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Watch Help We Bought a Village, Season 5 Episode 29 on Dailymotion (2026).
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00:01Across Europe lie villages the world has forgotten.
00:05I think I can see the wall!
00:07Get in there!
00:08Places where time has simply stopped.
00:11It's almost like people just walked out the door.
00:14But now a handful of people are doing something extraordinary.
00:18All we gotta do is put this up there.
00:23Taking on collapsing buildings.
00:26I gobsmacked.
00:28Hundreds of years of history.
00:301882.
00:31Wow.
00:32And projects most people would run a mile from.
00:36It's big, I don't think we've ever faced anything bigger than this.
00:39In this series we meet the dreamers.
00:43If you don't believe you can do it, you'll never do it.
00:46And the risk takers.
00:50Trying to revive these lost villages.
00:53Get on!
00:54Facing challenges at every turn.
00:57It's like something out the apocalypse.
00:59The more you walk around the more damage you see.
01:04But if they succeed.
01:06It's really a balancing act.
01:08Yeah.
01:08They won't just restore buildings.
01:11We're really, really excited about it because they look amazing.
01:15They'll bring entire communities back to life.
01:21Restoring the past to build their future.
01:25Why buy one house when you can buy a village?
01:29That's what I say.
01:36Today at a village in France.
01:38Come on, quicker.
01:40Modern machinery moves into an ancient barn.
01:43What about that bit there, Hayes?
01:45Why is that come up?
01:46And proves technology doesn't always make things easier.
01:51Come up, what's come out of this whole thing?
01:52In Romania, at one of Europe's biggest rescue projects.
01:56You look beautiful.
01:58They're hosting weddings again.
02:01But will there be enough staff to cope?
02:04We've basically only got one waitress who knows what's happening.
02:08And as they step up renovations at a settlement in Spain, is there a clue to the history of the
02:15village hiding in plain sight?
02:18We found this old millstone.
02:21I think it's the old doughnut design.
02:23So if it is, then it's a really nice historical find and makes me very happy.
02:41Normandy's landscape is steeped in military history.
02:45From Viking settlements to medieval conquests and the pivotal battles of World War II.
02:53After D-Day, the march towards liberation began on these roads.
02:57And the local villages, like the Cleufontaine, were witness to battles that shaped the destiny of Western Europe.
03:07It was smack bang in the middle of some major fighting during the Second World War, just after D-Day.
03:16And I'd imagine with this having at the time sort of 11 plus buildings, including a bakery,
03:22we had the orchards and all the cider press and the cattle and anything like that,
03:27I'd imagine that this would have been heathen at the time.
03:35The Cleufontaine has been under the stewardship of Lee and Hayley from Swindon for the last seven years.
03:41Lee's in the army and Hayley's a school business manager.
03:44And their full-time jobs in the UK mean renovations have been gradual.
03:49But their long-term goal is to turn their barns into a home and move in permanently.
03:56The world could implode outside, but in here it's just...
04:01It's just a little happy place, isn't it?
04:02It is my happy place, yeah.
04:10It's February and Hayley and Lee have a contractor on site who's been digging up the floors of the barns
04:16to get them ready for a concrete pour.
04:19But a problem with one of the walls means they now have to fix that as a matter of urgency.
04:28We had a fracture, a crack from the top to at least halfway down.
04:33So the best bet is to, unfortunately, take it all out and I'll build that back up the other side.
04:43Lee's decided to put a connecting doorway in the gap where he's taken down the wall.
04:48But it'll need proper support.
04:51We want to put a beam which is going to sit above the doorway,
04:56but then also support everything above.
04:59And that's why we've got to have something quite hefty.
05:03The good news is they have a beam on site that should work perfectly.
05:08No flies on us, honey.
05:10The bad news is they need to carry it into the barn.
05:13Ah, mud!
05:16Just put it on there.
05:18I thought you were supposed to be the big guns.
05:20I just wasn't ready, that's all.
05:22OK.
05:26What are you doing? Throwing it this way?
