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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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FunTranscript
00:00...to a world of magic, tradition and festive wonder.
00:05Come on Christmas Owls!
00:07Whether a Tudor Yuletide spectacular...
00:10Onward! Yep!
00:11...or a Roaring Twenties Christmas Soiree...
00:15But out of sight lies a hidden world...
00:22Stop, stop, stop!
00:24Three, two, one...
00:27...where an army of festive helpers...
00:29...looks a bit like school assembly level...
00:33...are working around the clock...
00:35It is a hard deadline. Visitors expect us to be open with Christmas...
00:39...as three grand houses...
00:41It's the same as everyone's doing at home with their own Christmas decorations.
00:44This is on a slightly different scale.
00:46...race against time...
00:48I'm not going to lie, I do feel quite nervous.
00:50Come on in!
00:51...to deck the halls...
00:53We just need music, people and dancing.
00:57...ready for Christmas.
00:59Two, one, three!
01:03At the National Trust, the countdown to Christmas starts early.
01:21And the team at Northumberland's Cragside are already swapping sunshine for sleigh bells.
01:27Right, I need my team.
01:29Come on, Christmas elves!
01:33We get really invested in Christmas at Cragside.
01:36Every year we have got bigger and bigger.
01:39You got your notebook?
01:40Yes.
01:41It sounds like we're going to need notes.
01:42Brace yourself.
01:43Bought 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.
01:56He 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.
02:05It really became this kind of showpiece to the world.
02:09Now, at Christmas, it's where property curator Clara lets her imagination run wild.
02:16My role as curator is to come up with a theme.
02:19We never do a traditional Christmas.
02:22It's always a slight twist on the history of Cragside.
02:25It's something that is magical and joyful and a little bit different.
02:30Today, she's rallying the troops for their first glimpse of this year's grand plan.
02:37So, it's 1894.
02:39It's the 27th of December.
02:41Servants have given the Armstrongs this big Christmas party and basically it's their turn.
02:47The theme for this year is the Servants' Ball.
02:50So, on the 27th of December in 1894, a Servants' Ball was held at Cragside.
02:55And the idea is that the servants are having their one night off a year.
03:00So, throughout the whole house as if the servants have taken over.
03:04They have worked incredibly hard all year round.
03:07And for this one night, the world has been turned upside down.
03:12The gardeners become lords and the maids become ladies.
03:16So, should we have a walk round?
03:18Yeah. Are you ready for this?
03:23So, as we come through, it'll look as if the servants have abandoned their chores.
03:27So, loads of dirty dishes piled up in the sink.
03:30Here to turn Clara's dream into a reality are chief elves Steve and Catherine.
03:38Clara's imagination just keeps getting greater and greater each Christmas.
03:42So, absolutely huge ribbons, cascading.
03:45So, it feels like it's been really festooned.
03:48Last year, we did Bringing the Outdoors Inside, but it was exaggerated again.
03:53People have gone, ooh, ooh, all different expressions when they go in.
03:59And this is where we want to put the upside down Christmas tree.
04:03Clara is the mad scientist behind all the ideas.
04:06She's got a fantastic mind and it's trying to unpick that.
04:09How are we actually going to do that?
04:11Sometimes I think, really?
04:13But when we all work together and it comes off, it's brilliant.
04:17As we get to here, we want to start hearing music.
04:21So, you get a sense of, like, this is where the party's actually happening.
04:24Yeah.
04:25We can hear piano playing, probably fiddles and that kind of thing.
04:29Right.
04:30We're going to have loads of stars coming down from the ceiling.
04:33Starlet.
04:34And then you're at the party in this room and in the fireplace alcove.
04:39There we go.
04:40We're going to have a moon that visitors can sit in.
04:44Just sit in it?
04:45The Victorians loved the moon.
04:47OK.
04:48You know, it's a bit surreal, but the whole thing is a bit surreal.
04:52Yeah.
04:53I wouldn't expect anything less from Clara.
04:55Some of the grand ideas won't come without the odd difficulty.
04:59So, last year was a challenge. This is a bigger one, isn't it?
05:02It is.
05:04The brain is starting to whir now and I'll have to go back to my desk
05:08and start to think, right, OK, Christmas, here we come.
05:12Clara's servants' ball theme has its roots in a winter ritual even older than Christmas.
05:23There's always been a tradition of giving back to those that have served you.
05:29And, in fact, that goes all the way back to Rome.
05:33One of the wildest nights of the Roman calendar was the winter festival of Saturnalia.
05:39The god Saturn was seen as the fairest king of all because he would give presents to his servants.
05:46Merry-making was mandatory and social order took the night off.
05:52In the Roman festival of Saturnalia, a servant is elected king for the period of the party.
05:59The servant king later slipped into Christmas traditions and was rebranded the Lord of Misrule.
06:07The Lord of Misrule was a bit like a jester.
06:09He was able to challenge all those aristocrats and say, no, I'm in charge of you.
06:15From ancient Rome to Victorian servants' balls, these upside-down holiday traditions reveal a Christmas rebellious streak rooted in pagan revelry.
06:27Outside, Cragside's own Lord of Misrule, Clara, has got an even bigger Christmas challenge for her team.
06:44This is our amazing living Christmas tree.
06:55And we know it's the biggest in Britain, but what we really want to find out this year is, is it the biggest in the world?
07:05How are we doing, Andy?
07:08To find out if this towering redwood is a world record-breaker, someone has to measure it.
07:15Stepping up are head forester Chris and crane operator Lucky.
