0:00:03 > 0:00:07Just over a century ago, the motion camera was invented
0:00:07 > 0:00:10and changed for ever the way we recall our history.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15For the first time, we could see life through the eyes of ordinary people.
0:00:18 > 0:00:24Across this series, we'll bring these rare archive films back to life
0:00:24 > 0:00:26with the help of our vintage mobile cinema.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33We'll be inviting people with a story to tell to step on board
0:00:33 > 0:00:37and relive moments they thought were gone for ever.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43They'll see their relatives on screen for the first time,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46come face to face with their younger selves
0:00:46 > 0:00:50and celebrate our amazing 20th-century past.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53This is the people's story.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54Our story.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24Our vintage mobile cinema was originally commissioned in 1967
0:01:24 > 0:01:26to show training films to workers.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Today, it's been lovingly restored
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and loaded up with remarkable film footage,
0:01:32 > 0:01:37preserved for us by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42In this series, we'll be travelling to towns and cities across the country
0:01:42 > 0:01:48and showing films from the 20th century that give us the Reel History of Britain.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55Today, we're pulling up in the glamorous Roaring '20s
0:01:55 > 0:01:59to discover how the other half lived and find out about a group
0:01:59 > 0:02:02of Bright Young People who created Britain's first cult of celebrity.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17This is Cliveden in Berkshire,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21the house in the 1920s of the second Viscount Waldorf Astor
0:02:21 > 0:02:23and his American wife, Nancy.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27The Astors were one of the grandest and wealthiest families in the world
0:02:27 > 0:02:31and it was here, in this house, that many of the parties and events took place
0:02:31 > 0:02:35that mark out the rich Roaring '20s.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43'Coming up, the tragic story of Britain's original It girl...'
0:02:43 > 0:02:47My grandfather got a telegram from London
0:02:47 > 0:02:50saying "regret to inform you, Elizabeth had died".
0:02:50 > 0:02:54It was alcoholic poisoning. She had drunk herself to death.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59'..Lord Astor returns to his ancestral home to give us a guided tour...'
0:02:59 > 0:03:02And you can see up there is Amy Johnson, Charlie Chaplin,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04my grandmother and George Bernard Shaw.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09'..and a glimpse of what life was like for Cliveden's formidable head butler, Edwin Lee.'
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Lady Astor called him "Lord Lee of Cliveden".
0:03:12 > 0:03:15They couldn't operate without him. He was essential.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33'We're at the stately home of Cliveden today,
0:03:33 > 0:03:38'to catch a glimpse of life as it was lived by a small group of privileged, rich people
0:03:38 > 0:03:42'who defined what became known as the Roaring '20s.'
0:03:49 > 0:03:53The traumas of the First World War convinced a new generation
0:03:53 > 0:03:59to live for the moment and, by the 1920s, the decadence and the Jazz Age were in full swing.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05Indulgent fads and madcap antics were all the rage.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10Women, who now had the vote, shockingly cropped their hair AND their hemlines.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14But the '20s was a decade of huge contrast.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17While workers faced extreme poverty and crippling unemployment,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21a small group of young, rich socialites in London were living it up
0:04:21 > 0:04:23like there was no tomorrow.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29The tabloid press dubbed them the "Bright Young People",
0:04:29 > 0:04:34creating possibly the first celebrities to be famous for being famous.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41My guests here today have come from all over the country
0:04:41 > 0:04:45to share their family history stories of the Roaring '20s.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48They will be showing us photo albums,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51scrapbooks and treasured mementos.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Many of them will be seeing the films we are about to screen for the first time.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01'Joining us today is Laura Ponsonby, from Surrey.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06'She has some vivid stories to share about her aunt, Elizabeth Ponsonby,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09'one of the most famous It girls of that decade.'
0:05:09 > 0:05:12She was she really was like the leader of the Bright Young People,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16but, like many of the Bright Young People, she was not rich.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19My grandmother writes a very good and critical diary.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23She said about Elizabeth, "She lives as though she's got 3,000 a year
0:05:23 > 0:05:26"and will spend 800 on a dress."