05:28This oak beam used to support the roof in another building in the village.
05:33Lifter, lifter.
05:35If you get the strap...
05:39...and it's likely to be at least 200 years old.
05:43OK.
05:44Watch that.
05:45Watch the dog.
05:46Dobby, here.
05:47Dobby!
05:48Take him away.
05:49Take him away.
05:50This way.
05:51Come on.
05:51Good boy.
05:56Lee decides it's going to be quicker if he takes it in the bucket of his dump truck.
06:00But that brings its own problems.
06:04Oh!
06:05It's just sliding!
06:07Oh!
06:08Once he's strapped it down, Lee has another go.
06:12Woo!
06:14So far, so good.
06:20But it might be a bit big for the gap in the wall.
06:24Yeah, so...
06:25That's massive!
06:26Yeah.
06:27I might have to take 10 centimetres off, and then I'm going to have to take a chunk out for
06:32the top there.
06:33If you took 10 centimetres off before you brought it through, it wouldn't have been so hairy scary getting it
06:37through.
06:37Yeah, but it wouldn't have been so much fun.
06:39LAUGHTER
06:45The contractor, Dean, now needs to fine-tune the space in the wall.
06:49And once Hayley has mixed some concrete to secure it, they can hoist the beam into place.
07:03Oh, it's up there, and we haven't killed anyone yet.
07:09It's another problem successfully navigated.
07:12And another step towards Le Clos Fontaine finally becoming their forever home.
07:18Once I'm in, doing it, I'm all right.
07:21It's the coming out of a nice warm house to do it.
07:24That's the bit that I'm not so keen on.
07:25Well, maybe next time we won't have the heating on.
07:29Just have a tent outside.
07:30Yeah, so I can kick you out.
07:32No complaints.
07:38All of our saviours know that their villages stand a much better chance of survival if they can be used
07:44to generate an income.
07:46And one couple who've already created a thriving business are Jonas and Ulrika.
07:52They're the stewards of one of the biggest village restoration projects in Europe.
07:57And they've been working on it for the last 20 years.
08:00We are trying to restore with the ideas we have of the old image, the atmosphere back in time.
08:16Kund is in Romania, but it has German heritage that dates back 800 years to when German Saxons arrived from
08:24the Rhineland.
08:25With the fall of communism in the late 20th century, they migrated in the opposite direction.
08:31And the village was on the verge of disappearing.
08:35So many houses, derelict, unrestored. A derelict house was the normality.
08:44Ulrika and Jonas moved to Kund in 2003 and have since transformed many of the old houses into rooms for
08:51a diffused hotel.
08:53They've also opened a restaurant and began the process of restoring the village's 14th century church.
09:01This is, this is extremely moving.
09:07Today they employ around 30 locals and their VIP guests have even included King Charles.
09:15We both feel we are by far not done in this village and we are so looking forward to all
09:23the next steps that we were taking,
09:26but also to see how this village is evolving.
09:43It's July and Jonas and Ulrika have a challenging day ahead.
09:47They're hosting a wedding for over a hundred guests, but they need to rely on temporary staff because their regular
09:55team are guests at another wedding just down the road.
09:58The daughter of the shopkeeper in the village is getting married.
10:03Obviously, it's a really big thing in the village and most of our staff is actually attending this wedding.
10:10So here we basically only got one waitress who knows what's happening.
10:15In the past, Kund would have been a self-contained community where everybody had a role to play.
10:22And it's a tradition the new custodians are keen to respect.
10:26Today Ulrika is responsible for the flowers.
10:29Of course, for the bigger events, we always need to buy some additional flowers.
10:35But as you can see, the majority is local and from the area.
10:41And I like to use those flowers a lot.
10:45There's just a few hours to go though, and the bride herself will need to sign off her wedding bouquet.
10:51So Ulrika hopes she'll agree that local brooms are the way to go.
10:55From my point of view, those wild flowers give a certain special atmosphere to our location.
11:07Meanwhile, Jonas is a man on a mission.