07:20We're going to use the top of the basket as we'll measure against the top of the tree.
07:25Yeah. And drop a line.
07:27The last year we measured the tree and it was around 42 metres, so today we're going to measure the tree again.
07:32The team are here with enormous cherry picker and they're going to go up in the basket, drop a line down, so literally a big rope, and that should give us our official record.
07:42It always awes me slightly when I park up next to this tree because I know how high that goes.
07:53You probably don't want to hear this, Chris, but it is slightly nerve-wracking.
07:57With those words of encouragement...
08:00Right, off we go.
08:01Chris and Lucky begin the long ascent up the 150-year-old giant redwood.
08:08I'm glad I'm not doing that.
08:10It's making me feel dizzy.
08:14Once at the top, it's a long way down.
08:18The question is, how long?
08:21What we've got here is like a drop line of weight on the bottom of this, and we're now going to lower this down.
08:26To qualify...
08:31Just lower a bit more. Stop there.
08:34..every rule must be followed to the letter.
08:37Chris has taped it at the top.
08:39Obviously, with Guinness involved, their protocols are so strict and tight.
08:43Happy with that? Yeah.
08:47Yay!
08:49To measure the height as accurately as possible...
08:51How long is the piece of string?
08:53..the line is stretched out along the ground.
08:57Guys, that's 42 metres there.
09:00That was it last year.
09:03I'll just get that tight there, Andy.
09:05It's grown.
09:07We need independent witnesses.
09:09It really is a beast, isn't it?
09:11Last year, we estimated it was about 42 metres.
09:16So, yeah, it's a lot more than we were expecting.
09:20So, 44.7.
09:22Yeah?
09:24Shall I write that down?
09:25Yeah.
09:26Yeah?
09:27Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:28We're not measuring it again.
09:30It's amazing.
09:31It is.
09:33But to claim the title, there's a much taller order still ahead.
09:38It's not the record unless it's decorated, so it doesn't matter how tall our tree is, if it doesn't have lights and decorations on it, it's not the world record.
09:46It really would have been the best Christmas present, and I really think it's something that Armstrong would have approved of.
09:52As Christmas plans reach new heights across the National Trust, in Devon, one of its smaller houses has some lofty ambitions of its own.
10:09I think that these big doors are just big and heavy. There we go.
10:15Built in the glittering 1920s, Colton Fishacre was the country retreat of the Doily Cart dynasty.
10:23The reason the Doily Cartes chose this location down on the English Riviera coast was they were sailing past and they spotted this idyllic, wild valley and thought, wow, what an amazing place to build a country house.
10:36The Doily Cartes weren't just wealthy, they were West End royalty.
10:45The Doily Cartes were really well known in London at that time. They owned the Savoy Hotel, the Savoy Theatre, the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera.
10:55And from one of those Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas sprang an iconic Christmas tradition.
11:01The Doily Cartes commissioned the very first fairy lights, which were tiny little incandescent bulbs which were woven into the dresses of the performers.
11:11So the name fairy lights came from them actually being wrapped around fairies dancing on stage.
11:18Up until then, Christmas trees were decorated with candles, beautiful but often dangerous.
11:24The Doily Cartes' innovation offered a far safer, far sparklier solution.
11:32His den became what Edison wrapped around a Christmas tree in the US and the very beginning of fairy lights as we know them today.
11:42Snowy white snow and jingle bells, oh what a happy season.
11:48Snowy white snow and jingle bells.
11:50The 1920s were an era of celebration, liberation and unapologetic fun.
11:58Something the Doily Cartes embraced wholeheartedly at their new coastal retreat.
12:04It was a hidden away party house, which I absolutely love.
12:07When they built Colton Fishacre, it was just after the First World War, the Savoy Hotel was thriving, the Savoy Theatre was thriving and everybody was looking to let their hair down, escape and just really enjoy that moment.
12:22I would have loved to have been there.
12:24Though Lauren is years late to the Doily Cart party, she's come up with the next best thing, throwing one of her own.
12:32Our plan for Christmas this year, as it's a hundred years since Colton Fishacre was built, we're going to bring back the Roaring Twenties and we're going to have a party.
12:43We are going to have the most immersive and elegant and kind of over the top party that we can in Colton Fishacre.
12:50We're going to have cocktails, we're going to have live music and we're going to open up the floor for people to dance.
12:56It's going to be come and learn the Charleston and just end the year with a bang.
13:00It's going to be an absolute hoop.
13:03Lauren has just a few months to bring back the magic of a roaring 1920s Christmas.
13:10The pressure is there. I'm not going to lie. I do feel quite nervous.
13:14I just got to learn how to dance. That's the pressure.
13:16Six, seven, eight. Charleston is based on literally walking, just transferring your feet.
13:26So we're going to start it literally, it's just the steps to kind of get you into the rhythm.
13:30To get her team dancing, Lauren has recruited fellow staff member and former professional dancer, Jennifer.
13:39You're going to step over with your right foot on the one and you're going to tap the foot forward on two.
13:44And she may have her hands full.
13:48The style is the swivel of your feet.
13:53So you need to twist your knees inwards in the middle.
13:59It's so difficult.
14:02We'll work on it. We'll get this for November.
14:06I can't do my left and right. Never danced.
14:10We did one pivot. We stepped over.
14:13I think it's just very difficult because you have to do your legs and your hands at the same time.
14:19It's that bit that confuses me.
14:20So I'm watching Jen do it and I'm like, yep, no, absolutely. I'm definitely doing what she's doing.
