- 10 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:02The green, rolling landscapes of Great Britain are home to the jewels in the country's rich heritage.
00:13Our country houses.
00:19Celebrated across the world for their design and decoration.
00:27Their crowns and gardens.
00:33And their centuries of history.
00:40There was a time when owning a grand country house meant a great deal.
00:45These estates were the keys to fortune and power.
00:50But today's country house owners live in a very different world.
00:54The sound of petrol!
00:56No, no, no, wrong way!
00:58These houses are still the grandest in the land.
01:02This is Oliver Cromwell's room.
01:03But the challenge of keeping them in one piece has never been greater.
01:07Spiral of decay, I don't like the sound of that.
01:10Ballpark figures, 350,000.
01:12Gulp.
01:13Gotta get these lights fixed.
01:14Today's owners are becoming ever more imaginative.
01:18Bon appetit.
01:19They're finding ways...
01:21I'm literally ankle deep right now.
01:23To keep the money coming in.
01:25These estates aren't designed to make money, they're designed to eat money.
01:29To keep the ceiling from falling down.
01:31And I turn the corner into here.
01:34Oh my goodness.
01:35We are collecting leaks, as you can see.
01:37And stop their fears becoming a reality.
01:40I think of all the ancestors going back 900 years.
01:44If we fail, it's on our watch.
01:47Of course, being to the manor born has always been a privilege.
01:51But today's owners face challenges as never before.
01:55So, they're rolling up their sleeves and putting their heart and soul into brave new ventures.
02:01The question is, how do you save a country house and see it prosper in the modern world?
02:33We've been following nine country houses across a whole summer school.
02:38season but this is just one moment in the long timeline of our historic houses and an insight
02:45into the projects restorations innovations and hard work going on just so happens that this
02:52summer has been one of the hottest and driest on record although as i know only too well we gardeners
02:58are rather keen on some rain amidst the sunshine but timing is everything
03:06close to the south coast in dorset we are paying a final visit to mapperton house
03:15it's now the start of autumn but there's a perfect dawn to welcome an important day
03:20in mapperton's calendar we're used to early don't worry we're used early early and full-on
03:27by 6am the mapperton events team are already on the ground oh still embarrassing that's embarrassing
03:34there they're led by events manager holly who's overseeing the arrival of dozens of stall holders
03:41so we have our autumn plant and garden fair and hoping the weather stays good for us all um but
03:48yeah we'll wait and see but it's going to be a really good event hopefully today morning
03:53today's event is welcoming many professional nursery growers from across the region
03:58who have all booked a sales pitch at this end of season fair and you can see some people are
04:06still
04:06just setting up we're close to opening in hosting the plant fair mapperton owner julie montague and her
04:16husband luke are carrying on a more than 30-year tradition caroline it just looks sensational it looks
04:24all right it looks so good the fair has become a useful earner for the estate too
04:32events really matter at mapperton and julie actually has done a brilliant job
04:35of building them up and making them more profitable than they've ever been
04:40thank you it's all right yeah i like events julie and luke are hoping for a thousand strong
04:47turnout of shoppers today which should lead to a healthy profit it's five pounds to come to the
04:54plant fair part of it goes to charity we want people to come and obviously buy plants but we
05:02want them to stay for the day or for at least a few hours and we realized in the past
05:07that people
05:07were just coming in buying their plants and then leaving and we want them to make a day out of
05:12it so
05:12enjoy tea coffee cakes sausage rolls quiches inside or outside so just to make a day of it rather than
05:19just in and out grab a plant and go but there are a few nerves for all concerned it's been
05:27a very hard
05:28year we've had so little rain since march it'd be nice if it didn't rain today
05:36and in spite of the perfect dawn the forecast is far from good
05:43it's the calm before the storm super calm because this week we have been on tenterhooks
05:48because storm amy is on its way and there is some uncertainty
05:52as to when it's going to hit 80 mile an hour winds there's going to be pouring rain 80 and
06:00we have been
06:00through this at mapperton before we had to cancel half the christmas fair last year we had to cancel
06:05the plant fair the year before yep and we are just praying that it doesn't happen again so hopefully
06:10people will arrive early get their plants and get a sausage roll or a cage cafe yeah before the storm
06:18hits with wet weather predicted chef christine massingham is preparing for what could be
06:26the busiest day of the year my first day doing a plant fair i'm stressed at the moment this is
