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Hidden Treasures of the National Trust Season 3 Episode 100
Hidden Treasures of the National Trust
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Hidden Treasures of the National Trust
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00:00Houses and gardens of the National Trust.
00:04Stepping into a world of magic, tradition and festive wonder.
00:10Come on Christmas Owls.
00:12Whether a Tudor yuletide spectacular.
00:15Onward, yep.
00:16Or a roaring 20s Christmas soiree.
00:22But out of sight lies a hidden world.
00:27Stop, stop, stop.
00:27One, two.
00:29Three.
00:30Two, one.
00:32Where an army of festive helpers.
00:34Looks a bit like school assembly level.
00:37Are working around the clock.
00:40It is a hard deadline.
00:41Visitors expect us to be open with Christmas.
00:44As three grand houses.
00:46It's the same as everyone's doing at home with their own Christmas decorations.
00:49This is on a slightly different scale.
00:51Race against time.
00:53I'm not going to lie, I do feel quite nervous.
00:55Come on in.
00:56To deck the halls.
00:58I just need music.
00:59People dancing.
01:00People dancing.
01:01Ready for Christmas.
01:04Three, two, one.
01:06Hooray!
01:07Hooray!
01:19At the National Trust, the countdown to Christmas starts early.
01:25And the team at Northumberland's Cragside are already swapping sunshine for sleigh bells.
01:32Right, I need my team.
01:34Come on, Christmas elves.
01:35We get really invested in Christmas at Cragside.
01:41And every year we have got bigger and bigger.
01:44You got your notebook?
01:45Yes.
01:45It sounds like we're going to need notes.
01:47Brace yourself.
01:47Bought in the 1860s by wealthy industrialist William Armstrong and filled with the latest marvels of the age, Cragside is no stranger to lavish A-list parties.
02:01He ends up hosting heads of state, the prince of Afghanistan, the Shah of Persia, the Thai royal family, our own prince and princess of Wales.
02:10It really became this kind of showpiece to the world.
02:13Now, at Christmas, it's where property curator Clara lets her imagination run wild.
02:21My role as curator is to come up with a theme.
02:25We never do a traditional Christmas.
02:27It's always a slight twist on the history of Cragside.
02:29Something that is magical and joyful and a little bit different.
02:35Today, she's rallying the troops for their first glimpse of this year's grand plan.
02:41So, it's 1894.
02:44It's the 27th of December.
02:47Servants have given the Armstrongs this big Christmas party and basically it's their turn.
02:52The theme for this year is the Servants' Ball.
02:55So, on the 27th of December in 1894, a Servants' Ball was held at Cragside.
03:01And the idea is that the servants are having their one night off a year.
03:05So, throughout the whole house is as if the servants have taken over.
03:08They have worked incredibly hard all year round.
03:12And for this one night, the world has been turned upside down.
03:17The gardeners become lords and the maids become ladies.
03:21So, should we have a walk round?
03:23Are you ready for this?
03:24So, as we come through, it'll look as if the servants have abandoned their chores.
03:33So, loads of dirty dishes piled up in the sink.
03:36Here to turn Clara's dream into a reality are chief elves Steve and Catherine.
03:43Clara's imagination just keeps getting greater and greater each Christmas.
03:47So, absolutely huge ribbons, cascading.
03:51So, it feels like it's been really festooned.
03:54Last year we did bringing the outdoors inside, but it was exaggerated again.
03:58People have gone, ooh, ooh, all different expressions when they go in.
04:04And this is where I want to put the upside down Christmas tree.
04:08Clara is the mad scientist behind all the ideas.
04:11She's got a fantastic mind and it's trying to unpick that.
04:15How are we actually, how are we going to do that?
04:16Sometimes I think, really?
04:19But when we all work together and it comes off, it's brilliant.
04:23As we get to here, we want to start hearing music.
04:26So, you get a sense of, like, this is where the party's actually happening.
04:30We can hear piano playing, probably fiddles and that kind of thing.
04:34Right.
04:34We're going to have loads of stars coming down from the ceiling.
04:38Starlet.
04:38And then you're at the party in this room and in the fireplace alcove.
04:44There we go.
04:45We're going to have a moon that visitors can sit in.
04:49Just sit in it?
04:50The Victorians loved the moon.
04:52OK.
04:53You know, it's a bit surreal, but the whole thing is a bit surreal.
04:57Yeah.
04:59I wouldn't expect anything less from Clara.
05:00Some of the grand ideas won't come without the odd difficulty.
05:05So, last year was a challenge. This is a bigger one, isn't it?
05:07It is.
05:08The brain is starting to whir now and I'll have to go back to my desk and start to think,
05:14right, OK, Christmas, here we come.
05:20Clara's servants' ball theme has its roots in a winter ritual even older than Christmas.
05:26There's always been a tradition of giving back to those that have served you, and in fact that goes all the way back to Rome.
05:37One of the wildest nights of the Roman calendar was the winter festival of Saturnalia.
05:44The god Saturn was seen as the fairest king of all because he would give presents to his servants.
05:52Merrymaking was mandatory, and social order took the night off.
05:57In the Roman festival of Saturnalia, a servant is elected king for the period of the party.
06:03The servant king later slipped into Christmas traditions and was rebranded the Lord of Misrule.
06:12The Lord of Misrule was a bit like a jester.
06:15He was able to challenge all those aristocrats and say, no, I'm in charge of you.
06:21From ancient Rome to Victorian servants' balls, these upside-down holiday traditions reveal a Christmas rebellious streak, rooted in pagan revelry.
06:40Outside, Cragside's own Lord of Misrule, Clara...
06:44I feel like Brittany.
06:46..has got an even bigger Christmas challenge for her team.
06:51This is our amazing living Christmas tree, and we know it's the biggest in Britain,
07:03but what we really want to find out this year is, is it the biggest in the world?
07:08Oh, Christmas tree, oh, Christmas tree...
07:10How are we doing, Andy?
