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00:00Across the UK country estates have been transformed from private homes into national
00:10treasures where history and heritage because you get to play in the biggest historical
00:19sweetie shop in the world are surrounded by breathtaking landscapes it's magical it's
00:26absolutely magical I would actually stay up here in this series we'll soar above some of Britain's
00:33greatest estates the view it's just fantastic we'll watch as the seasons change meet those
00:43whose families have owned them for generations it's an enormous responsibility but a great honor
00:49as well this place is constantly evolving constantly changing and the people working
00:54to conserve and restore them it is a huge undertaking it's about holding on to what is important and
01:02making sure it survives there's a huge amount to do and we will get it done well we'll get most of it
01:08done covering 9,000 acres of North Yorkshire countryside 15 miles northeast of the city of York is the
01:26Castle Howard estate nestled at its center a feat of baroque grandeur that has stood for over 300 years
01:37against all odds after a devastating fire nearly destroyed the house during the Second World War the
01:46estate opened its doors to the public and now welcomes almost 300,000 visitors each year it's home to a
01:56thousand acres of gardens and parkland filled with over 200 listed buildings and monuments and an ambitious
02:06rewilding project built in the 18th century for one of England's oldest noble families welcome to Castle
02:18Howard it's January and whilst the grounds of Castle Howard are open to visitors willing to brave the frosty
02:31weather the house is closed to the public for the winter months my job here is about keeping the place alive
02:39I live here so with my wife and that's often said to be one of the reasons that the house just has a
02:48character a living character of its own
02:51at this time of year Nicholas Howard and his family have their 100-room house to themselves
03:00the whole point of this place is that it has a history of people my family in fact but you can see
03:07them all here piled up well carefully piled up I should say rather than piled up carefully stored
03:14every winter that's when we do our deep cleaning it's when we do restoration work that's needed when
03:21we do lots of work that we couldn't do when the public were in but this year is absolute bedlam
03:26this winter Nick has tasked a team of heritage decorators architects and curators to completely
03:38redesign much of Castle Howard's historic interiors including the Grand Staircase which greets visitors
03:47when they first arrive the West Wing bedrooms used by friends and paying guests and one of Castle
03:55Howard's largest rooms the 50 meter long gallery I think people get absolutely fed up with me it was
04:01popping in a while I was going on saying no no no no it has to be left or not quite the right color
04:06got to abide by health and safety rules do you know how many pictures are going up it's down to 64
04:15now there's been a building site here now for months and I'm kind of getting used to it it's
04:20going to seem very empty where everybody goes this is the long gallery obviously because it's long and
04:27it's a gallery at the far end there'll be a lot of family portraits here on this side we'll have a display
04:35of pictures which tells the story of the grand tour in 1688 Nick's ancestor Charles Howard the third
04:45Earl of Carlisle set off on what was known as the grand tour their Lordships would go off as young men
04:54and and experience the joys of Italy and France and then come back filled with ideas and third of Carlisle
05:00came back filled with the idea that he would build a Roman Palace in North Yorkshire and she's what he did
05:08in 1699 Charles Howard enlisted his friend architect John Vanbrugh to build his Roman Palace Vanbrugh's imposing
05:19design merged classical flourishes with European Baroque its centerpiece a spectacular golden dome it took over
05:30a hundred years and three successive earls to complete the build but while his ancestors took
05:38over a century Nick's ambitious redesign must be ready for when Castle Howard reopens to the public in just
05:47over three months I'm absolutely nerve-wracked at the moment because the program is so tight this place is
05:55constantly evolving constantly changing and one of the things I've learned is that just because
