:00:08. > :00:13.Across the country, thousands of historic buildings tell a story of
:00:14. > :00:18.our island's history. Over time, some have been lost, others lovingly
:00:19. > :00:23.restored. But today, many more are at risk of collapse and being lost
:00:24. > :00:27.forever. In such difficult economic times, can we really justify
:00:28. > :00:31.spending often huge sums of public money on the past when many of it
:00:32. > :00:35.argue we should be spending it on investing in the future? That is the
:00:36. > :00:37.big challenge facing everyone involved in restoring England's
:00:38. > :01:02.heritage. The West of England is full of
:01:03. > :01:03.history and heritage. Its architecture speaks of classical
:01:04. > :01:08.design and engineering innovation. design and engineeringinnovation.
:01:09. > :01:11.innovation. `I'm Hudson and have long been
:01:12. > :01:15.inspired by the passion of those struck tolling keep Britain's
:01:16. > :01:20.heritage alive. Ordinary men and women who're doing whatever they can
:01:21. > :01:24.to save many of Britain's buildings at risk `` struggling to keep
:01:25. > :01:27.Britain's heritage alive. I'm travelling around to see how the
:01:28. > :01:31.challenges are being met and how some buildings are being given a new
:01:32. > :01:36.life. I'm also asking why others are left to deteriorate. It's a decade
:01:37. > :01:41.since the BBC programme restoration highlighted buildings at risk. I'll
:01:42. > :01:45.be catching up with progress at places like Sherborne House in
:01:46. > :01:50.Dorset and in Bridgwater, one of the most ding tintive buildings on the
:01:51. > :01:54.list, Castle House `` distinctive buildings on the list. It was
:01:55. > :02:01.commissioned as a home for a family but it's much more than just that.
:02:02. > :02:05.Back in 1851, its creator was fascinated with the use of new
:02:06. > :02:09.terms, many of which he was developing. Castle House was builted
:02:10. > :02:13.to showcase what he thought could be achieved with concrete.
:02:14. > :02:17.It's one of the earliest surviving examples of modern reinforced
:02:18. > :02:21.concrete construction. By 1998, it was in such a bad condition that
:02:22. > :02:27.English Heritage stepped in to stop it being knocked down.
:02:28. > :02:30.It was a cause celebre in restoration, but I have to wonder
:02:31. > :02:33.whether its TV appearances made any difference at all.
:02:34. > :02:37.It was really important. Even though a final solution hasn't been arrived
:02:38. > :02:42.at nine or ten years later, it raised the national awareness about
:02:43. > :02:45.Castle House which is only good. English Heritage have given us a
:02:46. > :02:49.large grant which we spent on urgent repairs internally. The reason it
:02:50. > :02:53.has to begin on the inside is that there are cracks. If you repair the
:02:54. > :02:57.outside without repairing the internal ceilings and floors, it's
:02:58. > :03:00.just going to split again, meaning the work going on isn't visible yet.
:03:01. > :03:04.But it doesn't mean it's not happening. There is more going on
:03:05. > :03:08.than just emergency work. Castle House is benefitting from an
:03:09. > :03:14.unlikely source. As part of its work on a new nuclear power station at
:03:15. > :03:16.Hinkley, French energy firm EDF has pledged ?230,000 to the concrete
:03:17. > :03:22.castle. And, with the support of the local
:03:23. > :03:25.council, the team have been able to release more capital by selling the
:03:26. > :03:30.small plot of land next door. It will be a while before work can
:03:31. > :03:36.start on the outside but Castle House may yet have a future. That
:03:37. > :03:41.injection of capital should help to to leverage more funding from the
:03:42. > :03:45.heritage funds. This is one building that may finally come off the
:03:46. > :03:49.at`risk register. Just as soon as one building comes
:03:50. > :03:54.off the At Risk Register, another can soon take its place. There are
:03:55. > :03:59.over 1,000 currently on the list across the UK. A chunk of them are
:04:00. > :04:04.here in the West. 109 all together. Private homes and places of public
:04:05. > :04:13.worship. Some in need of a new use, others at risk of collapse. Why
:04:14. > :04:16.should we care about them now if we didn't before? Once buildings are
:04:17. > :04:19.gone, they are gone forever. You can't recreate them. It's part of
:04:20. > :04:23.our national identity. The buildings we highlight, the buildings on the
:04:24. > :04:28.heritage At Risk Register are the grade I and Grade II star buildings,
:04:29. > :04:32.a very small percentage of the building stock in the country. Those
:04:33. > :04:35.buildings have been identified because they are particularly
:04:36. > :04:40.special. They demonstrate particular things, even techniques or
:04:41. > :04:42.associations with a person. These buildings are special and they are
:04:43. > :04:57.worthy of care and attention. There are more than 374,000 listed
:04:58. > :05:02.buildings in England and more than 6,000 of them are in the celebrated
:05:03. > :05:06.Georgian city of Bath. Even in this world heritage city, there is one
:05:07. > :05:11.architectural gem languishing on the list of the unloved. This is
:05:12. > :05:19.Cleveland Pools, the only surviving open air Georgian pool in England.