06:34me
06:35stressed because i've got a lot to do this is me winging it meanwhile christine's array of delicious food
06:43is a social media opportunity for julie who knows how to tempt her followers
06:50look at this roasted tomato and cheddar quiches all in-house sweet potato harissa and feta rolls
06:59and i just got to post that good morning the social media can work two ways it can work
07:05reaching this digital audience at least for us it can in a historic house that's open to the public
07:09and it can reach that physical audience so that they're coming here they're able to explore what
07:17they've just seen on social media and sort of like stepping into it saying wow i'm here at
07:23mount breton and i've only seen it on the screen but now here it is in the flesh
07:29by half past 10 the car park is filling up the public are flocking in and the plant fair is
07:37well
07:38underway even mother nature looks friendly that is the sun the sun i mean two two days there were
07:48like meetings going on there was like so many emails going back and forth are we going to cancel
07:53i mean look at this this is a lovely day
07:59at the moment we are extremely lucky and i really hope this stays this looking yeah
08:08for the time being at least all is well and as expected the mapperton cafe is bustling
08:16hi thank you for waiting becky antram works here during her university holidays
08:23it's always the highlight of the season these events it really gets people through the door
08:27a lot of local people as well which is really nice fingers crossed it'll be a good money maker for
08:31us
08:32today everything is all homemade none of it so i just thought i'd throw that out there yeah
08:39and today marks an important day in the season for becky as well that's 10 40. so it's actually my
08:47last
08:47day at mapperton in the cafe today i'm back to uni tomorrow but i am gonna miss it the team
08:52is just
08:53lovely like christine in the kitchen lisa they're like kind of like my work mom as the morning wears
08:59on it appears people have heeded luke and julie's advice to get here early thank you overspend as usual
09:08both visitors and stallholders alike have had a good couple of hours
09:12yeah it's been positive day so the fair bit so more than half of it at the moment considering
09:18what the weather forecast was and we might not have had anyone at all or we might have had pouring
09:22rain
09:22hasn't been bad at all but storm amy is still threatening to make an appearance
09:32i felt a few little drops of rain but i the r word is a swear word on a an
09:37event day
09:38we don't like to say the r word because we don't like it to
09:45slow down now i suppose as lunchtime approaches the rain sets in and the storm is moving closer
09:53we've done almost three and a half hours of trading and everybody seems really happy so few
10:00but in truth it may not be the rain that poses the greatest threat
10:08it's um it's the wind wind is the worrying cop we shouldn't let everybody know they should start
10:15to pack up it is stormy meat is coming i think we've got five minutes before the wind hits mapperton
10:35house has been hosting its annual end of season plant fair but as lunchtime arrives so too does the
10:44full force of autumn in the form of storm amy oh now the wind's gonna blow
10:53this may be an important event in mapperton's calendar but the montagues don't want to take any risks
11:02we're about to get hit by all of this okay it's literally got this little pocket okay well let's
11:07let's put these down it's the wind i don't mind rain it's the wind that causes it's the wind that
11:11just
11:12blows everything over because it's too tall it's gonna hit in a minute so i'm encouraging people
11:17to um think about packing up actually
11:27with no choice but to call an end to the fair everyone beats a hasty retreat to the cafe
11:34but after several hours of successful trading luke and the team are unlikely to let the weather
11:40dampen their spirits one has to realize with these places that they aren't simply a family home
11:48they are the center of a community you can just see how much fun people are having and i find
11:55it
11:55really satisfying when people come and tell me what a wonderful time they've had
12:03and after another year as custodian of this wonderful estate julie is more determined than ever to
12:10preserve the history of this small corner of dorset for future generations
12:17i've become very attached to this place and i never thought i would ever
12:24if this place was was gone or had to be sold and owned by somebody who didn't want to open
12:31up to
12:31the public if you lose that you've really lost the stories that come with a visit to this house
12:51i'm so pleased that at least half the mappetum plant fair proceeded storm free of course in years to
12:59come it may prove more memorable because of the awful weather at another of our houses rain is not
13:06threatening a particular event it is however revealing some maintenance issues and this in a house where
13:14the current generation are making a real effort to get the building in better shape for the next generation