06:00something was done a certain way in the past it doesn't necessarily mean that was right all the best
06:05change at Castle Howard is also underway far beyond the house across the 9,000 acres of farmland forestry and parkland
06:27so every journey takes like three times longer than it should because you're kind of stopping and looking and exploring
06:33the outside has fresh air it has trees and soil and mud it's lovely Guy Thallon is the estates head of
06:43natural environment and today he's headed one and a half miles east of the house to a 440 acre area known as Bog Hall
06:53Bog Hall describes the type of land that we have there it is boggy land them and isn't yielding and
07:07producing we've identified the land that could be taken out of production and given over to nature for
07:16decades Bog Hall has been used for farming but now the estate is kick-starting a 30-year restoration and
07:24rewilding mission to return the land to a thriving natural habitat great if we just huddle up around
07:31here that'd be really good today Guy and a team of hardy volunteers are beginning work on rewilding the
07:39field system so we just do a quick briefing nature doesn't like squares and straight lines so we're keen to
07:45kind of break up the field structure and start to form it into something that is more natural we're
07:50going to be creating scrub banks drawing nature out of over the hedges that we have or the woodland that
07:56we have out into the field areas in near freezing temperatures Guy has tasked the team to build two
08:05circular shaped banks of scrub using hawthorn and blackthorn from the nearby forest and hedgerows
08:11the main thing is to avoid getting pricked by this blackthorn which which is which is quite vicious
08:20we're doing that in winter because there's no leaves on those plants there's no birds nesting in
08:25those hedges but not causing any disturbance oh it's so cold quite chilly but we're keeping warm by
08:33dragging a lot of bushes up to make the brush patch so plenty of exercise and plenty of fresh air you
08:39know I've worked 40 years in the NHS so this is complete contrast for me to be outdoors and doing
08:44something physically active it's fantastic before this area of land was cultivated it would have been a
08:52thriving ecosystem of vegetation and wildlife these scrub banks will help to restore this landscape to
09:01how it would have been long before Castle Howard existed am I right here guy there probably is right
09:10go and get another one today's been absolutely amazing but this is just really the start we're
09:14gonna start to scatter these all across the fields that we have around and measure that kind of changes
09:18over time so these should start to become real hotspots for nature it's feels really good physically
09:28tiring but feeling as though we're making a difference
09:30back at the house work is continuing on the transformation of the long gallery a hundred and twenty liters of paint are being applied to its 50 meter long walls
09:51whilst the bookshelves in the galleries central octagon are conserved and stained some of the estates prized collection of over 10,000 books are undergoing a little bit of TLC
10:07thank you oh Roman Roman history oh oh that's a tight squeeze thanks to a team of volunteers including Jude
10:17Linda and Gwyn so all the books in the octagon part are all being cleaned and dusted so that when
10:26they go back into the long gallery they're all clean and shiny like the new gallery is it's absolutely the
10:33most wonderful job in the whole world to his royal highness the Prince of Wales oh I'm getting so much
10:40enjoyments out of this so it's very gentle movements as a teacher for nearly 40 years books are in my blood this book is 1531 I think it's the oldest one that we've handled so far
10:59yeah yeah I'm seeing so much more you know finding out about the family and the way that they've lived over the generations
11:08there were volumes of something called the gentleman's magazine and they were interesting because they had the best tailors to go to apparently the cleanest brothels to go to
11:19to me to me
11:24it's very social very social one of the reasons I joined actually after covid was because I felt my world had shrunk during covid and I wanted to expand it I lost my mum
11:39um my sister lives in France and so really I and also because we couldn't socialize with people it was very difficult
11:48yeah we've got a really good group haven't we we have yeah yeah