14:27How are we feeling?
14:28Right. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
14:30How are we feeling?
14:31Grant. Grant?
14:32Yeah.
14:34With less than four months to the Christmas party, stepping out of line isn't an option.
14:41My wife is the manager here. So most people call it volunteering. In our household, it's more conscription.
14:50It doesn't come naturally, but I think we're getting there.
14:54Really good. That was really bad for me.
14:56Really bad, I don't know.
15:03Though winter is still months away.
15:06Ready for a wander?
15:07In Cornwall, Christmas feels just around the corner.
15:11Hello.
15:12For the team at Tudor Masterpiece, Coteel.
15:15I'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, but I do bloody love the place.
15:26Once home to the Edgecomes, a family who found fame and fortune during the Wars of the Roses, today, it's visitor operations and experience manager, Rich, who's enjoying the estate's gardens.
15:39At the start of the year, you can see the seasons changing. At the start of the year, you've got the bare leaves. And then into the springtime, you've got the blossom. In the autumn, you've got the apple harvest. And then that cycle just keeps going and going.
15:56But in one corner of Coteel, it's Christmas all year round.
16:00This is where Christmas at Coteel really begins.
16:09Hello. Hello.
16:11From this small garden, blossoms Coteel's biggest claim to fame, their gigantic Christmas flower garland.
16:20The Christmas garland is something we've done since the 1950s and it's just become part of Coteel's history and heritage now.
16:32It's a 60 foot long foliage base stuffed full of dried flowers.
16:36And it's, yeah, it's a magical thing to see.
16:44For centuries, there's been a tradition in the dead of winter of bringing evergreen foliage into the house or decking the halls.
16:51It symbolises renewal and looking forward to the spring ahead.
16:54They used to call it the time when the sun stood still. The winter solstice. And the whole idea of greenery coming into the house is by that time, you're so desperate for the summer to come back.
17:11They're putting the trees in the house. And that's the name of the solstice as well.
17:16Sol Invicta. The victory of the sun.
17:18At Coteel, they've taken this tradition and run with it.
17:25This 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.
17:34It's hard to believe that we're well underway for Christmas. It feels quite early to talk about it.
17:39We start in January, February by digging the beds. We're then planting out seedlings in the spring.
17:45So it's an all year round thing. And you can build the pride as you go through the year.
17:51I love it. And it gets you in the heart somehow.
17:55It's a Yuletide legacy that has been carefully nurtured for two decades by head gardener Dave.
18:03It's looking like these are pretty much coming to the end of their time now, aren't they? So when were these planted?
18:06But this year, he's handing the baton over to gardener Kay.
18:12This is my first year that I'm going to be managing the whole process from start to finish.
18:17It's a huge responsibility. People come from all over the country to come and see it.
18:22So it's quite a lot of pressure to know what I'm doing.
18:25Kay's battling a hard deadline and an even harder taskmaster.
18:30You're up against nature, you're up against the weather and plants don't always want to do what you want them to do.
18:37I mean these are great but they've kind of run out of steam a little bit now, haven't they?
18:41It's a massive deal for co-till.
18:43There's a real pressure to deliver because people are expecting to come and see this at Christmas and if we haven't got the flowers, it's a bit of a worry.
18:50A lot of people say that Christmas doesn't start until they've been to the garland.
18:57Yeah.
18:59Helping Kay pull off this Herculean task is a team of 32 volunteers.
19:05We use our nails and strip the fleshy green off the stems because if we don't take that off, they can go mouldy.
19:15You end up with very green fingernails doing this.
19:17After the flowers are stripped, they're taken to the potting shed to dry.
19:26Not many people get to see this part of the drying process because it's not open to the public.
19:36We hang them in bunches upside down because that helps the flower heads open up
19:41and the idea is that we're going to absolutely fill this space with flowers for drying.
19:48I think the expectation is that we have a great garland.
19:52The most that I've grown has been 37,000 flowers, but this is our first year running the show.
19:59So realistically 33,000 is kind of the optimum. That's a really good display.
20:04Despite handing over the gardening gloves, Dave isn't quite ready to give up his record too.
20:12I don't want to throw down the gauntlet, but a few years ago we picked 37,000.
20:16I don't think you're going to beat that, but there's the challenge.
20:20Competition is on.
20:21To be fair though, if we carry on with the harvest that we're getting at the moment,
20:28I don't see any reason why we can't match that or even beat it. So, yeah, game on.
20:33I don't think you'll beat it, but you're certainly welcome to have a go.
20:37You know, it's not a competition, but, you know, life is.
20:44It is a challenge, but I'm hopeful that I can beat Dave's record of flowers.
20:55Coteel's garland has marked the start of Christmas for over 50 years.
21:01But in the chapel tower, their bells have rung in the festive season for more than 500.
21:08In churches or monastic settings, bells were used to give signal when to go to worship.
21:18In Tudor times, the bells held their greatest significance at Christmas.
21:26On Christmas Eve, you go to church late at night and you see in the dawn.
21:34As the first light comes through the coloured windows, the choir boy would begin to sing in the new day,
21:45the new Christmas and the new Christ.
21:49And I can't help but feel the hairs on the back of my neck every time I think of that.
21:54Coteel's bells are operated by an ancient mechanism inside the chapel.
22:04This is the chapel clock.
22:08It's very, very old. It dates from around about 1500.
22:13When the clock is actually running, there's a beautiful atmosphere at Coteel.
