0:00:02 > 0:00:05One year ago, we followed the stories of six historic buildings,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08each crumbling and at risk of being lost forever.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Six brave new owners made a commitment to save them,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19attempting to transform them into their dream home.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Well, she found it. HE LAUGHS
0:00:25 > 0:00:28But there was more to rescuing these incredible buildings
0:00:28 > 0:00:30than anyone imagined.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35I don't think we'd ever buy another listed building. Ever.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38With architectural expert Kieran Long
0:00:38 > 0:00:40and historian Dr Kate Williams,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44we've not only been following the restoration of these magnificent buildings,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46we've dug deep into their history
0:00:46 > 0:00:49and uncovered some extraordinary stories.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52One thing led to another, and they murdered her
0:00:52 > 0:00:55in this hall somewhere.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02Now we're going back to discover what happened to these buildings
0:01:02 > 0:01:06and their owners one year on.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17We are revisiting two of our restoration homes today.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21The first was an ancient manor on the verge of falling down.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25The second was a 19th-century mansion that already had.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Both would take a lot of money to save.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Big House was a ruin with a history.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Alun Lewis fell in love with it as a boy,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38but now, as a man, could he save it?
0:01:38 > 0:01:40He has no money, but a lot of enthusiasm.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44We're ordinary people attempting the impossible with next to nothing.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49One year on, Alun is still spending all his time and money
0:01:49 > 0:01:51on the restoration,
0:01:51 > 0:01:56so what progress has he made, and will he ever finish his dream home?
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Our second house, Calverton Manor, dates back to Tudor times,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04when it was the home of a powerful businessman,
0:02:04 > 0:02:08but its recent history is one of neglect and decay.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12It ended up as a rundown farmhouse on the verge of collapse.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16Our restoration champions allocated £1 million to do it up,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18but would it be enough?
0:02:18 > 0:02:23The fact is, every week overrun does cost real pound notes.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Last time, David and Jeanette hadn't moved into the manor,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30so one year on, is their costly restoration
0:02:30 > 0:02:33everything they dreamed of?
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Our first building is Big House, or Ty Mawr in Welsh.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49It sits on the bank of the River Cleddau on the Pembroke Estuary.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53Once a building of stature and influence,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57it was unloved and abandoned for over a hundred years,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00home only to wild birds and weeds.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09So, who would want to tackle a rescue job as enormous as this?
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Meet Alun Lewis.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Alun's lived in this part of the world all his life,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24and he's dreamed of owning Big House ever since he was a little boy.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27I was fishing up there with a compass net early one morning,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29came down the river one morning,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and the mist just hanging on the river. It was just sitting there,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34and I just thought, "I'm going to buy it."
0:03:34 > 0:03:37So I sold everything - business, home, house, everything -
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and bought it.
0:03:40 > 0:03:46Alun's dream ruin cost £275,000 to buy.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49It came with nearly four acres by the river,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52and a row of derelict cottages attached.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56The mission to rescue Big House had begun under previous owners.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01When they sold up, Alun took on the challenge with his ex-partner.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Together they publicised the house's importance,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08and secured planning permission to take the restoration dream further.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11His friends wished him the best of luck.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13I hope he gets it and does it. It'll be nice, like.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Not the sort of thing I'd take on, anyhow.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19THEY LAUGH
0:04:19 > 0:04:25But take it on he did, now with his new partner, Claire.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28I think the house is fantastic, absolutely fantastic,
0:04:28 > 0:04:33and when it's done, it'll be even better. Hard work, though.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Kieran Long is an architectural expert.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46He first visited Big House two years ago to see the task Alun faced.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51Well, it's just amazing to see a building almost completely ruined.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54I mean, it looks like it's about to fall down,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and that's just really intimidating.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59I'm really glad I'm not doing this restoration.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06We can see this symmetrical arrangement,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10and that there would have been these two completed semicircular bays,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12these wings, if you like, on either side,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16although this one has almost half fallen down now.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Well, this room is just fantastic, isn't it?
0:05:25 > 0:05:29It's a wonderful space, and totally focussed on the landscape.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32There's not a window in the room
0:05:32 > 0:05:36that doesn't look out to the river and to the estuary.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39You can imagine this being a beautiful place to sit.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41And you wonder whether a room like this,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45in its size, its kind of grandeur, its symmetry,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48had a function that was to do with, you know, display
0:05:48 > 0:05:52and inviting people to it, perhaps business colleagues or...
0:05:52 > 0:05:55'Who knows what this room was used for?
0:06:00 > 0:06:04'On the waterside is a large quay, what looks like a big dock.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08'We don't really know when it arrived on the site
0:06:08 > 0:06:10'and what relationship it had with the house,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14'and we'll have to do more digging to really understand those things.'
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Alun didn't have a budget for the restoration.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24When he has money, he spends it on the house.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27At other times, he uses what he can find,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31and living next to the river has been very useful.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33This is an old oak beam we found at the bottom of the river bed.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37I've had it drying out for ten years. We hauled it up years ago and dried it out.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41It means more to me to have something like that you've hauled out yourself.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Plus, I couldn't afford to buy a new one.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54To help fund the restoration, Alun works all the hours he can.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56He juggles his time between Big House
0:06:56 > 0:07:00and maintenance jobs at the port of Milford Haven 20 miles away.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Trouble is you're trying to earn some money to go and spend on the house,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08but when you're down here, you're not working on the house,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10and when you're up there, you're not earning money here,
0:07:10 > 0:07:14so it's difficult sometimes to get the balance right.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20He may have little money, but he does have loads of enthusiasm
0:07:20 > 0:07:22for the building and its setting.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27When you've got this, you can't buy anything else, can you?
0:07:27 > 0:07:29This is worth everything.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38One of Alun's first priorities was to make the building watertight.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40He started with the windowsills.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44He was quoted a couple of thousand pounds to reinstate them
0:07:44 > 0:07:46in traditional Welsh slate,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50but he found a way of doing the same for a fraction of the price.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55I managed to buy an old slate water tank...
0:07:56 > 0:07:59..which was all in five-foot-square slabs.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02The whole lot cost me about 160 quid for the lot,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07and I can get three, six, nine... 11 sills out of it.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Get that end. If you can grab the end... Right. You got that end?
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- ALUN GRUNTS - That's it.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21See, O ye of little faith! I told you it would fit, didn't I?