11:52it's particularly exciting just seeing the whole house transformed the long galleries transformed the bedrooms are transformed
12:03somebody interested in history it's just magical it really is magical the world's best kept and best dusted book this one
12:12oh right cup of tea cup of tea time I think can we be excused
12:17it's late winter at Castle Howard and with the home fires burning throughout the colder months
12:3319 soot-filled chimneys are in need of some attention
12:38chimney sweep mrs. Bumby has been the estate sweep for 27 years some chimneys are sussier than others
12:51we had to get the blueprints out because nobody seemed to know where the chimneys ran nobody knew about this suck box
12:59so it was a bit of trial and error finding out where everything was you just get to know know where all the little snags are and problems like any job
13:16you'll have to have a bath tonight
13:18these are hard work whatever you get paid you get your money's worth
13:25in british tradition chimney sweeps are considered to bring good luck
13:30and with 18 more chimneys to sweep
13:33mrs. Bumby needs all the luck she can get
13:36it's coming
13:37you must make a wish on the sweeps brush
13:44upkeep of the sooty chimneys is a crucial task for Castle Howard
13:49a lesson learned thanks to the most devastating event in the estate's 300-year history
13:58and beyond this mirror door we go into a completely different lost interior
14:09the burnt-out wing
14:10in November 1940 a suspected chimney fire got out of control and swept through the house
14:27an entire wing of Castle Howard was destroyed
14:30including 22 rooms
14:35and Vanbrugh's iconic dome
14:37the dome clearly was an architectural calamity because Castle Howard without its dome
14:44just isn't Castle Howard
14:46head curator Dr Chris Ridgeway has worked at Castle Howard for over 40 years
14:52what you see here is the shell of three rooms
14:57with a temporary roof above
14:59and this brick consolidation here
15:02keep the structure upright
15:04unless you actually see this
15:07it's kind of difficult to envisage
15:10what the fire did
15:12in some ways it's a miracle that the whole of the building wasn't lost
15:17the survival of Castle Howard is down entirely to Nick's father
15:25in 1952 Nick's father George Howard made the decision to open his home to the public
15:33to help raise funds for the restoration
15:36ten years later the dome was brought back to life
15:39and in 1981 the house played host to a world famous adaptation of Brideshead Revisited
15:49which helped to fund the restoration of the garden hall
15:53restoration is the lifeblood of Castle Howard
15:55that's what keeps us literally going
15:58but it is a long haul
16:00today the Howards still face a bill of around 50 million pounds to complete the ongoing restoration
16:07this winter alongside the rest of the redesign work on the latest fire damaged room to be restored is nearing completion
16:21is it?
16:23curator Eleanor Brooke-Pete is part of the restoration team
16:27so we're in the tapestry drawing room
16:31it marks the furthest extent of the fire
16:34started at the far end of the house
16:35swept through 22 rooms
16:37and this is the furthest reach of it
16:39the real star of the show
16:41in this room is going to be as the name suggests
16:43the tapestries
16:45in 1706
16:47London's most fashionable weaver
16:49John van der Bank
16:51was commissioned to make four tapestries for the room
16:53depicting the four seasons
16:54in the 1750s the tapestries were moved to another room in the house
17:01thanks to this stroke of good fortune
17:04they survived the fire that destroyed the room they were made for
17:08so right now the tapestries are with a conservator
17:13and making sure that they're stable before we apply them to the wall
17:17so this is one of the architect's elevations
17:20sort of showing us the vision for what the space will look like
17:24it's honestly so exciting as a curator
17:27to be able to return objects to the space that they were originally made for
17:31over 300 years ago
17:33before the tapestries return
17:35gilding specialists like Tom Fowler
17:37are applying 425 leaves of 24-carat gold leaf to the room
17:41The gold's so thin that you've even got to control your breathing while doing it
17:48because you breathe the wrong way and the gold's gone
17:51For Nick, this is a golden opportunity to continue the restoration work begun by his father
