:00:00. > :00:10.My name's Tom Holland. I'm an historian and I've always had a
:00:11. > :00:16.passion for bringing the past back to life. In a way this car here, a
:00:17. > :00:22.Morris Minor convertible, bears witness to a similar passion. It's
:00:23. > :00:25.been beautifully restored by an owner, it is a gem of motoring
:00:26. > :00:29.heritage. He spent time and money getting it back to how it would have
:00:30. > :00:36.looked back in the showroom some 40 years ago.
:00:37. > :00:42.In this programme, I will be heading off in this piece of history on with
:00:43. > :00:48.had wheels to explore three sites that people are desperate to
:00:49. > :00:54.preserve. I'll be visiting a building with links to Dickens and
:00:55. > :00:59.Australia. We are Portsmouthest most haunted building. The site of a gun
:01:00. > :01:05.foundry next to a lake, and a former hospital founded in memory of a man
:01:06. > :01:10.killed by an elephant. For a building that's Grade 2 listed to be
:01:11. > :01:17.allowed to get into this state is a crime. Should they be saved, and, if
:01:18. > :01:22.so, what to do with them? And I'll catch up with build pension featured
:01:23. > :01:25.in the BBC Two Restoration series. They all have remarkable stories to
:01:26. > :01:28.tell, not just about the past itself but about the way that people today
:01:29. > :01:57.react to the past. I've come to the Isle of Wight,
:01:58. > :02:04.which for a shawl place has an incredible number of grand Victorian
:02:05. > :02:09.buildings, the most famous is Queen victor's own, Osborne House. This
:02:10. > :02:13.one is more modest, more run down, but for more than a century it had
:02:14. > :02:21.had a central role to play in the life of people here in east cows. ``
:02:22. > :02:25.east Cowes. This is a perfectly normal looking street. The houses
:02:26. > :02:30.are the kind you would find all over Britain, but what this street has
:02:31. > :02:33.which most streets don't have is an extraordinary building, a mini
:02:34. > :02:42.Hogwarts. It is just further down the road over here. That is really
:02:43. > :02:47.splendid. In fact it used to be a hospital, the Frank James Memorial
:02:48. > :02:53.Hospital, and it was opened back in 1903 by the magnificently named
:02:54. > :03:00.Princess Henry of Battenburg, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria.
:03:01. > :03:05.It is a masterpiece of neo`gothic, designed by one of the great
:03:06. > :03:09.Victorian architects. He was the swear of Westminster Abbey, which
:03:10. > :03:15.may explain the period atmosphere that it has got. Unsurprisingly it
:03:16. > :03:20.is a Grade 2 building. It is a significant building but as you can
:03:21. > :03:24.see it is also in a state of chronic disrepair. What I'm going to do now
:03:25. > :03:30.is meet Tanya Rebel, the leader of a group of locals who want to keep it
:03:31. > :03:34.going. Welcome to Frank James. Hi. Nice to meet you. What an amazing
:03:35. > :03:38.place you've got here. Isn't it just. I immediately noticed there is
:03:39. > :03:42.a white elephant on the side over there. I guess this is a bit of a
:03:43. > :03:48.white elephant, because presumably it is not a hospital any more. When
:03:49. > :03:52.did it stop being a hospital? 2002. Sadly it has been standing like this
:03:53. > :03:56.ever since it was bought. The former hospital was purchased by a
:03:57. > :04:00.consortium who planned to divide the building into 11 flats, but planning
:04:01. > :04:06.issues and financial problems prevented the work from going ahead.
:04:07. > :04:11.Some of the units ended up repossessed by mortgage lenders and
:04:12. > :04:17.some of these when the banking crisis hit crashed themselves. The
:04:18. > :04:21.issue of who o ss the building is a paralysing mess. How do locals feel
:04:22. > :04:27.that this incredible building has been left to sit here? They are
:04:28. > :04:31.very, very upset in actual fact. They are furious, because such a
:04:32. > :04:35.lovely building. It was a very love Liberal Democrat cottage hospital.