13:23midway between birmingham and manchester our destination is the 1500 acre estate of whitmore hall
13:34it may be a beautiful morning in staffordshire but last night's weather has led to something all
13:41homeowners fear a dripping ceiling well sit wrap is we have a small leak in that corner
13:51fortunately for whitmore's owner edward cavanagh mannering it's only the small ceiling of the hall's
13:57a single-story porch all right i'm gonna go ahead and maintenance chief simon chafe has arrived with
14:04a ladder to investigate well i know in the summer we had some work done on the stonework so possibly
14:11there's debris from the work that was done
14:17oh it's completely flooded yeah
14:24it's the fun part of running a grade one house this drains sewers
14:32the rain was that heavy potentially it's washed some moss off the issue is the drain hole is about
14:38that big and it doesn't take much to block it up as expected the small drain holes are blocked with
14:47with moss and a bit of debris from when we had the work done on the porch okay use the
14:52trusty garden cane method
15:03it's literally taken a garden cane to clear the hole and it's draining now oh here we go
15:11a couple hundred meters there it shows you how easily damage is done to buildings
15:18but that's a quick one easily solved this may be one small problem dealt with but the long-term
15:26well-being of whitmore hall remains edward's big concern so to help pay for future restoration work
15:34he's opening up more and more of the estate to health and leisure activities the 80 acres of whitmore
15:42lakes was created with fishing in mind but several of the pools are now reserved for taking a dip with
15:50friends or swimming coaching
15:56and one other attraction people love the fact that you can soar and have a view it's a very spiritual
16:05place you reconnect water fire air it's wonderful
16:17edward's wife heather has been a driving force in setting up whitmore's wellness offering
16:23she and edward are now looking to maximize the business potential of heron lake we had it as a
16:30paddleboard lake and it was successful but um not really big enough so we had the idea to expand our
16:37saunas we've got five sauna bases but we're going to put five porter saunas on top of the bases
16:46however they now need to retrofit one element of the project what we forgot to do
16:53irritatingly was put the astroturf in which runs from the back here right the way through to the
17:03water's edge and then so many meters out into the water and so you haven't got mud underfoot
17:09until you you go into swimming depth okay get your waders on
17:16this is all a long way from how heather first met the 34th manoring to run the whitmore estate
17:23uh oh look at that they feel good actually good fit he came to try a car when i was
17:30selling cars
17:30so i had to take him out on a on a test drive in the car he was interested in
17:36and apparently i said
17:38that i thought his farmer's arms were i recognized him as being farmer's arms because my father was a
17:45farmer yes take it to the wet point instead of buying the car he said do you fancy going for
17:51a
17:51drink sometime and so that was it okay four meters yeah so he never bought the car from me i
18:00did later
18:00you did but not from me so yeah it was a persian 306. no i didn't get a commission
18:07but after nearly 30 years together i'm sure heather has forgiven him
18:13you just want to go out and swim all this and cool off yeah
18:23with the astroturf measured edward heads off to see the 35th generation of the family
18:30second in command of mopping is my daughter adelaide who's hiding
18:46and then we're on to the next one and that is adelaide and she will inherit
19:05from edward won't you so she will be hurrah for a bit of feminism uh she will be the the
19:12fourth
19:13female heir in a thousand years but for now adelaide is helping her mother set up for tonight's yoga
19:20class we've got 14 clients tonight and we're just going to set up the hall
19:30i've been helping mostly this year um working in the summer overall just when i'm not in sixth form
19:37but it's really nice it's really nice and calm and chill and um yeah it's definitely a nice job to
19:44be
19:44able to have out of all the sort of ones i could have at my age it's really nice
19:50the challenge her parents and aunt have set themselves is to ensure they hand over a house
19:56in reasonable condition we're making absolutely certain that this building is fit for purpose
20:05for the next generation and making certain that we're not giving her a nightmare so today
20:15fleur has arranged for heritage consultant tony hannah to pay a visit and make a thorough tour of the
20:22property this is nice yes it's like the equivalent of bringing a doctor in because if we leave it too
20:29long the the financial costs would be enormous without even breathing you're probably looking at
20:35well over a million pounds we need to look at the sellers that'll allow us to understand how to look
20:41after the building but what we really hope is that nothing needs to be done