11:10No, he's not here.
11:11Ulrika will need to decorate a willow tree in the garden later that will be the focal point of the
11:17ceremony.
11:17But a vital tool appears to be missing.
11:21We don't seem to be able to locate a ladder, which is a challenge that shouldn't really be there.
11:32Have we been putting it in here? This is also not the case.
11:41With time rapidly running out, no ladder on the horizon, and Ulrika yet to win the bride's approval for her
11:48bouquet, the pressure is starting to mount.
11:51I hope she will like it. This is the most important aim.
12:02Coming up, it's a delicate operation at La Clos Fontaine.
12:06If you go in my jacket, my pocket, hey, go into my papoose.
12:12Where they're lifting out the lavender.
12:14There's a Stanley in there.
12:17And it's planting season at a Spanish village where they unearth some buried treasure.
12:23Ah!
12:24Don't breathe!
12:26There!
12:38There are thousands of villages across Europe that have paid the price for failing to keep up with the times.
12:44And that's exactly what happened in Andalusia at Almathara del Oliva, a centre of olive production for at least 150
12:52years.
12:54The mill wheels no longer turn.
12:57But once village saviours Claire and Frank saw that all the infrastructure was here to create a new community,
13:03they bought it for less than the price of the terraced house they left in Portsmouth.
13:10Even with the thought that we were going to have to spend on doing some renovation, it was still amazing
13:16value.
13:17And where are you going to find somewhere like this, you know?
13:20Plus you can renovate while you live in it, which a lot of people have a real struggle,
13:25because they're living in one little dusty room while they're doing the rest,
13:29or they're doing the upstairs and living downstairs.
13:32And it's so hard, I'd seen it a few times, you know.
13:41Amongst the five acres of olive groves and outbuildings, the site is also blessed with traditional Andalusian cave houses.
13:49Their design goes back to the Moors, who conquered Spain in the eighth century.
13:54And while Claire loved the idea of living in one, her first thoughts were that they weren't quite as rustic
14:00as she'd hoped.
14:01When we came in, it was just, it wasn't very cavey, because it's very nicely done.
14:08It's a more upper-class cave, so they're very neat tunnels like an underground, with a curve.
14:15Very smooth.
14:16Very smooth, a little bit too perfect, because I like the cavey caves, where all the rocks are lumpy.
14:23But I was like, well, don't be fussy.
14:26It's nice.
14:36It's spring in Andalusia, and after weeks of wet weather, the sun is shining again.
14:42Today, the focus of Claire's attention is the vegetable garden,
14:46which they urgently need to prepare for this year's crop cycle.
14:50The sun's finally come out, the rain's stopped, and we're going to make the compost heaps all into one now.
14:59Revitalise them, get them working, get them hot.
15:02Best way to do that is to move them into one or two big piles,
15:06with some rotting vegetables from the kitchen and some pea from the pea buckets in the middle.
15:13Get it hot and then just turn it and turn it and turn it until the whole thing breaks down
15:18into proper compost.
15:20Farmers have been making and using compost to help plants grow since the Stone Age.
15:25Early agriculturalists might have noticed that crops grew better where animal manure or rotting vegetation had been left behind,
15:34so began to use it intentionally.
15:37There's no doubt that Claire's compost has made a huge difference to the soil here,
15:41especially since she gave her home to her donkey, Paquera.
15:47This is Paquera's donation to the little village.
15:51Lots of hard work on her behalf, but even harder work on behalf of everybody that has to pick up
15:57after her
15:58and shovel it up, rain or shine, cold or warm, and take it down here ready to use in the
16:05garden.
16:06This is one of the reasons to have a donkey.
16:10It isn't just by composting that Claire and her fellow villagers are drawing on agricultural traditions of the past.
16:19The tool that's being used at the moment is a kind of a hoe.
16:23In Spain they call it aza, A-Z-A.
16:26It's used in a lot of dry places because it's much easier to move the soil with one of these
16:33than with a fork or a spade, which will probably just break the handle.