22:17It's very tranquil. But unfortunately, it does keep stopping.
22:22And when the clock stops, Coteel loses part of its personality.
22:28We've definitely missed the chimes over the last couple of years.
22:33It really feels as if something's missing from Coteel.
22:35Good morning. Morning, Peter.
22:40Determined to get Coteel's bells striking again, collections and house manager Nick has called in leading horologists, Peter and Jonathan.
22:50This comes around and releases this flail.
22:57And once it's released, the clock is free to strike.
23:04Quite violent, isn't it? The way it locks.
23:07One issue is the clock has put on a few extra pounds in its old age.
23:13The present weight is excessively heavy, really, for this style of clock.
23:17This excessive weight, driving the clock, has been wearing out its mechanism and ultimately silencing the bells.
23:25To fix it...
23:27So, are you going to stand in there?
23:28I'm going to stand in there.
23:30First, Peter and Jonathan must evict the reluctant timepiece.
23:34When you're taking a clock like this apart, you have to remember everything is a unique fit.
23:40It's quite a bit very difficult.
23:43They may well be stuck on.
23:44It went towards you.
23:46No, no, you're moving that backwards.
23:49I'll be bickering like husband and wife.
23:51Hang on.
23:53Oh, this is loose again.
23:55We were talking across purposes, I think.
23:57No, you were right.
23:58Well, if you so, sir.
24:01To prevent a silent night this Christmas, they now have to bring the ancient artefact back to life.
24:07What I love about this clock is its incredible age and the fact that it survived almost completely intact and in its original position.
24:17It's the most important clock in the National Trust, so it's vital that we preserve it.
24:22As the countdown to Christmas continues, pressure is mounting everywhere.
24:38Three months before we open is when everything starts to ramp up.
24:44I've got so much glue on the table, everything's sticking to it.
24:48That's when the really hard work kicks off.
24:50At Cragside, a crack team of merry volunteers are trying to piece together Clara's plan.
24:58Clara's very much the vision.
25:00We are the production team that quietly beaver away behind the scenes.
25:04Yes, Christmas can't happen without us, apparently.
25:07And we have to start early because we have to produce in volume.
25:13We're having a shot at making some cone hats.
25:17In Victorian times, everything is very colourful.
25:20It's quite different, isn't it, from what we've done?
25:22Very different to last year, isn't it?
25:26By the end of the 19th century, Christmas has started to be commercialised.
25:30Mr Woolworths is busy creating cheap glass baubles in loads of different colours
25:36to create actually what would have been quite a gaudy Christmas.
25:40And I love the imagery that you get on Christmas cards.
25:43There's things like turnip men and beetles.
25:46They're far more eccentric than you would expect.
25:49Clara is making sure the production line doesn't stray far from her unconventional brief.
25:56Hello ladies, this is amazing.
25:58Giant paper chains.
26:01Is that too giant?
26:02No, nothing's too giant.
26:04Great.
26:05And I love these, these are gorgeous.
26:07Yeah, aren't they lovely?
26:08Are they lovely? Good.
26:12Upstairs in the archives, Clara is preparing the centrepiece
26:17and inspiration of her servants' ball theme.
26:21A very rare piece of history, modest in size, yet monumental in significance.
26:28It's always wonderful when we find something about the servants, especially at Crangside, there's very little material on the people who actually made the place run.
26:39This tiny little thing is a dance card.
26:44A dance card was essentially a programme, so it would have a list of all the dances that were going to be performed at the ball.
26:52And in advance of the dance, a gentleman could come up to a lady and request her hand, and she would then select which dance she would allow him to have.
27:03The 1890s were the heyday of the Grand Victorian Ball, usually the preserve of the well-to-do looking for love.
27:15But at Christmas in 1894, Cragside's servants were given their own shot at romance.
27:23A dance was an occasion for young people especially, to be able to spend time together in close proximity, and we know that there were several romantic relationships on the estate.
27:32Only this single unnamed dance card survives from that night in 1894.
27:42It may have belonged to one of the young maids who served in the house at the time, but the only names on the card are the ones of her dance partners.
27:51We've got J Riddle, D Welsh, F Wurst or possibly West.
27:58Around 50 servants worked across the estate, from kitchen staff, footmen, joiners and herdsmen, so there was no shortage of potential partners.
28:08We presumed that they were all servants at Cragside, and what would be great to be able to find out is a little bit more about them.
28:14To explore this list of potential suitors, Clara turns to census records for clues.
28:23Some of the names are amazing.
28:26Andrew Spittle, what a name.
28:28He's the shepherd.
28:30And then we get on to...
28:33There he is.
28:35Frank West, who is number four on our dance card.
28:40So Frank at this point is a lodger, so he's living with the coachman.
28:46He's the dairyman to Lord Armstrong, and originally he's come from Wiltshire.
28:52So he's come quite a long way for this job.
28:54The census from the years after the dance could reveal even more.
29:00I'm just looking through the 1901 census, and he's still here.
29:05He's still working as a dairyman, and more excitingly, he's actually got married.
29:12So he's living with a wife who is called Bella.
29:18So we do have a romantic relationship there that appears.
29:26We can never really know, but it could be possible that this is Bella's dance card.
29:31And I like the kind of image it conjures of people that spent their lives working really hard, having an evening off to enjoy themselves.
29:39Frank, who came all the way from Wiltshire to look after Lord Armstrong's cattle, has stayed here.
29:45He's met his wife and has set up his own home.