:05:20. > :05:27.Wow. Here we. Cleveland Pools, my first visit. It's not the easiest
:05:28. > :05:31.place to find, it has to be said, and the path down is treacherous.
:05:32. > :05:34.When you you get here, look what you find, this lovely Crescent, I
:05:35. > :05:38.suppose reflecting the great Crescents in the city itself. Look
:05:39. > :05:42.at these changing rooms. Even got the numbers still above the doors
:05:43. > :05:45.covered in years of paint. Arguably the wrong sort of paint. It's not
:05:46. > :05:50.letting this building breathe at all.
:05:51. > :05:54.This lovely stain is just flaking away. Even there, the hooks within
:05:55. > :06:00.the changing rooms themselves. Just imagine it. This opened in
:06:01. > :06:04.1815, the same year as the Battle of Waterloo and it was only open then
:06:05. > :06:08.to gentlemen bathers. Were they flashth splashing around in here
:06:09. > :06:13.discussing the battle reading the newspaper of the day. This place has
:06:14. > :06:17.a great story to tell as our history as a nation of bathers.
:06:18. > :06:21.It's a tradition that goes back to the Roman bes, of course, with
:06:22. > :06:24.bathing in Bath? Absolutely that. 's what we said all the way through.
:06:25. > :06:30.It's the missing link in the whole history of Bath with going back to
:06:31. > :06:34.the pigs and the muddy puddles and the Romans, all the way through
:06:35. > :06:37.history. It's such a special place, an individual place. If it was
:06:38. > :06:44.anywhere else in the country, I'm sure it would be more valued than in
:06:45. > :06:49.Bath where we've got so many listed buildings, not too many that are
:06:50. > :06:54.Grade I star but we have still got a lot. That perhaps is part of the
:06:55. > :06:58.problem. Being in Bath. With so much history to celebrate, not every
:06:59. > :07:01.building can be a priority. It was built with private money, the great
:07:02. > :07:06.and the good coming together to create a community pool.
:07:07. > :07:09.By the 1960s, it had become a popular summer hang out.
:07:10. > :07:14.You could feel what it was like to be there. But in 1984, the council
:07:15. > :07:17.closed it down. No private plan was put forward to save it and now Anne
:07:18. > :07:22.and her fellow trustees are looking to the community and the National
:07:23. > :07:29.Lottery for salvation. Community pools do work. They maybe
:07:30. > :07:32.don't make a lot of money but the business plan says it's feasible.
:07:33. > :07:37.What is it going to take to see this place come back to life? An awful
:07:38. > :07:48.lot of money? An awful lot of money. Any idea how much? ?3 millio``ish. I
:07:49. > :07:52.mean prices go up. Is it realistic to think you could achieve ?3
:07:53. > :07:58.million? If we are successful with the heritage lottery bid, yes. And
:07:59. > :08:02.we have got a lot of community support.
:08:03. > :08:07.But it takes more than just goodwill and enthusiasm. The Heritage Lottery
:08:08. > :08:11.Fund needs to see evidence, not just of an historic value, but of a
:08:12. > :08:15.business plan that's viable in the 21st century. This place has an
:08:16. > :08:19.obvious purpose. It is a swimming pool. That makes it restoration
:08:20. > :08:23.relatively simple but also limits how it can make money. Today's
:08:24. > :08:26.entrepreneurs haven't seen a commercial opportunity worthy of
:08:27. > :08:31.their investment. So it needs to draw on some kind of public purse.