17:57Um, when I was a child, it was open to the skies, there were no windows in, there were just empty holes
18:05The gilding in here, the painting, all made by these fantastically talented craftsmen
18:12without whom we couldn't have even dreamt of doing this
18:15When these tapestries go up, that is going to be really the moment when the icing goes onto the cake
18:20It all has to be done by April
18:33Castle Howard's thousand acres of 18th century parkland
18:38was designed to feel naturalistic
18:41Nestled in the landscape are hundreds of Baroque structures
18:45And classical statues
18:55Pockets of woodland cover the estate
18:58Including this small plantation which sits within Bog Hall
19:02Castle Howard's 440-acre rewilding project
19:08Alright, just going up to where the trees are marked
19:11Today, head of natural environment Guy
19:15and foresters Duncan and Alex
19:18are headed into the woodland to fell some trees
19:21I feel like Duncan's lost the tree
19:24He's a geographically challenged, never lost
19:27So this is the oak that we're going to be working around today
19:32Oak trees are really like biodiversity hubs, they're habitats unto themselves
19:36But when the canopy is so dense, the oak has grown up very tight and narrow
19:41because it kind of wants to get up to the sunlight
19:43So we're going to be clearing the spruce and the conifers that are around this
19:48just to kind of open that up, give this tree light and space to kind of grow and flourish
19:54This is called halo felling
19:57It will not only benefit the oak tree, but also the forest floor below
20:01If we look at the floor, it's very basic because it's all blocked by kind of like sun umbrellas
20:07We can really let more light down to the floor and have that oak tree surrounded by an abundance of different flora and fauna
20:14Because of the density of this canopy, felling individual trees is a challenge
20:20It's like velcro at the top, so it's very sticky
20:24So it can be quite tricky to manoeuvre the tree into the space we want it to go
20:28So we've got very narrow margins to work with today
20:33We'll fill this one into this gap, which then opens up another gap for another tree to come down on top
20:39He'll brash up the tree first
20:42He'll put it in his mouth cut
20:44Aim it into the gap here
20:49If you do it wrong, it could go sideways, backwards
20:53Hopefully it goes in
20:54Hopefully it goes in
21:16That's probably the best stump I've actually seen
21:17I think we'll do this one next
21:32That was, par upon the money that was
21:34Excellent, it's right here
21:36Comforts off the bus, perfect
21:38So we're going to leave them as dead wood rather than extract them out of the wood
21:43So these will sit here, we'll create a rich and diverse habitat across that woodland floor
21:49For all the fungi and different species that we have
21:52So how many have you felled in total?
21:54I think there's eight, we felled eight
21:55Amazing
21:57In the years to come, this area will become a prime piece of natural real estate for plant and animal species
22:04I feel so lucky to be starting this work off
22:07We can just see so much light already in here
22:09And kind of get that feeling, that sense of that halo starting to form around the oak in the middle
22:14It's really exciting
22:24It's late March
22:26And spring has arrived at the Castle Howard Estate
22:29Just a stone's throw from the house, the ten acre walled garden is beginning to show signs of life
22:42It's a time of pruning, dividing, planting, mowing, trimming, weeding, there's a lot going on
22:54It's a very beautiful time of year, but you sleep a little bit less
23:00The walled garden was built in the early 18th century and was originally used as a kitchen garden, supplying fruit and vegetables to the house
23:12Today it's been transformed into a formal garden, looked after by head gardener, Alistair Gunn
23:18But he'll be hungry now, so he'll be okay, come on buddy, come on, it's breakfast time, come on, there you go
23:25And, as well as the gardens, Alistair looks after the estate's four species of resident peafowl
23:32They are a slow-growing bird that requires quite a lot of protein, they love peanuts, they absolutely love peanuts, which is somewhat expensive
23:45All right, come on, let's not be mean, come on
23:51I'd never raised birds before coming to Castle Howard, I'd never had any birds, I had a cat
23:58And I just sort of fell in love with them really
24:00They're very beautiful, people love to see them and kids love them