29:48Nothing at Craigside would have been possible without the people doing the hard work of actually keeping this home running.
29:54We get such a small glimpse of their lives, and it's really nice to celebrate them in this way.
30:01These are for the mule post.
30:14That bit's the right size?
30:15That's it.
30:17Downstairs, the rest of the team are getting ready for the arrival of a very special guest.
30:22One who played an important part in the servants' ball that Christmas, over 130 years ago.
30:32We have a new object joining the collection that was once here at Craigside, and we're really excited to get it back home.
30:39We are having a grand piano delivered. Very exciting because it was owned by Lord Armstrong and was actually here when he lived here.
30:49The half-ton grand piano has struck a chord of excitement after being unexpectedly donated to the house.
30:58Here she comes.
30:59It's been missing, actually, for around about 100 years.
31:04It last appeared on an inventory in 1901, and then I got an email from the piano donors who said,
31:11we've got Lord Armstrong's grand piano in our dining room, and we wondered if you would like it for Craigside.
31:17And yes, we very much would like it.
31:20Great lads.
31:21After around 100 years, the grand piano returns to Craigside for Christmas, with just one small hitch.
31:30We are really excited to display it where it would have been, which, unfortunately for us, is right on the top floor of the house.
31:36Right.
31:41My role is largely to look anxious while it happens.
31:44Hold on, hold on, hold on.
31:46It is tricky because of the nature and the fine arts on the corners.
31:51Right.
31:52Right, you stop there.
31:53Stop, stop, stop.
31:59Can we get you a drink or anything?
32:01Whiskey.
32:03It'll float up then.
32:05Right, up.
32:07I'm a little bit nervous about this little part of the operation down here.
32:10It's quite tight, and there's some William Morris stained glass on the way.
32:14I'm just running with the height.
32:17I mean, to be fair, this third away looks like I do the skylight.
32:20No.
32:22We like the number of windows, Scott.
32:24Go on then.
32:25Right.
32:27You're about as far as you get in.
32:29That's it.
32:30And again, one must push.
32:32Don't, don't.
32:34You've got it, Jordan.
32:35Well done.
32:36Yay!
32:38I was thinking that actually maybe it should go in the dining room.
32:42She's so funny.
32:48She's in.
32:50She's back home.
32:51I wouldn't break anything in the process.
32:55Oh, look at that.
32:57It's just really nice to see a piece of the collection back where it belongs.
33:02Now the piano is ready to play at Clara's Christmas Ball, just as it did over 130 years ago.
33:10At Colton Fishacre, the team are in the thick of preparing for their 1920s Christmas party.
33:22This year is probably the biggest Christmas we've ever done and everyone's kind of running around a bit and time's ticking, but it's going to be amazing.
33:31And I can't wait.
33:33The theme for the whole house is black, white and gold.
33:36Lots of glitz, glamour.
33:37There's lots of big ostrich feathers.
33:39We're going for exotic.
33:41We're going to have pearls.
33:42I've never used pearls and I'm a little bit worried about it, but, you know, we've got to go for it.
33:47You've got to embrace the glamour.
33:49No journey back to the roaring 20s would be complete without raising a glass to the decade's signature tipple.
33:58I can't have Christmas without a cocktail as well as I'm concerned.
34:01Or an original cocktail cabinet.
34:04And a bartender to keep the drinks topped up.
34:09I am the keeper of the booze.
34:11A responsibility that Senior Visitor Experience Officer Carol takes very seriously.
34:18I have been really practising for a long time.
34:22Their cocktails were American-focused, so they were spirits mixed with spirits.
34:27We're just serving the authentic cocktails, so they are a bit lethal.
34:32I've had many of Carol's cocktails, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to admit that,
34:36but they're always quite intense in terms of alcohol.
34:42The fast-approaching party is a sobering reminder for Lauren.
34:48Loads of time, loads of time.
34:49Got to try and get in some Charleston practice as well.
34:54It's going to be incredible.
34:55Just maybe stay away from me the week before we actually open.
34:59At Coteel, the team is assembling for the job that could make or break Christmas.
35:14All the good stuff to be used for bunching goes into dumpy bags, alright?
35:18The creation of the famed Coteel garland woven from tens of thousands of homegrown blooms.
35:25I'm really excited to get this garland done.
35:27It'll just pay off all the hard work that we've put into it this year.
35:31This morning's mission is to build the evergreen base of the garland.
35:36What we're doing is placing bunches of pletosporum onto the garland rope,
35:40and then we're attaching them with this potato sack tie,
35:43which just holds it all together really securely.
35:46We have massive time pressures on us.
35:48We've got to get the garland built by around about lunchtime.
35:51The next phase is to get it hung up from the ceiling,
35:54and we can start to put the flowers into the garland.
35:56So it's all hands on deck all day.
35:59Fortunately, many green fingers make light work of the garland's spine.
36:05Just to let you know, we've all finished.
36:06That's the last one gone in, so well done, everyone.
36:09Good stuff, Ray.
36:10Once all 60 feet of the base is finished...
36:16Onward, yep.
36:17..it's inched into place in the great Tudor Hall.
36:20It's looking good.
36:22But Kay can't afford to rest on her laurels just yet.
36:27The garland still needs a big injection of colour.
36:31And there is a very important Christmas question to settle.
36:35My standing record for growing flowers here has been 37,000,
36:39so I think it's going to be really hard for Kay to beat that.
36:44I'm quietly confident we've had a pretty good year for harvesting flowers.
