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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?
02:08In the modern world.
02:19.
02:23.
02:33We've been following nine country houses across a whole summer the world.
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
18:46the line of inheritance father to son father to son for 900 odd years and in that time we've had
18:57three i think three female heirs and then we're on to the next one and that is adelaide and she
19:05will
19:05inherit from edward won't you so she will be hurrah for a bit of feminism uh she will be the
19:11the fourth
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
20:15flo 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
21:38hall and 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
21:58oh my god this was probably added this stone flag for um when they built the 17th century facade
22:08the vault in there you see that that's brick
22:12see that stress stone there can you see how it's been been marked i couldn't say what date but i
22:18would
22:18say it's definitely medieval dressed that's amazing the stone was chiseled so it could bond easier
22:24with the other stones it's not clean straight wall that's that's medieval stone and that's what i
22:32hope to find out here straight away we're already seeing that this house goes back to the medieval
22:37period i feel like an archaeologist now tony suspects the origins of whitmore hall match those of the
22:45nearby 12th century church since then a timber framed manor was developed in tudor times with a
22:53further brick facade added in the late 17th century you've got air vents here that keeps it dry god the
23:00whole house is littered with you you think about it how clever they were six because they realized
23:05they weren't going to build directly onto the timber frame building there's a gap there's got to be a
23:09gap and to keep that air flowing that gap and that will keep the brick dry and the wood dry
23:15also act as insulation whilst tony's here there's one important outbuilding on the estate that fleur
23:23and edward would love to get his opinion on supposedly one of the oldest stables in the country
23:32walk into it and it's just got such a sense of history real history
23:37well the stable they've got a wonderful atmosphere about them there's something very special about them
23:43we've had parties there a lot of very good parties fleur had a very good we had a medieval feast
23:49there
23:50didn't we darling just watch the cobbles okay yes they got a bit out of hand i think
23:58but for many years now the condition of the stables has become another headache for fleur and edward
24:04so these are the stables that we know well we know that existed in 1600 and considered some of the
24:10the oldest with the columns and and that side of it so we think that this building's always been
24:16here it's a lot older than any of us have ever thought and it got converted into stables in the
24:221600s i mean who knows whatever the original purpose of the building this is now a very rare
24:30example of a tudor stable block with horses housed on the ground floor and their grooms on the floor above
24:37wow this is really well built you've got really good west midland vernacular here you've got box timber framing
24:46this would have been made uh prefabricated so this would have been put together on the grind
24:52and then lifted up with a winch and then the cross beams with the purlings
24:58going 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
25:15oh god how do you feel they've burnt tells me it's a red hot poke or something very hot
25:22they're sometimes called witch burn marks but that's not correct because what they're meant to do is they're
25:27meant to bring you good fortune the mark and the wood would have been almost like a blessing
25:32yeah so the scorching would have said we're marking this with goodness yeah and there would have been a
25:38priest who would have there to witness that and blessed it yeah for a stables it's it's really well built
25:45and it's a really good condition that's really good news i've studied west midlands architecture for
25:52for years and just seen it here and all the elements are here in this building just adds to this
25:59exceptional rarity it's relief to hear good news about the condition of the stables
26:06but how is the hall itself faring
26:13you spent a lot of time looking the building from the outside and the inside what is your
26:19well take on the current condition i mean would you call it average good poor i i wouldn't say
26:25it's poor i wouldn't say it's good i would say it's in the middle middle i think if if i
26:32was going to
26:32give it marks out of 10 i think it'd probably be around six tony will now compile a full report
26:40on what
26:41he thinks the maintenance and renovation priorities should be in the years ahead a lot of the stuff that
26:48they can do to to rectify any structural deficiencies in the house can be done fairly easy so i'm really
26:57pleased to to 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 yeah i see maintenance i see bills you don't see the building i
27:19don't see
27:20the building but he loves the building he was helping me fall back in love with the building and its
27:40specialness having followed our house owners for a whole summer i think we're already seeing them
27:46feel the results and rewards of their hard work often this is work that stands to benefit the house
27:53for generations to come and in some cases it will enable more people to share in the history and
27:59beauty of these important buildings one shining example this summer has been in northamptonshire
28:08where a key historic attraction is about to open to the public for the first time in decades here at
28:15ashby manor house so we've got 35 ladies from um the leamington smart arts club i think it is
28:27and they are coming for a private tour of the house and garden ashby's owner nova guest has just
28:37completed a summer of costly renovation work on the estate's tudor gatehouse where plans for the gunpowder
28:44plot were once hatched at the end i want to take them into the plot room and then back into
28:50the house
28:50for tea 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
29:11it's getting more uh known about so i'm hoping it's something that we can you know do half a dozen
29:18of a year that would be perfect it's so lovely to get the house ready for anyone coming in filling
29:23it
29:24with flowers it's what it's made for to be filled with people that house to keep costs to a minimum
29:31and give visitors the personal touch for now nova is leading the tours herself
29:38yeah i always think golly am i going to run out of things to say but then i'm in the
29:41moment and it
29:42sort of seems to go on we shall see but maybe the more i do these tours the more i'm
29:49practiced
29:50today's guests will be at ashby for two and a half hours whilst private tours are a short and simple
29:56earner for the estate it's not all plain 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 with 90 minutes until
30:12the
30:12guests arrive housekeeper maureen is helping nova to set up they're going to come in the main gate
30:20and then we'll get the coat stick and then if they've got coats we can hang them here
30:26the long-term success of these tours will require plenty of five-star reviews 35 today okay i believe
30:3535 yeah by 2 p.m all is set the guests are welcomed in and nova kicks off with some
30:43insight into the
30:44mastermind behind ashby's design so this is now the the stone hall which lutchens always like to
30:53incorporate a stone hall into his houses and this is very new 1906
31:02we're going to make our way out the back door next stop ashby's rather quirky architectural import
31:11so you will have noticed this tudor building which uh was originally a shop on carr street in ipswich
31:21my husband's uh great-grandfather bought it and much to lutchens's horror uh he was asked to incorporate
31:29it into the design so here's the statue garden and the statues have been here for 400 years or so
31:37and we host weddings and events here nova is clearly a natural at engaging the group
31:45and the guests seem extremely pleased with their experience so far very impressed
31:53and it's been wonderful to be feel really feel welcomed it's just so beautiful and the amount of
31:59work that 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 hatch plans
32:23actually a bit smoky i've opened the window yeah
32:27we're trying to finish it i found a table which is 17th century after years spent locked up and neglected
32:35this small but significant room can now look forward to many more visitors but what did today's first
32:42group of visitors make of the plot room this is uh seems more compact and perhaps more secret than
32:49uh than we expected but it certainly has the atmosphere there so so yes the art shiver up the spine
33:00these are the first set of visitors we've had in here for a very long time
33:06such a lovely thing to add on to a tour and gives it sort of another whole different perspective
33:12with 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
33:50um it's relatively easy in terms of you know impact on the house and i think it would be clever
33:57to to
33:58try 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
34:36and we're finishing right back where we started
34:45what was it that attracted you to james
34:49obviously the big house wasn't it it wasn't it it must have been
34:55there you go james leslie williams inherited this 2 000 acre estate from his grandfather
35:02two years ago but is still getting to grips with what he and wife emma have taken on
35:09we did actually count we got 25 bathrooms no fireplaces 25 fireplaces we don't actually know
35:15how many bathrooms we've got this is all ours babe can we believe it it can be quite overwhelming
35:23having married james just last year emma's been rather thrown into a new life of saving a country house
35:30but this gung-ho couple have embraced the challenge by kick-starting a host of projects
35:41last one down they are all aimed at transforming chavenage's earnings
35:47right now it's power tool time james we're determined to add revenues and generate an income
35:53so 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 generations
36:25and 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
36:36you know on the surface it looks worse than it is there is stuff everywhere every drawer is full
36:46one too many railway magazines that we need to keep i think there's also a stuffed bird here
36:52i'm not sure anyone needs this amount of chairs lamps so many lamps don't don't know why
37:01it's gonna be great but dealing with all that is for the future because the priority now is to
37:08complete a project that's been taking shape all summer as we've seen at whitmore hall in staffordshire
37:15james and emma are investing in the well-being trend in the form of a luxury sauna with james's homemade
37:24changing rooms with autumn now here the venture is ready to launch
37:31right
37:35what do you think a few finishing touches
37:37yes i need to do some cleaning having committed 10 000 pounds to this venture already james and emma are
37:46determined to make it a success oh it does look good
37:50it does look good little damp the old rug rained so much in the night i've added the fire pit
37:58i've
37:58also added like a log pile just need to get open get going get some good feedback hopefully um and
38:06see
38:06what people think and i think that's the only way that we're going to tell if it's going to work
38:10or not
38:11but before the public are let in the couple are unveiling it to the toughest crowd they know
38:17dad george and aunt caroline are you going to clean the window and i'll clean the deck it needs to
38:26look spick and span for the family they're hard enough to crack
38:31the family don't really get it not sure the family puts a little bit of pressure on it i'm not