24:11They're always noisiest in the morning and then in the evening
24:14So it becomes this sort of echoing call across the grounds
24:18And it certainly adds a different kind of atmosphere to the place
24:21Today, around 30 birds have joined Alistair in the walled garden
24:30And he's hoping that number will soon increase
24:34We think the breeding season's very early this year, it's been sunny and it's been dry
24:45When the weather's warm, the males are displaying their tails
24:48They sort of pull the feathers up into that iconic fan and it displays all the eyes
24:53And they vibrate the tail and then that can be picked up by other birds through the crest feathers
24:58So the females go on this sort of tour of inspection
25:03They select a mate and then they'll lay eggs
25:06It's a waiting game at the moment, fingers crossed
25:09Hopefully we'll have a few young birds
25:12Because they are very, very cute
25:13In soaring spring temperatures, many are enjoying the expanses of the wider estate
25:26From a herd of grazing Aberdeen Angus
25:29Helping to manage grass levels by the estate's iconic mausoleum
25:34To a patch of land surrounding its medieval-style fortified walls
25:38The grassland here is covered in brambles, which are preventing other plants from thriving
25:54And today, conservation grazer Danny Wellstead and head of natural environment Guy
26:00Are bringing in some bramble-loving goats
26:02So, we've got 47 goats and they all have their own names
26:13They've all got their own personalities
26:16So, this is Dylan, he's the oldest one in here
26:20Eeyore and RJ there and Duke behind him
26:24They're just lovely animals, they just want to cuddle
26:29Using animals rather than machinery to manage vegetation is called conservation grazing
26:37Reducing the bramble cover will allow a more diverse habitat to flourish
26:43We're using a livestock breed to replace a role that will naturally be filled by wild herbivores
26:52So, things like bison that aren't in a landscape anymore
26:55Their behaviours mimic those natural behaviours a lot more
27:02And they can also live outdoors all year round
27:08These rare breed goats had been known as Golden Guernseys
27:14Until 2024, when King Charles III officially renamed the endangered breed Royal Golden Guernseys
27:21Making them the first livestock breed in recent history to receive a protected Royal title
27:30Come on!
27:34Straight back over
27:37I'm so happy we've got goats at Casa Howard
27:40We could have kind of come through here with mechanised vehicles
27:46We could have chopped it, topped it, but actually some of this kind of bramble of things is really hard to get through
27:51So, goats are a perfect kind of mode to deal with that really
27:54The goats are really happy here
27:58They love eating things like bramble and there's plenty of that here
28:00So, it's a win-win situation really
28:03So, here we're surrounded by ancestors
28:21This is the Fifth Third Le Carle
28:28He loved having himself painted
28:30He was painted by Reynolds at least three times, if not more
28:34It's been three months since Nick Howard kicked off a major redesign of Castle Howard's historic interiors
28:41The house is due to open to the public in just three weeks
28:45It's the first question I ask anybody first thing in the morning, as soon as I see them, I say, still on schedule?
28:52So far, I'm still getting the yes answer every time
28:56And I have to keep my fingers crossed and touch a lot of wood about that
29:00Am I confident about these hooks?
29:04Yes, they've been stress tested, so
29:07I would say
29:10Assistant curator Matthew Wood is helping to oversee the hanging of 64 paintings in the Long Gallery
29:17Check, done
29:19It's not just a case of hanging a picture on a nail
29:22Sometimes with old frames, because they've walked and things over time
29:25It can be a bit of a difficult exercise getting a level
29:28Right, we'll tell you when we're ready
29:31One, two, three
29:33One, two, three
29:36Today, the final piece on the fireplace wall is going up
29:40A Roman vista by the famous 18th century baroque painter Gian Paolo Panini
29:47Just watch the chandelier
29:52Navigating the narrow doorways are a team of specialist art handlers
29:58Ready? One, two, three
30:00One, two, three, up
30:04It's a really stressful day, but we are in very safe hands
30:10The Panini painting and frame weigh 50 kilos
30:14And must be carefully attached to a series of adjustable chains
30:21Hey, is everybody ready?