07:12To find out if this towering redwood is a world record-breaker, someone has to measure it.
07:19Stepping up are head forester Chris and crane operator Lucky.
07:26I'm going to use the top of the basket as we measure against the top of the tree.
07:30Yeah.
07:30Drop a line.
07:31The last year we measured the tree and it was around 42 metres,
07:34so today we're going to measure the tree again.
07:37The team are here with enormous cherry picker,
07:41and they're going to go up in the basket, drop a line down, so literally a big rope,
07:45and that should give us our official record.
07:49Yeah.
07:52It always awes me slightly when I park up next to this tree,
07:56because I know how high that goes.
07:57Pretty good.
07:58You probably don't want to hear this, Chris, but it is slightly different.
08:01Pretty good.
08:02With those words of encouragement...
08:05Right, off we go.
08:06...Chris and Lucky begin the long ascent up the 150-year-old giant redwood.
08:13I'm glad I'm not doing that.
08:14It's making me feel dizzy.
08:18Once at the top, it's a long way down.
08:22The question is, how long?
08:25What we've got here is like a drop line with a weight on the bottom of this,
08:29and we're now going to lower this down.
08:34To qualify...
08:35Just lower it a bit more.
08:37Stop there.
08:38Every rule must be followed to the letter.
08:42Chris has taped it at the top.
08:44Obviously, with Guinness involved, their protocols are so strict and tight.
08:48Happy with that?
08:49Yeah.
08:52Yay!
08:52To measure the height as accurately as possible...
08:55How long is the piece of string?
08:57The line is stretched out along the ground.
09:02Guys, that's 42 metres there.
09:04That was it last year.
09:07I'll just get that, take that, and...
09:09It's grown.
09:11We need independent witnesses.
09:14It really is a beast, isn't it?
09:17Last year, we estimated it was about 42 metres.
09:20So, it's, yeah, it's a lot more than we were expecting.
09:25So, 44.7.
09:27Yeah?
09:28Yeah.
09:29Shall I write that down?
09:30Yeah.
09:30Yeah?
09:31Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:32We're not measuring it again.
09:35It's amazing.
09:36It is.
09:36But to claim the title, there's a much taller order still ahead.
09:42It's not the record unless it's decorated.
09:44So, it doesn't matter how tall our tree is,
09:46if it doesn't have lights and decorations on it,
09:49it's not the world record.
09:52It really would be the best Christmas present,
09:55and I really think it's something that Armstrong would have approved of.
09:57As Christmas plans reach new heights across the National Trust,
10:10in Devon, one of its smaller houses has some lofty ambitions of its own.
10:14I think that these big doors are just big and heavy.
10:18There we go.
10:20Built in the glittering 1920s,
10:23Colton Fishacre was the country retreat of the Doily Cart dynasty.
10:29The reason the Doily Carts chose this location down on the English Riviera coast
10:33was they were sailing past,
10:35and they spotted this idyllic, wild valley
10:39and thought, wow, what an amazing place to build a country house.
10:41The Doily Carts weren't just wealthy.
10:44They were West End royalty.
10:50The Doily Carts were really well-known in London at that time.
10:53They owned the Savoy Hotel, they owned the Savoy Theatre,
10:56the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera.
10:59And from one of those Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas
11:03sprang an iconic Christmas tradition.
11:07The Doily Carts commissioned the very first fairy lights,
11:10which were tiny little incandescent bulbs
11:12which were woven into the dresses of the performers.
11:16So the name Fairy Lights came from them actually being wrapped around fairies
11:19dancing on stage.
11:23Up until then, Christmas trees were decorated with candles,
11:27beautiful but often dangerous.
11:30The Doily Carts innovation offered a far safer, far sparklier solution.
11:36It's then became what Edison wrapped around a Christmas tree in the US
11:41and the very beginning of fairy lights as we know them today.
11:47Snowy white snow and jingle bells
11:50Oh, what a happy season
11:52Snowy white snow and jingle bells
11:55The 1920s were an era of celebration, liberation and unapologetic fun.
12:03Something the Doily Carts embraced wholeheartedly at their new coastal retreat.
12:09It was a hidden away party house, which I absolutely love.
12:12When they built Colton Fishacre, it was just after the First World War.
12:17The Savoy Hotel was thriving, the Savoy Theatre was thriving
12:20and everybody was looking to let their hair down, escape and just really enjoy that moment.
12:27I would have loved to have been there.
12:29Though Lauren is years late to the Doily Carts party,
12:34she's come up with the next best thing, throwing one of her own.
12:38Our plan for Christmas this year, as it's 100 years since Colton Fishacre was built,
12:43we're going to bring back the Roaring Twenties and we're going to have a party.
12:47We are going to have the most immersive and elegant
12:52and kind of over-the-top party that we can in Colton Fishacre.
12:56We're going to have cocktails, we're going to have live music
12:58and we're going to open up the floor for people to dance.
13:01It's going to be come and learn the Charleston and just end the year with a bang.
13:04It's going to be an absolute hoop.
13:07Lauren has just a few months to bring back the magic of a roaring 1920s Christmas.
13:14The pressure is there, I'm not going to lie, I do feel quite nervous.
13:18I've just got to learn how to dance. That's the pressure.
13:24Six, seven, eight.
13:27Charleston is based on literally walking, just transferring your feet.
13:31So we're going to start it literally, it's just the steps to kind of get you into the rhythm.
13:34To get her team dancing, Lauren has recruited fellow staff member
13:40and former professional dancer, Jennifer.
13:44You're going to step over with your right foot on the one
13:46and you're going to tap the foot forward on two.
13:50And she may have her hands full.
13:53The style is the swivel of your feet.
13:57So you need to twist your knees inwards in the middle.
14:06It's so difficult.
14:08We'll work on it. We'll get this for November.
14:10I can't do my left and right. Never danced.
14:15We did one pivot. We stepped over.
14:19I think it's just very difficult because you have to do your legs and your hands at the same time.
14:23It's that bit that confuses me.
