0:00:04 > 0:00:11I'd suppose you'd think that I'm here to actually knock this thing down, but this is not the case.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14We're here actually to restore it and we've fitted
0:00:14 > 0:00:20round it 16 new iron bands to help preserve our industrial heritage.
0:00:51 > 0:00:57Fred was best known for felling chimneys, but that was the job he liked least.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02His real interest was in restoring them and keeping them standing and it was this work and the places
0:01:02 > 0:01:07it took him to that had the biggest influence on him.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Fred when he had to knock down a chimney was very upset
0:01:10 > 0:01:12because, of course, he started off
0:01:12 > 0:01:14as a young man, a very young boy,
0:01:14 > 0:01:19watching the steeplejacks climbing the big chimneys and repairing them.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23And when it came full circle and time to demolish them he was very sad.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25He confided in me on many occasions.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28We would get the old photographs out and look.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33And he'd study them and think, "Aye well that's no longer there.
0:01:33 > 0:01:41"I remember a time on the Bolton skyline when you could see dozens and dozens of these big things."
0:01:41 > 0:01:47And it was a great, great sadness in Fred that he had to demolish so many chimneys really.
0:01:47 > 0:01:53I think in his job as a steeplejack in moving round all
0:01:53 > 0:01:57these factories and so on, he would see the beauty of Victorian work.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00First of all the chimneys themselves, the brickwork on
0:02:00 > 0:02:07those was, you know, outstanding and he would know that first of all, and no doubt since chimneys are attached
0:02:07 > 0:02:11to boiler houses he would walk round the associated boiler houses
0:02:11 > 0:02:16and look at the workmanship in there and I suppose he'd start with the brickwork which wasn't just ordinary
0:02:16 > 0:02:23kind of house brickwork, it was very good brickwork and had a very good finish on it and was quite artistic.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Fred lived through an age in which we started off by knocking down
0:02:26 > 0:02:30a large part of the Victoria heritage, and then grew to value it.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33And he was obviously engaged on both sides of the argument because he was
0:02:33 > 0:02:37involved with knocking down the great chimneys of the mills.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41At the same time he was involved with lovingly restoring
0:02:41 > 0:02:45steam machinery, bringing it to a wider public.
0:02:45 > 0:02:51One of the restoration projects that he took on was here at Weathericks Country Pottery in Cumbria.
0:02:56 > 0:03:03This weird and wonderful creation behind me is what's known as a blunger.
0:03:03 > 0:03:09And about five years ago, you know, I came here to look at the steam engine and the boiler,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11and this creation willow herbs growing out of top of it
0:03:11 > 0:03:16and it were in great danger of disappearing into ground forever.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21And we got the job of restoring it and, more or less, it's practically a brand new one.
0:03:21 > 0:03:29There's only the gearing and the bearings and...some of the ironwork is original.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34Across the other side of the road there were a big clay pit and they dug the clay out of the pit,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39and brought it up here on a railway, and tipped it into this
0:03:39 > 0:03:41ginormous Kenwood Chef cake mixer...
0:03:43 > 0:03:49..and added water. And the water and the machinery mixed all the clay up,
0:03:49 > 0:03:54and all the pebbles fell to the bottom and then, when it became
0:03:54 > 0:03:58the consistency of Aero milk chocolate,
0:03:58 > 0:04:03they flooded it off down the trough and into a lagoon over there and then they pumped the water off
0:04:03 > 0:04:08the top back to another pond which is situated at t'other side of the site.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13And when it had set nice and hard they cut it out in blocks and made the pots out of it.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18And like we've now restored it to working order and of course it's
0:04:18 > 0:04:22driven by the steam engine which is in this engine house over here.
0:04:26 > 0:04:32This is Josephine, you know, this is the engine that drives the plunger outside and it took me
0:04:32 > 0:04:37and me assistant about six months or seven months to restore it, you know.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40We pulled the thing to bits, we carted it back to Bolton
0:04:40 > 0:04:47and restored it all and brought it back here and here it is now driving all the machinery in the pottery.