:04:36. > :04:40.This is a great community spirit in east Cowes. When we got in here we
:04:41. > :04:46.couldn't see the front door. There was so much vegetation, we had to
:04:47. > :04:50.fight our way. In It has the detailing that you generally don't
:04:51. > :04:56.find in a hospital. Over the door here, that Medieval knight? There
:04:57. > :05:02.are some interesting features here and there is a lovely plaque to do
:05:03. > :05:08.with the fact in this building was originally a seamen's mission. And
:05:09. > :05:16.that plaque says Ye who within these walls do meet pray ye find a safe
:05:17. > :05:21.place to meet. There is a nautical theme suggesting a memorial to a
:05:22. > :05:26.sailor. So who was Frank James? Rich, young, Victorian, Frank James
:05:27. > :05:31.set out to become an explorer. He travelled in the Sudan, Somalia,
:05:32. > :05:40.India and Mexico, touring the world in his own yacht, the Lancashire
:05:41. > :05:43.Witch. They celebrated their birthday in classic Victorian
:05:44. > :05:48.fashion, with an elephant hunt. Frank shot and wounded an elephant,
:05:49. > :05:57.which charged and wounded him. James was buried in the Sussex village of
:05:58. > :06:03.West Dean. His brother set up a home for retired seamen. They built it in
:06:04. > :06:09.east Cowes. The building wasn't a semen's mission for long, perhaps
:06:10. > :06:16.because the retired sea dog dogs seem to have been a nuisance. It was
:06:17. > :06:21.a cottage hospital until its closure in 2002. You used to work here? I
:06:22. > :06:26.did, in the operating theatre, for eight years. When was the last time
:06:27. > :06:32.you came here? About 20 years ago. I imagine it has changed quite a bit.
:06:33. > :06:43.Let's open it and see what it's like. Kevin, I guess a bit of a
:06:44. > :06:48.change? It certainly is. I can remember coming in here, coming to
:06:49. > :06:52.work, coming up these stairs to the changing room. There used to be
:06:53. > :06:56.accommodation for the matron. The wards were on this level. There was
:06:57. > :07:02.a female ward to our left and the male word was ward was on the
:07:03. > :07:05.right`hand side. Let's have a look at some of the wards. This is
:07:06. > :07:10.towards the operating theatre, where I used to work. Is there is a large
:07:11. > :07:15.wall in the way. Presumably there wasn't a wall here originally? No,
:07:16. > :07:20.there wasn't. Along this corridor we had church pews and when we had
:07:21. > :07:25.outpatients people would be sat there. How do you feel now? It is
:07:26. > :07:28.depressing to though the hospital stands empty which was meant to be
:07:29. > :07:31.used for the community of east Cowes. The hospital had always been
:07:32. > :07:36.at the heart of the community and indeed it was partly funded by local
:07:37. > :07:39.donations. Even though it has been closed for years now that strong
:07:40. > :07:43.sense of community involvement has continued. In fact it is a building
:07:44. > :07:50.that means so much to locals that every month they turn out to work on
:07:51. > :07:55.the grounds. John. Let me interrupt you. You must be one of the friends
:07:56. > :07:59.who... This place is really important to you. What memories does
:08:00. > :08:04.this have for you, what's the significance? My mother, a retired
:08:05. > :08:10.nurse, used to be a nurse down here in the late 1960s and early '70s. My
:08:11. > :08:16.father passed away here in 1977. He was well looked after in his final
:08:17. > :08:19.weeks. One could argue it should be painful memories but it is almost as
:08:20. > :08:26.if the building is embracing you. That's how I feel when I stand here.