30:23This is such an exciting project
30:25It keeps me awake at night, sometimes with fear, sometimes with excitement
30:27You judge it then I'll hinge
30:30Right, in you go, in you go, keep coming
30:32I'm always on the lookout for something that could go wrong and trying to avoid it
30:37Yeah, that would be easy
30:39That's it, let's see then
30:41Where's the spirit?
30:43Right, okay
30:44There will be tables going underneath these paintings
30:46One, two, three, up
30:48So it needs to be a very precise height so the table fits and the painting has space above it to fit
30:52How's the chain looking?
30:54I think the chain needs to move
30:57It's just need to get down a wee bit on the right
31:00Almost
31:03It's not there just now
31:05Okay, Matthew, we'll pull this out of the road and you can have a look
31:11With the scaffold out of the way
31:12I think it'll look all right
31:14It looks all right
31:15It does look all right
31:18I think leave it at that
31:28As spring races towards summer across the estate
31:33The walled garden is now bursting into bloom
31:36It's lovely to see this time of year as well when it's all starting to flower
31:46Gardener Jo is tending to the cut flowers, which are set to go on display in the house when it reopens
31:54I sort of choose things that will go really nicely in the house
31:58It's just generally stuff that will be enjoyed by the Howards, particularly Mrs. Howards
32:08So little daffodils, lots of tulips, we've got lots of Dutch iris as well, which are fantastic
32:14These are Narcissae avalanche and they've got a lovely fragrance as well as the fantastic fact that they're perennial
32:26We don't actually have to plant them each year, we just give them a bit of a feed, a bit of a weed
32:31And yeah, they just produce these lovely flowers
32:36Just wish I didn't have hair fever
32:45On the other side of the garden, head gardener Alistair is being kept rather busy
32:52Oh, hello
32:54They're here
32:56Hello darling
32:58Thanks to the arrival of five baby pea fowl
33:00All right, oh come on
33:04They are really hard to see, but there's the two in there
33:07Can you see them?
33:09And they're about two to three weeks old
33:11I'm feeding Juno and she has three little chicks with her
33:17And they are less than a week old
33:19The moment she's scouting for insects, which she'll pick off the foliage and then give to her chicks
33:28It's lovely to watch them grow and see their personalities and how they interact with the rest of the flock
33:33And nice to see that, you know, birds you've cared for for years managed to live successfully, you know
33:40So, yeah, it's really, it's really wonderful
33:42After months of work, there's just days to go until Castle Howard reopens to the public
33:56The final task of the estate's major interior redesign is underway in the tapestry drawing room
34:02So today's a really exciting day
34:05So today's a really exciting day
34:07We're getting the very first of our four tapestries onto the wall
34:12Feeling a little bit nervous about how's it going to go?
34:16I mean this really is like the culmination of the whole project
34:19Curator Eleanor is working with textile conservator Alison Stanton
34:23Who has spent nearly a year repairing and cleaning the tapestries in her studio
34:29So the object is to get it onto the round
34:33The round thing
34:34Doofa
34:36Okay, doofa, okay
34:38So the tapestry will be hoisted up to the top of the scaffold tower vertically
34:44And then it will be rolled across the wall gradually
34:47Until it's in situ
34:49It's nice to sit back upon the wall, hopefully
34:51Hopefully
34:56Oh, it's sticking to me
34:58So traditionally tapestries quite often would have been nailed to the wall
35:02But obviously that means that they're really difficult to remove
35:05So with the Velcro it means that in an emergency, in a fire, say
35:10You know, touch wood, that wouldn't happen
35:12We can actually remove the tapestries relatively quickly
35:17While they're now easier to take down
35:19Putting up a three and a half metre long tapestry is not so simple
35:25Do you know if this wall is straight? Francis?
35:29Yeah
35:30You'll know
35:31Is the wall straight?