36:48We had a fantastic summer, so fingers crossed.
36:52Sowing the seeds of doubt on any early winning claims
36:56are an elite team of volunteer verifiers.
36:59You do need to check, Colin, that there's no dodgy bunches in there.
37:03So if they're not kind of up to standard, they need to come out of the...
37:06Yes, yes, yes.
37:07I don't want to be counting anyone's poor quality.
37:11While Kay and Dave anxiously await the results,
37:15they prepare to hang the garland's base from the great hall's rafters.
37:21It's the same as everyone's doing at home with their own Christmas decorations.
37:24This is on a slightly different scale.
37:25It weighs about 20 stone, so it's quite a heavy thing to lift up.
37:29Right, and rest when you want.
37:34Yeah.
37:35Yeah.
37:36That's not going anywhere.
37:37Yeah, you're fine.
37:42Finally, after months of planning, the garland is up.
37:48It took a little bit of tweaking, but, yeah, it's looking good.
37:51It's even.
37:52That's what we want.
37:54But before it can be dressed, it's the final floral tally.
38:00If I can just take the two contestants' hands...
38:03I'd like to announce that we have a new champion with 38,000!
38:08I'm a reigning champion now, so it's great, and hopefully that will deliver a really good garland and put on such a lovely show.
38:25Kay's picked me to the post on that one, but I'm chuffed because it's going to be a much better display.
38:33Setting rivalries aside, Kay and Dave must now weave the thousands of flowers into the garland.
38:39A task made even harder by Kay's record haul.
38:45I think tonight I won't sleep very well.
38:47I don't think I really anticipated the degree of pressure that's going to be on my shoulders now just to make sure that this gets done.
38:53Just two weeks until they open for Christmas, the race to complete the garland is on.
39:05Right.
39:06OK.
39:08In the workshop...
39:10We have a ladle, which...
39:13Where's the ladle?
39:14Jonathan and Peter are working on another weighty problem with Kotil's clock.
39:20Well, there's yours there and there's mine down there.
39:22A ladle blind.
39:25So the next step is to cast the lead weights.
39:28Peter has made a very fine little mould here and we're now going to melt some lead and hopefully cast some weight.
39:37Goggles on, just in case.
39:43Now we start melting the lead.
39:44These new weights will regulate the clock and help get the bells striking on time.
40:03Right, that is now molten.
40:04There we go.
40:13You do need to be careful.
40:16The lead is a bit poisonous.
40:17As a child, I actually had lead poisoning. I must have been about four, I think.
40:23And I can remember my parents had the house redecorated and the paintwork was done.
40:28And I had a terrible stomach ache.
40:30And the doctor came round and he said,
40:32Oh, you've got the painters.
40:33And he said, it's lead poisoning.
40:35How was it transmitted?
40:36Were you licking the walls?
40:38Well, yeah, I can remember licking the wall.
40:4364 years later, I was talking to a chemist around the mine and I said,
40:48What on earth possessed me to lick the wall?
40:50And he said, oh, he said it's very simple.
40:52He said, lead salts are sweet.
40:54And he said, that's why children got lead poisoning.
40:57Because they licked fresh paintwork.
40:59Fronds.
41:01I think that's probably solid by now, but it won't be cold.
41:05And then we hope we tap it and it will come out.
41:08Right.
41:10There we are.
41:11Voila.
41:13As they say.
41:15One conical weight with a noose on the top.
41:18That is beautiful.
41:19Pretty good.
41:20Pretty good.
41:22Whether or not these new weights will bring back Curtiel's bells remains to be seen.
41:29But the wait for Christmas is almost over.
41:39Right, you're under.
41:40Sorry, Catherine, it's a bit personal.
41:42It's all right.
41:43Just squat down a little bit.
41:45Can you two swing?
41:46Yeah.
41:47Pivot.
41:48Momentum is building at Craigside.
41:50Behold, the moon landing.
41:52As their Christmas opening day approaches fast.
41:56Everything's been in our heads and our imaginations about what it's going to look like.
42:00But until we actually come to install it, we don't know if it's going to work completely.
42:04So the idea is that the Armstrongs have had their Christmas and then the servants have gone wild.
42:11You've got to imagine your boss is away and you've had a few and you're just like...
42:15All the maids are in the study getting ready, they're having their pre-drinks and swapping their dowdy uniforms for party gear.
42:25Let it all hang out.
42:27Go wild, ladies.
42:28It doesn't want to be neat.
42:29Yes, it doesn't want to be neat.
42:32While Clara's brief is messy, Catherine prefers things a little more orderly.
42:39I'm quite a pragmatic worker and I must admit Christmas set up does make me go a bit like...
42:44Because you're wading through this on the floor, you're looking for that, there's a huge mess.
42:49And mess really kind of freaks me out a little bit.
42:52Bloody hell.
42:54If there's a bit of faffing about, I'm not a faffer.
42:57Oh, we need that one, don't we?
42:59People are faffing. I don't like people.
43:02Are you right in my view, Dan?
43:03What? Sorry?
43:04I'm trying to see where to put the ball and you're standing in front of the tree.
43:07I mean, get out of the way.
43:09I'm a bit fussy about Christmas tree decorating.
43:12I've been here four years, I've not been allowed yet to place a bauble.
43:16I don't just plonk things on a Christmas tree.
43:19I'm not a plonker.
43:21Other views are available?
43:22Well, yeah.
43:27Outside at Cragside...
43:29Come on, Rangers!
43:31There's a slightly bigger Christmas tree challenge.
