Where are we going today guys?
We are going to Sheepscombe
And what's in Sheepscombe?
Well it's a little Cotswold village
And it's got a very nice pub
And the views are amazing
And it's just beautiful, quintessential Cotswold landscape
It's beautiful - stunning!
Hopefully you'll both love it
Yeah
Our old friend, Toffee
and our new friend, Misty
We love this place so
we always ask locals about
whether or not properties for sale
Well they say no, no, no, it's dead man's shoes
You can only move in here if someone dies and then
the house comes up for sale cause otherwise
people don't want to move away from here
because it's so beautiful
So it seems you guys are living here really comfortably
Really well, nicely
Yeah
We like it here
That's great
Thank you, yeah
Rob said Cotswolds, like this countryside
is not very suitable for young people
How do you guys think?
No
I don't think so, yeah
And as beautiful as it is
It's-- yeah, it's not really
Unless you're a farmer
or in the young farmer's club or whatever
then really it's not gonna be suitable
There are not too many jobs here
You know, it's a really touristy area
Our queen!
We need a machete!
Cause as you've experienced, it's a beautiful part of the world
the price of property is very high
It's much higher than the average price of property in England
So, yeah it's
It's out of reach for a lot of people
You've got a lot of older people, they
They think it's a nice place to retire to
because it's quiet
You know, it's not too busy
It's not too much traffic
It's quintessentially old England
But you guys don't want to retire here, do you?
No
Wouldn't mind retiring in Sheepscombe
I don't think we could really afford it
Well, we could but the thing is
We could afford to do that but then
it would probably detract
from some of the other things that we want to do
So we want to retire, have a nice house of course
In a nice location
But we've also got plans to do a lot of traveling
And lots of other things so
You can only have part of your cake
You can't have all the cake and eat it too, can you?
Beach I think, these are
Beach trees
Yeah
I think we'll stay somewhere rural
We won't go anywhere where there's a big city or anything
Cause we like the space around us now
We've got used to living in the country
Yeah, it's really really nice
I like it as well
Thank you, yeah
Of course some people like countryside
Some people like cities
Because it depends their-- how they feel
But is there a way like people think
when they talk about rural they think "Ah!"
It's just farmers
Is that somehow make people feel like
rural life is lower or?
A lower standard of living?
Yeah is that--
Yeah I think maybe that was always a consideration
because you'd get like farmers and fields workers and that
You know, they'd be living in the countryside
So I think nowadays it depends because
after the covid
There are lots of people that actually want to live in the country now
So as long as they can still work from home
and get the same income and that
Now, people are looking more for a bit more space around them
Bit more family life with the children outside
and things like that
If you're going to work in London
Usually in the financial sector or something like that
The wage that you will get
can be a lot lot higher than it would be out here
If you work in London you will earn a higher wage --
Right
-- than someone that's just doing a standard job here
So you know, I think traditionally
your standard of living would be higher in a city
because you'd be earning more money
than it would be in the country
but things are sort of changing a little bit now
It's beginning to tip a bit
cause a lot of people
after having the coronavirus they appreciated getting outside
and being in the country
Maybe do a bit of gardening and things like that
cause the houses in the cities not really got gardens
Not really
No, so a lot of people sort of
thinking now that they would like to
maybe grow some of their own vegetables
You know, play with the kids in the garden
and stuff like that so
I think also it's quite interesting because
since covid-- and I don't know how this relates to China as well
Since we've gone through all the lockdowns
and everything else with covid
a lot of people are reevaluating what they want in life
And so
As I mentioned, like people working in the city
They may be traveling on the train or driving
Could be an hour, hour and a half, two hours sometimes
You know, one way and then back again
And because they've been working from home
they're thinking now, do you know what?