20:58whitmore hall in stavitcher has been in the hands of one family for over 900 years
21:06edward kavanagh mannering and his sister fleur are keen to preserve the history of their home
21:12and hand it over to the next generation in the best state possible
21:18good show
21:25none of the lights work put your phone light on watch out for the dead mice
21:32today they've invited heritage consultant tony hannah to explore the many layers of history in the hall
21:39and assess how the building is holding up he believes the evidence of whitmore's earliest
21:45origins will be found in the cellar this here these vaults here yeah i think this
21:53has been added so this goes goes down further you think there might have been another layer yeah oh my
21:59god
22:00this was probably added this stone flag for um when they built the the 17th century facade
22:08the vault in there you see that that's brick see that stress stone there can you see how it's been
22:15been marked i couldn't say what date but i would say it's definitely medieval dress stone that's amazing
22:21the stone was chiseled so it could bond easier with the other stones it's not clean straight wall
22:29that's that's that's medieval stone and that's what i hope to find out here straight away we're
22:33already seeing that this house goes back to the medieval period i feel like an archaeologist now
22:40tony suspects the origins of whitmore hall match those of the nearby 12th century church
22:48since then a timber framed manor was developed in tudor times with a further brick facade added in the
22:55late 17th century you've got air vents here that keeps it dry god the whole house is littered with
23:01you you think about it how clever they were six because they realized they weren't going to build
23:06directly onto the timber frame building there's a gap there's got to be a gap and to keep that air
23:10flowing back up and that will keep the brick dry and the wood dry also act as insulation whilst tony's
23:19here there's one important out building on the estate that fleur and edward would love to get his
23:25opinion on supposedly one of the oldest stables in the country walk into it and it's just got such a
23:33sense of history that has real history well the stable they've got a wonderful atmosphere about
23:40them they've there's something very special about them we've had parties there a lot of very good
23:46parties flower had a very good we had a medieval feast there didn't we darling just watch the
23:53cobbles okay yes they got a bit out of a hand i think but for many years now the condition
24:00of the
24:01stables has become another headache for fleur and edward so these are the stables that we know
24:07well we know that existed in 1600 and considered some of the oldest with the columns and and that
24:14side of it so we think that this building's always been here it's a lot older than any of us
24:18have ever
24:19thought and it got converted into stables in the 1600s i mean who knows whatever the original purpose of
24:28the building this is now a very rare example of a tudor stable block with horses housed on the ground
24:35floor and their grooms on the floor above wow this is really well built you've got really good west
24:42midland vernacular here you've got box timber framing this would have been made uh prefabricated
24:49so this would have been put together on the grind and then lifted up with a winch
24:54and then the the cross beams with the purlings going and that's how it would have been constructed
25:02since then one other intriguing detail has been added all these marks here those are what called
25:10ritual burn marks they're actually indented they've burnt away and feel feel across
25:17they've burnt towns mirrors a red hot poke or something very hot they're sometimes called
25:23witch burn marks but that's not correct because what they're meant to do is they're meant to bring
25:28you good fortune the mark and the wood would have been almost like a blessing yeah so the scorching would
25:34have said we're marking this with goodness yeah and there would have been a priest who would have there to
25:40witness that and blessed it yeah for a stables it's it's really well built and it's a really good
25:46condition that's really good news i've studied west midlands architecture for for years and just
25:54seen it here and all the elements are here in this building just adds to this exceptional rarity
26:02it's relief to hear good news about the condition of the stables but how is the hall itself faring
26:13you spent a lot of time looking the building from the outside in the inside what is your
26:19well take on the current condition i mean would you call it average good
26:24poor i i wouldn't say it's poor i wouldn't say it's good i would say it's in the middle middle
26:31i think if if i was going to give it marks out of 10 i think it'd probably be around
26:36six
26:38tony will now compile a full report on what he thinks the maintenance and renovation priorities
26:43should be in the years ahead a lot of the stuff that they can do to to rectify
26:51any structural deficiencies in the house can be done fairly easy so i'm really pleased to