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Aye. More luck than judgement.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31They did all this years ago with no machinery, no power tools.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34This was all done by hand, by sweat,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38and the simple way we're doing it is probably the way it was done in the first place.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42While the restoration was getting underway,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44we still had a mystery to solve.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Why was such a large and impressive house built here in the first place?
0:08:48 > 0:08:52On a 19th-century map in the local archives,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Kieran found the answer.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57This map is 1819,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01and at Landshipping Quay, we have right next to it, labelled here,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03"coal works".
0:09:04 > 0:09:08Landshipping sits right on top of the coal field
0:09:08 > 0:09:11that was Pembrokeshire's fortune in the early 1800s.
0:09:11 > 0:09:17The 1819 map shows the spot where Big House is situated was at its heart.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21We can see, just in the outline of the coastline,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25the dockside, and a collection of dots, really,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29tiny references to buildings, which are our house,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32or at least the roots of our house. May even be the house itself.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35But at the very least, this is a kind of logistical centre
0:09:35 > 0:09:37of the coal industry for this area,
0:09:37 > 0:09:42and suggests, in a way, that Big House had a functional relationship to the river,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46and before railways and motorways and so on,
0:09:46 > 0:09:50that river really was the main line of communication
0:09:50 > 0:09:53with the rest of the country and the important markets for that product.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58On a tithe map, which lists the taxable value of properties,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02Kieran found the name of the person who owned Big House.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05The most interesting thing of all to us is the column labelled "landowners",
0:10:05 > 0:10:11and under that, faintly, it says "Owen, Sir John".
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Historian Dr Kate Williams knew where to look
0:10:16 > 0:10:19to find out more about Sir John Owen.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Quite a lot of them. Quite a lot of Owens.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24Quite a lot of John Owens.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25It would be easier, in history,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28if they all called each other and their children different names.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Here we are. "Owen family of Orielton".
0:10:31 > 0:10:35They played a prominent part in the history of Pembrokeshire
0:10:35 > 0:10:37for nearly three centuries,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40so they were a terribly powerful family who owned the Big House -
0:10:40 > 0:10:44sheriff, MPs here, baronets...
0:10:44 > 0:10:47There's a huge amount of power and money going on in this family,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and we've got our most important one here -
0:10:50 > 0:10:52John Owen, created a baronet in 1813.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57It was a major discovery.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Sir John Owen was one of the most controversial political figures
0:11:00 > 0:11:04of his time, and he was Pembrokeshire's King of Coal,
0:11:04 > 0:11:06with the riverside village of Landshipping
0:11:06 > 0:11:09at the centre of his coal empire.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11The Landshipping colliery is fascinating.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14It's been mined since the 1500s,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17but it's only at the beginning of the 19th century
0:11:17 > 0:11:20that it becomes so important.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22In the early 1800s,
0:11:22 > 0:11:27the Landshipping colliery was the most profitable in the whole county,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29employing a hundred men,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32so it really is an incredibly profitable possession
0:11:32 > 0:11:34for Sir John to have.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41- Do I come out this way?- Yeah.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43- It's OK.- Agh!
0:11:43 > 0:11:46'Five months into the restoration,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49'I went down to Landshipping to see how Alun and Claire were getting on.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53'Progress had been steady but slow,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55'and even with the new slate window sills,
0:11:55 > 0:12:00'that voluptuous riverside facade looked pretty much unchanged.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04'Inside, though, Alun's talent for improvisation
0:12:04 > 0:12:06'had begun to fill the empty shell.'
0:12:06 > 0:12:09- Hurray! Stairs!- Yeah.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12That was almost our first job. They closed the village hall,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15and dismantled the building, and it fits here perfectly.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18- This is the very big front door. - I know.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20What's a door like that costing?
0:12:20 > 0:12:22HE EXHALES
0:12:22 > 0:12:24- He didn't tell me yet.- 1,800 quid.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28- 1,800...- Yeah.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31I know it's a lot of money, but trying to do it properly.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36That's a nice feeling, isn't it, coming upstairs in your house!
0:12:37 > 0:12:40And this'll be your upstairs hall, will it?
0:12:40 > 0:12:43- This is the bottom landing, yeah. - Bottom landing.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45There'll be another stairs here, going up again.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Where will you get those from? Find another village hall?
0:12:48 > 0:12:51- Haven't found one yet. I might have to make one.- Yeah.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54- This is the master bedroom, then. - Yeah.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56- This will be your bedroom.- Yeah.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00I cannot imagine a more beautiful place to live.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03I really can't. I find it actually quite...
0:13:03 > 0:13:06It's quite magical out there, isn't it?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Will you have curtains,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12or will you just watch the sun come up every morning?
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Well, there's nobody looking in. You're not overlooked here.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18You're really not overlooked. You might have the odd otter.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Alun, this house may not be finished for 20 years.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25No, but I'll be happy doing it.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27THEY LAUGH
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Big House may well take two decades to complete,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40but 225 miles away in Buckinghamshire,
0:13:40 > 0:13:45our second restoration home was on a much tighter schedule,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47and a much, much bigger budget.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Calverton Manor lies on the outskirts of Milton Keynes.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01It's a listed building, Grade II*.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04That's only one grade down from places like Blenheim Palace
0:14:04 > 0:14:07and Westminster Abbey.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13But unlike those national treasures, Calverton was in a dire state.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16The manor had ended up a broken-down farmhouse,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19uncared-for and on the verge of collapse.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23It desperately needed a saviour,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26and that's when David and Jeanette Lock entered the story.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30'We stumbled over the advert.'
0:14:30 > 0:14:32Soon as I saw an aerial photograph,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36I went, "Oh, it's obvious. We're going to have to do this."
0:14:36 > 0:14:39It was clear. We came up here one night, one summer's evening.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41We walked across the fields down here.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44- It was absolutely gorgeous. - And we said to each other,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47"We're going to have to give this wheel a spin, aren't we?"
0:14:47 > 0:14:50They bought Calverton, which came with 45 acres of land,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54three dilapidated cottages and several old farm buildings,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57for £2.2 million.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00The restoration was going to cost a further million pounds,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04and it took them three years to raise the money.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07So we've had to convert the cottages, sell those,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10get permission to convert the barns and sell those,
0:15:10 > 0:15:14but one of them, which is this one, we've converted ourselves,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18so we've got somewhere to live while the house is being done up.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Taking this wall down...