16:37Hodes like this, with a sharp metal blade, have a long history in Spain
16:41and were most likely introduced by the Romans or the Moors.
16:46Although they use them in Afghanistan and in North Africa and Arabic countries.
16:52In the UK, though, you can buy them, but most people would do their gardens with a fork and a
16:58spade rather than this.
17:06Here we have a nice big worm which is like a moment of celebration for us because the first whole
17:12year we were here we didn't see not one worm.
17:15A worm is a sign of healthier soil.
17:19The garden had been neglected for decades when Claire and Frank moved here, but it now provides about 40%
17:26of the food for the village in winter and 60% for the rest of the year.
17:31It's planting season rather than harvest time, but as there are currently 19 people living on site, it's a good
17:38job the garden is still able to supply some treats for tonight's meal.
17:45Although the garden is very close to empty, there's still enough for a few onions and some salad from the
17:51garden and Joe's picking that now.
17:56So here's Joe, here's Joe with the onions and the lettuce.
18:01In an hour or so, that'll be in your tummy.
18:17Back in Le Clos Fontaine, it's April, and Hayley and Lee have been getting all three barn floors ready for
18:24a cement pour later this week.
18:26They've laid down insulation sheets and now need to put metal frames on top.
18:31What we've got to do is we've got to put the steels into the concrete.
18:36All the videos that I've watched, you see them reaching into the concrete and having to physically shake the steel
18:43up through the concrete.
18:44I'm just trying to think of easier ways of doing it.
18:47So we've actually tied some insulation to the bottom of this steel and what it does is it holds it
18:56three centimetres off the floor.
18:58It should still be sufficient enough for it to give the cement rigidity.
19:04Because that's what it's all about. It's all about limiting the cracking in the concrete slab.
19:09Today, the couple also need to do some work at the front of the village to create space for the
19:14cement lorry.
19:16And it means moving the lavender that's growing by the patio.
19:20Hayley wants to keep the lavender, which is fine because it's relatively well established and it smells absolutely fantastic in
19:27the summer.
19:28The bees love it as well.
19:29It'd be wrong to get rid of it.
19:32Lavender cultivation in France has a long history.
19:35It arrived with the Romans who used it for bathing.
19:39And in the Middle Ages, French monks grew it for its healing properties.
19:43But it really took off when the perfume industry boomed in the 19th century.
19:48Normandy isn't blessed with the vast lavender fields of Provence, but it's often a feature of gardens here.
19:54The concrete trucks only got this amount of space to come through.
19:58So we need to move this whole section of the rockery in order to allow the vehicle to come through
20:04with a pump.
20:05First off, Hayley and Lee need to remove the rocks in the shrubbery.
20:19We're going to be asleep in a minute. It just smells so lovely.
20:27But the job needs some mechanical help, too.
20:35Watch me lavender.
20:39That made easy work of that.
20:41The most delicate stage of the operation is to lift the lavender out without destroying the roots.
20:48Right.
20:49Yeah.
20:55If you go in my jacket, my pocket, Hayes, go into my papoose.
21:02There's a Stanley in there.
21:08There it comes.
21:09It's quite a new route, that bit.
21:11There you go.
21:13Yay!
21:13Job done.
21:18With the bush safely in Hayley's wheelbarrow, she can take it to the other end of the village where it's
21:23going to be replanted.
21:27The couple are creating a natural barrier between their garden and the field beyond with a bank of earth.
21:33And they've already spread a plastic membrane over the top to prevent weeds.
21:38Once it's re-established itself and settled, it'll be fine, I think.
21:41While Lee finishes off clearing the driveway for the cement truck, Hayley makes sure the lavender is firmly dug in
21:48so it has the best chance of blooming again.
21:52With the membrane over it and the other side as well, at least it'll remain weed free for the time
21:57being and manageable.
21:59Even though it is just a lavender bush, it's a real big part of this place here and it's a
22:05real favourite place to sit and the fragrance and the smell and the bees and everything like that.