43:35We're doing a final check of the bulbs now.
43:38It is quite a job.
43:40Needing almost a kilometre of lights, there's a dazzling amount of dressing ahead.
43:46It's over 1,200 of them to double check.
43:49This is a triple check, actually.
43:50And obviously, minutes before we go onto the tree as well, so we are against time.
43:53What we don't want is getting them on there, putting the power on.
43:58Every one or two, I would know that I've missed one bulb.
44:01Yeah, I wouldn't live it down.
44:03Right, let's go. I think the cherry picker's just getting fired up there.
44:08To qualify for the Guinness World Records title as the tallest bedded Christmas tree,
44:13every part must be decked out.
44:17It doesn't matter how big the tree is unless we're decorated,
44:19so this is the pressure point now.
44:20I haven't slept for weeks.
44:22At almost 45 metres, decorating this tree is a tall order in every sense.
44:29If you've got any problems decorating your tree at home, this is another beast.
44:35There's a bit of tree in my face.
44:37Fighting back!
44:39I have the easy job of standing here, going left of it, right of it.
44:44They're 40 metres in the air in a wobbly basket.
44:48Watch your step there.
44:49It's not the best place in the world to trip over backwards.
44:58Chris must feed each string of lights carefully down to Steve.
45:03We're going to start seeing lights in a second.
45:05They're getting closer to us.
45:07If he can find him.
45:09Should be able to see Steve below us now.
45:11Oh, there he is, look.
45:13Like a little orange tree frog.
45:17That's it. You got it?
45:19Yeah. Another tent. Another tent to go, lad.
45:24But just as the Christmas World Record seems to be in sight...
45:28The heavens have opened and now we're going to the weather gods to get the tree finished.
45:38We want to get it done quickest because obviously I'm fully aware of the time pressing on and we've got to get the lights on and we've got to make sure they're on for the Guinness Book of Records.
45:46And inside the house...
45:51Yours are too neat, guys.
45:53What?
45:54They're way too neat.
45:56Clara's ambitious plans are starting to feel out of reach.
46:01It's not working.
46:03It's not working.
46:04Don't know why.
46:06And time is running out.
46:11I think we're at the stage currently where it looks a bit like school assembly level.
46:17And we need it to look like West End theatre level.
46:22I wonder if we'll just run with it.
46:25Because we haven't got time not to.
46:27OK.
46:31What's that sorry for?
46:33There's loads to do.
46:35Not kind of getting to the stage where we need to be getting...
46:38But, you know, we always have this bit, don't we?
46:41We have the midpoint stage where we go, oh, no.
46:43Where everywhere just looks a bit of a mess.
46:45Bit half done.
46:46And then it suddenly comes together.
46:49It is a hard deadline.
46:50Visitors expect us to be open with Christmas.
46:53So we have to do it.
46:55It'll be fine.
46:56Be fine by tomorrow.
47:05At Coteel in Cornwall, time is also a worry for clock specialists Jonathan and Peter.
47:11Big step and several smaller ones.
47:15They've returned with the chapel clock to see if they can revive the bells in time for Christmas.
47:22We're about to put the frame back into position.
47:25A case of next step, fingers crossed.
47:28If you go in first.
47:30I'll go in first.
47:32Just a little bit.
47:34Ow!
47:35That's it.
47:36My fingers.
47:37Mm.
47:38Just get the weights.
47:40Now we see whether it actually runs.
47:43Outside, the crowds are gathering for the official start of Christmas at Coteel.
47:49The grand unveiling of the flower garland.
47:52And the nail-biting finale for Gardener Kay.
47:56Massive day today.
47:58I'm very nervous, but I'm so excited.
48:01I can't wait.
48:03Really warm welcome to our preview of this year's garland.
48:07It looks spectacular.
48:09There's other things been happening this year as well.
48:11So, one of the projects happening in the background has been to repair the chapel clock.
48:16And, hopefully, we should be able to hear the clock chime shortly.
48:33So, as many of you might have known, the clock's not been chiming for a few years now.
48:39So, to actually get that finally repaired has been fantastic.
48:42So, all that's left to say is, welcome to Christmas at Coteel!
48:47Yay!
48:51Come on in!
48:52After months of planning, and continuing a tradition that began in 1956, now Kay and the team will find out if all their hard work has paid off.
49:14It's lovely. It's just gorgeous.
49:22It's looking amazing, isn't it?
49:24It's just, yeah, I'm loving it all the color.
49:27Can you see the white ones?
49:29Dad, it's lovely!
49:31Is that lovely?
49:33I'm super chuffed.
49:35Being part of the tradition of Coteel's garland, I don't think the magic ever fades.
49:40Come on in! Come on in!
49:42Kay and the team have done an exceptional job.
49:44She's absolutely run with it.
49:45It's, yeah, real credit to her.
49:48Is it too soon to talk about next year's?
49:49No!
49:51Shall we have a couple of weeks off?
49:52Yeah, tomorrow.
49:53Shall we have a couple of weeks off?
49:54And then, yeah.
49:55We need the last resort.
49:56I think we're going to need every borgal we've got.
50:06At Colton Fishacre, their Christmas party is just getting started.
50:11This is looking good.
50:12Oh, I think this room might all must be finished now.
50:15We don't have much more time left until people are going to start arriving.
50:18There's still quite a lot to do.
50:20It'll be fine.
50:21My eye's going.
50:22It's going to be fine.
50:23I'm going to start getting into costume, which I think always makes a big difference.
