We had agreed that we would complete the purchase at the back end of the year, once Francesca had given birth and was able to travel again. But in the intervening period, we were going to push on and clear rubble form the site, so that Antonio and his team could conduct the full survey. To get the right tools and equipment up there, that meant

I had also arranged to meet with Simon Corkhill – an English landscape gardener and swimming pool expert who had moved out to Le Marche some 18 months previously and established a thriving landscaping business. We wanted to get a better idea on the potential costs of turning the overgrown hill with a pile of stones on top of it in to a luxury boutique hotel, with wonderful pool and beautifully landscaped gardens, and Simon had agreed to come on site and give us an estimate.

Later that afternoon we met with the representatives of the two companies that Antonio had selected. The first XXXXX, who was to clear and rebuild the road, was proposing a fully finished surface with full irrigation ditches and soakaways. Thinking that this was overkill to just get a small Bobcat and truck up there, we negotiated them down to just widening and flattening the track, together with some basic water irrigation to stop any of the surface being washed away over the winter months.

We then talked though the proposal for the site clearance. There was less leeway on this, as the work had to be done. We agreed the deal, and they promised to start once the road was complete in July. Initially they would secure the site with a metal fence all the way around it, and then start the laborious task of removing all of the fallen stone, and clearing the site back to its foundations.

Since no formal plans of the castle existed- not even in the Vatican Archie -we were going to have to measure the depth and breadth of all of the foundations to then be able to determine the height and thickness of the walls. Only then could we formally ascertain what the final square metreage might be – which of course ha a direct impact on the number of rooms we could have, and consequently would determine the viability of the project.

Antonio’s pictures showed that the main track had been widened to almost double the width of the large path we had struggled to climb back in January. The engineers had cut into the rock, and flatten the main track with a digger. Small irrigation ditches had been created across the track to ease the flow of any rainwater and minimise the possibility of the track being washed away in the unpredictable winter months ahead.

The most progress had been made on the stretch between the bend and the castle itself. A major clearance operation had been undertaken and, where formerly there had been small trees and overgrown bushes, these had been uprooted, and in its place the original earthen track was once again laid bare. Half way up this stretch, and about 100 metres shy of the castle itself, a small flat area – big enough to take a couple of lorries – had been created, which now housed the site office.

Back at the bottom of the track a red barrier had been installed to deter the casual visitor from driving up to the castle and an iron fence had been established around the full perimeter of the site – no mean feat given the severity of the slope and the sharp drop on all sides.

That afternoon we went back into Piobbico, where we met again the Mayor – or <em>Sindaco</em> – Dott. Georgio Mochi. Dott Mochi is a young enlightened Mayor determined to put his town on the map, and eager to meet the crazy couple who wanted to restore the castle. Over a lazy and wonderful lunch of pasta and local meats, we heard about his plans for Piobbico, the funding he was applying for and the progress that he had already made in securing European grants. Such was his drive that this small Italian town, deep in the rural heart of Italy, now has wireless broadband hotspots located throughout the community! It was an important meeting for us, in that as Mayor, he holds considerable influence over the other members of the commune, through whom all our future planning applications would have to pass