:08:27. > :08:31.The building itself, makes you feel safe. The important thing is that it
:08:32. > :08:35.is saved, that it is used again, and that work is started to reverse the
:08:36. > :08:38.damage we are seeing now. The only people taking an interest in it at
:08:39. > :08:42.the moment apart from us are the thieves and the vandals. Ironically
:08:43. > :08:47.the architect who designed this building was once a chairman of the
:08:48. > :08:51.Associate for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, an organisation
:08:52. > :08:58.which still today has clear views on how to preserve our architectural
:08:59. > :09:02.inheritance. The best way of conserving "Old Benny" buildings is
:09:03. > :09:06.finding ways this they can be used for the present and the future. Off
:09:07. > :09:10.than can mean simple works of protection, emergency roofs,
:09:11. > :09:17.mothballing we sometimes call it, which just means holding back the
:09:18. > :09:22.decay for the short term until a better prospect of use can come
:09:23. > :09:28.along. I asked the councillor why the council hadn't stepped in. The
:09:29. > :09:35.We will continue to try to knock heads together and move forward, but
:09:36. > :09:39.we cannot commit any finance. We cannot commit the council to put out
:09:40. > :09:44.an urgent repair notice for instance. And we will not do this
:09:45. > :09:47.with any buildings that have a complexity of ownership. I hope it
:09:48. > :09:51.works out for the friends, that they are able to get funding the, but it
:09:52. > :09:57.means counted funding the. It is not just a matter of saying willy`nilly
:09:58. > :10:00.we have this building, it is a very costly business indeed I'm so
:10:01. > :10:04.frustrated that this building has got into this state. We are told
:10:05. > :10:08.this and told that. This will happen, nothing happens. And for a
:10:09. > :10:12.building which is Grade 2 list Liberal Democrat to have been
:10:13. > :10:17.allowed to get into this horrendous state is a crime. It is criminal. I
:10:18. > :10:25.can't see a clear future for Frank James at the moment.
:10:26. > :10:30.So how do building like the Frank James Hospital get saved? Perhaps
:10:31. > :10:34.lessons can be learned from the BBC's Restoration series. Here's
:10:35. > :10:37.what happened to Sherborne House in Dorset, which was in a very sorry
:10:38. > :10:42.state when featured in the programme. Although it didn't win,
:10:43. > :10:48.the coverage raised the profile of the building a great deal. We did
:10:49. > :10:52.rev some funds to do some research and development to see what it would
:10:53. > :11:01.take to restore the entire building the. It was a massive job. This then
:11:02. > :11:06.resulted in the house being sold. Which is actually I think probably
:11:07. > :11:12.the best thing that could have happened, because the council
:11:13. > :11:19.negotiated with the new owner, who wanted to build on some of the
:11:20. > :11:23.brownfield site behind the build ng a contract with them which meant
:11:24. > :11:29.they had to restore the house, the house has been restore externally.
:11:30. > :11:34.And the restoration internally is currently going through agreement
:11:35. > :11:38.process. The most notable future of Sherborne House is the fabulous
:11:39. > :11:43.thorn they will staircase that. Too has been fully restored. They had to
:11:44. > :11:48.clean off the grime and take the painting right back to the original.
:11:49. > :11:53.Thereafter, they removed also what had been add since. A lot of the
:11:54. > :11:57.overpainting in fact was rather clumsy. Some of it completely
:11:58. > :12:02.inappropriate. It is now looking beautiful. They have done a very
:12:03. > :12:07.good job. It's been heartening I think for the friends of Sherborne
:12:08. > :12:14.House, who raised the ?60,000 necessary to do the work. There is
:12:15. > :12:20.an agreement apparently written down, no`one seem to be able to find
:12:21. > :12:24.it now, that a gallery or public access to the build willing be
:12:25. > :12:29.maintained and there'll be an ongoing arts programme at the house.
:12:30. > :12:35.It is a great joy to see sit. One is very fond of it having looked at it
:12:36. > :12:39.so often but it is as beautiful perhaps as it has ever been it is a
:12:40. > :12:47.sheer joy to see it in its present state.
:12:48. > :12:53.This is Tern Hurst in West Sussex. It might seem the image of a rural
:12:54. > :12:57.idyll but appearances can be deceptive. This is one of the places
:12:58. > :13:02.that's been slated as a possible centre for fracking. In the past as
:13:03. > :13:08.well, the village like much of the rest of the Weald was the centre of
:13:09. > :13:14.something unexamined ` England's iron industry.
