Ireland Revisit - S3.E9

In 2005, Chris and Rebecca Palmer, made a radical life change. Fed up of being mortgage slaves, they sold their Bradford home, quit their jobs and headed to Ireland, with their daughter Demelza. Their dream was to live a simple, rural life, becoming totally self sufficient life, growing their own food, and keeping livestock. But first they had to turn their derelict farmhouse into a family home – and they had just 14,000 to do it. Over the year, working the land and the house, tested them physically, and emotionally they were at the end of their tether, as 5 year old Demelza hated her new surroundings.

When architect George Clarke last saw the Palmers, they had managed to create a lovely home, but they were penniless, and their plans to be self-sufficient had barely got of the ground. A year on, George returns to see if living off the land has been a success, and whether they have found a way to secure their future.