Country houses for sale

Dawn Chorus: Chandeliers and marble floors in Britain’s most eye-popping £750,000 house, plus and our Quiz of the Day

A house in a Lancashire town where you get a LOT for your money, plus nature, Christmast presents and our Quiz of the Day: it's our daily Dawn Chorus.

The best property bargain in Britain?

Eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, four storeys, marble floors, off-road parking, and a decoration scheme which will make your jaw drop — and all for £750,000?

When you figure all that in, it’s no wonder that Nuah Heights — in the small Lancashire town of Accrington — made its way to the top spot in the list of most-viewed properties on property portal Rightmove for 2024 so far. It’s not the sort of place we often write about but we’re very glad to do so today, because this really is quite an incredible amount of property for the money.

Credit: Keenans

The agents, Keenans, call it ‘a stunning home, finished to perfection with every last detail thought of’, and — well — we’d recommend a look at their site to soak it all in. Amazing stuff.

Credit: Keenans

As for Accrington itself? Honestly, I think the last time I heard it mentioned was in the (utterly iconic) Ian Rush milk advert from the 1980s, which anyone over the age of, ooh, probably about 42 will probably be able to recite word-for-word when they watch this clip:

At some point we’ll have to pay a visit to see what the place is like, but it’s now 13 minutes past six and my dinner in the oven, so we’ll have to make do with pointing out that Zoopla calls Accrington ‘an exceptional place to live‘, and Visit Lancashire calls it a ‘hidden gem bursting with history, culture and natural beauty’. In the interests of balance we ought to point out that a few years ago the Lancashire Telegraph rather unsportingly dubbed it ‘the most dangerous medium-sized town in Lancashire’, but of course such local crime figures might just be to do with the fact that people in the town feel that it’s safe to report things. And, getting back to the good stuff, it appears that they sometimes park a Spitfire outside the Town Hall, and that must be a good thing for any place to live.

Quiz of the Day

  • 1) What term describes an angle of less than 90˚?
  • 2) The Tudor rose features the colours of which two royal houses?
  • 3) Which farmer is a regular presenter on the TV series Countryfile?
  • 4) Which line is coloured pink on a London Underground map?
  • 5) What is a male badger called?

Answers down below

Darlington, you were wonderful last night

Credit:  MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Our picture of the day today? Low Dinsdale, Darlington, County Durham.

Quotations from the bright side of life

‘No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.’ So said the American writer and naturalist Hal Borland. It might be cold, it might be dark, but it won’t be forever.

‘The best job in the world’

That’s how Country Life’s boss, Mark Hedges, described his role as Editor-in-Chief when he came on to the podcast exactly a year ago. From breaking priceless antiques at iconic country houses to giving the people what they want (which is very often more stuff about dogs), it’s a great listen. Listen to Mark here, then subscribe to our podcast subscribe to the Country Life Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible/Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts.

I’ve been adding this to the Christmas gift guide for three years, and still nobody has taken the hint

The Barisieur tea & coffee alarm clock is just one of the joys in our latest Christmas gift guide for men. We also have a gift guide for ladies, and we’ll be bringing more ideas to you in the coming week.

That’s it — we’re back on Monday

QUIZ ANSWERS

1) Acute

2) Lancaster and York

3) Adam Henson

4) Hammersmith & City

5) A boar