50:29The finishing touches are reserved for the team themselves.
50:33I've got my velvet suit vest and the hotel jacket.
50:40Look at that.
50:41Gorgeous.
50:44I love that we're all in black and gold.
50:45It looks beautiful.
50:46It does.
50:48With the guests due any moment, a last-minute check from Laura.
50:53That's good.
50:54People are playing.
50:55We're going to hit cars.
50:56Dining room looks good.
50:57I think it's pretty much ready to go.
50:59We just need music, people, and dancing.
51:07For this evening's Christmas preview...
51:10Merry Christmas!
51:12Welcome to the party!
51:14The staff and volunteers are transformed into flapper girls and boys.
51:19And the house is once more filled with the sights and sounds of the doily cart days.
51:24Including Carol's Lethal Christmas Cocktails, which are providing some Dutch courage for the dancers before they take to the stage.
51:34It's strong.
51:35But I think I need it, so that's good.
51:38I'm genuinely nervous.
51:40There's a lot of people in there.
51:41And I think we've been used to just being our little group.
51:44I've got those butterflies.
51:46I have got a few nerves, I have to confess.
51:50There are definitely better dancers than me.
51:52I just do my best.
51:54If the practising has paid off...
51:57Here we go, should we do this?
51:58OK, let's go.
52:00The Colton Fishacre flappers should bring this party to life.
52:04We've got a little something that we'd like to show you.
52:08Places, people, places.
52:09Places, people, places.
52:39Come on!
52:41Come on!
52:42Come on!
52:43Come on!
52:44Come on!
52:46Yay!
52:48Anyone want to have a go?
52:50I'm really so happy that everybody's just really enjoyed it.
52:58I think the doily parks would approve.
53:00I think they would look at us and be like, I'm joining them.
53:04Tonight is young!
53:06Keep the cocktails flowing.
53:07I can't stop smiling, my face actually hurts.
53:09The team at Cragside have been working flat out.
53:19We do need more streamers around some of the pictures at this end.
53:22And it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
53:26We're getting there.
53:27Clara's going to do some set dressing glasses.
53:30We're going to do ribbons on the tree.
53:32It's just a case of more.
53:34I've totally lost my voice.
53:37So it's not because I've been shouting at everyone.
53:41It's two o'clock and first people are arriving in half an hour.
53:47Even the house's original owner, William Armstrong, is getting into the festive spirit.
53:55He's a party man.
53:57He loves to party.
53:59He's a party man.
54:01There's just one last piece of fine-tuning to do.
54:06It's ready to play.
54:10It's ready to play.
54:11It's going to be great.
54:13Yeah, we're really pleased to have it back.
54:15Where it should be.
54:19It's been a long week, but we got there.
54:24It's looking lovely, isn't it?
54:25Yeah, it looks fantastic.
54:27I am actually finding it hard to pick fault, so that's a good sign.
54:35Clara's seal of approval comes just in time.
54:39The guests of honour are beginning to arrive.
54:42Oh, look at the littleies.
54:44Including Clara's son, Benji.
54:48Hello, are you going to come in?
54:49Without further ado, welcome to the Servants' Ball at Crackside.
54:56Please follow me.
54:59Do you want to go have a look?
55:01Are we going to have a light?
55:03Look at the light.
55:04What do you think?
55:08Tunnel of lights.
55:09It's a tunnel of lights.
55:10It's a tunnel of lights.
55:13You like them, do you?
55:15That's good.
55:17It's taken me days.
55:19Christmas, Christmas.
55:26As the piano plays, the drawing room is once again filled with the very music the servants would have danced to in 1894.
55:36Just brought it to life, what it would be like here when the servants were having their party.
55:41Now, there's just the small matter of the world's tallest Christmas tree.
55:52We're going to go see the big tree.
55:57Chris is going to be the man switching on this year.
55:59It's all entertainment.
56:01But we've been practising that.
56:03Hello, everybody.
56:04This has been a big year for us, and our theme this year is all about a real-life event that happened in December 1894, the Servants' Ball.
56:15And it was intended to celebrate the people that looked after Crackside.
56:19And that legacy of care is still here today, and all the people that work here and volunteer and look after this really special place.
56:26So, I've got a special guest to introduce.
56:30This is Carl from Guinness World Records.
56:37So, the reason I'm here today is to adjudicate for you the tallest bedded Christmas tree.
56:43Today, after reviewing the relevant documents and finalising all of the guideline verifications,
56:49I can now announce that the National Trust from Crackside have achieved a new Guinness World Records title.
57:00Now the world record is theirs, there's only one thing left to do.
57:05Five, four, three, two, one!
57:16Merry Christmas!
57:18It's got nice!
57:19It has got nice!
57:21It's the biggest Christmas tree in the world!
57:26Good job, well done there.
57:27Happy Christmas, yeah?
57:29Happy Christmas.
57:30Yeah.
57:30Now I've got to put my lights up now.
57:33Well done, Catherine.
57:35We did it.
57:39That everything has been made, you know, that kind of care and attention that you've all given it is phenomenal.
57:45And yeah, it really means a lot.
57:46I'm going to cry now.
57:47It's been great.
57:52It's been great.
57:53Oh dear.
57:55I'm saying you're going to set us off, don't you?
57:57Have I got mascara all over my face?
57:59Just put some fairy lights around you, please.
58:00If you stand still enough, we'll put some fairy lights.
58:03Let the horses in miles of honey.
58:18CHOIR SINGS
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