:08:32. > :08:36.And the Prince's Regeneration Trust are helping to do just that.
:08:37. > :08:40.We all know these days that there aren't vast sums of public money to
:08:41. > :08:43.support these sorts of projects.let they have got to be viable from the
:08:44. > :08:47.economic point of view. This is unusual because actually, the use
:08:48. > :08:52.for which it was originally built which became redundant in the '80s
:08:53. > :08:55.win we thought we had to swim in pools with chlorine, has now come
:08:56. > :09:00.back and everyone loves open air swimming again. You couldn't just
:09:01. > :09:03.re`open it as it was in the '60s and '70s, it wasn't heated, for example.
:09:04. > :09:09.I don't think that would be viable now. So there are things you need to
:09:10. > :09:13.do to make it fit. It's about protecting the past but making it
:09:14. > :09:17.fit for the 21st century. That the the key. Keeping the essence of the
:09:18. > :09:22.pool but also using the space in new ways to make it viable.
:09:23. > :09:27.There isn't another building like this or facility like this in the
:09:28. > :09:32.United Kingdom. It's the only surviving outdoor Georgian open air
:09:33. > :09:36.pool. It's just amazing. It deserves to have attention, it deserves to be
:09:37. > :09:40.saved. I for one would love to think that in a city that's founded its
:09:41. > :09:45.reputation on the history of baths and bathing, going back to the
:09:46. > :09:49.Romans, that once again these pools here at Cleveland could have a
:09:50. > :09:52.future. Ensuring their future is going to be tricky and will involve
:09:53. > :09:56.a lot of compromise and negotiation between all of those interested
:09:57. > :10:00.parties. Finding the money to do them up is one thing, finding the
:10:01. > :10:05.money and the interest to make them a viable business concern, well
:10:06. > :10:08.that's the other thing. 200 years to the day when they first opened, who
:10:09. > :10:12.knows once again they may echo to the sound of bathers enjoying
:10:13. > :10:17.themselves. It's going to take an awful lot of hard work and it's also
:10:18. > :10:21.got to stop raining! And here in Kingswood in south
:10:22. > :10:25.Gloucestershire is another project from the BBC restoration programme
:10:26. > :10:32.that desperately needs a brighter outlook.
:10:33. > :10:36.Here we are, the site of the Whitfields Tabernacle. A place of
:10:37. > :10:40.significance and yet a decade on, not an awful lot seems to have
:10:41. > :10:44.happened. It was already in a desperate state
:10:45. > :10:49.when it featured on Restoration in 20093.
:10:50. > :10:52.To be honest, this is not a picturesque ruin, this is now a bit
:10:53. > :10:56.of a mess. It's a mess of enormous historical
:10:57. > :11:01.value. It's regarded by many as one of the
:11:02. > :11:07.most important sites in the story of nonconformism. From 1741, these
:11:08. > :11:11.walls reverberated to the voice of George Whitfield, preaching the
:11:12. > :11:16.gospel to the common man. The site also contains a later church and
:11:17. > :11:23.church yard, but it's the unassuming Tabernacle building that's list and
:11:24. > :11:26.clearly at risk. Its own buyer and developer that specialises in reuse,
:11:27. > :11:31.since 120, the situation's been deadlocked. There's a legal dispute
:11:32. > :11:34.with the local council over who pays for emergency repairs.
:11:35. > :11:38.The council felt it would be inappropriate for them to talk to
:11:39. > :11:42.us. The developers feel the council needs to compromise.
:11:43. > :11:45.One of the most important recipes for success, if you like, is to have
:11:46. > :11:47.all the interested parties around the table so you can have open
:11:48. > :11:50.dialogue, understand their concerns and they can understand ours. It's
:11:51. > :11:55.very, very difficult from our point of view to try and convince and get
:11:56. > :11:59.the local authority to understand the commercial reality. Without an
:12:00. > :12:03.agreed plan for its use, knighter private nor public money is likely
:12:04. > :12:07.to be easily available. The local MP feels English Heritage could do more
:12:08. > :12:10.to facilitate the most tricky restoration projects.