14:26So I'm watching Jen do it and I'm like, yep, no, absolutely.
14:29I'm definitely doing what she's doing.
14:30Right. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
14:35How are we feeling?
14:36Grant.
14:36Grant?
14:37Yeah.
14:38With less than four months to the Christmas party,
14:42stepping out of line isn't an option.
14:46My wife is the manager here,
14:48so most people call it volunteering.
14:52In our household, it's more conscription.
14:55It doesn't come naturally, but I think we're getting there.
14:58It's really good.
15:00That was really bad for me.
15:01Really bad.
15:01I don't know.
15:08Though winter is still months away.
15:10Ready for a wander?
15:12In Cornwall, Christmas feels just around the corner.
15:15Hello.
15:16For the team at Tudor Masterpiece, Cotill.
15:22I'm probably the worst person to give you a tour of the house because I'm not really good with my history and my dates.
15:28But I do bloody love the place.
15:31Once home to the Edgecomes, a family who found fame and fortune during the Wars of the Roses,
15:37today it's visitor operations and experience manager, Rich, who's enjoying the estate's gardens.
15:45At the start of the year, you can see the seasons changing.
15:48At the start of the year, you've got the bare leaves.
15:50And then into the springtime, you've got the blossom.
15:53In the autumn, you've got the apple harvest.
15:56And then that cycle just keeps going and going.
16:00But in one corner of Cotill, it's Christmas all year round.
16:05This is where Christmas at Cotill really begins.
16:14Hello.
16:15Hello.
16:17From this small garden, blossoms Cotill's biggest claim to fame.
16:23Their gigantic Christmas flower garland.
16:26The Christmas garland is something we've done since the 1950s and it's just become part of Cotill's history and heritage now.
16:37It's a 60-foot-long foliage base stuffed full of dried flowers.
16:43And it's, yeah, it's a magical thing to see.
16:49For centuries, there's been a tradition in the dead of winter of bringing evergreen foliage into the house or decking the halls.
16:56It symbolises renewal and looking forward to the spring ahead.
17:02They used to call it the time when the sun stood still.
17:05The winter solstice.
17:07And the whole idea of greenery coming into the house is by that time, you're so desperate for the summer to come back.
17:15They're putting the trees in the house.
17:18And that's the name of the solstice as well.
17:20Sol in victor.
17:22The victory of the sun.
17:25At Cotill, they've taken this tradition and run with it.
17:30This is very much a productive cut flower garden, so it's not unusual for the whole team to be in here on a pretty much daily basis.
17:39It's hard to believe that we're well underway for Christmas.
17:43Feels quite early to talk about it.
17:44We start in January, February by digging the beds.
17:48We're then planting out seedlings in the spring.
17:51So it's an all-year-round thing.
17:53And you can build the pride as you go through the year.
17:55So, I love it.
17:57And it gets you in the heart somehow.
18:00It's a yuletide legacy that has been carefully nurtured for two decades by head gardener Dave.
18:08It's looking like these are pretty much coming to the end of their time now, aren't they?
18:10So when were these planted?
18:13But this year, he's handing the baton over to gardener Kay.
18:17This is my first year that I'm going to be managing the whole process from start to finish.
18:22It's a huge responsibility.
18:24People come from all over the country to come and see it.
18:27So it's quite a lot of pressure to know what I'm doing.
18:31Kay's battling a hard deadline and an even harder taskmaster.
18:36You're up against nature, you're up against the weather,
18:39and plants don't always want to do what you want them to do.
18:43I mean, these are great, but they've kind of run out of steam a little bit now, haven't they?
18:45I mean, it's a massive deal for cold teal.
18:48There's a real pressure to deliver because people are expecting to come and see this at Christmas,
18:52and if we haven't got the flowers, it's a bit of a worry.
18:58A lot of people say that Christmas doesn't start until we've been to the garland.
19:03Helping Kay pull off this Herculean task is a team of 32 volunteers.
19:10We use our nails and strip the fleshy green off the stems
19:15because if we don't take that off, they can go mouldy.
19:20You end up with very green fingernails doing this.
19:26After the flowers are stripped, they're taken to the potting shed to dry.
19:31Not many people get to see this part of the drying process because it's not open to the public.
19:41We hang them in bunches upside down because that helps the flower heads open up,
19:47and the idea is that we're going to absolutely fill this space with flowers for drying.
19:52I think the expectation is that we have a great garland.
19:57The most that I've grown has been 37,000 flowers, but this is our first year running the show.
20:04So realistically, 33,000 is kind of the optimum.
20:07That's a really good display.
20:09Despite handing over the gardening gloves, Dave isn't quite ready to give up his record, too.
20:17I don't want to throw down the gauntlet, but a few years ago we picked 37,000.
20:21I don't think you're going to beat that, but there's the challenge.
20:25Competition is on.
20:28To be fair, though, if we carry on with the harvest that we're getting at the moment,
20:33I don't see any reason why we can't match that or even beat it.
20:36So, yeah, game on.
20:38I don't think you'll beat it, but you're certainly welcome to have a go.
20:42You know, it's not a competition, but, you know, life is.
20:51It is a challenge, but I'm hopeful that I can beat Dave's record of flowers.
21:00Cotill's garland has marked the start of Christmas for over 50 years.
21:06But in the chapel tower, their bells have rung in the festive season for more than 500.
21:15In churches or monastic settings, bells were used to give signal when to go to worship.
21:25In Tudor times, the bells held their greatest significance at Christmas.
21:30On Christmas Eve, you go to church late at night and you see in the dawn.
21:40As the first light comes through the coloured windows,
21:46the choir boy would begin to sing in the new day,
21:50the new Christmas and the new Christ.
21:53And I can't help but feel the hairs on the back of my neck every time I think of that.
22:03Cotill's bells are operated by an ancient mechanism inside the chapel.
22:08This is the chapel clock.
22:14It's very, very old. It dates from around about 1500.
22:19When the clock is actually running, there's a beautiful atmosphere at Cotill.