0:15:22 > 0:15:25David and Jeanette wanted to create their dream home
0:15:25 > 0:15:27with five bedrooms, modern comforts
0:15:27 > 0:15:31and plenty of space for all the children and grandchildren to visit.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34But because it's a listed building,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37all proposed work had to be cleared by the conservation officers
0:15:37 > 0:15:39from English Heritage.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43Everything had to be done in keeping with the historic building.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Some people find the regulations a hindrance,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48but for David and Jeanette,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51the history is the reason they bought the place.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54In a way, we'd like to find a few problems.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57We'd like to find a bit more archaeology.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00It would be exciting, even if it WAS a pain.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Kieran first visited Calverton in March 2010,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12when the restoration work had only just begun.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19So, it's hard to say how old this building is,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22but, of course, we have a pretty good clue above us
0:16:22 > 0:16:25that 1659 was the moment where this element,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28this kind of portico entrance, this porch was built.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30At a certain point in the 17th century,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34you start to get people who are interested in making an impression.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37You need to arrive at the entrance facade and be impressed.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48From the outside, we know that it's at least partly a 17th-century house,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52but when you start to look at the thickness of these walls,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55you start to suspect something much more ancient.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Normally you would expect a wall this size to be an external wall.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00If it is solid masonry,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04then you would expect it to be the former external wall, perhaps,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07of a much older building.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10It's clear the house had been altered and adapted
0:17:10 > 0:17:12by almost every generation that lived there.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15For example, the drawing room has Georgian windows
0:17:15 > 0:17:18and a Tudor fireplace.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Strangely, the only really grand room is the servants' hall,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29which was built on the back, like an extension.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Every time you walk round a corner in this house,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38you find another thing that poses yet another question.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Why did they build this quite large hall?
0:17:41 > 0:17:44At what point did they need this size of accommodation,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47which is nearly as big as the rest of the ground floor of the house?
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Going by the windows and the details,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54the servants' hall appears to date from the mid-1600s,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57the same period as the portico round the front.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00With such an old building in such a decrepit state,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02there was lots to do.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05David and Jeanette had carefully planned the restoration.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08It was scheduled to take ten months to complete,
0:18:08 > 0:18:10and everything had to be done properly...
0:18:15 > 0:18:18..from repairing the original plasterwork in the attics...
0:18:23 > 0:18:27..to exploring hidden passageways and rooms below stairs.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30- Found the bottom yet, Smudge?- No.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35We have found, beneath several layers of building work,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39inside the building but once which was outside,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41some steps leading down into the ground.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Outside, David and Jeanette wanted to restore an old window
0:18:48 > 0:18:50that had previously been bricked up.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53But for building conservationist Alan Walker,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56it was quite a challenge!
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Yeah. It is a very tricky operation.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Certainly we need an awful lot of supports
0:19:00 > 0:19:04so we can retain as much of the original stone facade as possible.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08We've got probably about three quarters of a ton above of stonework
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and we can't take out a lintel without supporting it properly
0:19:12 > 0:19:15so we can get a new lintel in its position.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17It's always a nerve-racking job
0:19:17 > 0:19:19when you're dealing with historic buildings.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23They were putting in modern lintels of steel and concrete,
0:19:23 > 0:19:26bedded into new mortar, but there was a snag.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29Little problem there.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Might have to take this out.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38The scaffolding prop was in the way, so they had to move it.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40It's quite fragile, provided...
0:19:40 > 0:19:44You only notice how fragile it is when you haven't got it supported,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and then obviously you find out pretty fast.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55The only thing holding up the gable end
0:19:55 > 0:19:58was a few centuries of tradition.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01'Five months into the restoration,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03'I went to see how they were getting on.'
0:20:06 > 0:20:10David, Jeanette, how far have you got?
0:20:10 > 0:20:15The contractor assures us we're exactly halfway through the contract,
0:20:15 > 0:20:2122 weeks into a 44-week contract, more or less exactly today.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Are you aching to move into the house?
0:20:23 > 0:20:26I really do want to see it moving on.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28I really do want to get in.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31- Can I come and have a look? - Yeah. We love showing people round.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34- Come on.- Thank you. - Let's have a look.- Lovely.
0:20:36 > 0:20:42Right! Yes. So, you're exactly halfway through, you say?
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Yes, but it does look a mess, doesn't it, at the moment?
0:20:45 > 0:20:50Well, it's... It's... It's got a way to go, hasn't it?
0:20:55 > 0:20:57This room's not much further on, is it?
0:20:57 > 0:21:00- No.- This one's still quite...
0:21:00 > 0:21:04- You need a great deal of imagination now.- Yeah.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13We thought this room was going to be the one
0:21:13 > 0:21:15that would need least intervention,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18but it's been like pulling a thread on a jumper.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22The architect wanted to take the 1970s plasterboard off,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25and that led then to the stud partition...
0:21:25 > 0:21:27you know, stud work to be pulled off,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29and then a lot of the plaster came off.
0:21:29 > 0:21:35It's like peeling a house back and tracing its history that way.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Now we have much more information about the house.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40- You love this house, don't you? - Yeah, I do. I do.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45- You do love it.- Yeah. It's just a very welcoming house,
0:21:45 > 0:21:47and it's full of interest.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51We love our history, as well, and I love architecture,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54and I love the idea that people have stood here like this,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57discussing, you know,
0:21:57 > 0:22:01the Battle of Waterloo and the Battle of Bosworth,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03and the Battle of Britain...
0:22:03 > 0:22:07All these conversations have taken place in this very place.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11It was clear that this 17th-century building was going to take a lot of work.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14It had once been a very imposing house,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17but who had owned it, and who was SB?
0:22:20 > 0:22:23In the local library, Kieran found the answer.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28Our first step has been to consult a county history of Buckinghamshire,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32and in this text we've now found out who the SB was -
0:22:32 > 0:22:35a Mr Simon Bennett.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38And the Bennetts weren't always the lords of the manor round here.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40They'd bought their way into the landed gentry
0:22:40 > 0:22:43two generations before.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Simon Bennett was a successful businessman,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49and he completely remodelled Calverton,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52turning it into much of what we see today.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56He died at the age of 60, and is buried in a local church.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00The carving on his memorial is actually taken from his death mask.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Simon left behind a widow, Grace Bennett,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and as David had discovered, she wasn't very popular.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16She wasn't at all liked. She'd done some bad things in the village,
0:23:16 > 0:23:17upset people,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21and the butcher from Stony Stratford and his apprentice
0:23:21 > 0:23:24decided she must have some money up here hidden away,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28so they came up for it, and she insisted there wasn't any,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31and one thing led to another, and they murdered her
0:23:31 > 0:23:34in this hall somewhere.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39They caught the butcher and his apprentice
0:23:39 > 0:23:41in a wood near Beachampton, not far from here.