:13:15. > :13:17.People think of it as a wonderful landscape, but it is a landscape
:13:18. > :13:22.that's been shaped by people over 500,000 years. Some of that shaping
:13:23. > :13:26.has been very gentle and is about farming and some of it is mainly
:13:27. > :13:30.industrial activity of the for us today it is hard to imagine this was
:13:31. > :13:35.a place where so many people lived and worked in what would have been a
:13:36. > :13:41.hot, noisy, smelly and dangerous business, casting iron and making
:13:42. > :13:46.guns for the Navy. The Weald was once a huge forest stretching for
:13:47. > :13:53.10020 miles across Hampshire, Sussex and Kent. In Old English it means
:13:54. > :14:02.fovrmts it was once with full of furnaces. `` it means forest. The
:14:03. > :14:07.this is a replica of the kind of furnace that powered that industry.
:14:08. > :14:12.The kind of furnace that you would once have found all over the Weald.
:14:13. > :14:17.To the untrained eye, this might not look like much, but in its heyday
:14:18. > :14:22.the furnace here was at the heart of Britain's iron industry. It is the
:14:23. > :14:26.best surviving example of an iron works anywhere in West Sussex.
:14:27. > :14:31.Jeremy Hodgkinson is an expert in the history of the local iron
:14:32. > :14:38.industry. Back in the 17th century this would be ham hearing, steam,
:14:39. > :14:43.clamour... Yes. Absolutely. You wouldn't... The trees here wouldn't
:14:44. > :14:48.have been around. The demand for wood was enormous. What scale are we
:14:49. > :14:52.talking about here, what wealth was being generated? Considerable
:14:53. > :14:57.wealth. Large numbers of landowners were becoming involved in it. Wealth
:14:58. > :15:00.was being created at a time when it was economically prosperous for the
:15:01. > :15:04.country as aling with. So it was like the forerunners of the iron
:15:05. > :15:09.masters of the Industrial Revolution but down here instead of the North?
:15:10. > :15:15.Yes, iron master was a term first used in the Weald before anywhere
:15:16. > :15:21.else. That must be a course of Sussex pride. Of course it is. So is
:15:22. > :15:27.sit still being used? Yes, very much so. There is a change in the use at
:15:28. > :15:32.that time, because pretty well all the furnaces in the Weald were
:15:33. > :15:36.changing over to gun founding. This was no exception. The evidence is
:15:37. > :15:42.there in the structures that you can see today. And here is a good
:15:43. > :15:50.example. You can see in the remains here down where Robin is now. In a
:15:51. > :15:54.move not without contemporary echoes the iron industry was killed off by
:15:55. > :15:59.a decision made in London. A big contract for guns was given to a
:16:00. > :16:05.Scottish company, which offered a much lower price. Most of the gun
:16:06. > :16:09.foundries of the Weald lost out, and many of the furnaces at that time
:16:10. > :16:14.found it very difficult to continue. The sad thing about it is there are
:16:15. > :16:18.no physical remains apart from places like this to indicate there
:16:19. > :16:24.was ever an iron industry in this area. Which is what makes this spot
:16:25. > :16:30.so precious. Indeed. This is a rare example of a site where there is a
:16:31. > :16:34.lot still to be seen. Robin, hi, how's the industrial archaeology
:16:35. > :16:39.coming on? Robin's family have owned this wood for over 250 years. He
:16:40. > :16:45.took part in the detailed excavation of the site in 1987. We are standing
:16:46. > :16:50.in the middle of the gun`casting pit. You can see the bricks all the
:16:51. > :16:54.way around. That would probably have been another 1 foot or 18 inches
:16:55. > :16:59.higher than that, so you are level with the base of the furnace and the
:17:00. > :17:04.iron ore would have come out of the furnace there. It would run straight
:17:05. > :17:08.out into the moulds. In front of us would have been the two water
:17:09. > :17:14.wheels. It seems curious to have water so close to molten iron but I
:17:15. > :17:20.believe this is a standard configure in iron furnaces. Water from that
:17:21. > :17:24.man`made lake powered the bellows. These heated the furnace to the
:17:25. > :17:28.temperatures required to melt the iron ore. It is water from this lake
:17:29. > :17:32.that's now threatening to sweep away what remains. This looks like