0:04:47 > 0:04:53This passion for preserving the past came over in everything that Fred did.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59Fred was very important in making us aware of the heritage around us, not just in the great town halls
0:04:59 > 0:05:01and the great railway stations
0:05:01 > 0:05:06but actually in the small-scale domestic architecture and artefacts.
0:05:06 > 0:05:14And I think about the sort of things he was collecting himself - pieces of shop fronts which were going to
0:05:14 > 0:05:17decay and had been painted and nobody took any care of any more.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21And he rescued them and showed us that these things are all around us.
0:05:21 > 0:05:28Little engines that would end up on a scrap heap that were part of our industrial heritage.
0:05:28 > 0:05:35All of these engines were lovingly restored by Fred but the restoration projects he is best remembered for
0:05:35 > 0:05:39are his steam roller and his traction engine.
0:05:39 > 0:05:46After 27 years and two divorces and a lot of hard graft,
0:05:46 > 0:05:51we've only got 100 pound on but we're going to give it a go and see what happens.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55I know it'll go round but it's what it'll sound like is the important thing.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58So this bit here we go -
0:05:58 > 0:06:00handle forward,
0:06:00 > 0:06:06regulator open. Nothing happened. Wait a minute. Ah.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Well, we're going backwards, we'll try it forwards.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Magic.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31WHISTLE BLOWS
0:06:34 > 0:06:41All them years and never knowing really whether it were ever going to make it or not and
0:06:41 > 0:06:43when you think we nearly made a new un and all.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47We have made a new un.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49A lot of people that he was with
0:06:49 > 0:06:52at the steam rallies, they were just the same.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55They were all people that were born out of their time because
0:06:55 > 0:06:58they all wished to preserve the things that they do.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00And it's not so important the fact that, you know, why they've
0:07:00 > 0:07:04saved something, it's important the fact that they have.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06- I've got three more like this. - Aha.- Good Lord!
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Who gave you a passport to come here? How are you?
0:07:09 > 0:07:10I don't come so often now.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13- A long time no see, Fred. - It's been ten years, aye yes.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14- It is indeed.- Maybe more than that.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17- Absolutely.- How are you? - Good to see you. I'm well, and you?
0:07:17 > 0:07:23And it was thanks to Fred that the efforts of enthusiasts like this were brought to our attention.
0:07:23 > 0:07:31Here in this building, there's a dedicated bunch of ladies and gentlemen who have been restoring
0:07:31 > 0:07:37mill engines for the last 40, well 30-odd years, and I think I'll nip inside and see how they're doing.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Hello, Fred.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45- Fancy meeting you.- Aye, well, I know I get about a bit, you know.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48The last time I saw this it were in a million pieces.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49You're doing quite well there, it's...
0:07:49 > 0:07:55- I haven't counted, but it seems like a million at times.- It's looking pretty good, in't it?
0:07:55 > 0:08:00- It's almost ready for...once you've put all the bits and various rods on...- Yep, it's nearly finished.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Light a fire underneath it.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05It's been on the shop floor for the last 30 years about,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08but, er, we've been working on it at this level now for about two years.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Yeah, yeah, not very far off. It looks like...
0:08:11 > 0:08:14We're getting near the end.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17- All the hard work's been done, hasn't it?- It certainly has.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19How heavy's this beam?
0:08:19 > 0:08:22At a rough guess, about seven tons I should think.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26- It's a fair piece of iron. - That's what I call a real work of art that, Fred.
0:08:26 > 0:08:32There's more went into the skill of making this than Picasso ever put into one of the expensive paintings.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34Aye, yeah that's a fact, yeah.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37- That's my humble opinion.- Well, he were drunk half the time, weren't he?