26:57to be involved with such a beautiful house such a beautiful setting
27:05and for owners who are feeling the weight of history and responsibility this is a welcome boost
27:14i just go and i see problems i see maintenance i see bills you don't see the building i don't
27:19see the
27:20building but he loves the building he was helping me fall back in love with the building and its
27:29specialness
27:40having followed our house owners for a whole summer i think we're already seeing them feel the
27:46results and rewards of their hard work often this is work that stands to benefit the house for
27:53generations to come and in some cases it will enable more people to share in the history and beauty of
28:00these important buildings one shining example this summer has been in northamptonshire where a key
28:09historic attraction is about to open to the public for the first time in decades here at ashby manor house
28:18so we've got 35 ladies from um the leamington spa arts club i think it is and they are coming
28:30for a private
28:31tour of the house and garden ashby's owner nova guest has just completed a summer of costly renovation work
28:40on the estate's tudor gatehouse where plans for the gunpowder plot were once hatched
28:47at the end i want to take them into the plot room and then back into the house for
28:51tea and coffee and cake private tours like this have been only a small part of ashby's recent past
28:59but with the famous gatehouse now open they could become a regular fixture in the future
29:05so i think we've only done about four private tours um but i think i feel like it's getting more
29:12known about so i'm hoping it's something that we can you know do half a dozen of a year that
29:19would be
29:19perfect it's so lovely to get the house ready for anyone coming in filling it with flowers
29:25it's what it's made for to be filled with people that house to keep costs to a minimum and give
29:32visitors
29:32the personal touch for now nova is leading the tours herself yeah i always think golly am i going to
29:39run out of things to say but then i'm in the moment and it sort of seems to go on
29:44we shall see but maybe the more i do these tours the more i'm practiced today's guests will be at
29:51ashby
29:52for two and a half hours whilst private tours are a short and simple earner for the estate it's not
29:58all
29:58plain sailing a bit of excitement and dread that we are generating income
30:05oh we need to get the kettle out maybe both the kettles and plug them in
30:10with 90 minutes until the guests arrive housekeeper maureen is helping nova to set up
30:17they're going to come in the main gate and then we'll get the coat stick and then if they've got
30:24coats we can hang them here this is the city the long-term success of these tours will require
30:30plenty of five-star reviews 35 today okay i believe 35 yeah by 2 p.m all is set the
30:40guests
30:40are welcomed in and nova kicks off with some insight into the mastermind behind ashby's design
30:48so this is now the the stone hall which lutchens always like to incorporate a stone hall into his
30:56houses and this is very new 1906. we're going to make our way out the back door next stop ashby's
31:08rather quirky architectural import so you will have noticed this tudor building which uh was originally
31:17a shop on car street in ipswich my husband's uh great grandfather bought it and much to lutchens's
31:26horror uh he was asked to incorporate it into the design so here's the statue garden and the statues have
31:34been here for 400 years or so and we host weddings and events here
31:41and we're going to be able to do that nova is clearly a natural at engaging the group and the
31:46guests seem extremely pleased with their experience so far very impressive
31:53and it's been wonderful to be feel really feel welcomed just so beautiful and the amount of work
31:59that has been done in 10 years astonishing come on through but of course the highlight of today's
32:06tour is nova's passion project the reimagined plot room
32:15so this is the room where the robert catesby and the conspirators gathered to
32:20hatch plans actually a bit smoky i've opened the window we're trying to finish it i found a table
32:31which is 17th century after years spent locked up and neglected this small but significant room
32:37can now look forward to many more visitors but what did today's first group of visitors make of the
32:44plot room this is uh seems more compact and perhaps more secret than uh than we expected but it certainly
32:52has the atmosphere so yes the art shiver up the spine these are the first set of visitors we've had
33:02in here for a very long time such a lovely thing to add on to a tour and gives it
33:08sort of another whole
33:09different perspective with the tour complete it's back to the house for tea and cake
33:20that is definitely maureen i've only done and maureen makes the most amazing fruit cake
33:24that's my ridiculous um banana cake within days of adding some furnishing to the renovated gatehouse
33:34nova has already seen her work pay dividends for the estate
33:39well i think the tour did go well and i would love to do more of them actually because