:17:33. > :17:40.something of a fantasy novel. What is going on here? This is what we
:17:41. > :17:44.call the water relief spill`way. This is where the controlled, this
:17:45. > :17:49.is where they controlled the level of the pond. Sluice boards here
:17:50. > :17:52.would control the water. And now it is collapsing is it? That's why you
:17:53. > :17:58.have put these here? That's right. How close was it to collapse? That's
:17:59. > :18:04.anyone's guess. If it did, the the wonder would drain out, so
:18:05. > :18:08.downstream the Environment Agency would be having kittens. We would
:18:09. > :18:12.have lost the foot path over the top, that's the County Council's
:18:13. > :18:16.responsibility. So a plethora of bad things basically. Absolutely. We've
:18:17. > :18:21.got to make sure it is secured. Visitors to the site are currently
:18:22. > :18:25.restricted, but if money can be raised for the urgently needed
:18:26. > :18:29.repairs this furnace could once again offer visitors a window on to
:18:30. > :18:33.a vanished industrial past. We would like it to be available to people.
:18:34. > :18:40.That's what a place like this is for. We find that people are not
:18:41. > :18:45.quite so fond of stately homes, to imagine that in their own life, but
:18:46. > :18:50.a place like this everyone can imagine that their anti`seedents had
:18:51. > :18:55.been there and done that kind of work. We talk about
:18:56. > :18:59.de`industrialisation and I guess we are all familiar with the way that
:19:00. > :19:04.changes in technology can eliminate entire industries. What you see here
:19:05. > :19:09.in the Weald takes that to an incredible extreme. There is no way
:19:10. > :19:16.that this is ever going to reindustrialise. The glory days of
:19:17. > :19:20.history here in the Weald are gone forever. That's why it is so
:19:21. > :19:24.important to preserve this legacy of it. Otherwise it will legal vanish.
:19:25. > :19:28.What you get here that's so wonderful is you get this trace of
:19:29. > :19:33.industrial history but you also get this absolutely stunning natural
:19:34. > :19:38.beauty as well. So in a sense, you have the best of both worlds.
:19:39. > :19:43.And now for another restoration update.
:19:44. > :19:49.This is what Griff Rhys Jones found when Restoration first visited this
:19:50. > :19:53.folly in Hampshire. The collection of gothic towers and arches makes
:19:54. > :19:58.this one of the most extraordinary buildings ever put up in the middle
:19:59. > :20:02.of a rural visibility. Much of the ground floor is in reasonable
:20:03. > :20:06.condition but after years of neglect is rest of the building is in a
:20:07. > :20:10.ghastly stay. Since then there's been a successful bid for funding
:20:11. > :20:13.but sadly this is another example of joint ownership issues
:20:14. > :20:21.apparentlyising attempts to restore the building. And today the future
:20:22. > :20:27.of this Victorian folly raised by an eccentric Hampshire rector still has
:20:28. > :20:31.to be resovd. `` resolved. Back on the road I'm heading south to
:20:32. > :20:37.Portsmouth. Once the world's busiest port, things here are changing again
:20:38. > :20:42.as industries move away and even shipbuilding is disappearing.
:20:43. > :20:47.Standing outside this beautiful 18th century building surrounded by
:20:48. > :20:50.modern estates it might seem like an island left abandoned by the
:20:51. > :20:54.retreating tide of history. But the people who live here still feel a
:20:55. > :21:01.passionate sense of attachment to it. After a devastating fire, it was
:21:02. > :21:10.the local community who brought it back to life. The building is now
:21:11. > :21:17.occupied by the groundlets theatre company `` groundlets theatre
:21:18. > :21:21.company led by Richard Stride. `` Groundlings Theatre company. I get a
:21:22. > :21:24.sense this is the hub of the community. Absolutely. People can
:21:25. > :21:30.get involved in the architectural side, the historic side, costume
:21:31. > :21:36.making, set`building the, including the garden. There is a lot of
:21:37. > :21:41.volunteer help that goes on here. I've noticed that people just stroll
:21:42. > :21:47.in. They do, yes. There is a buzz to it. The place is pretty much open
:21:48. > :21:51.from 9 o'clock in the morning to 9 o'clock at night seven days a week.