0:08:37 > 0:08:39I suppose some of the blokes that put this up were drunk half the time.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41More than likely, yeah, yeah.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44I'm looking forward to seeing it running, to be quite honest.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48- I bet you are. - I didn't think I'd live to see that, but looks like I'm going to do.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54He was in at a time when the sort of first generation of industry and old
0:08:54 > 0:09:00machinery enthusiasts were about, when people were just beginning to get the idea of rescuing traction
0:09:00 > 0:09:06engines from scrap yards and of raising historic boats and repairing them.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11I couldn't really think of a nicer place
0:09:11 > 0:09:17to restore a paddle boat on than here on the bonny banks of Loch Lomond.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20I think I'll go and have a chat with the lads who are doing it.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24They've got a big hard task in front of them.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28He was in right at the beginning of that and
0:09:28 > 0:09:33I think that and those wide-eyed...
0:09:33 > 0:09:39loonies will have influenced him cos he's one of them.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Ding! Ding!
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Now then, Michael, you've got your work cut out there, haven't you, mate?
0:09:55 > 0:09:59- Yes. Lot of work here.- I see you've done the other one on the other side.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02- Yes, that took a few days. - Yeah, I bet it did, yeah.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05I know I've got one of them and progress is very slow but
0:10:05 > 0:10:11when you've done it, you know, it get...it's amazing what thickness of corrosion it bangs loose, innit?
0:10:11 > 0:10:16Well, they've been putting layers of paint on since 1953 probably.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18Yeah and just flicking a bit off when they did it, yeah.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21- Really wasting paint doing it that way.- It is, yes.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23You're better off getting it down to bottom.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26How long have you had it like?
0:10:26 > 0:10:30- Well, we came along about five years ago and it was a very sorry state indeed.- I can imagine, yeah.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32She was very derelict and rusty.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35- Yeah.- And had been lying for a number of years in that state.
0:10:35 > 0:10:36Yeah yeah, yeah.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41So we've been coming down every Saturday for the last five years and...
0:10:41 > 0:10:44How many of a team have you got?
0:10:44 > 0:10:47It varies from 5 to 12, 15 maybe.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50- Relying on enthusiasm on the day. - On a good day, yes.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Fred's programmes have helped everybody to understand exactly what
0:10:54 > 0:10:59preserving the heritage is all about and why it's so important to us.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04And it wasn't just ships and engines and big machines that he wanted to see preserved.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07He champions more ordinary buildings.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10We all know about great palaces and cathedrals and so on but Fred talks
0:11:10 > 0:11:12about ordinary industrial buildings as well and where
0:11:12 > 0:11:17people lived and where people worked and that's just as important a part of our social history.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20One of the great things that Fred did for us was to show us the
0:11:20 > 0:11:26variety of places in Britain that need to be preserved for future
0:11:26 > 0:11:31generations and there's one way in which we can all get involved and he shows how volunteers, just members
0:11:31 > 0:11:38of the public maybe with special skills or maybe people who are just enthusiastic can get involved.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43Somewhere like Cold Harbour Mill which is full of volunteers who are all
0:11:43 > 0:11:48hugely involved in preserving and maintaining that place so that we can all enjoy it.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Now then, John,
0:12:00 > 0:12:06you won't hit it too hard. It's a bit moth-eaten, innit, you know?
0:12:06 > 0:12:08It is a bit. They've had their money's worth out of this one, haven't they?
0:12:08 > 0:12:12Must have been a bit on tight side with all these patches.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17How long before you've got the wheel going again?
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Well, it's about a two year project.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Yeah, yeah.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23You've got somebody that give you some nice sheets of tin have you?
0:12:23 > 0:12:27Oh, yes, a local engineering firm have been very good to us.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Shall we go and have a look at your beam engine?
0:12:31 > 0:12:33- What a good idea.- Yeah, come on.
0:12:39 > 0:12:40This is it, is it, then?
0:12:40 > 0:12:45- This is the thing that replaced the water wheels?- It certainly did.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Yes, in the mid-19th century
0:12:48 > 0:12:50they brought in steam power and this is where the
0:12:50 > 0:12:55first beam engine sat and was more reliable of course than water power.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Especially when they'd had an hot summer and there were no water in the pond.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Yeah, it's an interesting engine this, innit?
0:13:02 > 0:13:05There's a lot of unusual bits and bobs about it.
0:13:05 > 0:13:12I mean this linkage from here to the stop valve, you know, it's magnificent, innit?