:12:11. > :12:14.I think what we need to see is some form of new strategy where we say
:12:15. > :12:18.out of the buildings that are at risk, what are the ones we
:12:19. > :12:25.definitely want to save, rather than just have them all in a general
:12:26. > :12:31.category. Also English Heritage need to be more flexible about the
:12:32. > :12:34.adaptations, rather than them being exposed to the elements, make use of
:12:35. > :12:37.them and not worry too much about the exact historical recreation of
:12:38. > :12:39.the sites. Even the most flexible approach may
:12:40. > :12:51.not be enough to save this. It was 1867 when it opened, and to
:12:52. > :12:57.be quite honest, I don't think much money has been spent on it since.
:12:58. > :13:01.This is Birnbeck Pier at Weston`super`Mare. It is
:13:02. > :13:05.horrendous, it really is. It is in a dire state. The hollow cast iron
:13:06. > :13:10.legs are still pretty strong and they are good and holding it up. But
:13:11. > :13:14.it is all the decking and the cross bracing underneath that needs to be
:13:15. > :13:22.sorted out. Time is very much against it. I have been trying down
:13:23. > :13:27.the years to try and see it saved. But they think it has now got to the
:13:28. > :13:32.stage where we really do need a miracle, and whether miracles happen
:13:33. > :13:36.or not, I don't know. Of all the buildings on the At Risk Register in
:13:37. > :13:40.the West, this is perhaps the one that English Heritage is most
:13:41. > :13:46.concerned about. Birnbeck Pier is not just at risk. Its situation is
:13:47. > :13:50.critical. What I find shopping is just how quickly it has fallen into
:13:51. > :13:53.this condition, how such a unique piece of coastal architecture has
:13:54. > :14:00.become a dangerous and crumbling wreck. It is the only pier in the UK
:14:01. > :14:06.to link the mainland to an island, and for years that Ireland was one
:14:07. > :14:11.of Somerset's most liveliest attractions. It welcomed ferry loads
:14:12. > :14:15.across the Bristol Channel to its amusements, to promenade the
:14:16. > :14:18.decking. The more relaxed Sunday drinking laws in England made it
:14:19. > :14:24.popular with visitors from Wales but the last ferry sailed in 1979. It
:14:25. > :14:29.has been designated a dangerous structure for 20 years. The ideal
:14:30. > :14:35.scenario would be to have it restored. In its glory? Yes, but
:14:36. > :14:41.let's bring an element of reality into this. It is all about money. We
:14:42. > :14:46.can't go back to what the pier was. That would just not make sense
:14:47. > :14:50.unless it is a totally charitably funded exercise. There would have to
:14:51. > :14:55.be some development on the island and perhaps on the landing side, to
:14:56. > :15:00.create funding, to keep the pier going once it has been built. The
:15:01. > :15:04.problem comes once the amount of development is so excessive that it
:15:05. > :15:09.detracts from the whole point of restoring the pier. It is about
:15:10. > :15:20.balance. But getting that balance is proving almost impossible. It has
:15:21. > :15:23.always been privately owned, so restoring it really is an issue for
:15:24. > :15:26.its owners. But it has now become so derelict that it has become an issue
:15:27. > :15:28.for the whole town. There have been many different proposals for its
:15:29. > :15:33.redevelopment but none so far has planning approval. Urban Splash is
:15:34. > :15:38.confident that the developer could take it off their hands and make it
:15:39. > :15:42.work, but they have not been given the go`ahead. You would be handing
:15:43. > :15:46.over land to a developer, which is the pier were not here would not
:15:47. > :15:52.have a hope in hell of getting planning permission. In trying to
:15:53. > :15:55.restore the pier you could destroy it through development around it.
:15:56. > :16:00.That begs the question of what you have achieved at the end of the day.
:16:01. > :16:05.But in wanting to achieve something, there is a real risk of achieving
:16:06. > :16:07.nothing at all. Birnbeck Pier could easily disappear, and
:16:08. > :16:15.Weston`super`Mare has already lost one pier. When the Pavilion of the
:16:16. > :16:20.Grand Pier was destroyed by fire in 2008, it had a huge impact on the
:16:21. > :16:24.seaside resort, financially and emotionally. But it was not just
:16:25. > :16:29.rebuilt as it was. The owners worked with planners and asked the public
:16:30. > :16:34.to choose the designs. Though can they see a future for Birnbeck Pier?
