Town mouse views a new TV programme

A new programme aims to relocate a family to the idyllic village of Grassington – but these experiments rarely work says Clive

Town mouse; country life
town mouse new
(Image credit: Country Life)

Have you seen Channel 4's Love Thy Neighbour? The idea is that one of 12 families will win a £300,000 cottage in the idyllic village of Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales, the winner being chosen by a vote by the village itself.

The first programme, which aired on Saturday, featured, inevitably, a black couple and their adorable young children, chosen by the programme makers, no doubt, because the population of Grassington appears to be 100% white. I squirmed in my seat.

People who live in London are habituated to hearing every kind of language on the street. Opposite us, we now have the Pimlico Mas Bazar, a halal butchers and grocers, which attracts a clientele of elegantly dressed men in embroidered caps and heavily veiled women. Its vegetables could have done duty on a medieval battlefield, judging from the number of spikes-even the children of the owners won't admit to eating them. But experiences that seem normal to us would be exotic in the countryside.

I suspect that the families participating in the series have underestimated the challenge of swapping urban amenities for rural seclusion. Whoever wins, I fear the cottage will be on the market again within a year.

Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.