East Midlands Restoring England's Heritage

The bell is tolling for hundreds of historic buildings in a desperate

state of decay and dereliction but can they be saved in time?

Hello and welcome to Restoring England's Heritage. We're here in

Loughborough at Taylor's ` the largest bell foundry in The World.

They've been casting giant bells here for nearly 200 years but now

this Grade II listed building, virtually a working museum and

cherished by those who toil here, is in a sorry state and could be lost

forever. Lots more on the fight to save Taylor's later. This is what is

coming up in the rest of the show. Pet rescue. Within a hidden

architectural gem. What a shame it isn't is put to good use.

The whole building has been completely stitched back together

because it was sinking in the ground. TV 's restoration dreams.

This was the first factory of the Industrial Revolution. Ten years on

we have an update. And sadness for a city skyline about to change

forever. I would miss it a lot. I have walked through this area since

I was able to walk. But first we're travelling back in time. Here inside

Taylor's Bell Foundry little seems to have changed since they first

started casting bells back in 1839. The giant Big Paul, all 16 tonnes of

it, was made here and can be heard to this day ringing out at St Paul's

Cathedral. There are only two bell foundries left in Britain ` one in

London and this one in Loughborough. But the future of this unique

Dickensian workshop is now in serious doubt. Loud and proud, the

workers here at Taylor's often spend their lunch hour ringing their own

bells. This is a focus for bell`ringing, elves and

manufacturing in the country. It is almost unique. That must stay, it

simply must stay. We can't let it go. But this cavernous Victorian

foundry is leaking like a sieve and unless there's urgent action this

historic site could close. Watch the rhythm of that Clapper. It is never

in any hurry. It is absolutely perfect. It sets the whole pays, the

whole tempo for the foundry. Nothing matters but craftsmanship and

quality, time doesn't matter at all. The Taylor's began casting bells

here shortly after Queen Victoria came to the throne but their family

link with this ancient craft goes back even further than that. My

family has built Bell foundering for years. We like to think this Bell

foundry traces its history back from the 14th century. That was then and

this is now. The magical alchemy of turning molten metal into

mellifluous musical bells remains much the same. And the unique sound

of Taylor's bells can be heard in cathedrals and churches across the

globe. We have sent bells right across the world. We have some in

Australia, New Zealand, all over the place. Before they leave here all

bells are finely tuned. But these days hearing those delicate tones

can be a struggle above the sound of buckets filling with drips from the

roof. On a day like today when it is raining it is like being in a

shower. On a suitably wet day, Mike Semken led us up to the roof to

reveal decades of decay and damage. As you can see behind me we have

some of the flaking bitumen that is sliding. It has a habit of pulling

the tiles down with it. The problem is the glass panels behind me. They

are sitting on steel bars which are eroding. The glass is slipping down

a little bit. The water damage is causing real problems here in the

template room which stores the precious shapes and designs of every

bell ever made at the foundry. This is the hub of the product. Without

these templates, the profiles, the shapes, we can't make the bells. It

has been estimated at all cost over ?300 to renovate this building. It

isn't the first time the business has been in jeopardy. Four years ago

Taylor's went into administration and were saved by a management team

led by Mike Semken. We got an idea it was in trouble. We had said to

ourselves we would like the name and business but we did not want the

buildings. Having got here, we fell in love with the buildings and we

want to make it work. It's a building that seems to have that

effect on everyone here. You get drawn in and the atmosphere. There

is something magical about it. It is a smell of the place. It is

intoxicating. It really gets under your skin, there is no other job

like it. Generations of families have worked here. Colin Howlett

joined aged sixteen and has just clocked up 41 years. He still has

vivid memories of his father working here. I can remember him coming home

from the foundry and being black dirty because it is dirty work and

the smell when they cast it, you had the smell on your clothes. He

brought that smell home with him. You could smell my dad coming home

The whole place is a living museum of highly specialised skills not

just the casting, but rope making, joinery and even the hanging of the

bells all 0 joinery and even the hanging of the

bells all carefully collated and recorded in the company archives.

If the building is rescued there are plans for it to become a working

museum. It already attracts some tourists but full restoration would

open the door to many more What strikes you about this place is how

much it means to the men who work here. It is a time capsule. It

should do how England did things during the Industrial Revolution. It

is a nice Victorian building. There is nothing wrong with Victorian

industry. It's made England what it is. If you killed this building, you

killed this business. That is the simple answer 0

killed this business. That is the simple answer to it. 0

killed this business. That is the simple answer to it. What is so

striking about this place is how much it means to the men who work

here. That is why one English Heritage wants it saved. It is a

relic from the days of Empire but it is full of life. Buildings and about

people, people occupied them and this is a manufacturing concern. It

is doing what is was designed to do. We have been through this credit

squeeze in this country. Development and restoration seemed to have taken

a back`seat. Is that English Heritage's expedience? We publish a

register and there is a list of sites that were bought by developers

and have not been renovated. Some of these projects have liked behind.

Thank you very much. Well, that takes us to our next story. We've

found a curious hidden gem just down the road in Nottingham. Lost and

abandoned within a property development. And as Rob Whitehouse

discovered the building wasn't the only thing suffering with distress.

We came looking for an architectural treasure, a largely forgotten

Victorian Chapel in need of rescue and found a cat with an even more

urgent need to be saved. We called the RSPCA and within no time at all

they were ripping away at the wooden hoarding covering the entrance to

Mapperley Chapel. The architect George Thomas Hine designed and

built the chapel and combined theatre, part of Nottingham Lunatic

Asylum, in 1880. Most of the adjoining hospital has now been

developed for luxury flats, but the chapel at the end has been

abandoned. But what's it like inside? The RSPCA team were about to

find out as they rescued Lemmy the cat who'd strayed into the building

from next door That beauty is now the cat 0

from next door That beauty is now the cat is in good health, he has

got a microchip. What a beautiful building what a shame it has not

been put to good use. It is full of pigeons and a trapped cat! We are

going up to the main chapel. That beauty is now hidden beneath layers

of dust and cobwebs that it is still quite remarkable.

What is the most common reaction when people see the inside? It is a

hidden gem. We try to keep it hidden for safety and security reasons but

until somebody is able to do something about it, people just say

wow. Neil speaks for the flat owners who're angry about the way the

Chapel has been abandoned. We have approached the owners and offered

money that we have raised to try and take over the building to take the

freehold to get some funding to converted into a local community

centre. Also a sports hall for the local community. To date, we have

not been successful. In what ways is the decay of this building affecting

the people who live locally? We have daily problems with the building. We

have crime. Although there is no lead left in this building, we are

constantly burgled. Also we have a major problem with pigeons, which

you can see around today. There is a disease control issue. It's almost

impossible to believe this was once a grand and dignified place of

worship. A place of refuge and serenity within the old lunatic

asylum. Now it's littered with dead pigeons.

On the ground floor was a theatre and Paul Swift joined me to recall

his time working here as a volunteer. This particular

building, I remember it is very much being the hub of recreation. They

would have shows in here? Yes, if you look over there at the stage,

that was where the pantomime was. You can see the box there. You can

imagine the dignitaries who sat there, who had been invited by not

just the staff but also the patients. To come and watch. There

was a wonderful atmosphere working here. What are your thoughts when

you see it today? It is disgusting. It should not 0

you see it today? It is disgusting. It should not have been allowed to

get into the state. They have done nothing with it since the hospital

closed in 1994. These tunnels running under the whole of the

hospital building, now apartments, link this part with the chapel and

they vividly demonstrate the problems the residents have. We are

washed down here with rainwater. You can see here that the plaster has

cracked and bricks are starting to drop out and the advice from the

survey is is that we need to take urgent action. A firm called

Mapperley Chapel Limited now own this Grade II`listed building. We've

made repeated efforts to contact them but with no success. It's been

estimated that it will cost ?3 million to restore this building,

with 250,000 needed right now just to make it watertight and safe. I

think the basic concern I have is a total lack of maintenance by owners

and there has been more than one owner. 0

and there has been more than one owner. Frankly, 0

and there has been more than one owner. Frankly, it has not helped in

terms of keeping the chapel watertight. In terms of

preservation, never mind restoration, there is a lot of work

that needs doing. Why does it need saving? It is a beautiful building,

it is great to Heritage and it will provide a brilliant community and

arts 0 provide a brilliant community and

arts facility. Work property developers interested in this while

it was profitable? Have they now run away? That is a good summary, yes.