:21:52. > :21:55.When did you move in? Three`and`a`half years ago. It
:21:56. > :22:02.didn't like anything like this. What did it look like? A burnt`out wreck,
:22:03. > :22:08.which is what it was. What persuaded you to buy it? Had you always wanted
:22:09. > :22:12.to buy a gutted wreck? I had a feel for the place and thought it would
:22:13. > :22:16.be magical. I didn't know much about the history, but it just felt
:22:17. > :22:26.And the aim was always to make it into a theatre? Absolutely. This
:22:27. > :22:30.building feels very much a part of Portsmouth's life today. It hat a
:22:31. > :22:34.lived in feel about it. But that isn't to that the people who use it
:22:35. > :22:38.don't care about its fabric or its past. Dan and Phoebe are members of
:22:39. > :22:43.the youth theatre that regularly meets here. When the building was
:22:44. > :22:49.first bought, me and my dad were pretty much helping out all the
:22:50. > :22:55.time. Me too. Shifting stuff. I was the one who painted the bathrooms.
:22:56. > :23:00.It is because of me that they are that lovely colour. Everyone I think
:23:01. > :23:03.who is part of the drama school who was there at the time did something,
:23:04. > :23:11.so we can all look at a wall and think, I painted that, or I put that
:23:12. > :23:16.wall up, wow! It is nice. I think if you return everything to how it was
:23:17. > :23:20.it what be a bit impractical. But in a way it is a selling point, because
:23:21. > :23:24.you sell the history of the building, so we do plays about the
:23:25. > :23:30.history of the building. The history if anything has helped Groundlings
:23:31. > :23:35.to become more popular and to become part of Portsmouthest history. ``
:23:36. > :23:41.Portsmouth's history. But this building is already part of
:23:42. > :23:44.Portsmouth history. Built in 1784 by a group of community minded
:23:45. > :23:49.merchants the building originally housed a school for poor local boys.
:23:50. > :23:55.Upstairs in the hall once used for Navy dance it's I met Professor Tony
:23:56. > :24:02.Pointon from the Dick tense fellowship, who told me about its
:24:03. > :24:06.link to the novelist. His mother began her labour in this room, which
:24:07. > :24:11.is a space that was used for dances by his officers in the dockyard. It
:24:12. > :24:21.is kind of fitting isn't it, because Dick Devons is all `` Dick dens is
:24:22. > :24:25.all about melodrama and high drama, a Dickensian way to come into the
:24:26. > :24:29.world. Absolutely. And this is a pre`eminent naval town, so it is
:24:30. > :24:33.full of people coming off the ships, people involved with the Navy. At
:24:34. > :24:39.that particular time it was the busiest port in the world. Meanwhile
:24:40. > :24:42.as the upstairs hall hosted its meetings and dances, downstairs was
:24:43. > :24:44.where the classrooms were to be found.
:24:45. > :24:53.They had basic training of writing and mathematics and background, but
:24:54. > :24:58.the intention was that they would be able thing themselves good jobs. The
:24:59. > :25:05.school's most famous "Old Benny" boy was Henry Ayers. After getting his
:25:06. > :25:08.education here he went on to be First Minister of South Australia
:25:09. > :25:12.and to give his name to Ayers Rock. Is the plan to try and get it back
:25:13. > :25:16.to the original as far as you can? As far as we can, yes. It is very
:25:17. > :25:23.difficult to find exactly how it I would have looked because there is
:25:24. > :25:28.no photography. 1785. Again, some of it is a little bit of guesswork. But
:25:29. > :25:36.clues to the past are coming from some unusual sources. We are
:25:37. > :25:41.Portsmouthest most `` Portsmouth's most haunted building. I knew it had
:25:42. > :25:46.a bit of a ghost past but not ten. Every single room apart from the
:25:47. > :25:52.technical room is haunted. In this room we have two residents ghosts.
