taste of their traditional cider.

45 min

20

Hampshire

Ginny Buckley helps a young and expanding family to escape the city and find some space and tranquillity in the Hampshire countryside with their healthy £800k budget.

45 min

21

Worcestershire

Jonnie Irwin goes house hunting with couple who have a healthy £900,000 budget and want to start a new life closer to loved ones in the Worcestershire countryside. Jonnie also visits brine springs at Droitwich Spa to meet a family breathing new life into the region's salt heritage for the first time in a century.

45 min

22

Peak District

Sonali Shah in on the search for a rural home in the Derbyshire Peak District with a couple of soon-to-be retirees who have a budget of £500,000, and for whom a pond is a high priority.

45 min

23

Isle of Arran

Jules Hudson heads to the Isle of Arran to house-hunt with a novelist and her husband who are in search of writing inspiration from the Scottish wilderness for their £375,000 budget. Along the way, Jules discovers the positive benefits to Arran’s marine habitats and the local fishing industry since Scotland’s first ‘No Take Zone’ was introduced.

45 min

24

Devon

Alistair Appleton is on a property-searching mission in the Devon countryside, helping a mother and daughter duo with £750,0000 find a home for three generations of their family and an eco-camping business.

45 min

25

Gloucestershire

Jules Hudson is on a forensic house hunt in rural Gloucestershire with a retired detective and his wife who want their £500,000 budget to furnish them with a charming Cotswold home.

45 min

26

Shropshire

Jonnie Irwin is in the county of Shropshire in search of a country home for a pair of free spirits who have a £300,000 budget with which to finally lay down some roots. Jonnie also gets in the saddle on a ride through the Shropshire hills with a bespoke bike builder.

45 min

27

Isle of Wight

Jules Hudson crosses the Solent to property shop on the Isle of Wight with a couple who have a £750 000 budget to find their dream island home with holiday-let potential. During his journey, Jules gets an intimate glimpse into 19th-century royal life when he visits Osbourne House, one of Queen Victoria's favourite homes.

45 min

28

Cambridgeshire

Sonali Shah is tasked with helping a jet-setting couple who want to stop living out of a suitcase and have a £700,000 budget to find a rural home in Cambridgeshire for their growing family.

45 min

29

Gloucestershire

Jonnie Irwin is in Gloucestershire to help a green-fingered couple armed with an £800,000 budget find their perfect retreat with plenty of space to enjoy their hobbies.

45 min

30

North Yorkshire

Alistair Appleton accompanies a couple on a North Yorkshire house hunt. They are calling time on running a guest house in the city and have a £650 000 budget to find a rural family home with business potential.

45 min

31

East Devon

Nicki Chapman is in East Devon helping an outdoors-loving couple armed with £850,000 who are ready to leave their hectic life in St Albans behind them and buy a rural family home within reach of the coast before their son starts school.

45 min

32

Shropshire

Alistair Appleton is helping a couple with a £400,000 budget escape to the Shropshire countryside in a bid to improve their young daughter’s quality of life and reconnect with family roots.

45 min

33

Lancashire

Jules Hudson meets a couple with a generous budget of £700,000 who want not just to buy a sanctuary in the Lancashire countryside for themselves, but also invest in enough land to home some much-wanted donkeys.

45 min

34

Norfolk

Jonnie Irwin is in rural Norfolk, helping a couple who have an £800k budget to buy their very first property together. Along the way, Jonnie takes a ride on a narrow gauge steam train when he meets the enthusiasts keeping the Bure Valley Railway on track.

45 min

35

Pembrokeshire

On today’s country relocation in Pembrokeshire, Alistair Appleton is helping a couple with a £325k budget to find a rural home for their retirement. Whilst in Wales, Alistair also visits an upland farm to discover the challenges and advantages of rearing native South Wales Mountain sheep.

45 min

36

Shropshire

Nicki Chapman is on a house-hunting mission in the Shropshire countryside, balancing the dreams of a father who has a £475,000 budget and wants to head for the hills, while his daughter wants him to live closer to a community.

45 min

37

Dorset

Alistair Appleton is in Dorset with a pair of teachers who have a £550,000 budget to find a country home where they can raise their young daughters. Away from houses, Alistair visits a family of entrepreneurial dairy farmers who produce a unique alcoholic spirit made entirely from milk.

45 min

38

Leicestershire

Jules Hudson travels to the Leicestershire countryside to help a couple with a £750,000 budget find a rural home close to their family. Whilst exploring the county’s bricks and mortar, Jules pays a visit to a beautiful arts and crafts cottage preserved as a time capsule from a bygone era.

45 min

39

Suffolk

Jonnie Irwin is on property hunting mission with a couple who have a £750,000 budget to make a move from the Essex coast to the Suffolk countryside. Aside from houses, Jonnie ventures into fields of golden rapeseed to find out how the oil of this humble plant has fast become a store cupboard staple.

45 min

40

Hampshire

Nicki Chapman heads to rural Hampshire to help a couple with £700,000 in their pocket find a permanent country home where they can finally kick back and relax after a life of relocating because of work.

45 min

41

Dorset

Sonali Shah delves into the depths of the Dorset countryside on a mission to find a rural retreat for a couple who have a £750 000 budget with which to buy a home, a holiday let and land.

45 min

42

Somerset

Nicki Chapman is on an emotionally charged property search in rural Somerset, helping a couple invest their £500,000 budget in a home that strikes the right balance between country charm and practical open plan. Nicki also visits Barley Wood, a beautiful walled kitchen garden resurrected by chef brothers who use what they grow in their inventive dishes.

45 min

43

Norfolk

Alistair Appleton takes up the reins on a property search in the Norfolk countryside with a young animal loving couple who have a budget of £750,000 to find an equestrian home that provides them with income potential.

45 min

44

Herefordshire

Jonnie Irwin is in rural Herefordshire with a fun-loving couple who want to escape life under the Stansted flight path and invest their £600,000 in a country home that has space for a beloved car and a large coffee table.

45 min

45

Shropshire

Margherita Taylor is on a property romp around rural Shropshire helping her house hunters with £425,000 to find a country home which they’ll hopefully fall in love with and buy.

45 min

46

Essex

Sonali Shah is in the Essex countryside helping a church minister and his wife to make their very first house purchase with their £425,000 budget. Away from property, Sonali discovers how conservation and engineering have partnered to create a landmark coastal nature reserve.

45 min

47

Devon

Nicki Chapman is in Devon with a professional singer who has a £670,000 budget to buy a country home that hits the right note.

45 min

48

Suffolk

Jules Hudson is in Suffolk on a grand property search with a couple hot-footing it from the other side of the world to set down roots in the British countryside for their £900,000 budget. While in the county, Jules meets a dynamic dairy farming family whose customers are queuing up to buy their fresh milk straight from the farm's vending machine.

45 min

49

Somerset

Margherita Taylor is in Somerset with a couple on their maiden house hunt together. Whilst in the county, Margherita visits a cottage that Samuel Taylor Coleridge once called home.

45 min

50

Ayrshire

Nicki Chapman is on an emotional house hunt, helping a couple fulfill a long-held dream of moving to the Scottish countryside of Ayrshire. Alongside a selection of the region's best properties that a budget of £450,000 can buy, Nicki also pays a visit to the 18th-century Dumfries House, home to one of the finest collections of furniture in the world.

45 min

51

Cornwall

Ginny Buckley is helping a couple to make a new start in the Cornish countryside. For their £550,000 budget they want a character property with plenty of room inside for their family to stay, plus space outside for their beloved dogs. Ginny's time in Cornwall coincides with the preparations for an annual steam fair extravaganza, where she gets behind the wheel of a magnificent vintage engine.

45 min

52

Lincolnshire

Jonnie Irwin makes his way to Lincolnshire to assist a pair of expats who have a £300 000 budget to make the big return home after 11 years living abroad in Cyprus. Whilst in one of the country's largest agricultural counties, Jonnie also pays a visit to a land-based college to find out about the changing face of farming practices with the next generation of farmers.

45 min

53

West Sussex

Nicki Chapman is on a house-hunting mission in the West Sussex countryside with a couple who are looking to sell up in London and use their £1.6 million budget to invest in a period property that is also the right fit for their toddler. Nicki also tries her hand at the rare art of fore-edge painting, and adds her own creative mark to some books under the watchful eye of award-winning craftsman Martin Frost.

45 min

54

Perth and Kinross

Ginny Buckley is experiencing the breathtaking natural beauty of Perthshire while on a house-hunting expedition with a couple heading back to their roots with a £450 000 budget. In an area known as big tree country, Ginny also gets up close and personal with some of the region’s ‘champions’ - the tallest, widest and oldest trees in the UK.

45 min

55

Suffolk

Today, Margherita Taylor is in Suffolk with a house hunter who has his best mate in tow on his quest to find a low-maintenance rural home with a great garden for wildlife, on a £490,000 budget. Margherita also turns her attention to the county’s maritime heritage when she gets hands-on with traditional skills and techniques at Suffolk’s International Boatbuilding Training College.

45 min

56

Somerset

Alistair Appleton is in rural Somerset with a couple of family-focused sport enthusiasts, who have a £1 million budget with which to buy a country home with views and a garden for football. While in the county, Alistair also learns the endangered craft of handmaking paper and sees how it’s been championed by the same family for four generations.

45 min

57

Shropshire

Sonali Shah is in Shropshire with a garlic specialist and his Russian wife, who want to establish a new business that taps into the county’s thriving food scene, but not before securing their dream family home in the country on a £550,000 budget. While in the county, Sonali gets in tune with the region’s melodic heritage when she learns about the expert craft of harp-making.

45 min

58

Somerset

Ginny Buckley is in Somerset helping a couple with a £310,000 budget find a country home where character charm and a practical utility room are top of the wish list. Along the way, Ginny heads into the Somerset Levels to see how bird wildlife efforts have brought the endangered crane back from near extinction.

45 min

59

Norfolk

Nicki Chapman has the tough, but rewarding task of finding the perfect country home for a house hunter and his wife who have a £450 000 budget to escape suburban Surrey and the home he has lived in for more than 60 years. The house hunt may come up roses in more ways than one as Nicki also gets to grips with all things horticultural when she’s invited to an exquisite garden for tea, cake and a spot of pruning just before its grand open day.

45 min

60

Anglesey

Alistair Appleton is on the isle of Anglesey with a pair of animal lovers who have a £475,000 budget to find a rural home with business potential for them and room for their six dogs. Whilst on the island, Alistair also learns about the importance of preserving the region's ancient woodland, before taking an adrenaline-fuelled ride on an alpine toboggan.

45 min

61

North Wales

Jonnie Irwin is on a house hunting expedition in north Wales with a couple who have a £300,000 budget and a wish list including a craft room and community close by. Jonnie also can’t resist trying out Snowdonia’s latest outdoor activity, catching a wave at the world’s first artificial surf lagoon.

45 min

62

Devon

Today's house hunt takes Nicki Chapman to the Devon countryside with a £450,000 budget, as she helps a buyer moving on to a new, happier life chapter with her young son. Away from important property decisions, Nicki heads to the seaside town of Dawlish, where she joins in the local fun at the carnival that the community works hard to organise every year.

45 min

63

Norfolk

Jules Hudson is rural property hunting in Norfolk with a couple of retired accountants who want to invest their £550,000 budget in a character home that gives them countryside and community on their doorstep. Along the way, Jules discovers how boat building is going strong in Wells-next-the-Sea before trying his hand at sailing a traditional yacht off the Norfolk coast.

45 min

64

Cornwall

Sonali Shah is on a house-hunting mission in Cornwall with a buyer who has £260,000 and a deadline to find a character country home before her new job starts in Truro. Sonali also heads to the coast to discover how a group of surfers and divers are campaigning to clean up the oceans by turning plastic waste on Cornwall’s beaches into a new reusable material.

45 min

65

Dorset

Jonnie Irwin is in Dorset helping a retired doctor and her husband who are selling up their Surrey family home. They have an £800,000 budget to spend on a spacious country property where they can enjoy their respective hobbies. Jonnie also heads out into the waters of West Bay to see how a conservation scheme is helping protect healthy levels of marine life and the livelihoods of local fishermen.

45 min

66

Suffolk

Today’s house hunt takes Ginny Buckley to Suffolk with a couple who have £640,000 to quit north London and buy their first property together. Along the way Ginny meets a goat farmer who made his very own escape from the city to the Stour valley and is reaping the rewards from looking after the herd and his new lifestyle.

45 min

67

Herefordshire

Jules Hudson is in Herefordshire on a mission to help a self-confessed workaholic osteopath with a £450,000 budget find a country retreat that gives her peace and inspiration to write and relax. While the house hunt hots up, Jules also visits an archaeological dig at Dorstone Hill, which has broken new ground in what is known about how our Neolithic ancestors lived.

45 min

68

Aberdeenshire

Sonali Shah is on a house hunt with a deadline in Aberdeenshire, as her Anglo-Icelandic house buyers need to relocate from Reykjavik to the Scottish countryside on their £380,000 budget before their daughter starts university in the region. Sonali also meets a family whose veganic farm produce has grown into a successful local box scheme, highlighting the increasing demand for vegan-friendly food in the UK.

45 min

69

Welsh Borders

Jonnie Irwin’s house searching mission is with a couple of creative Californians keen to make a lifestyle leap to the Welsh borders with their £500,000 budget. Away from a hunt full of property style surprises, Jonnie goes llama trekking in Herefordshire’s Golden Valley and sees how llamas are living very happily in the UK countryside.

45 min

70

Dorset

Jules Hudson is country property shopping in Dorset, helping a couple with £475,000 find a rural property that offers a workshop and space to keep hens. Jules also delves in the county's glovemaking heritage and produces his own bespoke pair in the safe hands of a fourth-generation local glovemaker.

45 min