0:13:12 > 0:13:15- Who needs a gym when you've got them sort of things?- Well, there you go.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- It's all heavy stuff, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23- Yes, it takes us a day to warm up the boiler.- Warm the boiler.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27To boil steam up and cos, of course, we've got the two big engines to run as well.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30So let's go have a look at the other big engine.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33This other one's a bit more modern, isn't it - more the turn-of-the-century job?
0:13:33 > 0:13:37That's right. When the beam engine was scrapped here the other engine was fitted.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40We'll go and have a look at the other one.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43- Good idea.- I've been inside a few...
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Fred had a particular interest in the preservation of our industrial heritage,
0:13:46 > 0:13:51but in his programmes he looked at much wider conservation issues.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Mmm, bath time.
0:13:53 > 0:14:01Fred's big contribution, in terms of issues and standards and values
0:14:01 > 0:14:05with conservation, is he highlighted technology.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09There's a tendency for people to highlight the appearance of things
0:14:09 > 0:14:16rather than the way that things are put together and what they're made of and how they work.
0:14:16 > 0:14:24And I think Fred's way of looking at a medieval structure is a very refreshing way of doing it.
0:14:25 > 0:14:32This is the church of the hospital of St Cross and building started in 1135
0:14:32 > 0:14:36and this is the only major bit that's survived
0:14:36 > 0:14:38cos when it were first built it had a thatched roof,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42but some time in the 14th century it acquired the lead one.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47Round the other side they're taking part of it off so we'll be able to go and see
0:14:47 > 0:14:51how the Normans put a roof on a church like this one.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54He's looking at it saying, "How did they put these particular
0:14:54 > 0:14:58"timbers together, what order was it done in?"
0:14:58 > 0:15:01"How were the loads transmitted,"
0:15:01 > 0:15:04all of that sort of thing. "How do they get those pegs in there?"
0:15:04 > 0:15:06"How are they going to maintain this thing?"
0:15:06 > 0:15:13A practical view - and we don't often hear that about old things.
0:15:13 > 0:15:20We hear about sort of flowerings of the human spirit on a grand scale, but we don't very often hear
0:15:20 > 0:15:25the detail of how it's made and of how it's maintained.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28And I think that sort of practicality really
0:15:28 > 0:15:35strikes a chord with a lot of people and is one of the reasons why he was such a great man.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Morning, Fred.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41Hello, Stuart. I've come to see what you're doing in your tent up here.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45To have a look how the Normans built big thick walls.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47- Or not so thick.- Yeah, yeah.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Well, yeah, it's a bit...
0:15:49 > 0:15:52What were down the middle there like?
0:15:52 > 0:15:58- Well, when we started work here this was concrete - concrete was put in by the Victorians.- Ah, yeah.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00It had originally had a wooden gutter all the way through here,
0:16:00 > 0:16:07cladding laid, and when that rotted away with age, the Victorians had just discovered concrete and
0:16:07 > 0:16:11decided to pour the whole gutter in concrete and then cover it in lead.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15But what happened was the...the concrete acted like a wick.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Where it touched the wall it drew all the moisture in and that
0:16:18 > 0:16:22travelled right through the concrete and you can see what it's done here.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24- Yeah.- It's eaten the wood away.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27The death-watch beetle have made a meal of it, they like soft timber
0:16:27 > 0:16:30and that's what they've chosen to eat first.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33- Yeah, you can see how it's kicking over, in't it?- Absolutely, yes.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38The spread of the roof is slowly rolling this and these joints at one time would have been tight.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Have you seen any of these deadly death-watch beetles?