:16:35. > :16:39.It would take millions to get the structure ready for anything on top
:16:40. > :16:43.I think that is the biggest problem. If you said 20 million, I don't know
:16:44. > :16:47.if that would be enough. If you said 30 million, I don't know if that
:16:48. > :16:52.would be enough. Can you see a future for Birnbeck Pier? In its
:16:53. > :16:57.current state, if I am honest, probably not. Unless it is going
:16:58. > :17:01.over to community ownership, and the community can apply for some lottery
:17:02. > :17:05.funding, I can't see any investor wanting to do anything with it that
:17:06. > :17:09.would be commercially viable. The more I have learnt about the plight
:17:10. > :17:18.of Birnbeck Pier, the more tragic the story has become. As to its
:17:19. > :17:23.future, on the one hand, the plans and ideas of future developers and
:17:24. > :17:27.on the other the doubts and concerns of the local authority. But clearly
:17:28. > :17:32.some kind of compromise needs to be found, because if it is not, this
:17:33. > :17:35.wonderful, historic structure will simply sink into the sea, which
:17:36. > :17:41.would be a tragedy not just for Weston`super`Mare but the region as
:17:42. > :17:47.a whole. The wheel is out there to see it saved. But if we cannot
:17:48. > :17:51.foresee a commercial future for it, although it is a lovely romantic
:17:52. > :17:56.ideal to preserve it as a piece of history, it is not realistic. Quite
:17:57. > :18:01.possibly not but I don't really like saying that. We are stuck. Yes. In a
:18:02. > :18:06.place that says, yes, we want to keep it but we have not got a plan.
:18:07. > :18:14.We have not got a plan. Idea not have the money to do it. By which
:18:15. > :18:26.ideas. `` I do not have. It is a crying shame to see it go, but maybe
:18:27. > :18:30.that is what will happen. Where do we stop restoring things? Every
:18:31. > :18:35.monastery pulled down by Henry VIII, every castle pulled down by
:18:36. > :18:39.Cromwell? Some parts of our history have to be allowed to slip into
:18:40. > :18:45.terminal decline, and that decline itself is part of history. We can go
:18:46. > :18:49.to great mysteries that ruins and the ruin is the history as much as
:18:50. > :18:53.the building was history. Perhaps, I don't know because I cannot predict
:18:54. > :19:01.the future, but perhaps this is going that way. When it comes to
:19:02. > :19:05.restoring our heritage, one thing is becoming absolutely clear, the
:19:06. > :19:10.bigger the project, the bigger the challenges. But getting everybody to
:19:11. > :19:13.agree on the vision for that project can be almost impossible. What they
:19:14. > :19:18.really need to make them work, to make them viable, is a real dose of
:19:19. > :19:24.realism, pragmatism, and above all else, compromise. And that is very
:19:25. > :19:28.much what has happened here in the Dorset market town of Sherborne.
:19:29. > :19:36.This is Sherborne House, a picture perfect Palladian facade but the
:19:37. > :19:40.real treasure is inside. These murals are the work of Sir James
:19:41. > :19:46.Thornhill, known for pieces at Hampton Court, Blenheim Palace and
:19:47. > :19:49.Saint Pauls Cathedral. But this was a Private permission. They're slow
:19:50. > :19:54.deterioration is the main reason Sherborne House has been on the At
:19:55. > :19:59.Risk Register for more than a decade. Now they have been restored
:20:00. > :20:05.to stop there was considerable paint loss and the paintings were very
:20:06. > :20:11.dusty and dirty. Remedial treatment needed to be done, as well. Where do
:20:12. > :20:16.you start? You start at the top and you work down. That is how you
:20:17. > :20:19.approach conservation projects. You really get an understanding. You see
:20:20. > :20:24.the brush strokes as you are cleaning, the under drawing, where
:20:25. > :20:29.he has made adjustments and changed the position. You feel the working
:20:30. > :20:33.artist through the paintings. They are nationally significant because
:20:34. > :20:39.they are a personal work. Towards the end of Thornhill's life, and he
:20:40. > :20:43.was an incredibly important artist, and these paintings are important
:20:44. > :20:47.because he was the artist. The murals have been restored and the
:20:48. > :20:51.house is clearly well on its way but this has not been achieved because
:20:52. > :20:55.of the intrinsic historic value of Sherborne House itself. It has much
:20:56. > :20:59.more to do with the value of the land upon which it sits. In order to
:21:00. > :21:05.restore one house, they set about building many more. Tucked away
:21:06. > :21:08.around the back is a new development. 44 homes built
:21:09. > :21:13.privately as part of a deal that saved Sherborne House for future
:21:14. > :21:17.generations. The developers will pay to restore not just the murals but
:21:18. > :21:23.the whole of the main house, which will then be used as office space.