22:23It's very tranquil.
22:24But unfortunately, it does keep stopping.
22:26And when the clock stops, Cotill loses part of its personality.
22:34We've definitely missed the chimes over the last couple of years.
22:38It really feels as if something's missing from Cotill.
22:43Good morning.
22:44Morning, Peter.
22:45Determined to get Cotill's bells striking again,
22:49collections and house manager Nick has called in leading horologists,
22:54Peter and Jonathan.
22:55This comes around and releases this flail.
23:02And once it's released, the clock is free to strike.
23:09Quite violent, isn't it, the way it locks?
23:12One issue is the clock has put on a few extra pounds in its old age.
23:18The present weight is excessively heavy, really, for this style of clock.
23:22This excessive weight, driving the clock, has been wearing out its mechanism and ultimately
23:28silencing the bells.
23:30To fix it...
23:31So, are you going to stand in there?
23:33I'm going to stand in there.
23:34First, Peter and Jonathan must evict the reluctant timepiece.
23:39When you're taking a clock like this apart, you have to remember everything is a unique fit.
23:45It's quite a bit very difficult.
23:47They may well be stuck on.
23:49It went towards you.
23:51No, no, you're moving that backwards.
23:53I'll be bickering like husband and wife.
23:56Hang on.
23:57Oh, this is loose again.
23:59We were talking across purposes, I think.
24:01No, you were right.
24:02Well, if you say so.
24:05To prevent a silent night this Christmas, they now have to bring the ancient artefact back to life.
24:12What I love about this clock is its incredible age and the fact that it survived almost completely intact
24:19and in its original position.
24:22It's the most important clock in the National Trust, so it's vital that we preserve it.
24:27As the countdown to Christmas continues, pressure is mounting everywhere.
24:44Three months before we open is when everything starts to ramp up.
24:49I've got so much glue on the table, everything's sticking to it.
24:52That's when the really hard work kicks off.
24:55At Cragside, a crack team of merry volunteers are trying to piece together Clara's plan.
25:02Clara's very much the vision.
25:04We are the production team.
25:06The quiet leaves beaver away behind the scenes.
25:08Yes.
25:09Christmas can't happen without us, apparently.
25:12And we have to start early because we have to produce in volume.
25:18We're having a shot at making some cone hats.
25:21In Victorian times, everything is very colourful.
25:25It's quite different, isn't it, from what we've done?
25:26Very different to last year, isn't it?
25:28By the end of the 19th century, Christmas has started to be commercialised.
25:35Mr Woolworths is busy creating cheap glass baubles in loads of different colours to create actually
25:41what would have been quite a gaudy Christmas.
25:44And I love the imagery that you get on Christmas cards.
25:47There's things like turnip men and beetles.
25:50They're far more eccentric than you would expect.
25:54Clara is making sure the production line doesn't stray far from her unconventional brief.
26:01Hello, ladies.
26:02This is amazing.
26:04Giant paper chains.
26:06Is that too giant?
26:07No, nothing's too giant.
26:09Great.
26:10And I love these.
26:11These are gorgeous.
26:11Yeah, I love them.
26:12Oh, they look really good.
26:14Upstairs in the archives, Clara is preparing the centrepiece
26:21and inspiration of her servants' ball theme.
26:25A very rare piece of history, modest in size, yet monumental in significance.
26:33It's always wonderful when we find something about the servants,
26:37especially at Crownside, there's very little material on the people who actually made the place run.
26:44This tiny little thing is a dance card.
26:50A dance card was essentially a programme.
26:53So it would have a list of all the dances that were going to be performed at the ball.
26:58And in advance of the dance, a gentleman could come up to a lady and request her hand.
27:03And she would then select which dance she would allow him to have.
27:07The 1890s were the heyday of the Grand Victorian Ball,
27:15usually the preserve of the well-to-do looking for love.
27:19But at Christmas in 1894,
27:23Cragside's servants were given their own shot at romance.
27:27A dance was an occasion for young people especially to be able to spend time together in close proximity.
27:34And we know that there were several romantic relationships on the estate.
27:39Only this single, unnamed dance card survives from that night in 1894.
27:47It may have belonged to one of the young maids who served in the house at the time.
27:51But the only names on the card are the ones of her dance partners.
27:56We've got J. Riddle, D. Welsh, F. Wurst or possibly West.
28:02Around 50 servants worked across the estate,
28:05from kitchen staff, footmen, joiners and herdsmen.
28:09So there was no shortage of potential partners.
28:12We presume that they were all servants at Cragside.
28:15And what would be great to be able to find out is a little bit more about them.
28:20To explore this list of potential suitors,
28:24Clara turns to census records for clues.
28:28Some of the names are amazing.
28:30Andrew Spittle, what a name.
28:32It's the shepherd.
28:34And then we get on to...
28:37There he is.
28:39Frank West, who is number four on our dance card.
28:45So Frank, at this point, is a lodger.
28:48So he's living with the coachman.
28:51He's the dairyman to Lord Armstrong.
28:54And originally he's come from Wiltshire.
28:56So he's come quite a long way for this job.
28:59The census from the years after the dance could reveal even more.
29:06I'm just looking through the 1901 census.
29:09And he's still here.
29:11He's still working as a dairyman.
29:13And more excitingly, he's actually got married.
29:16So he's living with a wife who is called Bella.
29:22So we do have a romantic relationship there that appears.
29:25We can never really know, but it could be possible that this is Bella's dance card.
29:36And I like the kind of image it conjures of people that spent their lives working really hard,
29:41having an evening off to enjoy themselves.
29:45Frank, who came all the way from Wiltshire to look after Lord Armstrong's cattle,
29:49has stayed here, he's met his wife, and has set up his own home.
29:53Nothing at Cragstead would have been possible without the people doing the hard work of actually keeping this home running.
30:00We get such a small glimpse of their lives, and it's really nice to celebrate them in this way.
30:05These are for the mule post.
30:19That bit's the right size.
30:20That's it.
30:22Downstairs, the rest of the team are getting ready for the arrival of a very special guest.
30:27One who played an important part in the Servants' Ball that Christmas, over 130 years ago.
30:37We have a new object joining the collection that was once here at Cragside,
30:42and we're really excited to get it back home.
30:45We are having a grand piano delivered.
30:48Very exciting because it was owned by Lord Armstrong and was actually here when he lived here.
30:53The half-tonne grand piano has struck a chord of excitement after being unexpectedly donated to the house.
31:02Here she comes.
31:04It's been missing, actually, for around about 100 years.
31:09It last appeared on an inventory in 1901,
31:12and then I got an email from the piano donors who said,
31:16we've got Lord Armstrong's grand piano in our dining room,
31:19and we wondered if he would like it for Cragside.
31:22And, yes, we very much would like it.
31:24Great, lads.
31:26After around 100 years, the grand piano returns to Cragside for Christmas,
31:31with just one small hitch.
31:34We are really excited to display it where it would have been,
31:38which, unfortunately for us, is right on the top floor of the house.
31:41Right?
31:45My role is largely to look anxious while it happens.
31:49Hold on, hold on, hold on.
31:50It is tricky because of the nature and the fine arts on the corners.
31:55Right.
31:55One.
31:56Right, you stop there.
31:57Stop, stop, stop.
31:59One, two, three.
32:00Yep.
32:03Can we get you a drink or anything?
32:05Whiskey.
32:07It'll float up then.
32:10Right.
32:10Up.
32:11I'm a little bit nervous about this little part of the operation down here.
32:15It's quite tight, and there's some William Morris stained glass on the way.
32:19I'm just running with the height.
32:22I mean, to be fair, this third-way looks like I do the skylight.
32:25No.
32:25We like the number of windows we've got.
32:29Go on, then.
32:30Right.
32:32You're about as far as you get in.
32:33That's it.
32:35And again, one last push.
32:36Don't, don't.
32:38Got it, Jordan.
32:40Well done, guys.
32:41Yeah, I was thinking that actually maybe it should go in the dining room.
32:47She's so funny.
32:53She's in.
32:54She's back home.
32:57I wouldn't break anything in the process.
33:00Oh, look at that.
33:01It's just really nice to see a piece of the collection back where it belongs.
33:05Now the piano is ready to play at Clara's Christmas Ball,
33:12just as it did over 130 years ago.
33:20At Colton Fishacre,
33:22the team are in the thick of preparing for their 1920s Christmas party.
33:28This year is probably the biggest Christmas we've ever done,
33:30and everyone's kind of running around a bit,
33:32and time's ticking, but it's going to be amazing.
33:35And I can't wait.
33:38The theme for the whole house is black, white and gold.
33:40Lots of glitz, glamour.
33:42There's lots of big ostrich feathers.
33:44We're going for exotic.
33:45We're going to have pearls.
33:46I've never used pearls,
33:48and I'm a little bit worried about it,
33:50but, you know, we've got to go for it.
33:52We've got to embrace the glamour.
33:54No journey back to the roaring 20s
33:57would be complete without raising a glass
33:59to the decade's signature tipple.
34:02Can't have Christmas without a cocktail, as well as I'm concerned.
34:05Or an original cocktail cabinet.
34:08And a bartender to keep the drinks topped up.
34:13I am the keeper of the booze.
34:16A responsibility that Senior Visitor Experience Officer,
34:20Carol, takes very seriously.
34:22I have been really practising for a long time.
34:27Their cocktails were American-focused,
34:29so they were spirits mixed with spirits.
34:32We're just serving the authentic cocktails,
34:34so they are a bit lethal.
34:37I've had many of Carol's cocktails.
34:38I'm not sure if I'm supposed to admit that,
34:40but they're always quite intense in terms of alcohol.
34:47The fast-approaching party is a sobering reminder for Lauren.
34:52Loads of time, loads of time.
34:54Got to try and get in some Charleston practice as well.
34:58It's going to be incredible.
34:59Just maybe stay away from me the week before we actually open.
35:03At Coteel, the team is assembling for the job
35:15that could make or break Christmas.
35:18All the good stuff to be used for bunching
35:21goes into dumpy bags, all right?
35:23The creation of the famed Coteel garland
35:25woven from tens of thousands of home-grown blooms.
35:30I'm really excited to get this garland done.
35:32It'll just pay off all the hard work
35:34that we put into it this year.
35:35This morning's mission
35:36is to build the evergreen base of the garland.
35:40What we're doing is placing bunches of pletosporum
35:44onto the garland rope,
35:45and then we're attaching them with this potato sack tie,
35:48which just holds it all together really securely.
35:51We have massive time pressures on us.
35:53We've got to get the garland built by around about lunchtime.
35:56The next phase is to get it hung up from the ceiling,
35:59and we can start to put the flowers into the garland.
36:01And so it's all hands on deck all day.
36:04Fortunately, many green fingers make light work of the garland's spine.
36:10Just to let you know, we've all finished.
36:11That's the last one gone in, so well done, everyone.
36:13Good stuff, really.
36:14Once all 60 feet of the base is finished...
36:21Onward, yep.
36:22..it's inched into place in the great Tudor Hall.
36:25It's looking good.
36:27But Kay can't afford to rest on her laurels just yet.
36:32The garland still needs a big injection of colour.
36:35And there is a very important Christmas question to settle.
36:41My standing record for growing flowers here has been 37,000,
36:45so I think it's going to be really hard for Kay to beat that.
36:49I'm quietly confident we've had a pretty good year for harvesting flowers.
36:54We had a fantastic summer, so fingers crossed.
36:56Sowing the seeds of doubt on any early winning claims
37:00are an elite team of volunteer verifiers.
37:04You do need to check, Colin, that there's no dodgy bunches in there,
37:08so if they're not kind of up to standard, they need to come out of the...
37:10Yes, yes.
37:11We can't...
37:11I don't want to be counting anyone's poor quality.
