North East and Cumbria Restoring England's Heritage

This is Gayle Mill in Yorkshire. Ten years ago, this picturesque old

sawmill was a crumbling wreck. ?1.2 million later it is up and running

again, and the source of pride for the locals. But not all of our

wonderful heritage will have such a bright future. I will visit the

largest wooden structure in Europe, close to being lost forever.

This is a structural engineering masterpiece.

The man who has lost a car park. And impossible restoration job.

There is no budget. A building forced to relocate. And

sisters united by a decaying bridge. I will be travelling across

north`east and Cumbria to ask, what should we save, and why?

I'm heading for Kirklinton Hall in Cumbria. For many years anyone

passing this property could watch it sadly crumbling away behind the

trees. This must be it. Last year, a local barrister, Christopher Boyle,

stepped in to save it. But I wonder if it might be too late. This is

I better go and find the man brave just the biggest project forever.

I better go and find the man brave enough to take it on.

Hello. Christopher? Nice to meet you. Why

take on Kirklinton Hall? Why not, is the answer. I have been

driving past this almost all my life am a and it has been getting

progressively worse and worse. It was one of those moments, if we

didn't step in it would be lost forever.

Charlie don't have a look? This place has had an interesting past,

hasn't it? Yes, but we find the modern lead

more interesting. We had the casino, and we had the Kray Twins, and the

legendary Barbara Windsor came, and all sorts of bad doings went on.

Dartington Hall lived at its last days as a gambling hall. Rumours had

it that farmers came from miles around to enjoy a flutter and let

their hair down. It was originally built in the six DVDs in the family

home, having survived two wars, and it wasn't until the 1980s began to

follow part. How did it end up getting into such a state?

The man who ran it as a nightclub fell foul of somebody, and possibly

just creditors, and he literally upped sticks and went. Watford

through that door, and was never seen again. Wonderful tales of

people taking wardrobes down to the river as boats. Then it gets

progressively derelict thereafter. What argument do with this?

This is the 17th`century part of the house, and the intention is to

restore that part as close as reasonable to the 16 80s original

appearance. How much will you have to spend?

There is no budget. There can be no budget.

Restoring Kirklinton Hall back to its original appearance is trickier

than it may sound. The place is a mishmash, with every generation

tinkering with it, particularly the Victorians, who just didn't think

the building was grand enough. He twiddles we saw Victorian, we

want to reopen these wonderful Windows.

Christopher has not been able to find any pictures of the house

before the Victorians meddled with the. You may want to restore a piece

of Cumbria's history, but with no original plans are images, how will

he achieve it? Any other clues out there?

One thing I would like to see but haven't had chance to crack down is

a painting which was given to the land agent in the 1930s by the last

Mr Kirklington and the place was being sold. Apparently it shows the

building before the Victorian windows came on.

This might be key for you. Absolutely. It might

Christopher is passionate about saving is building for its

architectural beauty, that is why he is why he's keen on getting the

details right. This is very much one man's passion. If it wasn't for

Christopher, Kirklinton Hall may have been lost forever. Our heritage

relies on us to make choices, but how do we decide what to keep? What

buildings are important to save, why?

Gayle Mill was a finalist in the BBC's Restoration series in 2004. It

was the last working sawmill in the orchard deals, but it closed down in

1980s when the business was no longer viable. For local people, the

mill is in important part of local history and identity. Didn't want to

save the building, they wanted to run it as a working mill. They

wanted to keep traditional methods and skills alive.

I would love to see water coming down there, and see that turbine

swinging and everything going again.

After a nationwide campaign to save the mill, they were successful in

winning Heritage Lottery Fund Bing. Ten years on, I am eating Mark Allen

of Gayle Mill trust to see how they are doing. Do you have a future, is

it sustainable? Yes it is, we ran it as a commercial

sawmill. We supply timber to local businesses. We supplemented with

some grants. Things like children's education, so we bring kids around

the mill. The difficulty is to do with volunteers. Is difficult to

attract them, and we use volunteers to do everything around the mill.

