Jules is perhaps best known as the leading face on the BBC’s hit property series, Escape to the Country, which he joined in 2007. His passion for the countryside has also been taken up by the BBC’s flagship rural affairs show Countryfile. His enthusiastic, adaptable and hands on approach allows him to cover a wide range of subjects from science and history to wildlife and current affairs. Jules’s interest in historic buildings and design underpined the BBC’s renovation series, Britain’s Empty Homes which broadcast its second series in spring 2011, whilst his lifelong passion for military history came to the fore in BBC1′s hit Dig 1940. Commemorating the 70th anniversary of 1940, this three part series provided Jules with his first solo primetime break, and was a ratings winner.
Spring 2012 saw Jules team up with fellow Countryfile presenter John Craven as they embarked on a fifteen part series exploring the challenges facing our heritage, Britain’s Heritage Heroes, whilst listeners to Radio 4′s Open Country can hear regular contributions from Jules as the latest member of this long running and popular countryside magazine show. Jules’s interest and expertise in military history also came to the fore in 2011′s Christmas series of Celebrity Mastermind.
In addition to presenting and broadcasting, Jules is also an engaging writer, with regular contributions to Countryfile Magazine, and occasionally to Homes and Gardens.
Jules began his professional life as a Field Archaeologist, and has travelled and worked in some of the most demanding countries across the world. His TV career began in 1996, working in production. Over the years that followed he worked behind the camera on a wide range of programming from C4′s Time Team, to BBC2′s Horizon and numerous military history series alongside Professor Richard Holmes. Jules developed and presented the living history series Revival for ITV, which gained him an RTS nomination in 2005. The Peoples’ Museum, for BBC Daytime, gave him his first network break in 2006.
Jules’s experience and expertise across history, rural affairs and property, combined with his warm and engaging style have established him as a versatile and popular presenter. He has recently moved from the heart of the Cambrian Mountains in Mid-Wales, and a house which he renovated 15 years ago, to his next project, a 16th century farmhouse in Herefordshire. He loves to travel, to garden and to rescue old furniture.