22:10So hopefully it will re-establish itself, fingers crossed.
22:15Happy with that job.
22:17The couple are only in France for a few more days and they've achieved everything they hoped so far.
22:23All in all, not a bad day or two's graph.
22:27Yeah, good graph.
22:27At times, they might feel like renovations at Le Clos Fontaine are moving at a snail's pace.
22:33But when the cement truck arrives, it really will be a giant leap forward.
22:39I'm going to say we're on track, but Lee doesn't really have a schedule.
22:42We don't have a track, do we?
22:52Coming up, in Kund, it's an emotional day.
22:56We have a saying in Romanian called Casa la Piatra, which actually means we wish you a house of stone.
23:02As the biggest wedding in a generation gets underway, and Claire is piecing together the past at Almofara del Oliva.
23:11To have a millstone from the former mill is really a coup, it's wonderful.
23:32Back in Transylvania, they are counting down the hours to the wedding.
23:37Jonas is in the kitchen supervising the cooks in his role as head chef.
23:41And Ulrika is putting together the bridal bouquet.
23:45Yeah, I'm a bit nervous, but I'm always nervous to imagine that she will probably look at the wedding picture
23:55with her future grandchildren.
23:57This is quite, yeah, touching to me.
24:03She was given a colour scheme, but the choice of blooms is entirely in Ulrika's hands.
24:09And she'll need it signing off by the bride, Timia, before she puts the finishing touches.
24:15I'm using, like, those wild flowers and those purple ones I'm losing, like, most of the time because these flowers
24:26are locals.
24:27And I like these yellow ones because they look a bit elegant.
24:33And I need to rush, so I would quickly go to Timia to present her the bouquet.
24:43And then I really need to rush off to get finished.
24:51It's a nervous few moments, because if Timia doesn't like what she sees, Ulrika will need to start from scratch.
25:00Knock, knock.
25:02And time is running out.
25:04You like it?
25:04Yes, yes, very beautiful, thank you.
25:07It's amazing.
25:08Thank you.
25:08It's amazing, it's really nice.
25:10Great.
25:10Now she has Timia's approval, Ulrika just needs to trim the stalks, add some ribbons, and give the bouquet a
25:17final flourish.
25:19OK, look.
25:24It's finished.
25:25There's more good news over in one of the function rooms, because the staff have tracked down a ladder that's
25:31been missing.
25:33Ulrika needs it to help her decorate the willow tree that will serve as the backdrop to the wedding ceremony.
25:38It's nice, I like it.
25:41This looks gorgeous.
25:44So I will add also two big flower bouquets, and one for the table, and then at least the place
25:59for the ceremony is finished.
26:03With the garden now prepped and ready, it's time for Timia, Tiberiu, and their guests to celebrate the main event.
26:14Over in the kitchen, Jonas and his team are busy preparing the wedding feast, and it includes truffles. Jonas dug
26:20himself earlier in the week.
26:23In a village that was once self-sufficient, it's another nod to the traditions of the past.
26:30So I'm doing my favourite job, which is shaving truffles. So these are some beautiful summer truffles, which we collected
26:39a couple of days ago, so they're about three days old.
26:43Wedding celebrations decorated with wild flowers, where guests dine together on food grown in the local fields and foraged in
26:51the woods, were a staple of life in Kund for at least 700 years.
26:57Everything okay over here? Everything okay? Very happy to hear that.
27:02We had absolute, you know, the perfect weather. Lucky enough, she said yes, he said yes, and what more can
27:08you wish for on a wedding day?
27:09You look beautiful.
27:12Wedding celebrations came to a halt when the village was mostly abandoned in the late 20th century.
27:18But now, thanks to Jonas and Ulrika, those traditions are no longer consigned to the past.
27:25We have this saying in Romanian called Casa de Piatra, which actually means we wish you a house of stone,
27:31which is actually, I think, a really nice way of wishing a couple all the best for their future lives
27:39together.
27:39And may that be taking place in a solid foundation.