35:32100%
35:33Yeah, that's okay then, we can measure off it
35:35Yeah
35:37It can't not be, it can't not be
35:38There would be so many problems if it wasn't
35:43Rebuilding the room safely meant that architect Francis Terry had to slightly resize it
35:50It was a rubble stone wall effectively
35:52And we had to make the room which is a joinery box within this very rough room
36:05And so it's highly possible that the room is just a tiny bit too small
36:08And these tapestries which were designed for this room 300 years ago won't fit
36:11So that's quite a concern
36:21Okay, ready?
36:23Yes
36:27Oh, slow down, slow down, slow down
36:29That's it, brilliant
36:32Fabulous
36:34Okay, another twist
36:38And a little pull
36:40And again
36:41Oh, hang on, hang on
36:43Oh, no
36:44I've lost nothing
36:46And another twist
36:48I'm going to swap places with it
36:49Okay
36:51Are you alright?
36:52It's always a worry because it's very tight
36:55It seems to have dropped down a little bit
36:57Tuck that in behind
37:00I don't know if he's asking if he's going to have to go that way or that way
37:04There we go
37:07Right, I'll just go down and have a look
37:13Oh my gosh, it looks so beautiful
37:15It's not supposed to be a smoke to me
37:17It's just a nice
37:19Bit of distance
37:20Just seeing the design on the walls
37:27That wonderful little dog and the dancing figures and everything
37:31It looks absolutely amazing
37:33It's more emotional than I thought I was going to actually
37:37I'm happy
37:39Relieved
37:41The colours of the room really makes the tapestry sort of hang out
37:45In a very satisfying way
37:46Beyond my expectations
37:48Three more to go
37:50It's been four months since Castle Howard began work on rewilding 440 acres of the estate at Bog Hall
38:07The volunteer built scrub banks are now surrounded by freshly grown brambles and plants creating brand new habitats
38:17At the halo felling site
38:19At the halo felling site, the oak tree and the forest floor below are exploding into life
38:22Thanks to the sunlight shining through
38:25The soil is so cracked, it's so cracked, it's amazing
38:32Today, Guy is joining ecologists Rob Reglesworth and Nikita Worthington who have begun monitoring the area for wildlife
38:42Great, got everything we need
38:44Using a series of audio sensors and camera traps
38:47So we are here on the blue dot
38:50And we are heading to this point here
38:54This kind of monitoring activity is fundamental to the project
38:57And it's how we tell the story of what we're doing here really
39:00How many of these have we got across the site?
39:02Four cameras, six bird recorders and three bat recorders
39:06OK
39:07To have that really kind of solid and robust baseline of what species are here now
39:12It allows us to tell the story of what's going to come in the future
39:15After a month in the field, the camera traps are being collected for observation
39:21Was the post at an angle before?
39:24Yeah, I'm sure a deer or something has probably had a rub on that
39:27OK, yeah, I wonder if you've got a photo of that
39:29I always find that I'm like quite nervous because I'm like, oh, I don't want to have put it out
39:35And then you've got one blade of grass just going like that in the wind
39:39So it can be quite, it can be quite sad when you don't get anything
39:43Knowing what wildlife is already here will allow the team to carefully plan boghalls rewilding
39:50The moment of truth, let's see what we've got
39:53I love this, it's like no idea what we're going to see
39:55Let's see some things here
39:56There we go, so we've got a deer
39:59Aw, that's walking across
40:00Looks like a roe deer
40:02Oh, it's just stood there just posing
40:04They always look really naughty at night, don't they? Like they're up to no good
40:07The initial data has picked up six large mammal species
40:12Including deer
40:14And badgers
40:16And over 30 species of bird
40:19But there's plenty of work to do
40:21So the good thing is that we are seeing life here already
40:23Hopefully as we expand that habitat out
40:26That wildlife will become more abundant
40:27And we'll see more and more wildlife across the whole project
40:30If a project is like this already now
40:33Then it'll be, if you just think how good it'll be in 30 years
40:36Really cool