0:23:41 > 0:23:47They were both hung at Galley Hill about half a mile away.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Their bodies were put in gibbets, hanging on Gib Lane,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52which was the old lane past the village,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56and then their skulls were exhibited on our garden wall,
0:23:56 > 0:24:02where there's a carved gallows, as a warning to other people.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06300 years later, this may sound like an unlikely tale,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09but it's all true.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13In the archives, Kate found the accounts for what was spent
0:24:13 > 0:24:17on the trial and the execution of Grace Bennett's murderers.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Curiously, the whole thing was paid for by the Bennett family.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25Grace Bennett was so hated by the people around her,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28the local people, that there was no sympathy for her,
0:24:28 > 0:24:33and in fact no-one would give evidence at the trial, it seems,
0:24:33 > 0:24:36so every witness had to be paid to testify.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39The Bennett family want a special gallows made for the murderer
0:24:39 > 0:24:43where he can be hanged. The bill for the building of the gallows,
0:24:43 > 0:24:44two guineas 12,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47and they also paid for the body to be taken away.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Three centuries later, though, the crime scene was falling to bits,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01particularly the big stone windows.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04They date from when the servants' hall was first built
0:25:04 > 0:25:07in the mid-1600s.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10The limestone sills and mullions were badly eroded,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12and needed replacing.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16They are made out of Bath stone,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19and the skills and tools used for this work
0:25:19 > 0:25:23haven't changed much in the past 2,000 years.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27These were first mined by the Romans a couple of thousand years ago,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31these mines in Bath, and the actual techniques used by the Romans
0:25:31 > 0:25:33were very similar to what are used today.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37The wooden mallet head would have been used by Romans.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41Some of the metal tools, they're still very similar.
0:25:42 > 0:25:47It's a massive, massive thing for me to see my work put into a building,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51and to think that will last another few hundred years, hopefully,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55and other people are going to get pleasure from that.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Restoring the stone window frames at Calverton Manor
0:25:58 > 0:26:01was an expensive business,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05but it had all been allowed for in the million-pound restoration plan.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07Back at Big House in Pembrokeshire,
0:26:07 > 0:26:12Alun was also facing a big bill to replace his windows.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14They all had to be specially made
0:26:14 > 0:26:17to fit the building's quirky dimensions.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21This is the biggest single purchase here, apart from the house.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25A dozen windows here, which cost me a lot of money.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28They cost £20,000,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31but getting them installed would make a big difference
0:26:31 > 0:26:34to the whole restoration.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38It's a huge step forward to moving in,
0:26:38 > 0:26:43and it'll mean that we've got a dry area to work in.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47They've all had a couple of coats before they got to us,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50but we just thought we'd put another coat on the outside
0:26:50 > 0:26:54before they go in, and do the insides once they're in.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Each window was double glazed and extremely heavy.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03Alun recruited helpers to fit them, including his dad.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06OK. Ready?
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Ooh, I got the heavy end.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22There we are. That's it! One window.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Others had been helping too.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33Alun's mate Nigel Jenkins is a carpenter.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Stud wall coming up here. There's a measure-made storage space above.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Er, four-by-twos rattled together.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Instead of using nail guns, we used the old-fashioned galvanised nails.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47They're as cheap as chips, and rattle them in.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52Even the floorboards were cheap,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55recovered from the local village hall when that was demolished.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58It's nice to see an old building coming back to life.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01If he's got a bottomless pit of money,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04it makes a restoration on this sort of building easy.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07But if you haven't got a pot of money,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11you've just got to do it and keep thinking about the building,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13get it right for the building, you know?
0:28:18 > 0:28:23With the big, expensive front door and all the windows in place,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25for the first time in living memory,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Big House was beginning to look like a home.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34But as Kate discovered in the archives,
0:28:34 > 0:28:40160 years ago, the community and Big House suffered a devastating blow,
0:28:40 > 0:28:45and Sir John Owen's family fortune would never recover.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48This document here, this newspaper article,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50was written 50 years later,
0:28:50 > 0:28:54and still it clearly resonates in the mind,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57and it's so awful. The details here are just terrible.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03The local colliery, Garden Pit, ran underneath the estuary.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06One afternoon when the tide was coming in,
0:29:06 > 0:29:10water burst through to the pit shaft without warning.
0:29:13 > 0:29:14HE GASPS
0:29:14 > 0:29:17WATER RUSHES HE GASPS
0:29:24 > 0:29:29At least 40 people perished just in a moment when the pit was flooded,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32and all these miners "were carried headlong with the torrent".
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Only a few escaped.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Water filled the pit so quickly
0:29:43 > 0:29:46that attempts at rescue proved impossible.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51To this day, the bodies of the people mining Owen's coal
0:29:51 > 0:29:56on Valentine's Day, 1844 have never been recovered.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00The tragedy blighted the whole riverside,
0:30:00 > 0:30:04and the Owens' colliery, once the most profitable in the county,
0:30:04 > 0:30:07would never recover.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Once upon a time this was bustling, it was busy.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16All you could hear was the clanking of machinery,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19men going back and forth... It's completely different.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23The calamity changed the area almost overnight,
0:30:23 > 0:30:26and it also had a great effect on Big House,
0:30:26 > 0:30:30because Big House was built on colliery money, on coal money,
0:30:30 > 0:30:32and so when the colliery went,
0:30:32 > 0:30:37it's very likely that the fortunes of Big House began to fall as well.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Back at Calverton Manor,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51David and Jeanette were facing problems of a different kind.
0:30:51 > 0:30:56Seven months into their restoration, and the schedule was slipping.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59The old building kept throwing up new problems.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04Everything here is just totally... Well, it's gone, basically,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07hardly held up by anything.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10There have been one or two surprises at the last minute.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13The main beam running through the centre of the house,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15when the electrician lifted a floorboard,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18he found the last three feet of it just weren't there.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Peter Howard was the restoration's architect.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26Well, we've discovered that the end of this major beam
0:31:26 > 0:31:29has been reduced to dust
0:31:29 > 0:31:33by, um, worm of some sort or another,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36and in fact may well have been just on the point of collapsing
0:31:36 > 0:31:38into the room below.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41The woodworm is long gone,
0:31:41 > 0:31:43so it could've been like this for decades.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47But that wasn't the only hidden problem that came to light.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Conservation engineer Ralph Mills was called in
0:31:51 > 0:31:53to look at the kitchen fireplace.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59What's happened, of course, is, with this being removed from there,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02it's weakened the whole construction.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06This was very serious. The chimney is a supporting structure.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09You can see here, you know,
0:32:09 > 0:32:13that the construction there is very, very, you know, weak.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18This has been planted onto the original mason...
0:32:18 > 0:32:20the original masonry.
0:32:20 > 0:32:25It seems that the cowboy builder is not just a modern phenomenon.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28It is on the point of collapse, really.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35In fact, the whole chimney structure was declared unsafe.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Well, obviously it's a load-bearing wall,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43cos it goes right upstairs to one of the chimneys, as well.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46I think he's estimated about 50 tons above us.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51The bottom two metres had to be completely rebuilt.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54When David and Jeanette were planning the restoration,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58they allowed extra money to cover unforeseen disasters like this,
0:32:58 > 0:33:00but still, it was a blow.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05I... I'm not depressed by it.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10We did our homework. We knew it was going to be expensive.
0:33:10 > 0:33:16But I would just like to get in, get it finished, and enjoy it.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20The fact is, every week overrun does cost real pound notes.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26Outside, things were going better.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29The stonemasons had finished carving the new window frames.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34Now it was like a heavyweight jigsaw puzzle to put it back together.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37The header stone was the last to fit.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41It's a privilege to work on a building like this,
0:33:41 > 0:33:43all the buildings we have worked on,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46because to think of 200, 300 years ago
0:33:46 > 0:33:48that your fellow masons, how they worked...
0:33:48 > 0:33:52I mean, they wouldn't have had any electric spinners or grinders
0:33:52 > 0:33:56or Kangos to take the stone out. They would have done everything by hand.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00You just got to keep persevering, keep taking it in and out,
0:34:00 > 0:34:02until we get it right.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05You would think, it come out of there, it should go back into it,
0:34:05 > 0:34:08but it never does.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12It looks nice once it goes in.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14It's all got to be pointed up and that,
0:34:14 > 0:34:16which will really finish it off,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18but just to see it go in, and stand back and look at it,
0:34:18 > 0:34:22and it looks a decent-enough job.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30As Christmas 2010 approached,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33it was the weather that was to cause the next delays.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37It was the second-coldest December since monthly records began.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Some of the lime mortar and plasterwork was damaged
0:34:40 > 0:34:43by the freezing temperatures.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46Yeah, the face is gone. It's completely gone.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49This will all want raking out and completely repointing,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51hundred percent, all over.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53So now it needs redoing.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55MANY VOICES CHATTERING
0:34:55 > 0:34:59David and Jeanette had once been determined to move in by Christmas,
0:34:59 > 0:35:04but with the schedule slipping and costs rising, it wasn't to be.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07To cheer everyone up, they went ahead with a carol concert
0:35:07 > 0:35:09in the servants' hall.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11Are we ready?
0:35:12 > 0:35:16ALL: # Deck the hall with boughs of holly
0:35:16 > 0:35:19# Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
0:35:19 > 0:35:22# 'Tis the season to be jolly #
0:35:22 > 0:35:26At Big House, there wasn't much to sing about.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29Alun had also hoped to move in for Christmas,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32but a shortage of funds held him back.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36Money was the problem 150 years previously, too.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Sir John Owen's fortune was built on coal,
0:35:39 > 0:35:43but after the mining disaster, he never recovered.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47Sir John, he'd lost it all. All of it up for sale
0:35:47 > 0:35:52on the 29th of April, 1857, at Garraway's Coffee House in London,
0:35:52 > 0:35:56and this was selling the entire Landshipping estate.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Someone could buy it by auction.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04Big House, then known as Landshipping House,
0:36:04 > 0:36:06was also part of the sale.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08The property's description
0:36:08 > 0:36:11reads like a Victorian estate agent's dream.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Beautifully situated, it says here,
0:36:15 > 0:36:19on the banks of the River Cleddau, opposite Picton Castle,
0:36:19 > 0:36:20a lovely view.
0:36:20 > 0:36:26Sundry bedrooms, parlour, drawing room.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28Big House must have been
0:36:28 > 0:36:31one of the most beautiful and most extensive properties
0:36:31 > 0:36:32in the whole area.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36Sadly, no drawings or plans survive
0:36:36 > 0:36:39to tell us exactly how Big House looked in its prime.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43But using all the expert references we can gather,
0:36:43 > 0:36:47this is how Big House might have looked in its heyday,
0:36:47 > 0:36:49inside...
0:36:50 > 0:36:53..and outside.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56But then under new ownership,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59the building entered a tragic downward spiral
0:36:59 > 0:37:01over the next 50 years.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11An Ordnance Survey map from 1907
0:37:11 > 0:37:14confirmed Big House was already abandoned and crumbling.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18We can see the outline of the house with its two distinctive bows,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22but now the house is just white. It's not shaded in on the map,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25and that tells us that by this time it has no roof.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29On OS maps, if it's just in white, the building has no roof.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32That means the building's a ruin, so already, by 1907,
0:37:32 > 0:37:36more than a hundred years ago, this was a ruin.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46A century later, though,
0:37:46 > 0:37:50a new chapter in Big House's history was being written.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55'I went to see Alun one year ago, when they had finished two rooms.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59'But the big question was, had they finally moved in?'
0:37:59 > 0:38:02You wanted to be in for Christmas. You weren't in for Christmas.
0:38:02 > 0:38:07- Are you actually living here now? - Yep.- Yes.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11Oh, well done! No, that's brilliant. That's fantastic news.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15- And that's it? You're in for good? You won't be moving out again?- No.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17- You're in.- Yeah. - Can I have a look?- Help yourself.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19- Oh, thank you!- Come on.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25'From the start, Alun's dream was to wake up every day
0:38:25 > 0:38:27'to those stunning views of the estuary
0:38:27 > 0:38:30'he's known since he was a boy.'
0:38:32 > 0:38:36So, had Alun realised his dream?
0:38:44 > 0:38:46This is lovely!
0:38:46 > 0:38:49- It is, isn't it? - It's a bit rough and ready...
0:38:49 > 0:38:51- Your bedroom! - ..but we're getting there.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56- You've got a four-poster bed! - Mm, with curtains!
0:38:56 > 0:39:00- This room's gorgeous, isn't it? - That's what makes it.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03So, this is where you finally...
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Your dream came true, and you sat up in bed and looked out
0:39:06 > 0:39:09- at the river.- Yeah. That's what we were waiting for for a long time.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13'They'd built a raised seating area
0:39:13 > 0:39:17'to make the most of that spectacular window bay.'
0:39:17 > 0:39:21It's looking really beautiful. The floor's fantastic.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Well, it took me two days with the sander to sand it off.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Claire spent two nights with a big industrial polisher here.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30- I think it's completely beautiful. - When I started, there was no roof,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33no floors. This was just a big hole full of ivy
0:39:33 > 0:39:36with some walls round it. It could have fallen down.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40So maybe if I hadn't bothered, it might have ended up in a pile of stones on the floor.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43But Big House was far from finished.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46The lounge was sparsely furnished to say the least,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49and was still waiting for its final cement floor.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52'But they seemed to have all they needed here too.'
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Oh, now, you've got your fire in. Does that work?
0:39:56 > 0:40:00- It does work, yeah. - Does it work?- Really, really well.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03- It's so quiet. - It's blowing a gale out there now.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06It's silent in here. We've only got...
0:40:06 > 0:40:09No proper ceilings up. No proper floors. Just bare walls.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11It's been an empty shell for a hundred years.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14- It's so warm and quiet. - It is amazing, isn't it?
0:40:14 > 0:40:17The budget for this place, did you start with a...
0:40:17 > 0:40:19- No.- You've never had a...
0:40:19 > 0:40:23- You started with nothing. - And I've still got most of it left.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26THEY LAUGH
0:40:30 > 0:40:36It's nearly 200 years since Sir John Owen's working building by the river
0:40:36 > 0:40:39was first given expansive views of the Pembroke Estuary.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46I wonder if John Owen, you know, who built this place,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49whose house it was... I wonder what he would make of you living here?
0:40:49 > 0:40:51Well, he tried it his way and failed.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53He tried the high life and the grand life,
0:40:53 > 0:40:57and lived beyond his means, so he had plenty of money to start with,
0:40:57 > 0:41:02and he ended up with nothing. I've started with nothing, so I can't go backwards, can I?
0:41:02 > 0:41:06Perhaps it's because of Alun's endless enthusiasm for this restoration
0:41:06 > 0:41:09that the story of Big House struck a chord with the viewers.
0:41:09 > 0:41:14Alun was overwhelmed by the response when the programme was first shown
0:41:14 > 0:41:15one year ago.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17Since the programme, we've been amazed.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20You couldn't get in the lane outside for a month or so afterwards.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23Cars, people, boats, back and forward...
0:41:23 > 0:41:25It's been amazing. It's just unbelievable.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28We just never realised we'd have that kind of response,
0:41:28 > 0:41:30and it's all been positive.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38Since then, Claire has been busy trying to reply to everyone
0:41:38 > 0:41:41who has got in contact.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45We've had lots of letters from this country and from abroad,
0:41:45 > 0:41:50and lots of emails, almost on a daily basis.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53One lady sent us a card, just her name on it,
0:41:53 > 0:41:57saying that if she was a millionaire she would have sent us some money,
0:41:57 > 0:42:00and sent us a lottery ticket, which was really nice.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05We had two, um, coat hooks sent to us, with...
0:42:08 > 0:42:12.."king" and "queen" on, so there you go.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15Checked the lottery ticket and it wasn't the winning ticket,
0:42:15 > 0:42:18but never mind. It was the thought that counts.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20I'll have to go and buy another one this weekend.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24But how far have they managed to get with their restoration one year on?
0:42:24 > 0:42:27We'll be back later to visit.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37David and Jeanette finally got into Calverton Manor
0:42:37 > 0:42:39six months later than planned.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43- Hello!- Hi!- Hello!
0:42:43 > 0:42:46- It's looking really... - Doesn't it look gorgeous?
0:42:46 > 0:42:51- Really, really wonderful. Well done! - Isn't it pretty?
0:42:51 > 0:42:53- You've done it! You've done it. - I know.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56It's been a long, long haul, but it just...
0:42:56 > 0:42:58We're so pleased with it, and with the sun on it...
0:42:58 > 0:43:02It's smiling. The honey colours come out. It's beautiful.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06It should be the happiest it's been since - what, 1659,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08when it was last given a real makeover.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12I think your initials should be above the door, not Simon Bennett's.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14We've sneakily put our initials round the back on a chimney.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16- We'll show you. - Hidden them round the back.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19We thought we might have earned our spurs enough.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21- Can I go and have a look? - You can.- Can I see what's occurred?
0:43:21 > 0:43:24It's looking good.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27'We were the first to see the house finished.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30'David and Jeanette had only got the keys back from the builders
0:43:30 > 0:43:33'that day, and hadn't even moved in yet.'
0:43:33 > 0:43:37When they started, this room had been split in two
0:43:37 > 0:43:39since the Georgian era.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43But more worrying was the load-bearing beam
0:43:43 > 0:43:45that had been eaten away by woodworm.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47Now the original hall had been reopened.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54- SHE LAUGHS - This is unrecognisable!
0:43:54 > 0:43:59- It is amazing, isn't it? - It's completely different!
0:43:59 > 0:44:02And this is a beautiful fireplace.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06- It is, yes, and now it's in proportion to the room.- Yes.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12When I was here last time,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15the drawing room showed the size of the task ahead.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18- I remember this room.- Well, look.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22- This...- We have a floor.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26I'm going to come clean and tell you that when I left here last time,
0:44:26 > 0:44:31I said to the crew, "They're never going to do it."
0:44:32 > 0:44:36But the part of the house that was most at risk
0:44:36 > 0:44:38was in the old kitchen, where, midway through the build,
0:44:38 > 0:44:42it was discovered that the fireplace was seriously compromised,
0:44:42 > 0:44:46and 50 tons of Calverton Manor could come tumbling down
0:44:46 > 0:44:49at any moment.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55And this... This... This is a transformation, isn't it?
0:44:55 > 0:44:59- Yeah.- This is not the same room.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04It's one of those... what you call a close shave, right,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08and you lie awake in bed the next day or the next week,
0:45:08 > 0:45:11and think, "Supposing," you know, "it had happened that night,"
0:45:11 > 0:45:14the bloke had taken the plaster off, going home early,
0:45:14 > 0:45:16and just that night, the whole lot...