:21:24. > :21:27.We had a building that was deteriorating before our eyes. We
:21:28. > :21:30.could not let it go on. And in the current climate, the local authority
:21:31. > :21:36.does not have the funds to restore it itself. It was imperative to do
:21:37. > :21:41.something. It cannot just be a museum preserved forever. We have to
:21:42. > :21:44.be pragmatic about this. We have preserved the key things. The
:21:45. > :21:48.fantastic Thornhill murals have been preserved and the building itself is
:21:49. > :21:52.a great landmark. You all want the same thing at the end of the day, to
:21:53. > :21:56.produce something of value that you have tremendous pride in. It is a
:21:57. > :21:59.sense of achievement. Certainly everyone who has worked on the new
:22:00. > :22:04.deal scheme and the refurbishment of the house, they have taken
:22:05. > :22:07.tremendous pride in it. There have been many occasions when planning
:22:08. > :22:11.authorities have been very rigid and that is simply not acceptable these
:22:12. > :22:14.days. You have to be realistic. There will be tension between
:22:15. > :22:31.planners and developers and conservation bodies like English
:22:32. > :22:34.Heritage, but if you get together with a common vision, there is
:22:35. > :22:36.usually a way forward. What has been done here is not an option for every
:22:37. > :22:39.site, but through compromise, Sherborne has been given a new lease
:22:40. > :22:41.of life. In a secluded valley six miles South of Stroud, this is
:22:42. > :22:46.Woodchester Mansion, the architectural venture of William
:22:47. > :22:50.Lee. On the face of it, the mansion is a wonderful example of Gothic
:22:51. > :22:55.revival architecture at its best. On the inside, you might expect to find
:22:56. > :22:58.all the usual trappings of a wonderful and sumptuous home. But
:22:59. > :23:06.what makes this so exciting for me is the fact that it was never
:23:07. > :23:14.finished. It was 1852 when William Lee commissioned Benjamin Bucknell
:23:15. > :23:19.to define his new home. But he was selling land to finance the project
:23:20. > :23:23.and when the money ran out, the work stopped. Icy plenty of derelict
:23:24. > :23:28.buildings on my travels but nothing quite prepared me for this. This is
:23:29. > :23:32.an 1850s building site and the builders have just got up and walked
:23:33. > :23:37.away, but they have left behind all the clues as to how they go about
:23:38. > :23:43.building a structure like this. Look at it in its unfinished glory. Look
:23:44. > :23:48.at that, amazing. Above my head, the original timber foreman for that
:23:49. > :23:52.Gothic arch, still here. The timber scaffolding still here. It is old
:23:53. > :23:56.technology in many respects, but here it is, preserved in a moment in
:23:57. > :24:01.time. The moment when the builders simply gave up and walked away. That
:24:02. > :24:10.is what makes this building so important. As awful as it is for the
:24:11. > :24:14.family that it was not finished, it has left us with a real gem, and
:24:15. > :24:18.something that we can share with Gloucestershire and the people as a
:24:19. > :24:22.whole, so people can come and experience this amazing building. It
:24:23. > :24:28.is like looking at a skeleton. The way architects work, and craftsmen.
:24:29. > :24:38.You can see how the engineering works and the design. I am not a
:24:39. > :24:42.person who finds it difficult to sleep but one of the few things that
:24:43. > :24:47.has kept me awake at night is this mansion. And this is what gives
:24:48. > :24:52.Terri sleepless nights, the chapel. It is this part of the mansion that
:24:53. > :24:56.is most at risk, held up inside and out by scaffolding. It is the heart
:24:57. > :25:01.of the building. The central place of worship built for a devout man.