38:38sure the
38:38family 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 the
38:49thing is we've rented this sauna so we're paying for it and it hasn't gone live yet
38:55isn't ideal because we are essentially losing money month on month james doesn't like it if i'm
39:00ever negative negative about anything i'm a glass half full kind of guy we've started two new
39:06businesses together in a really short amount of time and got married and so we haven't had any
39:11practice we're literally learning on the job and some things prop up and crop up and we're like
39:15oh my god we had like neither of us have any experience of dealing with it
39:22and if all that wasn't enough to cope with the couple have one more responsibility on the horizon
39:28we have got some news we are bringing a new life in yeah why don't you there's nothing quite
39:41to show yet but no emma is pregnant and uh it's really exciting which actually makes us feel slightly
39:50slightly less daunting about moving into a manor house seeing as there's going to be a few more of us
39:55yeah i think well just one more at the moment just one more oh it's not tones no
40:05this afternoon though it's the older generation that james and emma are expecting they're on their
40:12way the family are coming caroline looks like the queen also coming along for a ride is big al who
40:21helped james build the sauna site i feel like it's kind of a royal visit this is a big inspection
40:28of
40:28what you've been up to i just don't think it's their cup of tea i think dad might come around
40:34caroline's going to be hard enough to crack caroline have you seen anything like it no
40:42the idea is that we've tried to make it as private as possible
40:46so why have you put in the most public field we've got because this is the only field we got
40:50we got planning i see well the younger generation have really thrown themselves into it and i really
40:59approve of their enthusiasm um and i think if the amount of enthusiasm that goes into it
41:05pays off that would be great come and show us in come in it is it is very much a
41:10royal visit here
41:11first up on the inspection are the changing rooms built by james and big al oh that's nice isn't
41:18it she's nicer in here than that my carpet
41:21that's my carpet is it yeah it's a rather wet looking carpet it looks like loose
41:30it's just changing rooms so you can bring your bag yeah bring your cosi or your trunks
41:35it's a lovely view from here not a building in sight or a road or anything no that's it yeah
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
41:57people come yeah they take all their clothes off yeah they go and get hot and sweaty yeah yes
42:03they then stand and get freezing cold on the shower yes then they come into here to an ice bath
42:07yeah
42:08yeah and then go back and then go back in and you're expecting to pay for it yeah that is
42:12the plan
42:13i would pay not to me it's like spanish torture but anyway i've heard some people say to me oh
42:19i hate
42:20being hot i love being hot but i just don't think they're spa goers for me personally to pay for
42:28misery um the idea of getting hot sweaty and then cold in an ice bath and naked doesn't actually fill
42:35me with the greatest sort of joy but i'm not on trend and this could be fantastic we're going to
42:43find
42:44out see because you're coming in yeah yeah we're coming in it looks i'm not taking my clothes off
42:49let's have a look inside all right come in with the sauna on and becoming really rather toasty
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 so far this is the best fit
43:14what happens now you just talk to each other like so now we just kind of sweat and how long
43:19do you sweat for so it's basically like doing doing 30 minutes of exercise i'm quite warm now oh fresh
43:28air
43:32it's a very fine sauna and beautiful views to sit and watch the evening roll in what's this
43:38oh it's not june it's not june that's not the soup ladle what's this one you put it on there
43:47and 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 lowesley williams
44:14clan members are feeling optimistic about the future of shavenage well done you boys you have done well
44:20and emma your style is fantastic i think trialing these new things potentially it could pay off yeah
44:27i also think you know this field wasn't making us any money you know if we can try and make
44:32something
44:33out of something out of nothing then it's another dripping tap isn't it yeah give it a go i think
44:38the future's great i think emma announcing her pregnancies a kind of boost for everything yeah
44:44because we can see the next generation starting to grow and i think that's what we're all aiming for
44:50is to keep the lowesley williams family here as long as possible no pressure
44:59thank you so much thank you thank you thank you for our royal visit okay we'll see yeah we will
45:05see
45:05won't we fingers crossed
45:12what a wonderful array of places and projects we've seen up and down the land at our nine country houses
45:19well 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
45:44it's sounding like quite an expensive job it clearly takes hard work oh golly i think we place it
45:52good ideas 201 years old and here i am gymming it with a crowbar bold entrepreneurship all right come
46:01here you freshly laundered good as new and a strong team come on
46:06up and maybe the most interesting thing is that they are planning for a future not just for
46:14themselves 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
46:45we are living in there have to have been an absolute and yoke
47:00that you can also live in the world and work that you are worth not just saving but
47:00we can have a lot of these things as a and a family that one of us should go up
47:00and have to be open to visitors like us who do know what's in the world
47:00and i hope those who do know what the world is, are we well, so that we are
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