33:45it's the middle of the week um it's a large group so it's you know it's it's a good amount
33:50of money
33:51um it's relatively easy in terms of you know impact on the house and i think it would be clever
33:57to
33:58to try and do more of them and with fresh historic appeal on offer the future looks bright for this
34:04stunning country house oh that's a pleasure have a safe trip home take care everyone okay bye
34:17well i think that was quite good
34:31we're nearly at the end of our summer following nine country houses
34:35and we're finishing right back where we started
34:41shavenage house in the wonderful cotswolds
34:45what was it that attracted you to james
34:56james leslie williams inherited this 2000 acre estate from his grandfather two years ago
35:04but is still getting to grips with what he and wife emma have taken on
35:09we did actually count we got 25 bathrooms
35:12no fireplaces 25 fireplaces we don't actually know how many bathrooms we've got
35:16this is all ours babe can we believe it it can be quite overwhelming
35:22having married james just last year emma's been rather thrown into a new life of saving a country
35:29house but this gung-ho couple have embraced the challenge by kick-starting a host of projects
35:41that's one down they are all aimed at transforming shavenage's earnings
35:47right now it's power tool time james we're determined to add revenues and generate an
35:53income so that the next generation can can have a slightly easier life than we've had
35:57but having prioritized the business plan james and emma haven't had time to start turning the
36:03elizabethan manor house into their own home it's a prospect that emma is finding mildly alarming
36:12we haven't started the renovation yet so this is how it was done up sort of 70 years ago and
36:18it
36:18hasn't really been touched since this has been the family seat of the losley williams for six
36:24generations and every corner of it needs a good clear out before the couple can restore it
36:32so upstairs it's a lot of brown carpet you know on the surface it looks worse than it is
36:40there is stuff everywhere every drawer is full one too many railway magazines that we need to keep
36:50i think there's also a stuffed bird here i'm not sure anyone needs this amount of chairs
36:56lamps so many lamps don't don't know why it's gonna be great but dealing with all that is for the
37:05future
37:06because the priority now is to complete a project that's been taking shape all summer
37:11as we've seen at whitmore hall in staffordshire james and emma are investing in the well-being
37:18trend in the form of a luxury sauna with james's homemade changing rooms
37:26with autumn now here the venture is ready to launch right sauna
37:35what do you think a few finishing touches yeah i need to do some cleaning having committed 10 000
37:42pounds to this venture already james and emma are determined to make it a success
37:48oh it does look good it does look good a little damp the old rug rained so much in the
37:56night i've added
37:57the fire pit i've also added like a log pile just need to get open get going get some good
38:04feedback
38:04hopefully um and see what people think and i think that's the only way that we're going to tell if
38:10it's going to work or not but before the public are let in the couple are unveiling it to the
38:16toughest
38:16crowd they know dad george and aunt caroline are you going to clean the window and i'll clean the deck
38:26it needs to look spick and span for the family they're hard enough to crack
38:31the family don't really get it not sure which puts a little bit of pressure on it i'm not sure
38:38the family think it's a very good idea at the moment i do slightly worry about how much we've
38:44put on our plate well em's actually quite nervous i'm actually really excited can i just say
38:49the thing is we've rented this sauna so we're paying for it and it hasn't gone live yet
38:55i isn't ideal because we are essentially losing money month on month james doesn't like it if i'm
39:00ever negative about anything i'm a glass half full kind of guy we've started two new businesses together
39:07in a really short amount of time and got married and so we haven't had any practice we're literally
39:12learning on the job and some things prop up and crop up and we're like oh my god we had
39:17like neither
39:17of us have any experience of dealing with it and if all that wasn't enough to cope with the couple
39:25have one more responsibility on the horizon we have got some news we are bringing a new life
39:34in yeah why don't you there's nothing quite to show yet but no emma is pregnant and uh it's really
39:46exciting which actually makes us feel slightly slightly less daunting about moving into a manor house
39:54seeing as there's going to be a few more of us yeah i think well just one more at the
39:59moment just one
40:00one more oh there's not tones no this afternoon though it's the older generation that james and emma
40:10are expecting they're on their way the family are coming caroline looks like the queen also coming