:25:02. > :25:05.It is the most complete part of Woodchester Mansion and the most
:25:06. > :25:13.precarious. It is a huge technical job. We have to keep the rain out.
:25:14. > :25:17.And stop it rotting. It gets wet and cold every winter and then at
:25:18. > :25:24.certain points the stone is continuously perishing. The team are
:25:25. > :25:29.looking for a Heritage lottery grant, but they are not just waiting
:25:30. > :25:33.around until they get one. It is already open to the public and
:25:34. > :25:39.private events. The team is working with the national trust who own the
:25:40. > :25:43.land around the mansion and they are working with students at a nearby
:25:44. > :25:48.college, where they learn stonemasonry and they are now
:25:49. > :25:52.working on a real`life college. How long have you been learning the
:25:53. > :25:55.craft? About a year and a half. These are going back into the
:25:56. > :26:03.building, are they? Yes, back into that building. The last two. What is
:26:04. > :26:06.happening here is a great example of flexibility, creativity and
:26:07. > :26:16.open`mindedness. It is already bringing in some revenue. If you
:26:17. > :26:20.want to get an income stream and you want to get the project under way,
:26:21. > :26:23.you cannot be led by your own preconceptions about what the point
:26:24. > :26:27.is of the place and what it is appropriate for. You have to talk to
:26:28. > :26:32.people and get their ideas of how the building can work today. We
:26:33. > :26:37.plough on into the future blind and stupid if we do not learn from our
:26:38. > :26:42.history. If you sweep away the past, your sense of where you are, who you
:26:43. > :26:47.are, and how your community fits together, it is just that much
:26:48. > :26:53.weaker. There are and out of all obstacles facing our most endangered
:26:54. > :26:57.buildings at a time when money is in short supply. `` there are undoubted
:26:58. > :27:00.obstacles. But I have seen an army of people prepared to take and the
:27:01. > :27:09.challenges of restoring our heritage. The injection of capital
:27:10. > :27:13.into Castle House should help it come off the At Risk Register. And I
:27:14. > :27:17.have seen how at Cleveland pools, the support of a major charitable
:27:18. > :27:22.trust is giving local campaigners hope and expertise. But I have also
:27:23. > :27:26.seen how some buildings have been left to languish for so long that
:27:27. > :27:30.there is almost now no viable way to bring them back into use. The key is
:27:31. > :27:34.partnership and to get people talking. It is very difficult if you
:27:35. > :27:39.are just one person trying to save the building and you really need to
:27:40. > :27:43.build a partnership and get a groundswell of enthusiasm behind the
:27:44. > :27:48.building. Restoration projects also need a strong sense of reality, a
:27:49. > :28:03.viable business plan, and if a new way of using a building can generate
:28:04. > :28:06.revenue, then the investment in our heritage could well be an investment
:28:07. > :28:08.in the future. In this country we are incredibly lucky. We have a
:28:09. > :28:10.wonderful range of heritage, enormously diverse. It is also about
:28:11. > :28:13.creating new economic opportunities as well. I strongly believe that
:28:14. > :28:17.heritage can be a driver of our economy. It is the basis on which
:28:18. > :28:20.you can create jobs. There is one more thing that is vital to the
:28:21. > :28:25.success of any restoration project, and of course that is the support of
:28:26. > :28:31.local communities. History, after all, is the story of people. It is
:28:32. > :28:34.that which helps to forge our national identity. I am certain that
:28:35. > :28:40.it is only by understanding and valuing the lessons of the past that
:28:41. > :29:12.we can ever really hope to shape our future.
:29:13. > :29:16.Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90 second update.
:29:17. > :29:19.Large parts of the UK are being battered by a powerful storm. Two
:29:20. > :29:21.people have died, thousands are without power. Dozens of severe
:29:22. > :29:25.flood warnings are in force with homes being evacuated. Your forecast
:29:26. > :29:28.in a moment and get the latest on your local BBC radio station.
:29:29. > :29:30.Millions of us are going to have to work longer. The Chancellor is
:29:31. > :29:31.increasing the