37:15While Kay and Dave anxiously await the results,
37:19they prepare to hang the garland's base from the great hall's rafters.
37:24It's the same as everyone's doing at home
37:27with their own Christmas decorations.
37:29This is on a slightly different scale.
37:30It weighs about 20 stone, so it's quite a heavy thing to lift up.
37:34Right, and rest when you want.
37:38That's it, that's it?
37:39Yeah.
37:40That's not going anywhere.
37:41Yeah, you're fine.
37:47Finally, after months of planning, the garland is up.
37:52It took a little bit of tweaking, but, yeah, it's looking good.
37:56It's even.
37:56That's what we want.
37:59But before it can be dressed, it's the final floral tally.
38:05If I can just take the two contestants' hands,
38:07I'd like to announce that we have a new champion with 38,000!
38:14I'm a raiding champion now, so it's great.
38:26And hopefully that will deliver a really good garland
38:29and put on such a lovely show.
38:32Kay's picked me to the post on that one,
38:34but I'm chuffed because it's going to be a much better display.
38:37Setting rivalries aside,
38:39Kay and Dave must now weave the thousands of flowers into the garland,
38:45a task made even harder by Kay's record haul.
38:50I think tonight I won't sleep very well.
38:51I don't think I really anticipated the degree of pressure
38:55that's going to be on my shoulders now
38:57just to make sure that this gets done.
38:59Just two weeks until they open for Christmas,
39:02the race to complete the garland is on.
39:07Right, OK.
39:13In the workshop...
39:14We have a ladle, which...
39:17Where's the ladle?
39:19Jonathan and Peter are working on another weighty problem
39:22with Cotill's clock.
39:24Well, there's yours there and there's mine down there.
39:26Oh, there. Sorry.
39:27Ladle blind.
39:29So the next step is to cast the leadweights.
39:33Peter has made a very fine little mould here,
39:35and we're now going to melt some lead
39:37and hopefully cast some weight.
39:41Goggles on, just in case.
39:47Now we start melting the lead.
39:54These new weights will regulate the clock
39:57and help get the bells striking on time.
40:08Right, that is now molten.
40:11There we go.
40:12You do need to be careful.
40:21Lead is a bit poisonous.
40:24As a child, I actually had lead poisoning.
40:26I must have been about four, I think.
40:28And I can remember my parents had the house redecorated
40:31and the paintwork was done,
40:32and I had terrible stomachache.
40:35And the doctor came round and he said,
40:36Oh, you've got the painters, and he said,
40:38it's lead poisoning.
40:39How was it transmitted?
40:41Were you licking the walls?
40:43Well, yeah, I can remember licking the wall.
40:4964 years later, I was talking to a chemist around him
40:52and I said,
40:52what on earth possessed me to lick the wall?
40:54And he said,
40:55oh, he said, it's very simple.
40:57He said, lead salts are sweet.
40:59And he said, that's why children got lead poisoning,
41:01because they licked fresh paintwork.
41:03Frans.
41:04I think that's probably solid by now,
41:07but it won't be cold.
41:10And then we hope we tap it and it will come out.
41:13Right.
41:15There we are.
41:16Wow.
41:17Voila, as they say.
41:20One conical weight with a noose on the top.
41:23That is beautiful.
41:24Pretty good.
41:25Pretty good.
41:27Whether or not these new weights
41:29will bring back Cotill's bells
41:31remains to be seen.
41:34But the wait for Christmas is almost over.
41:43Right, you're under.
41:45Sorry, Catherine, it's a bit personal.
41:48Just squat down a little bit.
41:50Can you two swing?
41:51Yeah.
41:51Pivot.
41:53Momentum is building at Cragside.
41:55Behold, the moon landing.
41:56As their Christmas opening day approaches fast.
42:01Everything's been in our heads and our imaginations
42:03about what it's going to look like.
42:05But until we actually come to install it,
42:07we don't know if it's going to work completely.
42:09So the idea is that the Armstrongs have had their Christmas
42:12and then the servants have gone wild.
42:15You've got to imagine your boss is away
42:17and you've had a few and you're just like...
42:20Woo-hoo!
42:22All the maids are in the study getting ready,
42:24they're having their pre-drinks
42:26and swapping their dowdy uniforms for party gear.
42:29Let it all hang out.
42:31Go wild, ladies.
42:32Doesn't want to be neat.
42:33Yeah, doesn't want to be neat.
42:34While Clara's brief is messy,
42:40Catherine prefers things a little more orderly.
42:43I'm quite a pragmatic worker
42:45and I must admit Christmas set-up does make me go a bit like...
42:48Because you're wading through this on the floor,
42:51you're looking for that, there's a huge mess.
42:54And mess really kind of freaks me out a little bit.
42:57Bloody hell.
42:58If there's a bit of faffing about, I'm not a faffer.
43:02Oh, we need that one, don't we?
43:03People are faffing.
43:05I don't like people.
43:06No, you're right in me view, Dan.
43:08What, sorry?
43:09I'm trying to see where to put the ball
43:10and you're standing in front of the tree.
43:12You mean get out of the way?
43:14I'm a bit fussy about Christmas tree decorating.
43:17I've been here four years,
43:18I've not been allowed yet to place a bauble.
43:20I don't just plonk things on a Christmas tree.
43:23I'm not a plonker.
43:25And I know some people love...
43:26Other views are available.
43:27Well, yeah.
43:27Outside at Cragside...
43:34Come on, Rangers!
43:36..there's a slightly bigger Christmas tree challenge.
43:40We're doing a final check of the bulbs now.
43:43It is quite a job.
43:45Needing almost a kilometre of lights,
43:48there's a dazzling amount of dressing ahead.
43:51It's over 1,200 of them to double-check.
43:53This is a triple-check, actually.
43:55And obviously, minutes before we go onto the tree as well,
43:57so we are against time.
43:59What we don't want is getting them on there,
44:02putting the power on.
44:03Every one or two, I would know that I've missed one bulb.
44:06Yeah, I wouldn't live it down.
