Escape To The Country

She'd look better on water skis being towed by a couple of alpacas.

papaoscar I think you've left a bit of the title out - shouldn't The Great British be in there somewhere?
How about Davina McCall as one of the presenters? When things got boring she could cross Lake Windemere by bike or have I got that bit wrong?

Just watched today's ETTC with Jules looking svelte as ever in his gilet. The couple were shown houses in North Wales that were lovely [especially the last 2] and the low prices!!!!! We should go there.Except...... well, I like living in England, but must admit I am envious of the sort of homes you can buy there. Prices here still continue to go through the roof.

I always wonder why they think they will have more time to be with their children [are there more hours there than 24?]They seem to also think they will not have to work as hard, when in fact the reality is that they will!Leaving close family and friends must be awful, both for them and the relatives left behind. If going to OZ would be a huge step up, with space, house and a good job then I could understand it, and in fact I have seen 2 programmes where the family would truly benefit [out of hundreds of programmes.]The last one I saw , the young family seemed to have everything to stay here for, but if they must move, why not to Devon or Cornwall?Or anywhere nice and rural, come to that.

Love it Aka!
Both my DDs were wanted down under. We wonder if it was something we said.

I wish I could have left my daughter behind somewhere when she was a teenager, but no one else would have had her.

I would like to see a new series called Escape to the Country- Revisited to see how they are all coping with the reality of their fantasy lives. And as to wanted down under what is it with these people? Why not spend more time 'as a family' here? They all seem to compromise on house, work longer hours than here, and where is the support network of family and friends? What happen when a child is ill and you both have to go to work? I cannot see how a bit of sunshine makes up for depriving your children of their extended family, missing all the family events and growing up with aunties, uncles, cousins etc. And as to those families who decide to go but leave their teenager behind what is that saying?

A lot of Australian houses are not wonderful, even new build. Certainly not the ones a lot of them could afford to either buy or rent.

roses I agree - some of these families' priorities seem rather odd to me - as you say, a house isn't everything. I've learned from experience that however nice your house is, if you don't like where you're living it will in no way compensate. And no matter how attractive the lifestyle, I would hate to move so far away from family and friends, though I suppose I can understand someone emigrating if they're unable to find a decent job here.

Typed a comment then this thing froze and lost it (so have I)

Deedaa, your defence of HUTH prompts me to think of a new show that could be put together to suit all tastes - Strictly Pointless Escape to Bargain Hunt under the Hammer, but who to have as presenter(s)?

What I can't understand about Wanted Down Under, is that all that seems to matter is the house. The big question surely is; do you want to live in Australia [hot, far away, snakes, spiders, crocs, sharks.] If you really want to live there for 'the lifestyle' [they all say that , do they mean constant barbecues?]then go for it. If they can't afford 'the dream house' then they can work hard and get it later on, but the big decider must be which country, not if they can't get the magazine type house then they won't go, seems odd to me.That's without all the sobbing relatives. Are we really prizing houses above all else now?

I'm sorry papaoscar but I really enjoy Homes under the Hammer (and so does DH) It's about the only show that doesn't have artificial dead lines and if a renovation takes 5 years or the whole thing goes t**s up and the house has to go straight back into an auction then so be it.
But then I don't like Wanted Down Under! Too many one track minded fanatics bulldozing their families into emigrating, having to pay a lot of money for unimpressive houses and working long hours to try and finance it.

Now you're talking, M74. Sun, sand and sea nicely presented. A very pleasant winter diversion, well supported by both sides of the house.

Wanted Down Under?

Rosesarered, commiserations to your DH. Whilst deep in my own trench of despair about Escape I console myself that things could indeed be worse - Madame could be threatening to expose me to yet another horrid dose of 'Omes under the 'Ammer and its irritating blend of tumbledown wrecks, windbaggery, pouting and awful flower shirts. Escape? Folks certainly need one...but not to that sort of country!

I did indeed, M74, not to mention the hunt trampling all over the lawns, herons pinching the fish, drunken carol-singers demanding mince pies at Easter, flat-capped fools in wax-jackets and green wellies looking for Jermima's lost pony, fly-campers in the spinney and the threat of a rave in the paddock next week. Escape...they'll need one!

BTW some of the programmes are old but some are up to date.

Spoken like a man Papaoscar [well, you would, wouldn't you?]My DH does exactly the same as you. I reckon men have to shoot it down in flames to stop us women from pointing at the new kitchen/bathroom etc and saying 'I want that one!'

You forgot the cockerel crowing at dawn papaoscar
And the right of way through your back garden

Escape to the country, indeed! The other half really likes it but as soon as I see the titles come up I reach for my big blunderbuss of criticism fully loaded with verbal shrapnel, which I fire off with great pleasure as I don't like the programme. I find it patronising and divisive. This does not go down well with herself and I am usually sent back under the carpet and told to simmer down quietly in the corner. I note, however, that some of these escape programmes are years old so assume they are just used as tv channel padding these days, like so much else.

Like others, I wonder what happens when the country novelty wears off, the chimney smokes, manure spreading starts, the thatch drops off, church bells ring round the clock, the septic-tank overflows, foxy gets the chickens, the lamas escape, coypus invade the pond, and the pigs root up the neighbours garden. And how do they feel in the middle of winter when they're cut off from the rest of the world when phone, internet and satellite tv are down, roads are icy and blocked, family don't visit and they really wish they'd stayed nearer to all the old familiar things and faces back where they came from.

On the other hand I might be forced to agree, if pressed, that an element of jealousy is driving all this, so perhaps I'll just shut up and crawl back under the carpet!

Deedaa, I was asked to hold the chickens while their necks were slit when I was about 9, but ran off.

DM said she had never seen anyone pluck a chicken as fast as her MIL, who I never met as she passed away years before I was born.

DD1 refuses to eat her own chickens. Times change!

I am sure there will be, merlotgran, especially when it is wet and muddy and John Lewis, harvey nicks and the coffee shop are 75 miles away

I'm sure there will soon be a spin-off. 'Stuck in the country.....GET ME OUTTA HERE!!

margaretm74 when I was a small child we had a holiday with my godmother. We stayed with her father who was a gamekeeper. He had an old oven built into the kitchen fireplace and it was normally full of pheasant or bantam chicks being revived. He had an outhouse that was used for skinning and gutting rabbits, but I remember being fascinated watching him pluck and clean wood pigeons on the kitchen table - my mother had beaten a retreat long before we got to the gutting