The planners agree that renovation can now extend into the adjacent barn, Anty John's is set to become a four-bedroom family home, heaping even more pressure on builder Richard. Desperate to shore up the building's precarious foundations, his crew race to finish the concrete floor. Amanda and historian Derek head off to meet distant Clarkson relative Dorothy, eager to hunt down any leads relating to former resident Anthony Clarkson's elusive diaries.

As winter turns to spring, the Owen family balance the pressures of lambing season with the race to get their farmhouse renovation watertight. Amanda and Clive digest exciting news from the planners which could see the scope of the renovation - and the workload- grow massively, while eldest Owen son Reuben teams up with sidekick and younger brother Sidney to tackle the ongoing drainage issues.

As Christmas looms, Amanda and family face re-roofing Anty John's during a fearsome Dales winter, which follows a wet and stormy autumn that has left the project months behind schedule. Builder Richard and roofer Steven must do their best to complete the arduous and technical challenge of positioning dozens of stone slabs, while trying to stay dry and warm.

The first major job for builder Richard is to carefully strip off the valuable old roof stones, remove the wrecked roof timbers and add a steel beam to support the new structure. It's a race against time to beat worsening weather - the longer the building lies exposed, the greater the chance it could collapse. Amanda heads to the local archives to pore over hand-drawn maps of the area, leading her and the kids to discover a long-forgotten lead mine down by the river.

Amanda Owen and her family breathe life back into a derelict farmhouse, battling against unforgiving Dales weather on one of the most remote building sites in Britain. In this first episode, the family are granted permission to convert the property, and historian Derek delves into the building's colourful past - discovering that it was once home to famous 19th-century Swaledale mapmaker and diarist Anthony John Clarkson.