44:08Right, let's go.
44:09I think the cherry picker's just getting fired up there.
44:13To qualify for the Guinness World Records title
44:16as the tallest bedded Christmas tree,
44:19every part must be decked out.
44:21It doesn't matter how big the tree is unless we're decorated,
44:23so this is the pressure point now.
44:25I haven't slept for weeks.
44:27At almost 45 metres,
44:29decorating this tree is a tall order in every sense.
44:34If you've got any problems decorating your tree at home,
44:36this is another beast.
44:39There's a bit of tree in your face.
44:41Yeah.
44:41Fighting back.
44:42I have the easy job of standing here,
44:46going left of it, right of it.
44:49They're 40 metres in the air in a wobbly basket.
44:52Watch your step there.
44:54It's not the best place in the world to trip over backwards.
44:56Yeah.
45:03Chris must feed each string of lights carefully down to Steve.
45:07I'm hoping we're going to start seeing lights in a second.
45:10They're getting closer to us.
45:12If he can find him.
45:14Should be able to see Steve below us now.
45:16Oh, there he is, look.
45:18Like a little orange tree frog.
45:21That's it.
45:22You got it?
45:23Yeah.
45:25Another tent.
45:26Another tent to go, lad.
45:29But just as the Christmas world record seems to be in sight...
45:32The heavens have opened and now we're going to the weather gods
45:41to get the tree finished.
45:43I want to get it done quickest
45:44because obviously I'm fully aware of the time pressing on
45:47and we've got to get the lights on
45:49and we've got to make sure they're on for the Guinness Book of Records.
45:54And inside the house...
45:56Yours are too neat, guys.
45:58They're way too neat.
46:00Clara's ambitious plans are starting to feel out of reach.
46:06It's not working.
46:08It's not working.
46:08Don't know why.
46:11And time is running out.
46:15I think we're at the stage currently
46:17where it looks a bit like school assembly level
46:21and we need it to look like West End theatre level.
46:26I wonder if we'll just run with it
46:29because we haven't got time not to.
46:32OK.
46:36What's that side for?
46:38There's loads to do.
46:39Not kind of getting to the stage where we need to be getting...
46:43But, you know, we always have...
46:44We have this bit, don't we?
46:45We have the midpoint stage where we go, oh, no.
46:48Where everywhere just looks a bit of a mess.
46:50A bit half done and then it suddenly comes together.
46:52It is a hard deadline.
46:55Visitors expect us to be open with Christmas,
46:57so we have to do it.
46:59It'll be fine.
47:01It'll be fine by tomorrow.
47:09At Coteel in Cornwall,
47:11time is also a worry for clock specialists Jonathan and Peter.
47:16Big step and several smaller ones.
47:19They've returned with the chapel clock
47:21to see if they can revive the bells in time for Christmas.
47:27We're about to put the frame back into position.
47:30A case of next step, fingers crossed.
47:33If you go in first...
47:35I'll go in first.
47:36Just a little bit.
47:38Ow!
47:39That's it.
47:39Did it get your finger?
47:40It was my fingers.
47:42Just get the weights.
47:43Now we see whether it actually runs.
47:47Outside, the crowds are gathering
47:49for the official start of Christmas at Coteel.
47:53The grand unveiling of the flower garland
47:56and the nail-biting finale for Gardener Kay.
48:01Massive day today.
48:02I'm very nervous, but I'm so excited.
48:05I can't wait.
48:08Really warm welcome to our preview of this year's garland.
48:12It looks spectacular.
48:12There's other things been happening this year as well.
48:16So, one of the projects happening in the background
48:18has been to repair the chapel clock.
48:22And hopefully, we should be able to hear the clock chime shortly.
48:25So, as many of you might have known, the clock's not been chiming for a few years now.
48:43So, to actually get that finally repaired has been fantastic.
48:47So, all that's left to say is, welcome to Christmas at Coteel.
48:52CHEERING
48:52Come on in.
48:57After months of planning
49:08and continuing a tradition that began in 1956,
49:13now Kay and the team will find out if all their hard work has paid off.
49:19It's lovely. It's just gorgeous.
49:21It's looking amazing, isn't it?
49:28It's just, yeah, I'm loving it all the time.
49:30Can you see the white ones?
49:33Yeah, it's lovely.
49:35Is that lovely?
49:37I'm super chuffed.
49:39Being part of the tradition of Coteel's Garland,
49:42I don't think the magic ever fades.
49:44Come on in. Come in.
49:47Kay and the team have done an exceptional job.
49:49She's absolutely run with it.
49:50It's, yeah, real credit to her.
49:52Is it too soon to talk about next year's?
49:54No.
49:55No, no.
49:56Shall we have a couple of weeks off?
49:57Tomorrow.
49:57Shall we have a couple of weeks off?
49:58And then, yeah.
50:03We need the last resort.
50:06I think we're going to need every borgal we've got.
50:10At Colton Fishacre,
50:12their Christmas party is just getting started.
50:15This is looking good.
50:17Oh, I think this room might almost be finished now.
50:20We don't have much more time left
50:22until people are going to start arriving.
50:23There's still quite a lot to do.
50:24It'll be fine.
50:25My eyes go in.
50:26It's going to be fine.
50:30I'm going to start getting into costume,
50:32which I think always makes a big difference.
50:33The finishing touches
50:35are reserved for the team themselves.
50:38I've got my velvet suit vest
50:40and the hotel jacket.
50:44Look at that.
50:46Gorgeous.
50:48I love that we're all in black and gold.
50:50It looks beautiful.
50:51It does.
50:52With the guests due any moment,
50:55a last-minute check from Lauren.
50:57That's good.
50:58People are playing.
50:59We're going to pay cars.
51:00Dining room looks good.
51:02I think it's pretty much ready to go.
51:05We just need music,
51:07people,
51:07and dancing.
51:12For this evening's Christmas preview...
51:14Merry Christmas!
51:16Merry Christmas!
51:16Welcome to the party!