0:05:26 > 0:05:27But, really, Elizabeth's family
0:05:27 > 0:05:31were what sometimes people call the aristocratic poor. They had no money.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35- I do have a photograph, if you'd like to look at it.- I would.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39- It's a little tender. - I'll hold it and you can open it.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40I'll open up.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45This is Elizabeth's scrapbook and she's put in various photographs of these many parties she had.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47"Heather Pilkington party, summer 1927."
0:05:47 > 0:05:50- There is Elizabeth in the middle. - And next to her is?
0:05:50 > 0:05:52That is Brian Howard.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Somebody wrote a book about him - he was a poet and writer - Portrait Of A Failure.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58He always seemed to be around.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01I think this is probably Cecil Beaton, dressed up.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04- Cecil Beaton, so that's an impersonation party?- Yes.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08- Thank you very much indeed.- Not at all. Wonderful to meet you.- And you.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15We're about to show Laura some films that will take her back
0:06:15 > 0:06:19to a time when her Aunt Elizabeth was a 1920s reveller.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29What family stories will they bring to mind?
0:06:31 > 0:06:33She was absolutely mad for partying.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36I mean, she was in and out of the nightclubs always.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38She loved dancing. She loved music.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43You know, she really enjoyed that sort of thing and was up all hours of the night.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46The daughter of a prominent Labour politician,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Elizabeth became known for her high jinks.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Stealing policemen's helmets and breaking into stately homes.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57For Elizabeth and her chums, life was one long party.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02These Bright Young People all got together
0:07:02 > 0:07:04and had all these different themed parties.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09So they had the bath and bottle party, which was in a swimming pool.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14They had the impersonation party, where everybody went as something else.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18They had the white party, when everybody was dressed in white.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21They had the red-and-white party. They had the Mozart party.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24They had the American party. They were always dressing up.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Sometimes, they weren't in their ordinary clothes for days, and they were drinking.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33Laura reveals how Elizabeth's parents were shocked by her numerous affairs.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36She was mad about men, frankly.
0:07:36 > 0:07:42And her mother does write, in one of her diaries,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44or reflections about Elizabeth.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48she says, "What a pity that Elizabeth knew about contraception,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52"because she wouldn't have risked herself with so many men."
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Pleasure-seeking parties were a feature of the time,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57but they had their dark side, too.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02According to Diana Mosley, who was also a Bright Young Person
0:08:02 > 0:08:07at that particular time, she felt that Elizabeth was a person who introduced cocaine
0:08:07 > 0:08:10into the into the scene of the Bright Young People.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14And there was one daughter of a baronet, called Brenda Dean Paul,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18who was rather striking, I think, and went to these parties
0:08:18 > 0:08:23and she was really addicted to cocaine and I think she was in prison.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28To the dismay of her parents, Elizabeth refused to settle down
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and continued to party into the 1930s.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Laura tells the sad story of her death at the age of 39.
0:08:38 > 0:08:44She died in 1940 and my grandfather got a telegram from London
0:08:44 > 0:08:47saying, "Regret to inform you, Elizabeth had died."
0:08:47 > 0:08:49He'd seen her, I think, about a month before
0:08:49 > 0:08:52but they'd been seeing much less of her, in fact.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55And it was alcoholic poisoning.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59She had drunk herself to death, which was a desperate, desperate thing
0:08:59 > 0:09:01and, of course, the grandparents were shattered.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Laura's family have kept many mementos of Elizabeth's short life,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11like this poignant letter written after an unknown scandal.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16"Dearest mother, I am writing to tell you how frightfully sorry I am
0:09:16 > 0:09:18"for hurting you and father.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22"From nobody's fault, I have had to make my own life.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25"And I may not have made it very well.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27"But there it is.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29"But whatever I may think or do,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32"the last thing in the world that I ever wished to do
0:09:32 > 0:09:34"was to hurt you so much.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38"I may be treading a road that leads nowhere
0:09:38 > 0:09:42"but perhaps it is better than scrambling about in the desert.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46"Try and forgive me. Ever, your loving Elizabeth."
0:09:51 > 0:09:55To find out more about the Bright Young People of the 1920s,
0:09:55 > 0:10:00I'm meeting the writer and historian Lucy Moore inside Cliveden House.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03- Hello, Lucy.- Hello.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08- How are you?- Melvyn Bragg, nice to see you.- Nice to see you. - Have a seat.- Thank you.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12People talked about the Bright Young Things, who were the Bright Young Things?