40:38The team will continue monitoring boghalls through the summer
40:42And over the years to come
40:44As they restore balanced ecosystems and habitats
40:47Their aim is that in 30 years' time
40:51This area of Castle Howard's estate
40:54Will have almost tripled in biodiversity
40:57When I'm near retirement age
40:59I may be able to be able to come back
41:01And to see how species that have like really thrived
41:03And the habitats that we've created over time
41:06And how this kind of work in combination
41:08To kind of really make this a site that is incredibly special for nature
41:10After four months as a building site
41:22Castle Howard is now hours away from welcoming in the public
41:26Oh yes chaos
41:28Oh chaos is our thing
41:30Chaos is what I love
41:32Housekeeper Theresa has been working her way around 100 rooms
41:3859 staircases
41:42And 3001 window panes
41:48We're like little fairies
41:50And we come in and try and get rid of all the dust and cobwebs
41:54Gardener Jo is arranging flowers grown in the walled garden
41:58Producing some little vases that can go in the rooms
42:01And can be swapped around as and when they're needed
42:06Shall we try the big vase just on here
42:09I think flowers are just that kind of final touch to a room
42:14And it also helps make the space feel quite lived in and alive
42:18If Eleanor's happy, I'm happy so
42:21And just before the house opens
42:24Nick Howard and his wife Victoria are having a final inspection
42:29Beginning in the long gallery
42:32Wow
42:34The floor is about the only thing that hasn't changed
42:41It's that sigh of relief
42:46I love it, I absolutely love it
42:50It's like climbing my own family tree
42:58I'll be absolutely honest Nick
42:59I don't actually know who all these relatives of yours are
43:04I'm not going to test you on them
43:10120 litres of paint have been applied to over 100 metres of wall
43:1564 paintings have been hung
43:18And thousands of squeaky clean books are on display
43:22Tremendous teamwork throughout, you know, so many people involved in this
43:28The grand staircase has been transformed
43:33With a display of plaster bas-reliefs inspired by the grand tour
43:38The West Wing bedrooms have been redecorated with hand-painted de Gourney wallpaper
43:49And 130 metres of pleated silk
43:57And 85 years after fire ravaged the house
44:01The lost tapestry drawing room has been brought back to life
44:14I almost can't believe it even now
44:17That I come through here
44:19And here's a room I've never seen before in my life in this house
44:22And I've been in this house for 72 years
44:25The tapestries have come home
44:27I'm so looking forward to actually seeing people's reactions
44:30I'm going to have to decide whether I go on to TripAdvisor or not
44:34Because obviously what will be very disappointing is whether we get some negative comments
44:39Like I liked it better before or something
44:41But I might have to discipline myself not to look
44:43You won't be able to, I know you
44:44On opening weekend, 6,000 visitors have booked to see Castle Howard's new interiors
45:05I can't believe how the gold shines on the books
45:17Including book cleaning volunteers Jude, Linda and Gwyn
45:21We've got the gentlemen's magazines out here
45:25Oh, so I have
45:26I enjoyed a peeping those
45:28They were such good fun
45:29Fascinating
45:31There's a warmth to Castle Howard
45:33And all the alterations have even lifted that warmth even more
45:37It's very exciting to see what will happen next
45:41Seeing it come together and seeing the vision that's behind it
45:47And it's just stupendous
45:51One of the things about most of the incumbents in this job
45:55Is that after a bit they start to think
45:58What am I going to leave behind?
45:59What's my legacy going to be?
46:01And I think we've put our stamp on this place now
46:04With a new chapter successfully underway at Castle Howard
46:09From redesigned interiors
46:12To groundbreaking rewilding
46:14The truth about this great estate is that it's just getting started
46:21Getting started
46:51Coming up
46:54As part?..
46:57Here's a wonderful journey
47:00In your weeks
47:03Subtitling powerful
47:05Improving rogue
47:09Poם
47:12My son
47:16After Oppositions
47:18Woo
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