:25:53. > :25:57.One is a child that tends to up the shoes `` tends to upset the shoes.
:25:58. > :26:03.The wardrobe lady most mornings says, oh, no! And the shoes are on
:26:04. > :26:08.the floor. We have a famous headmaster, and a lady who haunts
:26:09. > :26:12.the changing rooming. This is the most mustn'ted spot in the theatre?
:26:13. > :26:17.Yes. We had a psychic who came here and said that this was a place where
:26:18. > :26:22.a child had been killed. This woman had witnessed it called Jill, or she
:26:23. > :26:26.had committed the murder. She said that she threw the child down the
:26:27. > :26:32.staircase. There is no staircase here. Six months ago we found in the
:26:33. > :26:37.records office in the library an "Old Benny" plan of this building.
:26:38. > :26:42.And sure enough on the plan is the staircase. That's a very haunted
:26:43. > :26:45.house. If you renovate it too much one of the great qualities of it at
:26:46. > :26:49.the moment is it feels slightlily battered. It feels lived in, the
:26:50. > :26:54.kind of place people can be comfortable in. Do you think if you
:26:55. > :26:58.restore it the locals will continue to feel they have a stake in it?
:26:59. > :27:02.Very much so. They've taken it to the first stage but you couldn't
:27:03. > :27:05.really ever make this build being absolutely pristine. What the
:27:06. > :27:12.restoration would do is make sure that the building is secure, sound,
:27:13. > :27:17.and able to stand here for generations and hopefully for
:27:18. > :27:22.another 100 or 300 years more. So it is about getting a balance between
:27:23. > :27:30.authentic restoration but an ability for people to feel they have a stake
:27:31. > :27:34.in it? Very much so. For our last restoration update we are travelling
:27:35. > :27:39.to Compton in Surrey, and a building that was perilously close to
:27:40. > :27:43.collapse. The Watts gallery. Built for one of the most popular painters
:27:44. > :27:48.in Victorian Britain it houses over a thousand of the artist's oils,
:27:49. > :27:54.drawings and watercolours. How urgent is the work? It's hanging on
:27:55. > :27:59.a thread. If we don't get this work done the water will come in... It
:28:00. > :28:02.really is at a crucial point in the museum's history. Since the
:28:03. > :28:06.programme, the Watts gallery has become a huge success story. Money
:28:07. > :28:10.raised from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other donors secured the
:28:11. > :28:16.building and the museum has seen over 100,000 visitors since it
:28:17. > :28:22.opened in 2011. It's been nominated for the art fund museum of the year
:28:23. > :28:26.and its wonderful use of over 300 volunteers has resulted in its
:28:27. > :28:31.winning the Queen's Award for volunteers. Ultimately it is never
:28:32. > :28:35.enough just to want to save a building. Buildings need to have a
:28:36. > :28:41.use, a functioning place in the world we liver in today. The
:28:42. > :28:46.successes of the Watts gallery, Sherborne House and the groundlets
:28:47. > :29:10.theatre may show others the road to take `` the Groundlings Theatre.
:29:11. > :29:14.Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90 second update.
:29:15. > :29:17.Large parts of the UK are being battered by a powerful storm. Two
:29:18. > :29:20.people have died, thousands are without power. Dozens of severe
:29:21. > :29:23.flood warnings are in force with homes being evacuated. Your forecast
:29:24. > :29:27.in a moment and get the latest on your local BBC radio station.
:29:28. > :29:29.Millions of us are going to have to work longer. The Chancellor is
:29:30. > :29:33.increasing the state pension age for many people. Also in his new plans,
:29:34. > :29:36.a fuel duty freeze and a smaller rise in rail fares.
:29:37. > :29:38.Get ready to say goodbye to the tax disc. After 93 years it's being
:29:39. > :29:39.scrapped. Computerised