In 2015 they bought a derelict château in the Loire valley and became the subjects of the hugely popular Channel 4 hit Escape to the Château. This book is a must read for anyone who is a fan of Escape to the Chateau or anyone who is looking to make their own Chateau dream a reality.

Born in Burma, but raised and educated in Northern Ireland, Dick Strawbridge retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2001 before becoming a full-time television presenter and author (with arguably the best moustache in showbusiness).They did talk of a few meetings with their neighbors, but there were very few details, which may have been at the neighbor’s request since she wouldn’t allow her children on TV. I did not sign up for a book about wedding planning but literally over half this book is them talking about their wedding, the food for the wedding, the clothes for the wedding etc etc it does not stop and for a moment if they start talking about the chateau or renovating again the sentence will end with something along the lines of “ but that can wait. While the show may have made it seem like everything happened for a reason (that fabric wallpaper in the tower comes to mind) this book tells all of the behind-the-scenes moments and it was anything but easy.

Sharing their full journey for the first time, A Year at the Château follows Dick and Angel from when they first moved to France in the depths of winter and found bedrooms infested with flies, turrets inhabited by bats, the wind rattling through cracked windows, and just one working toilet, which flushed into the moat, through to the monumental efforts that went into readying the château for their unforgettable wedding and their incredibly special first Christmas. There is so much extra in the book that was never mentioned on the show and believe me I have binge watched many, many times. Angel Strawbridge is an entrepreneur who became well known in London for her hospitality business, The Vintage Patisserie. I'm always so curious about floor plans with this sort of thing, too, because they let me better imagine how spaces might have been used back when the building was built.

The charming, inspiring and remarkable full story of Dick and Angel Strawbridge's first year at the Ch a teau-de-la-Motte Husson.

Channel 4 has been following and documenting their journey since 2015 when they bought the derelict château.I've read the book, learnt a lot about owning a château and enjoyed hearing about their story from two different view points. All the tables had vintage games and memorabilia that dated back to before the Second World War and each place setting had vintage china, cutlery and a vintage French napkin. Along the way we\x27ll read glorious descriptions of rural life in France, with charming characters, delicious food and wonderful seasonal produce, together with the extraordinary list of renovations and restorations Dick and Angel completed, many of which were never shown on TV. Dick has a very soothing, melodious voice therefore, in my opinion, he is better at narration but Angel is so lovely that I enjoyed her parts just as much. I raised the question with Better World Books and although they could not supply a hardcover version they were extremely generous in making up for the descepency.