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Yes, we have, yes. We had a grub yesterday,
0:16:43 > 0:16:48but we decided it had already done enough damage and I'm afraid I squashed it.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Fred was a very good communicator and very
0:16:50 > 0:16:55good at explaining how buildings worked and how they stood up.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58If buildings can't stand up, there's no point in having them.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03And if people can understand how buildings are put together in the past it can be a guide to how it can
0:17:03 > 0:17:07be repaired in the future and also help people really appreciate what's going on with their buildings.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10See you've got a dustbin full of building materials.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15This is our flints. The great thing about this is that they're the originals.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17- Yeah, they're quite heavy stuff, innit?- It is, yes.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19- A lot of weight in that.- Yeah, yeah.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21We'll lose a percentage here.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23- Oh, yeah. - But we replace them off the fields.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28- It's how they did it in the first place.- Used to go out with the buckets.- Absolutely.- On your back.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33Ah, yes, times have changed. Farmers used to be glad for us to take them, now they want money for it.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35They're hard up.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39The outside of the vaulting looks a bit rough but, of course, inside it's lovely.
0:17:39 > 0:17:45This line here that you can see, these stones, you can actually see those inside
0:17:45 > 0:17:50and you'll see that really shows us how thick the vaulting is because inside you'll see that this
0:17:50 > 0:17:55is right at the top of the piece you can see so this is all...
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Yeah, about 14 or 15 inches thick.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Yes. The vaulting is basically an arch,
0:18:00 > 0:18:05and an arch only works if it's got a weight on it so all this has just been put on top to add strength.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07To keep it together. Yeah, yeah.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11Really when you think they had no cement mixers, there must have been
0:18:11 > 0:18:16armies of blokes mixing the mortar to keep the building going.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21- We're 50, 60 feet up here, so all that's been carried up here. - Yeah, yeah.- Tons and tons of it.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24- We've no idea what the actual weight is.- Yeah, sand and lime, eh?
0:18:24 > 0:18:29As soon as you show the general public a really skilled craftsman
0:18:29 > 0:18:37doing what they do, most people are immediately fascinated and engaged by it
0:18:37 > 0:18:40and, you know, naturally... And respectful of it, you know, great
0:18:40 > 0:18:43crafts skills and there are sadly few of them in a lot of craft areas.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47So I thought it was terrific that Fred actually first wanted
0:18:47 > 0:18:53to get his hands dirty himself partly to show in a way which conveys how difficult this is
0:18:53 > 0:18:59and also to celebrate the skills of people like, you know, stonemasons,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01tile makers, of plasterers.
0:19:01 > 0:19:08I mean, those are extraordinary levels of skill which today have largely been short circuited by
0:19:08 > 0:19:11industrial manufacture of building materials,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15by use of plasterboard instead.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18And a lot of those skills are barely kept alive.
0:19:18 > 0:19:26And it needs...it needs to publicity to remind people that they're there and to pay tribute to them
0:19:26 > 0:19:32not least because we really need them to keep our historic buildings standing.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34He was very good at seeing what was going on.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38He very often dealt with topical things like the conservation at
0:19:38 > 0:19:43Ightham Moat for example - actually looking at the way the walls had been constructed
0:19:43 > 0:19:50originally and how trouble was being taken to do them in the original way so that it was genuine conservation.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52And so often he would take an example,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55he'd always want to have a go himself which was very important.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Right, this is where we mix, Fred.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01As you can see we've already got the hole, a nice pot...
0:20:01 > 0:20:04- Nice modern machinery. - Yeah, and a shovel which you're...
0:20:04 > 0:20:06If you put your gloves on I'll show...
0:20:06 > 0:20:09- You want me to go in the cow muck? - That's right, yeah.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Right.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Bit surgical these, aren't they?
0:20:16 > 0:20:18That's right.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Now it's what? Approximately half of that full of...? Full of...?
0:20:22 > 0:20:25That is the sifted cow dung.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Yeah. It's nice stuff is it?
0:20:27 > 0:20:29- That's it.- Yeah, wait a minute.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32- You got it?- Yeah.- That's it.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Hmm, yes...
0:20:34 > 0:20:36- You can tell it...- Nice measure.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40Oh, lovely(!) That's rich, innit?
0:20:40 > 0:20:41THEY CHUCKLE
0:20:43 > 0:20:45I was collecting this at seven o'clock this morning.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48- Yeah, so it's fresh. - The local, erm, dairy herd.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Yeah, yeah.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53I've never been into rubber gloves.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55How do you get that one off there?
