Off-grid Italian life of Norwich family feature in TV show

GRACE PIERCY

grace.piercy@newsquest.co.uk

The off-grid life a Norwich man has built with his family in the Italian mountains has taken centre stage in a Channel 5 series.

George Lidgley, 35, and Sophie Watkins, 29, live with their two children, Kayo and India, in the Casentinesi Forest National Park.

Broadcaster Ben Fogle stayed with them for his series New Lives in the Wild, where he travels to remote places to explore the lives of those who have moved there.

The episode began with Fogle having to walk up a mountain for an hour to even find the family home which gets heat from log burners, power from solar panels and water from a nearby stream.

George grew up in Norwich and at 18 moved to Tuscany to take care of the mostly derelict property he had spent his childhood holidaying in.

He and Sophie met a few years later when she came to volunteer in Tuscany to escape the fast pace of London life in her early 20s.

During Fogle's stay, he helped reroof their home, harvest honey from their 15 beehives, pick fruit and vegetables from the garden, gather firewood for winter and lay new gravel on the access road.

He was able to see the risk involved in the off-grid life when the family cow Moona broke into the garden and destroyed most of thfhihhd the crops, many of which had been cultivated for months.

Both George and Sophie agreed that they could see themselves spending the rest of their lives working on what they call “the project” – the house, its land and their family.

They said “the project” is constantly changing with them only at the start of their journey.

Fogle's stay ended with a family trip to some nearby natural pools.

The episode of Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild aired on January 31 and is available, along with other episodes, to watch on My5.

Feature about Contributor Chris Lewis ­ “Ben Fogle Makes Trip to Dorset to Visit Marathon Walker”.

Feature about contributors George and Sophie “Ben Fogle meets Norwich family living off­grid in Italy”. (Extract below)

New Lives in the Wild was consistently previewed as a pick of the day throughout the weeks in print and online. Reviewer Christopher Stevens also regularly reviewed the shows positively, see examples below.

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS LAST NIGHT’S TV

Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild Bradley And Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad