Richard and Judy muck in

The Weekender

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As rural idylls go, this is hard to beat. Steward House was pretty good when Richard and Judy bought it, surrounded as it is by mile after mile of gorgeous Cornish countryside. Now, four years after they started refurbishing and extending the property, it is as close as they will ever get to their dream home.

Where better, one might imagine, for the one-time King and Queen of daytime television to enjoy a peaceful and well-earned retirement after their viewing figures finally disappear off the bottom of the scale?

Just so long as they don't breathe in too deeply, that is. As well as a large new conservatory, one of the highlights of the improvements at Steward House - a four-bedroom house with six acres of land in the hamlet of Talland Bay near Looe - is a half-indoor, half-outdoor swimming pool.

There is only one problem. Built on the site of an old greenhouse, the pool - which is 20 metres long by 9.5 wide and has a hot tub next to it - is only a few feet away from the neighbouring farm; and, in particular, from the farmer's cows.

As Jack Hutchings, the owner of the 400-acre Pothall Farm, said when Richard and Judy's plans for their property were first unveiled: "They had six acres to choose from but apparently wanted it to have a view of the sea. That puts it right next to my animals.

"Farms produce manure, and in the summer the manure tends to smell and lead to flies. If they complain it is likely the environmental health authorities-will make me change the way I farm."

As the final touches are being put to Steward House it would be a shame if Richard and Judy's early morning dips were to be spoiled by the wind blowing in the wrong direction.

After all, it would not be the only thing to have gone wrong in the couple's lives recently. At its peak, their ITV show, This Morning, attracted an audience of three million, a figure unprecedented for that time of day. But their fortunes have sadly waned.

Channel Four made headlines when it poached the couple from ITV last year for a sum close to £4 million. But one year on Richard and Judy's afternoon show has difficulty bringing in more than two million viewers and insiders say there is increasing pressure on the couple to justify the cost of their exclusive contract.

During their working week the couple are confined to London where they live in a large house overlooking the Heath at Hampstead Garden Suburb.

However, Richard, 46, and Judy, 54, make no secret of the fact that their heart is in the West Country. They have been visiting it since they got together in 1984, and last summer they reaffirmed their marriage vows at a local church.

They are currently on their summer break and have been seen in Talland Bay several times. "They are not around at the moment but are expected back in the next few days," said one neighbour.

The couple bought Steward House for £235,000 in 1998. Since then, because of the changes they have made, there have been times when, in Richard's own words, it has been "uninhabitable". Now the work is almost finished the house's value is believed to have doubled.

Last year the dispute with the Hutchings family delayed the start of work on the swimming pool and the conservatory.

But 18 months on the situation appears changed. Another member of the family, Vanessa Hutchings, told the Standard: "It's all done and dusted now. It was going to cause problems but in the end it didn't.

"They don't seem to be worried about the smell of the animals but the pool is not up and running yet so we have not been able to find out if there will be any problems.

"We don't know what will happen really but we don't expect too many problems.

"The conservatory is fine, I think. It's quite a good looking one and there are so many trees round here that you can't really see it anyway. I'd be worried about the smell though."

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