0:10:12 > 0:10:15The Bright Young Things were the socialites of the 1920s.
0:10:15 > 0:10:21They were a group of people who embraced quite a broad section of society for the first time,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23so you had impoverished artists,
0:10:23 > 0:10:28you had daughters of peers, you had daughters of Labour politicians.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30You had all sorts of people mixed up together
0:10:30 > 0:10:35and what they had in common was they were young, they hadn't been involved in the war.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39What about the attention to... Well, young people always pay attention to their appearance,
0:10:39 > 0:10:44but it seemed to be, not excessive, but they had fun with it, didn't they?
0:10:44 > 0:10:48Absolutely. There was a sense of girls were dressing as boys, boys were dressing as girls.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51There was a massive influence of Hollywood,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55so everyone slicks their hair down like Rudolph Valentino
0:10:55 > 0:11:01and tries to dance the tango with a rose in their mouth and that's because the media had changed.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05For the first time, you could see a movie that everyone else was seeing.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07The new fashions and fads of the 1920s
0:11:07 > 0:11:10were limited to the few who could afford them.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17Mass unemployment brought thousands of ordinary families to the point of destitution
0:11:17 > 0:11:21and, by 1921, two and half million workers were out of a job.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27In the '20s, there were a lot of people in this country going through very hard times.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29How did they feel about what was going on?
0:11:29 > 0:11:33I suspect that most of the population of England at the time
0:11:33 > 0:11:36was half horrified and half fascinated by them.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40But, there was an emptiness about what they were doing
0:11:40 > 0:11:43and I'm sure the bulk of the population who were on strike,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47or suffering with the desperate economic situation post-war
0:11:47 > 0:11:51would have looked at them and thought, "What are they doing with their lives?
0:11:57 > 0:12:01'I'm now off to meet someone who has a very personal connection
0:12:01 > 0:12:03'to one the Bright Young People of the Roaring '20s.'
0:12:06 > 0:12:10'Simon Blow is the great nephew of Stephen Tennant,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13'the most flamboyant of the 24-hour party people.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17'He would often wear make-up and gold dust in his hair.'
0:12:17 > 0:12:22My Uncle Stephen was a carefree person, really, in the early '20s.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26I mean, he had the world at his feet. He had looks, he had talent.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31You know, background connections and everything.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34He was a glamour figure, really, and he was very beautiful.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39You say "very beautiful", he liked to dress as a woman, didn't he?
0:12:39 > 0:12:43- Well, he didn't go completely into drag.- No.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45But, conventional society said,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48"It's not surprising, his mother dressed him as a girl until he was 12."
0:12:48 > 0:12:49HE CHUCKLES
0:12:49 > 0:12:52As a young man in the 1970s and '80s,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Simon enjoyed a close relationship with his then ageing great uncle
0:12:56 > 0:13:02and would spend long periods with him at the Tennant family estate in Wiltshire.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05You've brought a photograph of your Uncle Stephen.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Yes, this is one of Uncle Stephen, which he gave to me.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13Well, that's him before he put make-up on. He did the later sketching himself.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15He once said to me,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19"Have you noticed, Simon, how beautifully chiselled my nose is?"
0:13:19 > 0:13:21HE CHUCKLES
0:13:21 > 0:13:24So I said, "Yes." He was looking up from his bed
0:13:24 > 0:13:26and he lay back on his pillows and thought,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28then he looked at me and said,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31"And you have a very chiselled nose, too."
0:13:32 > 0:13:35There was more thinking on the pillow and he said,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37"I think most well-bred people have chiselled noses."
0:13:37 > 0:13:40THEY LAUGH Not a bit, not a bit.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Simon boards our mobile cinema, where we're about to screen
0:13:45 > 0:13:48some rare film footage of life in 1920s Britain.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04Will these films conjure up the atmosphere of the era,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08when his Uncle Stephen was the toast of the smart set in London?
0:14:09 > 0:14:13It made me, in a way, quite nostalgic for a world I'd never known.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15I think that, er...
0:14:15 > 0:14:16Um...
0:14:16 > 0:14:21..there was a feeling of cheerfulness in the films, really.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25I think you do get the sense of jollity that happened after the ending of the First World War.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31Simon's Great Uncle Stephen was the youngest son of Lord and Lady Glenconner.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Because of his class and privilege, he never had to work.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40I think he always hoped that he would be a famous writer,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44um, but then he wanted to be a famous beauty, too.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48And there's a lovely story about Claire, my grandmother.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51He was staying in a country house in Wales
0:14:51 > 0:14:55and Michael Duff, the host, um...
0:14:56 > 0:15:00..was waiting for Stephen to come down for dinner.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03They waited and Michael went up to Stephen's room and said,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06"We are all waiting for you, Stephen. You must come down."
0:15:06 > 0:15:10He was putting on the last touches of make-up. He turned round from looking in the glass
0:15:10 > 0:15:16and said to Michael, "Michael, tell me I'm as beautiful as Claire."
0:15:16 > 0:15:20So there was this desire to be as beautiful as his sister,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23so that was all part of the thing.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27He loved dressing up. He once said to me,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30"I can't bear trousers, Simon.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33"I only like clothes that drape."
0:15:33 > 0:15:40He was very high-spirited and you know he threw all sorts of parties at Wilsford,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44when he owned the house. He had a following.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48He was a sort of magical name - Stephen Tennant.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53And, um...and the world lay at his feet.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59Stephen Tennant outlived most of his contemporaries and passed away in 1987.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01He'd been a recluse
0:16:01 > 0:16:05and chose to spend much of the last 17 years of his life in bed.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10Often when I stayed with Uncle Stephen, I used to look through the old photographs
0:16:10 > 0:16:14and sort of romance about those times in my head.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19Er, I think they would have been great times to have experienced.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32On Reel History today, we're in the grounds of the magnificent Cliveden House in Berkshire.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36During the Roaring '20s, it was home to the wealthy Astor family,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39who famously entertained on a lavish scale.
0:16:44 > 0:16:50'43 years ago, the Astor family leased Cliveden to the National Trust
0:16:50 > 0:16:54'and the house became a luxury hotel, with the gardens open to the public.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58'But the current Lord Astor has returned today to show us around.'
0:16:59 > 0:17:02'We're heading through the great hall to the French dining room.'
0:17:02 > 0:17:07This is the French dining room. My great-grandfather bought the interior of the room
0:17:07 > 0:17:10from one of the houses in Versailles.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13And, according to his notes, when he got it here,
0:17:13 > 0:17:18it still had bullet holes in the panelling left over from the French Revolution.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- That really makes it authentic! - Yeah.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Lord Astor's grandfather, Waldorf, inherited Cliveden
0:17:27 > 0:17:30and an immense fortune from his American father,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33who built the luxurious Waldorf Hotel in New York.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38Waldorf married Nancy, a very rich American heiress, in 1906
0:17:38 > 0:17:41and together they had four sons and a daughter.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49That picture over there is probably one of the most famous of the 20th century of my grandmother.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51It was painted by Sargent.
0:17:51 > 0:17:52She was originally drawn out...
0:17:52 > 0:17:57She had... My uncle was being carried piggyback.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00When they decided to do the picture, they said not to do that.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03You wouldn't normally have someone looking over their left shoulder.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08'Cliveden soon became a centre of social and political influence.
0:18:08 > 0:18:15'In 1919, Nancy Astor made history when she became the first woman to take her seat in Parliament.'
0:18:15 > 0:18:18You can see up there is Amy Johnson, Charlie Chaplin,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21my grandmother, George Bernard Shaw.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Why was he such a regular visitor?
0:18:23 > 0:18:25He was a great friend of my grandmother
0:18:25 > 0:18:29and they did various trips together in Europe. They went to both Berlin and Moscow.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33That's grandmother with the Duke of Windsor, playing golf.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35What did they say to you about the '20s?
0:18:35 > 0:18:40Cliveden in the '20s and '30s was a political salon, as it were.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44She had lots of friends, whether it was the arts and George Bernard Shaw.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Lawrence of Arabia was a great friend.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49She had an extraordinary range of people that came here
0:18:49 > 0:18:52and they had this extraordinary house, in which they entertained.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00'During the 1920s, many of the stately homes of Britain were a continuous social whirl
0:19:00 > 0:19:05'of parties and entertaining, which required battalions of servants.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08'We're now going to find out what life was like downstairs,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12'from the relatives of those who worked at Cliveden at that time.'