One volunteer who was not difficult to attract is Tony, who has a deeply

personal connection to the mill. High, Tony. What an amazing bit of

kit. We are very proud of this bit of

machinery to stop it is the last bit of machinery we restored. We did a

lot of work on it. The mill had gone into disrepair. Gayle Mill trust

came along, and we took over to restore all the machinery and get

the mill back to working like it is today.

By leaving it was important to save this?

I had an interest because I was the last apprentice to serve here. It

was great to come back and give your place up and going, not just for

myself but for future generations. I nice to be back doing it again?

I get a lot of pleasure out of it. You're still not getting paid

Western? I'm still getting paid. You can have

some practice on the one upstairs. Ready to go?

Let's have a look? It'll look nice.

All that power is just coming off the water? It is amazing. The cat

flap that is, it's brilliant. There certainly seems to be an appetite

for what goes on here, and it seems to work well enough to ensure the

mill will be well looked after. But what happens when support from the

local community is not enough? Union Bridge connects England and

Scotland cross the River Tweed. At the time of been built it was a

largest suspension bridge in the world. After years of neglect, it

has found its way onto the English Heritage at Risk register. Should we

save it? Although it is no longer a trade route, it is still a vital

link for the people who live here. I've come to Chain Bridge Honey Farm

to find out why. Hello. I find you. Header? Lovely to see you. What goes

on at the honey farm? We've got roughly 1500 hives of

these. We do the processing back here, so we have my sister cutting

out honeycombs. Hello. It looks lovely.

In the readme honeycomb before? Just delving. It does contain wax, but it

is very tasty. My goodness.

The declining state of the bridge is a real concern here.

The bridge is our access to the other side of the border. A lot of

our visitors access the farm from the bridge and come from the

Scottish side. You are on the other side of the

bridge and you? I live on the Scottish side,

France's lives in English side. What will happen if it closes?

Who knows? You must be pleased it is on the at

risk register? Yes, I suppose I would prefer it to

be in better shape. It can't be ignored now it is on the register.

You can see itself a kind of rust that is on it now and these patches

that have appeared. It would be great if they could be fixed up.

What if it were to get to such a state can be used by cars?

It would affect people on both sides in terms of getting to jobs, getting

to schools and getting about generally. The fact is, a committee

has been created because of this bridge, even though it is Scotland

on one side and England on the other.

Here we have a fabulous old Bridge, still in use and vital to the

locals... Yet, despite being on that at risk register, there is no

guarantee they will get the cash to save it. What hope is there for a

striking bit of our heritage that has lost its purpose completely?

The Dunston Staithes were built at the end of the 19th century. They

were used to shift up to five and half million tonnes of coal a year

from trains onto boats. In with mines closing all over the

region, the Dunston Staithes' fate was sealed. We have been abandoned

and are now in a state of disrepair. Martin has been competing

for ten years to save them. I want to know why.

The Dunston Staithes is probably the biggest timber structure in Europe.

This is iconic, it's an emblem of the industry of the north`east.

Yes, but it is defunct. It is looking for a new purpose. The

first project is to get people back onto the structure. Busy promenade,

should come to enjoy it. It is a peer, on the city.

Even though it is ugly and industrial it is worth preserving?

This is a structural engineering masterpiece. It carried trains fully

laden, temples at the side of it. It is a real icon of the time.

You only have his lot of money pledged so far stop it is not

certain this will happen, is it? It is not. It has been on the at

risk register for a decade. My job is to get it off that register. Yes,

we need money and investment. I must say, the Dunston Staithes or

sorry state. And to be fantastic to see them in their heyday?

UNESCO is policing work of national UNESCO is policing work of national

significance. She photographed the Dunston Staithes back when they were

working, and today she will print one of those images for the first

time. This is the first print ever from

that negative, I have not seen it before.

Here it comes. Hello, how are you? I can't wait to

see this picture. Do you have it ready?

I do. My word. It's just so evocative of

the time, isn't it? Do you know this?

I have memories of it as a child, but I can't really recall it

working. There. These look great, also. Is this the Dunston Staithes,

also? You captured when it was working. Is not working any more.

Should we keep it? My view is that these structures are

the real monuments to human endeavour that you can never

replicate. The cranes have gone now, the speed with which the

landscape has been sanitised, to me it is robbing us of the sense of who

we really were. Who we are. You captured in 2`D. Do we really

need a 3`D version? I believe so, absolutely. A

photograph is a way of drawing attention to something that is

magnificent, but it is never the real thing. I could take a nice

picture of you know, but it would not replace your beautiful face,

would it eyes`mac sweet talk. I'm not an ancient monument yet.

One day, give it time. You could make a strong case for saving all of

our heritage. But that takes money and lots of it. So who decides the

fate of the structures? And what do they base those decisions on? The

largest source of money to pay for restoration comes from the Heritage

Lottery Fund. Without its support, most large`scale project would not

stand a chance. This man is the man holding the purse strings in the

north`east. What sort of project you spend money on? We're spending 1.4

million on the restoration of the building, but also the

interpretation and access to the building for the wider public. So

this is a classic bit of heritage? Yes, this is the medieval core of

Newcastle. How do you choose what to put your money into and whatnot?

Each application is thoroughly assessed to make sure it has

sufficient money, it is a critical part. We have seen Gayle Mill and

Dunston Staithes, where are they at? Gayle Mill is delivered and

volunteers are running the building. With Dunston Staithes, it is a

different situation, they are working towards the full

application. Once we get that application, we will determine

whether or not we will fund the project. Difficult choices. It is

very difficult. The funds we have our under pressure at the moment. We

have to make sure it is actually going to be sustainable for the

future. You would save a castle like this, wouldn't you? It is a

no`brainer. But for the Victorians, this bit of history stood right in

the way of progress. A new railway line new lease `` newly resulted in

the demolition of this castle. At Hexham train station, they find a

compromise that the Victorians would never have considered. This stable

was originally built for the horses that carried goods on and off the

trains. In 2011, it was about to be threatened for a new development.

Hexham Civic Society stepped in. tried very hard to keep the building

here. It is being painstakingly dismantled and taken away. One day,

the stable could be built at Beamish Open Air Museum. Everything has been

counted, it will all go back up as it was here, which is magical and

wonderful. Though the team are doing a fantastic job, they are not

leaving anything to chance. The staircase? Yes, that has gone up

this morning. And the window frames? What about the fireplace? The

fireplace is on that palette there, actually. I am looking at the bricks

and wondering how it will all go back together. It will be a hell of

a jigsaw puzzle. By the end of the day, every trace of this building

will be gone. My heart jumped into my mouth every time we came into

Hexham to see if the building was still there. Then came the day when

it wasn't. Like today, it is gone. But I have to hang on to the good

thing that it will be read built someday. Down in Beamish, where

hopefully I will still be there to go and enjoy it. Moving a building

like this seems like an extraordinary thing to do. I want to

meet the man who has promised to put it back up. He is the assistant

director of Beamish, the museum has forked out over ?80,000 on what can

only be described as a fairly ordinary building. Why do we want to

keep the Hexham stable? It is special. It is special by its very

normal nurse of a lost world. That simple building was so typical of so

many towns, where the horse did everything. That lost world is

carried on, and it has run out of luck. When will we see it in one

piece? It will depend on tyre Leon money. `` entirely on money. It will

be a few years, but it will happen. It seems almost unbelievable that a

building can be dismantled and rebuilt in this way. But look at

Beamish town, proof that it really is possible. Where has this all come

from? All over the region, that is the simple truth, as it should do.

To your right, we have got some stuff in from Morecambe. And this is

from Gateshead. What is this? It is one way of preserving or conserving

buildings. They would otherwise have gone to landfill. If you cannot

leave it where it is, for whatever reason, putting them together where

they can make an attraction and sure the people of the region are

history, that is worthwhile. Having seen the beautifully restored

buildings, I am curious to find out what the stable looks like now. I

don't think I have ever seen a building look like this before,

neatly packed. Daniel, hello. How are you? This is the strangest

thing, taking a building apart bit by brick `` brick by brick. Yes,

usually they just get pulled down. It will have a different history.

People will be happy that it has been rebuilt. A lot of people were

upset. What will you do if you leave one brick right at the end? We won't

build. It may not be a remarkable building, but should we be losing a

piece of history for what will become car parking spaces? Should we

save buildings should preserve the identity of a place. `` to preserve

the identity of the place. Owen Luder is a man who knows a lot about

regret, and the loss of something that should have been treasured. My

last sight of it was when they were knocking it down. That was the last

view I had of the car park. It was gone. Owen is the architect of the

Trinity Square shopping centre and car park. It was seen by everybody

crossing the Tyne Bridge and in the classic film Get Carter. It was

demolished in 2010, after a heated campaign to save it.

Perfect timing. Nice to meet you. Lovely to be back in Gateshead. Is

it, because it is all change, isn't it? Where is your car park now? The

car park would have been soaring above our heads. It was used for a

decade having fallen into a state of disrepair. Why did he think his

building was worth saving? What was the car park? An increasing number

of people think it was a cheese was one. If it had not gone by then it

would be kept, because opinion is beginning to turn around. We have to

decide which of the buildings we really ought to keep. In heritage

terms, it was an iconic building of the 60s. But we didn't keep it. And

this is the development replacing it. Everybody seems to like it. Is

huge Tesco. This is the building of now, that was the building of the

past. And how will we feel about it in years to come? Although they

decided to knock the car park down, and it vanished from Gateshead's

skyline, you can still find traces of it if you know where to look.

Here it is. Box 505, cutting`edge designs from the 60s, from a

building that is lost forever, to one that is being saved by the skin

of its teeth. Back at Kirklinton Hall, preparations are being made to

restore it to its former glory. Christopher Boyle are still on the

hunt for clues to its original appearance. He thinks he may finally

have the answers he needs. I have discovered where the painting is

that shows the front of the house. And that is vital, because we do not

have any image of it, so it is going to be really important evidence.

Particularly for my theory about the right`hand tower. There isn't any

evidence just by looking at it. Hopefully this painting is going to

be Impressionist? That would be unfortunate. I hope this painting

will live up to Christopher's expectations. Hello. Christopher,

come in. Nice to see you. Where is this painting? Come through here and

we will have a look. I have got one here of Kirklinton Hall in its

heyday. Oh, fantastic. Look at that. Wow. That is interesting because

that shows the bridge. And also exactly as we pictured, the little

bridge. The gateposts are fab, aren't they? Are they still there?

No, they're not. It is plain that the original mullions had gone by

then. The two blank gables, no corners, interestingly. No fancy

corners. It is a bit more simple... It is a very overgrown farmhouse,

isn't it? Are you going to take the fancy stuff off? It is all part of

the story, isn't it? Have you been to the house? Yes, I used to go

there in my teens. It was turned into a nightclub. You had a few

interesting nights there? Yes, I think all the other farmers did as

well. What do you think? It is fantastic, if my grandfather was

around he would be excited to see it. He might help build it.

Christopher has taken on a monumental task. But he has dried,

endless patience, and passion. He and his family will succeed, I

think, in bringing Kirklinton Hall back to life. Every place we have

been extra question, should we save it for future generations? Once it

has gone, it has gone. But we cannot keep everything. Like it or not, we

have to choose, and that is tough. We will find out in the next two

days whether Dunston Staithes will have the cash they need. We can look

back with pride at their heritage we did save or with regret.

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