Little England

In recent years the Dordogne has become known as ‘Dordogneshire’ - or ‘Little England’ - with over 20,000 Brits making this beautiful part of France their home.

This new series for ITV1 – from the Production Company behind ITV1’s hit series The Lakes and The Dales - follows the lives of some of the ex-pats who have settled into the French way of life, but given it a distinctly British twist.

Over the course of 12 half hours – filmed in the Dordogne in the Spring and Summer of 2011 and narrated by Geoffrey Palmer – Little England gives a taste of a dream, rural life in the South of France – a simpler world that many who live there compare to what life must have been like in the British countryside 50 years ago.

From a former builder welcoming his six sisters and 93-year-old mum to his home in Dordogne to a British couple who look after a beautiful chateau; from a choirmaster who runs a group made up of British ex-pats and the local French community, to a woman who has set up her own dog grooming parlour, Little England taps into the lives of a number of British people who have made a new life for themselves on the other side of the channel.

In towns like Eymet we see how the Brits have set up their own estate agents, food shops and cricket teams, and how one couple have brought something even more quintessentially British to the region - fish and chips.

Helen and Dave Mansfield came to the Dordogne from Sheffield nine years ago. Before that Dave was a secondary school technology teacher and Helen a nursery manager in a college. They wanted to start a new life in the Dordogne and looked for something that would tap into the ex-pat market. Fish and chips were the gap they found in the market – something the British community missed out in France.

In episode one of Little England we see Helen and Dave taking their fish and chip van around the villages and towns, and it’s not just Brits who enjoy their wares, the French are also regular customers. It’s hard work in often hot, sticky conditions for the couple in the heat of the South of France but Dave tells the programme: “It’s a very rare day when we say we don’t really feel like going to work - and that’s a very happy situation to be in.”

For some Brits, buying in the Dordogne means more land and larger properties than they could afford in Britain. One family that has taken advantage of this – and found another gap in the ex-pat market - are the Hicks from Somerset - Ray, Sophie and their two children Isaac and Lilia.

Ray tells the programme that having been born on a farm he has always felt like a frustrated farmer. Ray was in the butchery trade in Somerset, when five years ago the family decided to turn his farming dream into a reality. Sophie tells the programme: “We realised we could buy a substantial farm and start a new life here.”

They now own a seventy acre farm with a small stock of cattle and pigs and Ray has combined his passion for farming with his skill as a butcher to provide something new to the Dordogne.

Rays says: “You can’t come here and be a French butcher; the high streets are full of them, so we had to find a niche for ourselves and that is to cater for the Brits, and so far, touch wood we’re doing really well.”

Ray and Sophie rear and cut meat using traditional British butchery methods and it seems to be going down well with the ex pat community. Ray knows he has to keep his customers happy and says: “People come up to me and say ‘your sausages are fantastic’ I love that, my little chest puffs up.” He adds: “If we talk about home, this is where home is as a family.”

For another British couple, their new home in France is a stunning 17th Century chateau. Monica Walker and Nick Dean have been living and working at Chateau Pitray for the past 12 months, helping to organise the chateau’s weddings and events.

Nick and Monica have only been together for 18 months and back in the UK Nick was formerly in the police force and Monica was an estate agent. Their lives changed when they made friends with the owners of Pitray, who were planning on retiring and looking for someone to take over the running of their chateau.

The programme follows them as they prepare for a very important wedding at the Chateau. Pitray’s owners, Inga and Michel are getting married after 33 years together and Nick and Monica are pulling out all the stops to make their wedding a day to remember.

Monica tells the programme: “You get so wrapped up with the rat race in the UK and then all of a sudden you stumble into a way of living you’ve never really thought about.”

Little England is made by ITV Studios’ Leeds-based production-arm Shiver for ITV1, series produced by Simon Paintin and executive produced by Shiver’s Creative Director Mark Robinson.

Last edited: Wednesday, 31 August 2011