51:18The staff and volunteers
51:20are transformed into flapper girls and boys,
51:24and the house is once more filled
51:26with the sights and sounds
51:27of the doily cart days,
51:30including Carol's lethal Christmas cocktails,
51:34which are providing some Dutch courage
51:36for the dancers before they take to the stage.
51:39It's strong.
51:40But I think I need it, so that's good.
51:42I'm genuinely nervous.
51:43There's a lot of people in there,
51:46and I think we've been used to
51:47just being our little group.
51:49I've got those butterflies.
51:51I have got a few nerves,
51:53I have to confess.
51:54There are definitely better dancers than me.
51:57I just do my best.
51:59If the practising has paid off...
52:01Here we go.
52:02Shall we do this?
52:03OK, let's go.
52:04..the Colton Fishacre flappers
52:06should bring this party to life.
52:09We've got a little something
52:10that we'd like to show you.
52:12Places, people, places.
52:42Do you want to have a go?
52:59I'm really, really so happy
53:01that everybody's just really enjoyed it.
53:03I think the doily clerks would approve.
53:05I think they would look at us
53:06and be like, I'm joining them.
53:09Tonight is young.
53:10Keep the cocktails flowing.
53:12I can't stop smiling,
53:12my face actually hurts.
53:21The team at Cragside
53:22have been working flat out.
53:24We do need more streamers
53:25around some of the pictures
53:26at this end.
53:27And it's beginning to look
53:29a lot like Christmas.
53:31We're getting there.
53:32Clara's going to do
53:33some set dressing glasses.
53:35We're going to do ribbons on the tree.
53:37It's just a case of more.
53:39I've clearly lost my voice.
53:42So, um,
53:43it's not because I've been shouting
53:44at everyone.
53:46It's two o'clock
53:47and the first people
53:49are arriving in
53:50half an hour.
53:52Even the house's
53:53original owner,
53:54William Armstrong,
53:56is getting into
53:56the festive spirit.
54:01He's a party man.
54:02He loved to party.
54:04He's a party man.
54:06There's just one
54:08last piece
54:09of fine-tuning to do.
54:14Ready to play?
54:15Ready to play.
54:16It's going to be great.
54:18Yeah, we're really
54:19pleased to have it back.
54:20Where it should be.
54:24It's been a long week,
54:26but we got there.
54:29It's looking lovely, isn't it?
54:30Yeah, it looks fantastic.
54:32I am actually finding
54:33it hard to pick fault,
54:34so that's a good sign.
54:40Clara's seal of approval
54:42comes just in time.
54:44The guests of honour
54:45are beginning to arrive.
54:46Oh, look at the littleies.
54:49Including Clara's son,
54:52Benji.
54:53Hello, are you going to come in?
54:56Without further ado,
54:58welcome to the
54:59servants' ball at Crackside.
55:01Please come in.
55:04Do you want to go have a look?
55:06What do you think?
55:07Are we going to look at the lights?
55:07Look at the lights.
55:09What do you think?
55:12It's a tunnel of lights.
55:14It's a tunnel of lights.
55:16It's a tunnel of lights.
55:18You like them, do you?
55:21That's good.
55:22It's taken me days.
55:24Christmas!
55:24As the piano plays,
55:32the drawing room is once again
55:34filled with the very music
55:36the servants would have danced to
55:38in 1894.
55:41Just brought it to life,
55:42what it would be like here
55:44when the servants were having
55:45their party.
55:46Now, there's just the small matter
55:53of the world's
55:54tallest Christmas tree.
55:56We're going to go see the big tree.
56:02Chris is going to be the man
56:03switching on this year.
56:04It's all entertainment.
56:06But we've been practising that.
56:08Hello, everybody.
56:10This has been a big year for us
56:12and our theme this year
56:14is all about a real-life event
56:16that happened in December 1894,
56:19the Servants' Ball.
56:20And it was intended to celebrate
56:21the people that looked after
56:23Craggside.
56:24And that legacy of care
56:25is still here today
56:26and all the people that work here
56:28and volunteer
56:29and look after this
56:30really special place.
56:32So I've got a special guest
56:34to introduce.
56:35This is Carl
56:36from Guinness World Records.
56:38CHEERING
56:39So the reason I'm here today
56:44is to adjudicate for you
56:46the tallest bedded Christmas tree.
56:49After reviewing
56:49the relevant documents
56:51and finalising
56:52all of the guideline verifications,
56:54I can now announce
56:56that the National Trust
56:58from Craggside
56:59have achieved
57:00a new Guinness World Records title.
57:02CHEERING
57:02Now the world record is theirs,
57:07there's only one thing
57:09left to do.
57:10Five, four, three, two, one!
57:17CHEERING
57:18Merry Christmas!
57:23It's got dives.
57:24It has got dives.
57:26It's the biggest
57:27crisp tree in the world.
57:31Good job, well done there.
57:32Happy Christmas, yeah?
57:34Happy Christmas.
57:35Yeah.
57:35Now I've got to put my lights up now.
57:36LAUGHTER
57:37Well done, Catherine.
57:40LAUGHTER
57:41We did it.
57:44That everything has been made,
57:46you know, that kind of care
57:47and attention
57:48that you've all given it
57:49is phenomenal.
57:50And, yeah, it really means a lot.
57:51I'm going to cry now.
57:52LAUGHTER
57:53LAUGHTER
57:54Aw...
57:55It's been great.
57:58Aw.
57:58Aw, dear.
58:00I said you're going to set us off, don't you?
58:02Have I got mascara all over my face?
58:04Just put some fairy later on,
58:05if you stand still enough,
58:08we'll put some fairy later on.
58:10LAUGHTER
58:11MUSIC PLAYS
58:12MUSIC PLAYS
58:17MUSIC PLAYS
58:18Let the halls in piles of holly, pa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la
58:28Tis the season to be jolly, pa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la
58:35Draw me now on gay a parol, pa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
58:42Draw the ancient to Tyrania, pa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
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