They see it as a quick profit. They thought they would be able to

develop it and turn it around and make fast cash out of it. After

2007, I guess the creditors dried up and those people found themselves

stuck with a building like this and no funds to be able to develop it.

People are suspicious that they are waiting for it to fall down so they

can we develop something different on the ruin.

This old asylum building is said to be haunted. People have heard the

sound of rattling chains and, at one stage, patients were manacled to

their beds. So, if anywhere needs spiritual help and a thriving,

restored chapel, then this is it! Now, you might be forgiven for

thinking that we're losing all our heritage buildings here in the East

Midlands but that's far from true. Ten years ago, BBC Two's Restoration

programme began scouring the country to find the nation's most endangered

historic buildings. The series featured three major sites in the

East Midlands, all in need of urgent work. So what's become of them? In

the village of Cromford in Derbyshire, people are calling a new

phenomenon manufacturing. A building work 24`hour is a day for the first

time. The unfamiliar noise of its machinery clattered across the

countryside. This was Cromford mail the first factory of the Industrial

Revolution. The show revealed ambitious plans to restore the old

water wheel, the powerhouse of Richard Arkwright's pioneering mill.

If you don't save premium heritage like this, it is gone for ever. Take

the bull by the horns and save it for the nation. Well, they certainly

did take the bull by the horns. Visitors are flocking to this World

Heritage Site and a ?48 million restoration programme is underway.

No water wheel yet but We have started the first phase.

Work on the water wheel will be completed in the last face. I am

proud of what has been achieved since restoration. `` Restoration.

In Over in Lincolnshire, Restoration

found a beautiful village church teetering on the edge of

dereliction. Beckingham's own pocket sized cathedral, which is open for

business, only just. All Saints, a Grade I`listed church dating back to

the 1100s, was in a desperate state. The whole place was suffering with

damp, corrosion, falling masonry and serious subsidence. It was damp, it

was smelly. To 0 serious subsidence. It was damp, it

was smelly. To look at it and think, "yes, it is their but we

cannot use it because it is in such a terrible state." It was terribly

sad. Now, thanks to grants from English Heritage and the Heritage

Lottery Fund, this medieval church has been re`opened and given another

lease of life. I walk into the church now and the first thing is

that it does not smell. It looks loved, it looks cared for. It feels

like a happy church. It does not feel 0 0

like a happy church. It does not feel sad and neglected. Where

weddings can once again be celebrated. From All Saints to a

real sinner. Lord Byron was a head in Mystic Rock and roll star of the

Romantic age. And he was is oversized hotel room. It was his

ancestral pleasure palace. But Restoration showed how the iconic

West Wing, the original facade of Newstead Priory, was crumbling to

pieces. The highly prized Virgin And Child sculpture was in grave danger

of disappearing altogether. Today, the Abbey is still far short of the

?1.8 million needed to preserve the West Wing but there's been real

progress on the Virgin And Child sculpture. There is a netting over

the statue so the ravens cannot get in and it will protect her for many

years. Meanwhile, the fight to raise funds to preserve and make safe the

rest of the ruin continues. The dream is to be able to remove the

barriers, to unlock the gates and let everybody walk`through the west

front. As they probably did a years ago, as their grandparents may have

done. There's clearly a long way to go. In

the middle of this recession, there must be encouraging signs. This is

our Heritage at risk register. We have removed 50% of those sites in

the last ten years. That trend is continuing, so there is success out

there. The sight and sound of Taylor's Bell

Tower is now a fundamental part of Loughborough life but, over in

Leicester, they're having to get used to the idea of losing something

that been part of the city skyline for centuries. People scurry by on

their way home, hardly casting a glance at the spire that towers

above them. The church of St Mary de Castra has been a landmark in

Leicester for 900 years. But soon the spire will be gone. It's being

demolished amid fears that it may collapse. And now it's about to

disappear, people seem to be realising how much they'll miss it.

I would miss it a lot of. I've have walked through this area since I was

able to walk. Chaucer was allegedly married in that church was it part

of National history. I suppose you don't realise it is there until it

is gone. I don't want to walk down there and have a lump of Slate on my

head. Nobody does. It is ours. I will definitely miss it now. I have

been here since I was four years old and I don't want it to be

demolished. I wanted to be repaired. The good news is that there are

plans to restore the church and spire to their former glory.

For our final story we're staying in Leicestershire and another church

that was in a desperate state. St James has been at the heart of the

community here in Ab Kettleby for over 800 years. And, in the end, it

was community effort that helped save it.

The village of Ab Kettleby is one of those sleepy places where nothing

seems to happen. But no`one round here will forget the day they nearly

lost their vicar. This is the place where my

predecessor came on Sunday to preach and as he was about to start, a

large chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling and shattered on the floor

of the pulpit. Shortly afterwards, this ancient

church was shut down. The top of the spire was ready to fall off and then

the cracking was significant. Even though this looks sound, it is quite

rotten. You can feel it falling off. If you knock it, you can see it

falling down. That will have to be chopped away and renovated. We had a

problem with water in the ground, which caused the church to start

sinking. The walls which has stood for centuries suddenly started

falling apart. Major cracks developed. Specifically around the

area of the chancel and the sides of the nave here were absolutely awful

and the spire was in a bad state of repair as well. Up here is all the

plaster, where the plaster is coming off. That is because the church was

neglected over the last 30 or 40 years. On the few occasions services

were held, special measures had to be taken. You may not have noticed

but the hard hats are here for a purpose because we are sitting in a

dangerous area. Replacing hard hats with thinking caps, the village

began 0 with thinking caps, the village

began a 0 with thinking caps, the village

began a massive fund`raising effort. With events like this sponsored

teddy bear parachute jump, the restoration money began trickling

in. There was a lot of concern that it

was fairly unstable and the difficulty was finding out what

needed to be dealt with first. The programme really was then one of

trying to sustain the funds and raise the money without knowing how

much it would cost. One of the good things that has

happened is that it has brought the unity together. People want this

place 0 unity together. People want this

place to be back again. Eventually, grants and fund`raising totalling

?250,000 helped restore the church. And after six years of closure, the

whole village were able to once again give thanks for a harvest

safely gathered in and dispense with those hard hats. We are tremendously

proud. It has stood here since 1220 and it would have been such a shame

if we had lost it on our watch. These buildings need to be kept

going. It is part of our Heritage, how history. I was married here,

christened here. The whole family, five girls, we were all married and

christened here. It is beautiful to see it up and running again. It is

the community spirit that has got this church back open again when the

odds were it would never open again and the roof would come off and it

would be a monument. It is the test the church has 0

would be a monument. It is the test the church has ever 0

would be a monument. It is the test the church has ever looked. `` it is

the best. The problems that face them were vast and to pull together

to make it happen was brilliant. There is an atmosphere of joy and

celebration. People are so pleased to have got their church back. It is

a much loved building and what has happened here is people have felt

almost compelled to carry on because they have known that this church has

a future and it has a wonderful future. Well, that's nearly all from

me but we can end with a celebration because the parishioners of Ab

Kettleby have won a top prize. They've been awarded an English

Heritage Angel in recognition of all their hard work. Congratulations to

you. You must be thrilled. I am so thrilled and proud of the teamwork

here. It has been a great community and it continues. That is all from

us here at Ab Kettleby. Cheers. See you next time. Cheers!

Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90 second update.

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people have died, thousands are without power. Dozens of severe

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in a moment and get the latest on your local BBC radio station.

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