0:20:57 > 0:21:01- Here, pull!- You're going to enjoy your toast and...
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Oh, it's all right, I'm used to pretty rough things, you know.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14- Heck. I tell you what, it takes a bit mixing doesn't it?- Yeah.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Not, er... It isn't sort of easy
0:21:18 > 0:21:20- to shove about.- Just turn it over.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23That's it, you've got it.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25It's changing colour slowly.
0:21:27 > 0:21:28Looking good, eh?
0:21:28 > 0:21:31- I think you're almost there, Fred, yeah?- Yeah.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34What's the idea of the cow dung?
0:21:34 > 0:21:40Well, it does give it more elasticity, you know, with the...
0:21:40 > 0:21:43when you're spreading it, it also hardens...
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Yeah.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50- Acts as a hardener.- I wonder who first invented it.
0:21:50 > 0:21:57Yeah, well, obviously before the lime and that, it was wattle - and that was cow
0:21:57 > 0:21:59and horse
0:21:59 > 0:22:01straw and dung, wasn't it?
0:22:01 > 0:22:04So they've used it for...
0:22:04 > 0:22:09But it's...it's an adhesion as well, you know. It's...
0:22:09 > 0:22:12The type of cow matters, does it?
0:22:12 > 0:22:14That's right.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17I would say he's done that before, meself.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20- Well, I've mixed a bit of mortar in me time.- Have you?
0:22:20 > 0:22:22Yeah. Never with any cow muck in it.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25See how you get on with that.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28- I'll have a go.- Have a go.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Do you want me to continue in a downwards direction?
0:22:31 > 0:22:33That'd be nice.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Oh, bloody hell.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38Let me put this on the hawk.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41- Yeah, yeah, yeah.- That's it.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46Push it well in, cos it has to go though the lath to key...
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Yeah, wait a minute.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50That's all right, come on.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53He could turn his hand to anything.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57You mention it and he, he, he'd do a very good job
0:22:57 > 0:22:59no matter what it were.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Now that's going to be there 800 years.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06It's good to think that
0:23:06 > 0:23:10we do something that's going to stand the...
0:23:10 > 0:23:13test of time, doesn't it really?
0:23:14 > 0:23:16- Yeah.- That's enough for me.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20That's great, any time you want a job with us...
0:23:20 > 0:23:25Yeah. Does have a tendency to stick to the floor, doesn't it? I mean, that's all...
0:23:25 > 0:23:29When you think how well it sticks to the floor it must stick to the...
0:23:29 > 0:23:32- the...like the proverbial whatsit to the blanket, innit?- That's right.
0:23:32 > 0:23:38A lot of people who look at half-timbered houses don't really know that all this goes on.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42It's quite a job, really, but at least it's going back as it was
0:23:42 > 0:23:45- and that's a good thing, I think. - Yeah.- It's a...
0:23:45 > 0:23:47It'll be lovely when it's done, won't it?
0:23:47 > 0:23:51And Fred had plenty of experience of restoring an old building.
0:23:54 > 0:24:00When I bought this house about 40 years ago, it basically were a two up and two down.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04And, of course, as me family got bigger I got to do summat about it so
0:24:04 > 0:24:07I like built as much on it again, you know.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12You know all the wonderful buildings we've been looking at, you know - even castles and all that -
0:24:12 > 0:24:19they've all been messed about with and extended one way and another, you know. Even kings were great DIY men.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23There've been extensions done to the house in the days of the Earl of
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Bradford but they didn't make a very good job of it, you know.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31They completely omitted all the beading and the fancy work, but when I did mine,
0:24:31 > 0:24:36I thought, "I'll try and reproduce what they did in 1854."
0:24:36 > 0:24:42When I first did the moulding and the fancy bits, the little square
0:24:42 > 0:24:47pieces were sort of very white material, you know, and they stood
0:24:47 > 0:24:54out like a sore thumb so I made a mixture of mud and water out of the back garden and painted them and,
0:24:54 > 0:25:01of course, God and the rain has done the rest with now quite a good match with the moulding.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04But Fred's way of restoring things and making the new work
0:25:04 > 0:25:12blend in with the old doesn't fit in with current conservation policy as he found out in Edinburgh.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16This magnificent monument here on Prince's Street in Edinburgh,
0:25:16 > 0:25:22was erected in remembrance of Sir Walter Scott the famous Scottish writer.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Recently there's been quite a lot of restoration work done
0:25:25 > 0:25:32and they've used exactly the same stone but of course it'll never get as black as what the rest of it is
0:25:32 > 0:25:37cos there won't be the same amount of smoke in Edinburgh as there used to be.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42The thing is that I rather think that if I'd have done it I'd have daubed
0:25:42 > 0:25:46a bit of mud on it, you know, made it blend in with the other.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50But, apparently, the powers that be say, it's because the
0:25:50 > 0:25:56future generations will be able to see where the late 20th-century
0:25:56 > 0:26:01repairs were actually done to it, you see, in the future years to come.
0:26:01 > 0:26:08Well, that's the official policy, but Fred's way would be more likely to win the popular vote.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10When you're talking about saving Britain's heritage and
0:26:10 > 0:26:15bringing it to people's attention I don't think anybody did as much as Fred in popularising it,
0:26:15 > 0:26:20bringing it down to a level where everybody could understand it and wanted to get involved.
0:26:20 > 0:26:26And he brought to our attention examples of preservation work in some of the most surprising places
0:26:26 > 0:26:30like here in the Lloyds Building in London.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34I thought I might show you something a little bit different.
0:26:34 > 0:26:35If you'd like to come in here.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39Wow!
0:26:39 > 0:26:44Well, this, Fred, is something of a contrast. This is...
0:26:44 > 0:26:46- Very posh.- ..this is a genuine...
0:26:46 > 0:26:49This is a genuine Robert Adam dining room.
0:26:49 > 0:26:55The reason it's here is that when we had virtually completed the
0:26:55 > 0:27:011958 building which is on the other side of Lime Street we found that part of Bowood House in Wiltshire,
0:27:01 > 0:27:08which belonged to the Marquis of Lansdowne, was being demolished and this room was due to be destroyed
0:27:08 > 0:27:12so Lloyds collectively purchased the room.
0:27:12 > 0:27:18We also found that, happily, the original firm responsible for creating the room under...
0:27:18 > 0:27:21- Still existed? - ..Adam's direction was still in existence, so we commissioned them
0:27:21 > 0:27:27again and the whole room was cut into sections, brought to the City and recreated in the 1958 building.
0:27:27 > 0:27:33Well, of course if you've done that once there's no reason why you can't do it again. That's right.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37So when we moved from '58 to '86, the room came with us.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39And the great thing about the room as you see it now is
0:27:39 > 0:27:43that it's actually gone back to its original proportions.
0:27:43 > 0:27:50- In the 1958 building, because of the height restriction it had a flat ceiling but here...- You've got...
0:27:50 > 0:27:55In fact, if Robert Adam walked through the room we like to think that he would recognise it.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57One of the things I liked about Fred's programmes were the moments
0:27:57 > 0:27:59when he would suddenly say, "I've got one of those at home."
0:27:59 > 0:28:01And you'd think, "How amazing!"
0:28:01 > 0:28:05But, of course, he had...and in some ways quite ordinary things that he had.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09He had a bit of wood carving off the front of a house and he'd restored it and he'd done it up and he would
0:28:09 > 0:28:14talk about it, sort of stroke it and make you look at it more carefully.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18And he was very good at making you see the special in very ordinary things.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Believe it or not, you know, I've been looking
0:28:20 > 0:28:24around while we've been talking and that cornice moulding up there -
0:28:24 > 0:28:29across the end of my back kitchen I've got a piece almost exactly same.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31I didn't know Robert Adam was a kitchen designer.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33Well, no he had nowt to do with it, you know.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36You can buy anything nowadays in shops.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd - 2006
0:28:41 > 0:28:45E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk