Snooping around

Property of the week: Weavers Court, Skipton, North Yorkshire. Once the engine room of a cotton mill, now a tower from which you can survey Skipton and its surrounding hills. Your £450,000 gets you two bedrooms, both with balconies, two roof terraces and a 360-degree view from the belvedere at the top. Full-height arched windows illuminate the sitting room and kitchen.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01904 625033 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff/Jackson-Stops & Staff

Wreck of the week: Hawling, near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. This old school hall and adjoining two-bedroom cottage come with permission to become a four-bedroom house. The location is a pretty Cotswold village in an area of outstanding natural beauty, but the price tag is £425,000. And you'll need another £200,000-£300,000 for the amalgamation and refurbishments.
Knight Frank, 01285 659771 Photograph: Knight Frank/Knight Frank

Take three: homes for walkers. A path next to the garden of this house near Ludlow delivers you on to the mighty Offa’s Dyke walking route a few hundred feet away. From here, the wide Welsh wilderness is at your disposal. Recover from your exertions before the hearth in this four-bedroom home, loftily perched in a cul-de-sac with dramatic hill views.
Samuel Wood & Company, 01584 875207 Photograph: Samuel Wood & Company/Samuel Wood & Company

Take three: homes for walkers. This bungalow near Kingsbridge in south Devon sits on a cliff with bird’s-eye views over Start Bay and its lighthouse. The coast path runs next to your garden as it crosses National Trust land and deposits you on a choice of coves and beaches. £500,000 gets you three bedrooms and three shower/bathrooms; the kitchen and decor could do with some work
Marchand Petit, 01548 857588. Photograph: Marchand Petit/Marchand Petit

Take three: homes for walkers. The foothills of Snowdonia swell all around this 16th century house near Porthmadog, Gwynedd, on the edge of the national park. It has been stylishly renovated, with two bedrooms, a studio annex and derelict outbuildings that could form extensions. However, an alarmingly long, rutted farm track is the only way up to the house, and one bedroom is situated rather publicly, on a gallery overhanging the living room.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01244 328361 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff/Jackson-Stops & Staff