I Escaped to the Country

Jules Hudson catches up with house hunters who left behind their hectic working lives in Brighton and relocated to Herefordshire. On their £300,000 budget, they successfully bought one of the homes they saw after a big rethink on their original property wishlist. Jules sees how their new home and the village location has had such a positive impact on their wellbeing and feeling part of local life.

Jules also drops in on some of his former house hunters who had a £365,000 budget and are now happily living in one of the houses he first showed them. He finds out why they are delighted to have made the lifestyle leap to rural Monmouthshire.

Jonnie Irwin heads to North Yorkshire to be reunited with his former house hunters who, with their £850,000 pound budget, wanted to escape London to be closer to family and raise their own young children in the country. They acted decisively and bought one of the country properties Jonnie first showed them. Despite being in the early months of settling in, Jonnie finds them all in great spirits.

Their children love the great outdoors and are happy in their new school, and the parents are keen to get to grips with making home grown produce. With that in mind, Jonnie takes them to Beningbrough Hall's community orchard, where they get a workout from squeezing freshly pressed apple juice.

Jonnie Irwin revisits a couple he helped on their initial property search in Sussex. Jonnie returns to the house he showed them that they ultimately bought for under their £600,000 budget. The couple each had very strong ideas on what they wanted from their move to the country, with one of them determined to run a bed and breakfast from their new home. Building work is in progress, so Jonnie sees how their vision will provide accommodation for the business without intruding on their personal living space.

As well walking their new dog in the surrounding countryside, Jonnie and his house buyers visit one of the award-winning vineyards Sussex is home to. After harvesting grapes and eating more than a few, they sample the array of wines produced there.

Alistair Appleton catches up with two couples whose property searches helped them make a successful leap to the Norfolk countryside. First he revisits some house buyers who had a £400,000 budget and are now loving life in the home they bought. Over a cup of tea in their kitchen, Alistair finds out what creative changes they have made to the interior and how much pleasure they have had discovering new country walks from their doorstep.

Alistair then meets up with a married couple of musicians who, on their initial house hunt, had quickly cast aside their property criteria when they fell in love with one particular Norfolk village. Alistair tracks them down at that village's community shop, where they now volunteer, to find out what happened next.