28:09It's March in Andalusia, and the wall that came down a few weeks ago needs a bit more time to
28:15dry out.
28:16So today, a team of volunteers is working on other sections of the courtyard.
28:22They're replacing concrete renda with lime mortar to give the walls a longer life.
28:27And it's thrown up a remarkable clue to the history of the village.
28:32When we were chipping off all the old renda underneath, we found this old millstone.
28:38I think it's the old doughnut design, which is the flat millstone rather than the conical ones that we've got
28:45now, which means that if that's the case, it's from the old mill that was replaced with this new mill,
28:53which was built in 1888.
28:55So if it is, then it's a really nice historical find and makes me very happy.
29:01The conical stones that are still in the old milling hall are likely to have been part of a design
29:06that was powered by steam or electricity.
29:09But if this stone is flat and round, it would probably have been driven by a donkey or a mule.
29:16I think everyone thinks it's just a bit of wall, but to me, it's a bit of history.
29:22Um, and it's, yeah, I just want to be able to see it, and everyone else to be able to
29:28see it too.
29:29Claire is determined to find out exactly what shape it is, so she chips away a bit more renda.
29:37It doesn't quite give her the answer she's looking for.
29:40I could go in the depths of my little finger, and it's still feeling flat-sided.
29:47That's not to say that it doesn't eventually go off.
29:51Claire tries round the other side, hoping to see the stone from the opposite angle.
29:55Six, seven, eight, nine.
29:59It's here somewhere, the beginning of... Ah!
30:03It's here somewhere.
30:05But long-term resident Brian has already covered that section of the wall in lime mortar.
30:11It's just in there somewhere, but it's quite solidly covered.
30:15Somewhere underneath this here.
30:18The man in charge of wall repairs is Claire's son-in-law, Noe.
30:22And Claire's hoping he might be persuaded to help her get to the bottom of things.
30:26I'm tempted to make a small exploratory hole to see whether that is a flat millstone or a chemical one
30:38that's been cut down.
30:40It's a quite hard surface, though. I couldn't go through it. It's too hard and it's too stuck to the
30:46wall.
30:48With Noe unable to help, Claire heads to the milling hall in the hope of finding some clues.
30:55So I'm going to go and measure the millstones on the actual modern machinery and I'm going to check it
31:02against the size of the one in the wall.
31:04If it's a smaller stone, it wouldn't fit this mill. Or it comes from somewhere else, which I doubt because
31:11they're so blinking heavy.
31:13So these are 120 centimetres very precisely.
31:17And also, looking at them, this part is straight and then it chamfers off down to the cone.
31:27So I've been putting my hand into the wall. I've only been feeling this bit.
31:31So it might be it's a cone.
31:34So far, I've put my little finger in like that and I can feel it straight.
31:38But I need to go in deeper than that.
31:42A short time later, when Claire compares measurements, the answer still isn't as definitive as she'd hoped.
31:50115 is quite a lot smaller.
31:53But it isn't as much smaller as I imagined it would be.
31:56The conclusion is, we don't know.
31:59Now I'm completely feeling my eyes are deceiving me all the time.
32:04But this village saviour hasn't come this far to be left in limbo.
32:11The following day, after some painstaking work, with a chisel and a brush, Claire finally has the information she's looking
32:19for.
32:20So I've dug away a bit of a hole, putting my hand in here and bearing in mind that this
32:27bit is broken and you get past there, it just seems to go on at the same angle.
32:33I'm going that far.
32:36And it hasn't gone into a cone yet.
32:39So I'm fairly convinced that this is a flat stone, not a cone.
32:46To have a millstone from the former mill is really a coup, it's wonderful, because that sort of verifies the
32:57fact that there's been more than one almazara here and it should continue to be so.
33:11Coming up at La Clou Fontaine, it's a race against time to use the last of the concrete.
33:18To me, we're already on a winner. I would have been mixing tomorrow the whole lot.
33:23And in Kund, there are new road signs.
33:27But are they pointing the right way?