0:45:16 > 0:45:19It would have pulled down with it the entire north end of the building,
0:45:19 > 0:45:23all the floors and everything would have come down.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28Having narrowly avoided disaster,
0:45:28 > 0:45:30and with their huge list of discoveries,
0:45:30 > 0:45:33the final restoration bill for Calverton Manor
0:45:33 > 0:45:36was £1.2 million.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42I'd give this message - if you're embarking on a restoration project
0:45:42 > 0:45:45of this sort, you can't do it on the cheap.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48You can't do it quick. You can't cut corners.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52- And you don't make any money. - Oh, and you can't...
0:45:52 > 0:45:54THEY LAUGH
0:45:56 > 0:45:59It was a long and expensive journey,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03but the restoration of Calverton Manor was finally complete.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09It had taken longer than they'd hoped,
0:46:09 > 0:46:13but now, one year on, David and Jeanette have moved in,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16and the house is once again a home.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21It is a joy to be here. It really is a joy.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27The room we find we spend most time in is this one,
0:46:27 > 0:46:30which is the original living hall
0:46:30 > 0:46:32of the original 15th-century building,
0:46:32 > 0:46:37so this is, like...turns out to be a really excellent space.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40It's big enough to have a dining table in and settees,
0:46:40 > 0:46:43and a nice fire, and room to watch TV,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45and it's right in the middle of the house.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Upstairs there are now three bathrooms...
0:46:56 > 0:46:58..and six bedrooms.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02Some of the bedrooms are absolutely fantastic, and ours is lovely.
0:47:02 > 0:47:07We have a lovely view down the farmyard and over the knot garden and so on, and the church.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11It's warm and comfortable,
0:47:11 > 0:47:15and I think we're learning to live in it,
0:47:15 > 0:47:19and use all the rooms, and it's great.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25The boot room, which is sort of our back door,
0:47:25 > 0:47:29we kept the old stone sink, and that's fantastic.
0:47:29 > 0:47:34'If Betsy comes in with dirty feet, I can just put her in the sink
0:47:34 > 0:47:37'and run the tap, clean her off.'
0:47:39 > 0:47:42There is one room that David is most pleased with.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45The servants' hall, which was really the big room
0:47:45 > 0:47:48that I remember, in the beginning of all the filming,
0:47:48 > 0:47:50we said this was the one room
0:47:50 > 0:47:53that really made this house so interesting for us.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57That now has got underfloor heating
0:47:57 > 0:48:00and has been beautifully restored,
0:48:00 > 0:48:03and is a great place for gatherings.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09When the story of their restoration was first shown,
0:48:09 > 0:48:11it generated huge interest,
0:48:11 > 0:48:15and they still receive many letters and emails of support.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17One of the consequences of the programme
0:48:17 > 0:48:20was to get some extraordinary messages from all over the world.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25Some were just appreciative of ordinary folk like us
0:48:25 > 0:48:27trying to save an old house,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30and a lovely lady from North London even sent us a cheque for £50,
0:48:30 > 0:48:33and said, "I know it's a straw in the wind,
0:48:33 > 0:48:36but I'd like to just say, I think what you're doing is good."
0:48:36 > 0:48:38That was lovely.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41The programme also brought to light some new history to the house -
0:48:41 > 0:48:46stories from the Second World War. After it was shown,
0:48:46 > 0:48:49the family of one of the previous owners paid a visit.
0:48:49 > 0:48:56They remembered people, Canadians, being billeted in the attic,
0:48:56 > 0:48:59which was, um, interesting for us,
0:48:59 > 0:49:03and we passed on that information to the local historian.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06It's thought the Canadian soldiers
0:49:06 > 0:49:08were guarding a military installation nearby.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12David Muston runs the local historical society.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16He confirmed the link between Calverton and the war effort.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20One of the things that came up is that quite close to here,
0:49:20 > 0:49:22in one of the nearest fields, in fact,
0:49:22 > 0:49:24was a radio transmitting station,
0:49:24 > 0:49:28which was attached to Whaddon Hall and then Bletchley Park,
0:49:28 > 0:49:31where a lot of the radio transmissions
0:49:31 > 0:49:36to our secret agents in the Low Countries actually took place.
0:49:37 > 0:49:42Bletchley Park is just seven and a half miles from the manor.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45During World War II, it was the top-secret centre
0:49:45 > 0:49:48for code-breaking and intelligence gathering.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52There was a whole network of radio stations locally
0:49:52 > 0:49:54that fed information into Bletchley,
0:49:54 > 0:49:57and there is still evidence of one next to Calverton Manor.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01It's likely that this was the one the Canadian soldiers were guarding.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05Dick Webb remembers that time well,
0:50:05 > 0:50:08though he was just a boy during the war.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Where this piece of concrete is, this area here,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15this is where the radio station was.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18It went from here...
0:50:20 > 0:50:22..right across there.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27This is the, um, generator station
0:50:27 > 0:50:32for the electric for the... for the station here.
0:50:32 > 0:50:37There was a big engine in this room, yeah, all electrics.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40There would have been tall radio masts in the field too,
0:50:40 > 0:50:44and David's found evidence of these in the field near the manor.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46When we last walked along here,
0:50:46 > 0:50:48we did find these...
0:50:48 > 0:50:53some evidence of what we assumed to be guy ropes or guy wires,
0:50:53 > 0:50:57- which actually held the masts up. - There's one there.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59And another one there.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02People who actually worked at Bletchley Park
0:51:02 > 0:51:04were absolutely remarkable.
0:51:04 > 0:51:08When they were recruited, they were put under the Official Secrets Act,
0:51:08 > 0:51:13but many of them considered that the oath they gave
0:51:13 > 0:51:15was virtually a lifelong one,
0:51:15 > 0:51:19and there were a few older residents of the village
0:51:19 > 0:51:22who had been involved, and still will not talk.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26They are still... They feel that they would be letting the side down
0:51:26 > 0:51:29if they mentioned anything about what they did
0:51:29 > 0:51:33at that time in Bletchley, amazing it may seem still.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36For David and Jeanette, unlocking secrets like these
0:51:36 > 0:51:40has been one of the highlights of the restoration.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43To find history from just before we were born, you know,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Second World War history right on our doorstep,
0:51:46 > 0:51:48it really makes this point
0:51:48 > 0:51:52that this is as much about all of the ages of humankind
0:51:52 > 0:51:57and all of our nation's history as it is about a particular frozen moment.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01It was really interesting, as the house was being unpicked
0:52:01 > 0:52:04and the history of it was being revealed,
0:52:04 > 0:52:08and now it's a home which we're enjoying.
