Roses Round The Door: The Great Cottage Dream

Many people have dreamed, over the years, of running a tea shop or a country pub. They have also dreamed of owning and 'doing up' a country cottage, preferably one with low lintels, hollyhocks up the walls, and those Beatrix Potter diamond-leaded windows like Mrs. Tiggywinklès.

Berwick Coates was lucky; he made it beyond the dreaming. But it took him by surprise. And the odds were against him:

He did&ngrave;t have any money; he could&ngrave;t drive; and he knew next to nothing about DIY. All...