40:18along for a ride is big al who helps james build the sauna site i feel like it's kind of
40:24a royal visit
40:27this is a big inspection of what you've been up to i just don't think it's their cup of tea
40:31i think
40:32dad might come around caroline's going to be a hard nut to crack caroline have you seen anything like
40:37it no the idea is that we've tried to make it as private as possible um so why have you
40:47put in the
40:48most public field we've got because this is the only field we got we got planning oh i see
40:53well the younger generation have really thrown themselves into it and i really approve of their
41:00enthusiasm um and i think if the amount of enthusiasm that goes into it pays off that would be great
41:07come and show us in come in it is it is very much a royal visit here first up on
41:12the inspection
41:13are the changing rooms built by james and big al oh that's nice isn't it she's nicer in here than
41:19that my carpet it's actually my carpet is it yeah it's a rather wet looking carpet oh it looks like
41:27loose no they're not loose it's just changing rooms so you can bring your bag yeah bring your cosi
41:34your trunks a lovely view from here not a building in sight or a road or anything no that's it
41:40yeah
41:43on a beautiful evening with the sun low in the sky everyone agrees that the setting is perfect
41:51the joy of a sauna on the other hand isn't as clear to all people come yeah they take all
41:59their
41:59clothes off yeah they go and get hot and sweaty yeah yes they then stand and get freezing cold on
42:05the shower yes then they come into here to an ice bath yeah yeah and then go back and then
42:09go back
42:09and do it all again and you're expecting to pay for it yeah that is the plan i would pay
42:14not to me it's
42:16like spanish torture but anyway i've heard some people say to me oh i hate being hot i love being
42:22hot
42:23but i just don't think they're spa goers for me personally to pay for misery um the idea of getting
42:30hot sweaty and then cold in an ice bath and naked it doesn't actually fill me with the greatest sort
42:36of joy but i'm not on trend and this could be fantastic we're gonna find out see because you're
42:45coming in yeah yeah we're coming in it looks i'm not taking my clothes off let's have a look inside
42:50all right come in with the sauna on and becoming really rather toasty oh it's on
42:57just take my shoes off no i don't worry it's time to take a test
43:03what about flora flora's gonna get too hot oh oh so far this is the best fit
43:14what happens now you just talk to each other like very hard so now we just kind of sweat
43:18and how long do you sweat for so caroline it's basically like doing doing 30 minutes of exercise
43:25i'm quite warm now oh fresh air
43:32it's a very fine sauna and beautiful views to sit and watch the evening roll in
43:38what's this it's not june it's not june that's not the soup ladle what's this one
43:46as you put it on there and then it steams it
43:54of course we've been brought up but it was virtually like an ice bath in our own bathrooms at
44:00shavenage so and we didn't have to pay for that so it for the people with really nice warm houses
44:06it
44:06could be terrific with the family mostly won over and the sauna set to open the losley williams
44:14clan members are feeling optimistic about the future of shavenage well done you boys you have
44:20done well and emma your style is fantastic i think trialing these new things potentially it
44:27could pay off yeah i also think you know this field wasn't making us any money
44:30you know if we can try and make something out of something out of nothing then it's another
44:36dripping tap isn't it yeah give it a go i think the future's great i think emma announcing her
44:41pregnancies a kind of boost for everything yeah because we can see the next generation
44:46generation starting to grow and i think that's what we're all aiming for is to keep the losley
44:51williams family here uh as long as possible no pressure
44:59thank you so much thank you thank you for our royal visit okay we'll see yeah we will see won't
45:05we
45:06we'll see we'll see we'll see we'll see we'll see we'll see we'll see we'll see we'll see we'll see
45:12what a wonderful array of places and projects we've seen up and down the land at our nine country
45:18houses well seven houses and two castles but for me it's been the people who've shown the brightest
45:28the work of running a very large very old home never stops and the passion for that work has been
45:34so
45:35clear to see so how do you save a country house it's sounding like quite an expensive job it clearly
45:48takes hard work oh golly i think replace it good ideas 201 years old and here i am gymming it
45:57with a crowbar
45:59bold entrepreneurship all right come here you freshly laundered good as new
46:04and a strong team come on up and maybe the most interesting thing is that they are planning for
46:12a future not just for themselves but to be open to visitors like you and me for many years ahead
46:20that is why our country houses are worth not just saving but cherishing
46:28so
46:37so
47:00Transcription by CastingWords
Comments