0:52:10 > 0:52:15David and Jeanette are now settled into their finished restoration.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22One year on, Kieran's gone down to Big House
0:52:22 > 0:52:24to see Alun and Claire.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27They didn't have the same budget for their restoration,
0:52:27 > 0:52:31and in fact have had to do most of their work themselves.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33The house was a ruin when they started,
0:52:33 > 0:52:35so how have they got on?
0:52:37 > 0:52:39Well, what a transformation!
0:52:49 > 0:52:53I never thought I'd see this building with both its fronts on,
0:52:53 > 0:52:57but now its complete. It's just all breeze blocks and no windows,
0:52:57 > 0:53:00and still a bit rough around the edges,
0:53:00 > 0:53:02but it's more or less all there.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08- Morning!- Hi, there.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12- Nice to see you again. - Hi, Alun. How are things?
0:53:12 > 0:53:15- All right.- Good to see you. - Nice to see you again.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17- Are you well?- Yeah. You?
0:53:17 > 0:53:20- Really well. How's it all going? - A bit of a change since you left.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23- It's amazing. - Not finished, but we've done a bit.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25- I mean, it isn't finished, is it? - ALUN LAUGHS
0:53:25 > 0:53:28It's certainly not finished,
0:53:28 > 0:53:31but Alun has done a lot of work on the rest of the building.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33With his friend John,
0:53:33 > 0:53:36they have managed to secure the front of Big House
0:53:36 > 0:53:39by building up the second bay.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42It was a lot of work, like, but we got there in the end, like.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46Just kept at it. I think it looked worse than what it was, really.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52It's a dream for some people, like, and he's got it.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56He's got the place here and he'll just take his time, and slowly he'll do it.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00The restoration of any historic home
0:54:00 > 0:54:03is always going to take a lot of time and money,
0:54:03 > 0:54:07but Big House is now on its way to being saved.
0:54:10 > 0:54:16Wow! We're in a dry, roofed place! This is quite a change.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19- A structure. No windows. It's a structure, though.- Yeah.
0:54:19 > 0:54:21We were here together when this was nearly...
0:54:21 > 0:54:23- Falling on your head!- ..falling down,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26and all of this steel - tell me what's stopping it falling down now.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29You've put a load of work in here. It's not immediately obvious.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33All the steelwork... You've got 12 pieces of steel in here,
0:54:33 > 0:54:3612 I-beams going back into the wall,
0:54:36 > 0:54:40and I've actually welded pieces on the back of the steel
0:54:40 > 0:54:42and built them into the wall, so they're tied in.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45So they're keeping the building from falling apart.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48- Yeah. It won't fall apart now - just fall over.- Yeah.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51And how many bedrooms will there be in this...
0:54:51 > 0:54:53Six in this wing, three on each floor,
0:54:53 > 0:54:55and three on the top one as well.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59With the second bay now dry and stable,
0:54:59 > 0:55:03they're hoping that Big House can soon start to pay
0:55:03 > 0:55:05for its own restoration.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08Our plans are to do bed-and-breakfast
0:55:08 > 0:55:11once we've got a little bit more money.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14Even if we start off with a couple of bedrooms,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17it'll then give us the income
0:55:17 > 0:55:20to carry on restoring the rest of the house.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23Work has been quiet, so the money isn't about,
0:55:23 > 0:55:27so hopefully a few people in there, a couple of B&Bs,
0:55:27 > 0:55:30that then will help fund the rest of the restoration then.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32That's the master plan, anyway.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35This restoration has always been short of funds,
0:55:35 > 0:55:38but never of enthusiasm.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41Alun and Claire still have a long way to go,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44but they're enjoying what they've achieved so far,
0:55:44 > 0:55:46and are living in the two rooms in the other wing.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54- Isn't it cosy in here? - It is, isn't it?
0:55:59 > 0:56:03It's really nice. It's really warm. It doesn't feel like a building site any more, really,
0:56:03 > 0:56:05and you're still camping here a bit.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08It's not everybody's idea of luxury, but it's home.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10We've got everything we need here. It's warm.
0:56:10 > 0:56:15Tell me a bit about the response you had from the building being on Restoration Home.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17You've had a lot of people get in contact.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20Oh, it's been amazing. We're still shell-shocked.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22We've been given sticky-toffee puddings.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25- Oh, yeah. We got sent those. - Oh, that's sweet.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27A few offers of four-poster beds...
0:56:27 > 0:56:30And it's the kind of sense of people supporting what you're trying to do.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34- Is that how it felt?- Absolutely, and everybody's been so positive.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37They've said that they can relate to us because...
0:56:37 > 0:56:40We're ordinary people attempting the impossible with next to nothing!
0:56:40 > 0:56:43Yeah, yeah, yeah. And pulling it off!
0:56:43 > 0:56:45Well, we're getting there slowly.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48One of the things I love about this place,
0:56:48 > 0:56:51what really is the atmosphere of it for me, are these incredible walls.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53They're rubble stone, kind of repaired,
0:56:53 > 0:56:57not particularly regular but really characterful.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59What are you going to do about these walls?
0:56:59 > 0:57:02Well, I was hoping to insulate the inside of the external walls,
0:57:02 > 0:57:04but everybody's telling us to leave them.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08We've had emails and letters. Everyone says, "Oh, please don't touch them!"
0:57:08 > 0:57:11It's still got that atmosphere of living in the ruin,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14living in the building as you knew it
0:57:14 > 0:57:16before you made it into a home.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20We'll do what we can when we can, and we're enjoying doing it, yeah.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22We'll get to the end one day.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25- But meanwhile you have...- We've got that lovely view, haven't we?
0:57:25 > 0:57:28It's a restoration. It's not a race.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31Yeah. Right. That's a very good way of putting it.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39More than a year ago I stood about here,
0:57:39 > 0:57:41looking at the ruin of Big House,
0:57:41 > 0:57:45and being very grateful that I wasn't working on the restoration.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48But now you can see that the determination of Alun and Claire
0:57:48 > 0:57:50to pull it off has brought the house back
0:57:50 > 0:57:52to something like its original glory.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56Both bay fronts are there for the first time in a century,
0:57:56 > 0:57:58looking out on this incredible landscape
0:57:58 > 0:58:01and this beautiful estuary.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04They've been spurred on by well- wishers from all over the world,
0:58:04 > 0:58:07but it's them that have got them this far.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15It's not finished yet, but if there's one man who can get it done,
0:58:15 > 0:58:17it's Alun.
0:58:21 > 0:58:25So, we've never been happier, and we've never been more broke, have we?
0:58:29 > 0:58:34Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:34 > 0:58:34.