33:29So I'm already getting some disturbing news. Apparently, Untergasse is called the Kleegasse.
33:48Back in Transylvania, Jonas has taken delivery of a small but significant parcel, which should rekindle a little of the
33:58village's lost heritage and add to the experience of tourists who come to visit.
34:03So finally, the street signs have arrived.
34:08And here you can see Bayergasse, which means Creek Alley or Little River, Upper Alley, Lower Alley and Kleine Gasse,
34:20which means Smaller Alley.
34:23When most of the German-speaking Saxon population abandoned Kund in the 90s, many of the buildings crumbled.
34:30And nature swallowed up dozens of the old streets and alleyways.
34:35To make sense of the new landscape, fresh Romanian signs have since been installed.
34:40But Jonas is now planning to add a few of the old German ones.
34:45People don't understand at first sight that this was a Saxon village.
34:50This is something that we want to change by something we call the Reusdorf Experience.
34:57Reusdorf is the German name for Kund.
35:01And the Reusdorf Experience is a website which informs people about the local history, which gives them insight in what
35:12buildings used to be.
35:14And the first step to establishing this Reusdorf Experience as a more holistic experience of heritage, tradition and history, the
35:27first step is street signs.
35:28Over the last two decades, whether he's had large-scale building work or small jobs for a single pair of
35:35hands, Jonas has always tried to use local contractors.
35:39It nurtures traditional skills and boosts the village economy.
35:43I'm here at Dutsu's. I brought the signs to be fixed and I hope he's here to help me out
35:49with this.
35:58Dutsu is a local carpenter and a long-time collaborator.
36:02This will be the support for the street signs which we've had printed in aluminium.
36:08And they are going to go onto this wooden pillar here.
36:14And then Dutsu is going to cut out, you know, some directions.
36:18I'm always super happy with what Dutsu is doing because he's become an amazing craftsman.
36:24And to see what he's doing in his little barn in the back of the village is such a pleasure
36:29to see.
36:30And he's also just told me he's going to sculpture the top bit here or that we're going to see
36:34that tomorrow once it's finished.
36:50The next morning, Jonas is back in Dutsu's workshop ready to check on his posts.
36:56And look at these ones, how beautiful they turned out.
36:59I like the fact that he's sculptured this a little bit. Look over here.
37:03So he's been introducing some folk art to it.
37:08It's really nice and these are clear and, yeah, nice indicators.
37:15Once they've drilled some pilot holes, it's time to head to the village.
37:22Although Jonas has done his research, there are no written records.
37:27So it's only word of mouth from the few remaining village elders that he's basing the positions on.
37:33So I'm already getting some disturbing news.
37:35Apparently what was told by me by two locals is the untere gasse.
37:41It's called the clay gasse.
37:45Just as Jonas is losing a bit of faith in what he's been told about where to put the signs,
37:51two local residents with a long history in the village happened to spot what he's doing.
38:20Did I get it right? And he said, yes, absolutely.
38:24They're saying how very nice it is to see something in German.
38:28So happy to get that sign of local approval.
38:32With his faith restored, Jonas can finish the job.
38:35And Kund is once again reunited with another symbol of its lost heritage.
38:40By reminding people that things were different back in the days, you know, to create a sense of history,
38:49to revive traditions and thereby keeping our heritage alive.
39:04It's the end of April at Le Clos Fontaine and there's a big day ahead for Hayley and Lee.
39:10A concrete truck is on site.
39:13It's absolutely massive.
39:14And gearing up to disgorge about 12 liquid tons across three barn floors.
39:21It's a big milestone today, isn't it? Yeah.
39:23So we're going to be busy today, I think.
39:25We were supposed to get done last week, but unfortunately because of the lay of the road and everything,
39:30we couldn't get the original truck in.
39:32Now we've had to pay a little extra to get a pump, which in a way is good because we
39:39can actually get it...
39:40And direct it in.
39:41And direct the cement where we want it.
39:43But a bit painful.
