My country memories

Running free, milking goats and looking after her pet duck were all memorable elements of presenter Sarah Beeny's idyllic childhood

‘My brother and I grew up between Reading and Basingstoke in two brick cottages knocked into one. We had about eight or nine acres, a massive vegetable garden, goats and chickens.

‘We were lucky enough to live on the edge of the Duke of Wellington's estate, Stratfield Saye, and had acres of woods and fields to play in.

‘One morning we thought it would be a good idea to dig our pet ducks, Cream Cracker and Burnt Toast, a pond. Our parents woke up to find us in our pants, covered in mud, with a great hole in the lawn.

‘We used to milk the goats, but I refused to drink the milk.  My mother would turn it into cheese. But none of us would eat this, so my mother had to freeze it. When we moved house after she died, we found three freezers full of goats' cheese. Imagine defrosting that!'

Sarah Beeny presents ‘Property Ladder' on Channel 4 and is also founder of the matchmaking website www.mysinglefriend.com.