I actually prefer this lifestyle
I'm not wasting so many hours a day traveling
I now am looking to do something completely different
and people are moving out from the city
into the country
Yeah
And doing something that they feel happier with
Because they can get that
life-balance right
There is a massive divide in places like Cornwall
where you've got communities living down by the coast
and what's happened over the years
The wealthy people from London
they've got their homes in London
but they have like what we call a "bolt hole"
Or they'll have a holiday home, second home
that they may well have in some beautiful location like Cornwall
or in Devon
Down by the coast
And the locals really resent that because
they're only using it maybe a couple of times
You know, maybe in a month, maybe in a year
And they don't want to attract those sort of people in
because they feel that they're robbing the locals
and the community of more housing
and also it's pushing the price up
because of course these wealthy people come in
and they can afford to pay they prices
The locals can't afford to pay that
So that is a real problem
Driving the younger population out
Yeah I think the final thing I want to confirm is
And I already know the answer
but I still want to hear how you guys will think
Cause in China like
the rural and the city, they are so different
When people talk about "I'm from rural"
it feels like I'm lower than other people
And I'm lack(ing) education
And I'm not polite
All the negative things about rural
Perhaps a hundred years ago that probably would be the case
because you would have laborers that were working the land
You'd have like a land owner
So you'd have a very rich family
They would own like a big mansion house
and then they would own the villages
and all the cottages around
and they would then
be really really wealthy and--
but the people who work for them would be really really poor
So then you would get that
and they wouldn't be educated
or anything would they?
And so you then have
what they consider to be "the gentry"
and "the socialites"
that would live in these big towns and big cities
They'd probably have a house in London
Yeah, and they would be wealthy so
So if you go back maybe
hundred years or so
Absolutely that was the case
Yeah
I don't think it is anymore
When people talk about living in the countryside or rural
I don't think anybody automatically thinks "oh"
Oh, you know they must be poor
Must be hard up
Pie of the week is chicken, leek and ham
Got side plates and nibbles on the back of the menu
I'm gonna try one of the ales
I'm gonna go for the
Allsops
Please, yeah
I'll get one of those as well
Two of those
Cheers my dears
A long time coming
Yeah, oh!
So pleased we made it
Dad, I wanted to ask you
As we have an audience that has never been to the UK before
Never experienced a pub
And I know you love a good pub
Oh yes!
How would you explain this experience
to someone who's never done it before
Why is it so good?
Yeah, that's a very good question
Our pubs usually in England
are very rustic
And um
You know that you've got a great community spirit
People are friendly
People wanna chat
Food is fantastic
Drink is fantastic
And it's in a beautiful setting
We're sitting here basked in sunshine in a valley
and it is amazing
What more could you want?
It's almost like that comfort of having someone
wrap a blanket around you
Yeah
And that's the feeling you get sometimes with a really good pub
Particularly in the winter months
To walk into a lovely, cosy pub
With a roaring fire
To know that you're going to be greeted and everyone's happy
Have some nice food, nice drink
Ah! It doesn't get any better than that does it?
Yeah, you said it all Geoff
I don't think there's anything else to add
Awesome
So the atmosphere and comfortable
Yeah
And the food
Yeah, you do get locals go to the pub on a regular basis
There's one guy who-- I bet he's been in today
He goes in every single day
And they've got their own stool at the bar
They have their own pint glass or
Or a pewter mug
So when they walk in
the landlord's reaching, cause he knows what this guy's gonna drink
or this woman's gonna drink
Reaches for it and pours it out
Cause they don't have to say anything
It's there, you know
Yeah, it's all part of the life
Now that you've experienced a true British pub
Yes!
How do you feel?
I feel it's
Yeah, it's really really nice
Especially when you go with friends, family
Just a perfect place to
To relax
To be slow
To enjoy your meal, your drink
And to spend some money
Yeah!
Especially someone else's money!
Couldn't be more true!
It's different from bar
Different from restaurant
I feel it gets all the advantages of the other places
Thanks again so much for coming with us
and showing us your lovely walk
Absolutely totally our pleasure!
Thank you for joining us
One of our favourites
It's been amazing
Good to share it
We've loved every minute, every second of it
It's been brilliant
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Bye~