39:44But a bit painful.
39:44But actually it's another €800, so that was a bit painful.
39:49The couple have been preparing the barns for months.
39:52They've put down hard core, laid a plastic membrane on top, then added layers of insulation and a steel mesh.
39:59They've also raised the mesh with little blocks of insulation so that the concrete can flow underneath.
40:06When we put the cement in, what we need is we need to make sure it's level-ish.
40:11So we'll rake it back to where we've highlighted the orange marks and get that a rough level.
40:18And then what we'll do is we'll come in, we'll tamp it, then we'll make sure it's perfectly flat.
40:32Everything starts well enough.
40:40But soon they find there's a problem.
40:54The mesh.
40:55Yeah.
40:55Does it matter?
40:56Yeah, it could be.
41:00Come on, quicker.
41:01You can rip the foam off if you can see it.
41:04The little blocks of insulation are causing the mesh to move, so they need to be fished out before the
41:10concrete sets.
41:13What about that bit there, Hayes?
41:15Why's that come up?
41:16Come up? What's come up?
41:17This whole thing.
41:18I think it's just where it's just the way.
41:19What do you think?
41:22It's been pushed up.
41:23Yeah.
41:25As Lee and his contractor from the UK, Dean, carry on working in the first barn, Hayley now has a
41:31job in the other two.
41:33It's just a shame because I spent a lot of time doing those ready.
41:39You learn these things as you go along.
41:41It's always a lesson, isn't it?
41:47Soon, the last two barns get their paws and everything progresses according to plan.
41:55It's a smaller room.
41:56We've now removed the floats, which will be in a bit of a hindrance.
42:00And it's a much more level room as well.
42:04There's one last curveball, though.
42:07That's right up to the edge there, Lee.
42:09It turns out they've ordered more concrete than they need.
42:13Holy crap.
42:15I reckon that's enough.
42:16You might have to stop it now.
42:19But like all our saviours, Hayley and Lee are masters at thinking on their feet.
42:25The couple had always planned to concrete the yard by the old chicken coop that's now Hayley's office.
42:31And it should be the perfect size for what's left over.
42:35I'm led to believe there's about a cubic metre left, which is just over a tonne of cement.
42:40So why not use it?
42:42Because if we send it back, we get charged.
42:48After the cement truck has emptied its dregs, they fill their wheelbarrows.
42:53And it isn't long before another job is ticked off the list.
43:13Because that's already been done, to me, we're already on a winner.
43:19Because I would have been, I would have been mixed, I would have been mixing tomorrow the whole lot.
43:25With their new concrete floors almost set, it's now easier to envisage what the Barnes will be like when Le
43:31Clos Fontaine becomes Lee and Hayley's forever home.
43:35After a long day, the couple might be tired and dirty, but their dream is definitely inching closer to reality.
43:44Yeah.
43:46Good day.
43:48Yeah.
43:49There's obviously lots of little bits and bobs that we have to do still.
43:53You know, we have to cut back the insulation to floor level.
43:56We have to backfill some of the areas, put doors in.
44:00One step at a time.
44:01But the next big job is the roof, which is going to be fun.
44:07It feels like a million years away from when we were starting the dig.
44:11Yeah, it does.
44:12And now we've got floors in, so, yeah, it feels like the momentum's started now on this project.
44:17One big milestone achieved, I think.
44:19Yeah, tick tock, yeah.
44:23Next time, in Le Clos Fontaine, Hayley and Lee are up on the roof.
44:29Please be careful.
44:30Legs cramping up.
44:32Below.
44:34In Kund, they're dreaming of milling again.
44:38The satisfaction of having saved something is just priceless.
44:44And Clare visits a remarkable olive mill, still proudly embracing ancient machinery.
44:50It's inspiring that they're still doing it, still bothering to do it, because so many people don't.
44:56Most people don't.
45:00in only two Boltsda doesn't handle batteries, and they're looking at it from.
45:16We push them together to achieve new species.
45:16– Sous-titrage FR 2021