0:19:13 > 0:19:16'Martin Blaber has joined us today from Hampshire.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20'He is here to tell us about his uncle, Edwin Lee,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24'who was head butler to the Astors at Cliveden for 44 years.'
0:19:24 > 0:19:29My uncle was here from 1919 to 1963, I think it was,
0:19:29 > 0:19:30when he finally packed up.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33What did he say about working for the Astors?
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Well, he... It was his whole life.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40I realised that the reason he stuck it here and did so well
0:19:40 > 0:19:43was that he was strong man, he had a strong personality
0:19:43 > 0:19:46he stood up to Lady Astor, he wouldn't take any stick.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50What about the working hours? I've read notes about it. Can you tell us?
0:19:50 > 0:19:55He told me that it was sometimes 18-hour days, seven days a week.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00He had to run this place and St James's in London.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04Also, Christmas, Easter, that was permanent work.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08But, he enjoyed it, it was his whole life.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Martin's about to watch some rarely-seen film footage of the Astor family
0:20:13 > 0:20:19that'll take him back to the time when his Uncle Edwin served as their butler.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32When Kodak introduced a portable cine camera in 1923,
0:20:32 > 0:20:33amateur film-making took off.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39But it was a novelty pastime for wealthy enthusiasts like the Astors,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43who recorded many home movies during the inter-war years.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48These films paint an intimate picture of their lifestyle.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Until today, Martin had no idea these films existed.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Will he spot his Uncle Edwin?
0:20:56 > 0:20:59I did actually catch a glimpse of my uncle.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01He looked so much younger,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05cos my main meetings with him were after he'd retired.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08I didn't see him very much when he worked here,
0:21:08 > 0:21:14because he was just busy seven days a week,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18so it was good to see him looking... He looked very jovial.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21He was laughing. That was really good.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27During the 1920s, the butler in stately home
0:21:27 > 0:21:31would be the highest-ranking servant, in charge of all the domestic staff.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Martin's Uncle Edwin, was renowned in his day
0:21:34 > 0:21:38and to be trained by him was a reference in itself.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41He was like the managing director of a large company.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44He organised all the staff, the functions,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47ordering all the wine.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51He just managed a large household.
0:21:51 > 0:21:57I would relate it today to running a company of 400 people as a managing director.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Lady Astor called him "Lord Lee of Cliveden",
0:22:01 > 0:22:04because he was, in some ways,
0:22:04 > 0:22:09he was as part of the structure and fixtures and fittings, you might say.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12They couldn't operate without him. He was essential.
0:22:13 > 0:22:19As a society hostess, Lady Nancy Astor earned a reputation for witty repartee.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23But as her butler, Martin's Uncle Edwin was privy to other sides of her character.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27I think he respected her greatly.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30But he realised that she was a tyrant.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35He told me a story of when she came back from parliament late one night,
0:22:35 > 0:22:39probably in a pretty bad mood cos something had gone wrong.
0:22:39 > 0:22:46He'd already organised a massive banqueting table for royalty, who were coming the next day.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48It was all set up with flowers and everything.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51She walked in and took one look at it, kicked her shoes off,
0:22:51 > 0:22:56jumped up on the table and started moving things around, saying,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58"I don't like the look of that," etc, etc.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00Water was getting spilt.
0:23:00 > 0:23:06So he just walked in and said, "Lady Astor, if you don't get off that table, I'm going."
0:23:06 > 0:23:10So she just jumped. She apparently jumped down, put her shoes back on and said,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12"Leave it to you, Lee," and walked out.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15And that was that. That was the sort of relationship.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20Martin's Uncle went into semi-retirement in 1953
0:23:20 > 0:23:25and married Emily, who was a telephonist at Cliveden for many years.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27It was his whole life.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32I would say that he was like a piece of rock with "Cliveden" written through him.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36Whenever I used to visit him after he'd retired, we'd have lunch
0:23:36 > 0:23:40and because my aunt worked here as well for 20-odd years
0:23:40 > 0:23:46the conversations would always, always return to the Astors and Cliveden
0:23:46 > 0:23:51and all the other people that they would know through that. It was his whole life.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54And he had a good life doing it.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03'Martin's Uncle Edwin was responsible for the smooth running of Cliveden.
0:24:03 > 0:24:10'Now we're off to meet someone who can reveal what life at its most intimate was like with Lady Astor.'
0:24:10 > 0:24:12- Hello, Anne.- Hello.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15'Anne Norris has joined us today from North Yorkshire.'
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Anne's aunt, Rose Harrison had the remarkable experience
0:24:18 > 0:24:23of being lady's maid to the fiery Lady Astor for 35 years.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28She had to look after her completely, run her baths,
0:24:28 > 0:24:35get all her clothes ready, mend anything that needed mending, look after the jewellery.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38More or less take care of her altogether.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43My aunt was very lucky, really, because she went all over the world with her.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Everywhere Lady Astor went, my aunt went with her
0:24:47 > 0:24:51and she travelled first class, went to some marvellous places.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54She was very fortunate. She loved her job.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58It was hard work, but she really enjoyed it.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Anne's about to watch the Astors' home movies, which she has never seen before.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17The films will show her a hidden portrait of the life her aunt lived
0:25:17 > 0:25:22as a 1920s lady's maid in one of Britain's wealthiest families.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26I watched the films and they were absolutely fantastic.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31And it's so nice to see different parts of the Astor family,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35the places where they played and lived.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38It's been really nice to see that,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41and to see where my aunt might have been.
0:25:41 > 0:25:47Right from the start, Rose had the strength of character to take on the formidable Lady Astor.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51I think my aunt was the only one that really stood up to Lady Astor,
0:25:51 > 0:25:56and she'd had a few lady's maids before that didn't last very long.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00There was one incident where Lady Astor had a box of chocolates,
0:26:00 > 0:26:06and she took a bite into one of them, and didn't like it, so she gave it to my aunt.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11And my aunt looked at it, put it in the waste paper basket and said,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14"I'm not that hard up that I have to have second-hand chocolates."
0:26:14 > 0:26:17So she never did that again.
0:26:20 > 0:26:26As lady's maid to Nancy Astor, Rose enjoyed a higher social status than the other housemaids.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29She also travelled all over the world with the Astors,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32who filmed many of their glamorous holidays abroad.
0:26:32 > 0:26:38I think as my aunt's life and Lady Astor's life matured,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42they seemed to become more, er, compatible
0:26:42 > 0:26:46and more friends rather than maid and mistress.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51I think she was really, really upset when Lady Astor passed away.
0:26:51 > 0:26:56Lady Astor had asked earlier on in her life never to leave her,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58and she promised she'd stay with her for ever.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01And when she did actually pass away,
0:27:01 > 0:27:03I think it really hit home.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06The only thing that she brought away from the house was
0:27:06 > 0:27:14Lady Astor's dog, who was called Madam, and she was a madam, too.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16I think she was a little Pekinese.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19She used to have a little basket at my aunt's house,
0:27:19 > 0:27:26and you would never go near her because she was spoilt rotten and a little bit snappy.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30But it was something to remember her ladyship by.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33'The Astors were generous with their wealth
0:27:33 > 0:27:36'and gave buildings, land and money to the city of Plymouth.
0:27:36 > 0:27:42'But throughout the inter-war years, they famously continued to entertain at Cliveden.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45'However, it was a different story for the racy London set.'
0:27:45 > 0:27:48The Bright Young Things we've been talking about
0:27:48 > 0:27:51had the celebrity then in the 1920s of today's pop stars
0:27:51 > 0:27:56and sport stars, but in the 1920s, there was an enormous depression
0:27:56 > 0:27:59and, eventually, the press was to turn against them.
0:27:59 > 0:28:06By the 1930s, a war was brewing in Europe and the beautiful people began to disperse,
0:28:06 > 0:28:11leaving behind their legacy of modern celebrity.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Whether or not we should thank them for that, the jury is out!
0:28:16 > 0:28:20Next time on Reel History, we're at Osterley Park in Middlesex
0:28:20 > 0:28:25to honour the brave Home Guard soldiers of World War Two.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29I joined the Home Guard because I wanted to do my bit.
0:28:29 > 0:28:35I wanted a future and I knew that future wouldn't exist if the invasion took place.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Subtitling by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:00 > 0:29:03E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk