:00:36. > :00:42.There's nothing the British like better than a day out at a stately
:00:42. > :00:47.home. It can be really disappointing. There are so many
:00:47. > :00:52.rules - don't touch that, no entry beyond this point, don't sit on the
:00:52. > :00:59.chairs. Wouldn't it be fantastic to throw all those rules out of the
:00:59. > :01:03.window and start again? And that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm
:01:03. > :01:09.Penelope Keith. I'm on a mission to change the way we visit stately
:01:09. > :01:16.homes. It strikes me it's going to be quite a task to get it
:01:16. > :01:22.altogether in the amount of time we have. And I'm not alone. On his way
:01:22. > :01:30.to meet me is Mr Flog It! Himself, Paul Martin, who knows a thing or
:01:30. > :01:34.two about antiques and old houses. So far, my team is myself and
:01:34. > :01:38.Penelope Keith. So wish us luck! I have never met Penelope before. I
:01:38. > :01:47.don't know what she is going to think of me. I was a good fan of
:01:47. > :01:57.hers, I can tell you that. We are about to face the ultimate stately
:01:57. > :01:58.
:01:58. > :02:01.home challenge. It all happens here at Avebury Manor in Wiltshire.
:02:01. > :02:08.National Trust has given us six months to reinvent the manor before
:02:08. > :02:16.it opens to the public with a cash budget of �225,000 - a lot to you
:02:16. > :02:21.and me - and we are going to have to move fast. We want to create a
:02:21. > :02:26.house rich and colourful and full of marvellous things to rival any
:02:26. > :02:31.other stately home. This is impressive. The difference at
:02:31. > :02:36.Avebury, nothing will be so valuable it can't be touched. So
:02:36. > :02:42.delicate it can't be used. This is marvellous! There will be some
:02:42. > :02:47.antiques rk things we pick up for a song. -- antiques, things we pick
:02:47. > :02:53.up for a song and have to repair. Mostly, we will be making things
:02:53. > :02:58.from scratch. Furniture, fabrics, made so well they rival real
:02:58. > :03:04.antiques. Selling now. Get yourself comfortable. Right. We want to
:03:04. > :03:10.create a bed fit for a Queen. Travel to far-off places to learn
:03:10. > :03:19.about the lives of people who lived in our house. That is absolutely
:03:19. > :03:27.brilliant. And bring a lost garden back to life. One has to be
:03:27. > :03:32.optimistic as a gardener. If you are not, don't become a gardener.
:03:32. > :03:41.It's going to be a journey of discovery and laughter. But
:03:41. > :03:51.passions will run high. We have to deliver this project on time.
:03:51. > :04:17.
:04:17. > :04:26.don't deliver, we have failed on The Wiltshire village of Avebury
:04:26. > :04:32.sits pretty as a postcard in the spring mist. Avebury is famous for
:04:32. > :04:38.its prehistoric stone circle. Lots of people visit all year-round. The
:04:38. > :04:47.trouble is hardly any of them makes it to the village's other
:04:47. > :04:51.attraction. The 500-year-old manor house. So Avebury Manor sits empty
:04:51. > :05:01.and neglected. A few people visit its gardens, but the manor house
:05:01. > :05:03.
:05:03. > :05:08.needs to make money if it is to have a future. Wow! It's dark.
:05:08. > :05:14.is. Shall I leave the door open? would. Torches. One for you and one
:05:14. > :05:19.for me. That's good. Gosh! Many stately homes stay in the same
:05:19. > :05:24.family for generations. But Avebury's changed hands lots of
:05:24. > :05:30.times. From a Tudor courtier to a Georgian soldier, a Victorian
:05:30. > :05:37.champion polo player and a 1930s playboy archaeologist. That's nice.
:05:37. > :05:40.Oh yes! What a beautiful room. A marble fireplace surround. It's a
:05:40. > :05:47.gent's room. Does that need cleaning? Does it need cleaning?!
:05:47. > :05:52.It does a bit. Who is it? The smoke has got to that. Oh dear. She is
:05:52. > :05:57.upset. What about this - I'm old and badly damaged, please don't
:05:57. > :06:02.touch me. Thank you. LAUGHTER This is better! That is more like it.
:06:02. > :06:08.That is much nicer. Yes. Tudor. has a proper Tudor feel about it.
:06:08. > :06:15.You like that? I do. You are Lady of the Manor. I like the light
:06:16. > :06:20.behind me. Oh! Jolly nice. Is this Georgian? Yes. This definitely is.
:06:20. > :06:26.Gosh. What room is this? Is it dining? I think it is a dining room.
:06:26. > :06:32.It's a formal entertaining room. is. And the mouldings are beautiful.
:06:32. > :06:37.This is in quite good nick. What is the fireplace? Is that... Stone it
:06:37. > :06:44.looks like. That is beautiful. Any little boys up there?! LAUGHTER It
:06:44. > :06:51.is the kitchen! That is nice. is nice. That is a lovely dresser.
:06:51. > :06:57.It's got a good feel. A hub of the house feel. Here is the staircase.
:06:57. > :07:06.So many people have known and loved this house. Even a Queen of England
:07:06. > :07:11.came to stay. Oh! Wow! You see, it is like an Aladdin's cave, every
:07:11. > :07:15.room is different. Look at that. is glorious. It bears no relation
:07:15. > :07:19.to the rest of the house. doesn't. It's a bit of a
:07:19. > :07:23.rollercoaster ride so far. Some rooms do it for me and others don't.
:07:23. > :07:29.I know. I keep feeling we are going into different houses. It doesn't
:07:29. > :07:34.seem to be part of one. There is no rhythm to it. No. How are you
:07:34. > :07:39.feeling about this? I wouldn't know where to begin. I don't, to be
:07:39. > :07:46.frank. It will be a long, drawn-out process. I think we can call it a
:07:46. > :07:54.challenge! A challenge indeed. But is it one
:07:54. > :07:59.the Trust is going to take on? afternoon. The Trust has owned
:07:59. > :08:04.Avebury Manor for the last 21 years, but for most of that time it was
:08:04. > :08:09.let out to tenants because there's never been money to do it up. After
:08:09. > :08:16.the last tenants left, there were only two options - rent it out
:08:16. > :08:20.again or do something completely new. We own all these extraordinary
:08:20. > :08:25.places and people love them and they have enjoyed visiting them for
:08:25. > :08:28.many decades, but they were getting to be a bit predictable, a bit
:08:28. > :08:34.staid, and people were feeling it was a process that you walk around
:08:34. > :08:37.looking at things. Our whole mission now is to bring up Avebury
:08:37. > :08:41.to life, to involve people in the experience but what goes with that
:08:41. > :08:45.is the reputational risk that you go too far or you are too
:08:45. > :08:51.extravagant, or you don't reflect the spirit of the place and its own
:08:51. > :08:54.stories. For me, the absolute core of it is two things - first, are we
:08:54. > :09:02.being honest about the place, its people and the stories? We must not
:09:02. > :09:06.be making them up. Second, are we honouring the spirit of the place?
:09:06. > :09:10.That magic ingredient that makes Avebury what it is. Here we are
:09:10. > :09:15.with the fairy dust. But we know we are going to have to argue our case
:09:16. > :09:20.with the Trust every step of the way. What are you like in a fight?
:09:20. > :09:28.I tell you what, we will upset a few people along the way. I shall
:09:28. > :09:34.stand behind you! I shall smile. And say, "He says he knows what he
:09:34. > :09:41.is doing!" What we need is a team of experts. Imagine living in that
:09:41. > :09:45.part of the house. Interior designer, Russell Sage. Russell's
:09:45. > :09:49.opulent interiors at the Goring Hotel in London impressed Kate
:09:49. > :09:57.Middleton the night before she married Prince William. At home in
:09:58. > :10:02.the world of restaurant hotel chic Russell's vision will be key.
:10:02. > :10:07.Russell also has the vital job of persuading many of his crafts
:10:07. > :10:13.people and suppliers to donate materials and expertise. You have
:10:13. > :10:22.done this before. Not for 25 years! With a limited cash budget, if he
:10:22. > :10:28.doesn't manage to persuade them to help, the whole project will fail.
:10:28. > :10:33.Surely there's set designers who have got tapestries? Unlocking the
:10:33. > :10:39.building's emotional past is social historian, Anna Whitelock. Fertile,
:10:39. > :10:46.healthy and... Anna teaches history at the University of London. So
:10:46. > :10:50.she's our people person. Anna is an expert in the Tudors and she wants
:10:50. > :10:57.the lives of people who loved Avebury reflected in what we are
:10:57. > :11:05.going to do. From a Tudor merchant on the make, to an English Queen
:11:05. > :11:12.who came to stay. From people's sleeping arrangements to the very
:11:12. > :11:22.best in bathroom facilities! William III's bottom, I guess! It
:11:22. > :11:23.
:11:23. > :11:26.would have been sitting right there. This is history in the bath. Indeed.
:11:26. > :11:32.Completing the team is architectural historian, Dan
:11:32. > :11:36.Cruickshank. Dan has travelled the world in search of its most
:11:36. > :11:40.spectacular buildings. When he is back home, his love of the British
:11:40. > :11:50.country house has made him a one- man guardian of the nation's
:11:50. > :11:52.
:11:52. > :11:59.heritage. Together, the three of them will invent the new look for
:11:59. > :12:05.Avebury. Russell wants an interior as far away from a museum as
:12:05. > :12:12.possible. At the moment it feels so brown and it should be so colourful.
:12:12. > :12:16.Absolutely. We would have a massive bed... Anna wants the lives of
:12:16. > :12:21.former occupants reflected around the house. In this room, we are
:12:21. > :12:26.talking lavish, dining, we are talking plenty of booze. Dan will
:12:26. > :12:30.see that architectural and design history is accurate to the letter.
:12:30. > :12:34.This scheme has lots of challenges. One is to create characters who
:12:34. > :12:38.lived in the house, reveal them, reveal their stories and have
:12:38. > :12:41.dramatic decorative schemes all within the realm of historical
:12:41. > :12:45.possibility. We have to respect the nature of the building. It is like
:12:45. > :12:52.whether you are going to listen to Dan, or whether you are going to
:12:52. > :12:56.listen to me! It is fantastic to see it through Dan's eyes and
:12:56. > :13:04.Anna's eyes and see the kind of real history of how things should
:13:04. > :13:09.be done. I'm excited because I feel like to me it is an emotional
:13:09. > :13:14.experience of trying to re-live some of the lives we have talked
:13:14. > :13:18.about and maybe build it from a human perspective rather than
:13:18. > :13:21.historical perspective. A real sense of arrival to the room for
:13:21. > :13:24.anybody visiting... The exciting challenge will be able to make this
:13:24. > :13:30.project come alive and really experience what it would have been
:13:30. > :13:35.like to have been in this house throughout the last 400 years.
:13:36. > :13:40.Russell has just two weeks to pitch his design scheme to the toughest
:13:40. > :13:44.judges from the National Trust. Lots to do. Always lots to do. But
:13:44. > :13:49.the project will be delivered. Simple as that. It has to be. There
:13:49. > :13:52.is always a deadline. We always have to work to deadlines. There
:13:52. > :13:57.can't be any nerves because if there was, we wouldn't be doing it
:13:57. > :14:07.in the first place. For the kind of challenges we get thrown, this is a
:14:07. > :14:15.
:14:15. > :14:22.slightly above average challenge, This is Polesden Lacey in Surrey.
:14:22. > :14:28.In many ways, it's a typical National Trust property. So, what
:14:28. > :14:38.works for visitors here and what doesn't? Russell and I have come to
:14:38. > :14:43.
:14:43. > :14:51.find out. There are definitely some horrors we want to avoid. The Trust
:14:51. > :14:56.was lucky in Polesden Lacey. It came to them glittering and finely
:14:56. > :15:02.furnished. It is beautiful. But the Trust has also arranged the house
:15:02. > :15:07.so as to reflect the personality of its owner. Do we think this is Mrs
:15:07. > :15:16.Greville? It must be. Quite a wonderful portrait. It is. Rather
:15:16. > :15:19.demure Scottish face. Definitely. This is good... We too want to
:15:19. > :15:25.decorate and furnish Avebury to reflect the personalities of people
:15:25. > :15:33.who lived there. To give a real flavour of previous owners'
:15:33. > :15:39.lifestyles and tastes. Like them or not, good or bad. We don't want
:15:39. > :15:46.this in Avebury. No. And having just noticed, I don't want these at
:15:46. > :15:50.Avebury. This is the old National Trust for me. Exactly.
:15:51. > :15:55.A library. I knew that, there's books! Quite a relaxed library.
:15:55. > :16:01.What I like about this room is the lack of ropes and the feeling of
:16:01. > :16:06.the objects and things around to touch. Marvellous and the... ALARM
:16:06. > :16:12.SOUNDS They have some kind of alarm. I don't know how it works. ALARM
:16:12. > :16:18.SOUNDS Sounds like a dog-whistle! It does! Here we have - these are
:16:18. > :16:23.all people she knew? Yes. Isn't it wonderful?! I love the hat and the
:16:23. > :16:30.telephone. Wonderful. ALARM SOUNDS I feel like they are going to put
:16:30. > :16:34.electricity through it. It is nice to see you can touch things. It is
:16:34. > :16:37.more relaxed. The sofa is lovely. So comfortable. If we have a reason
:16:37. > :16:43.to do something like this, down at Avebury, I am keen people should be
:16:43. > :16:53.able to sit down. We will have books. Yes. Definitely. Books that
:16:53. > :16:56.
:16:56. > :17:00.people can read and hold. Exactly. We need to put together a house
:17:00. > :17:03.that people can touch and feel and the fact there was one room in
:17:03. > :17:07.there with a barrier, that is not what we want. We want to make sure
:17:07. > :17:12.people can use our house and get in the beds and jump up-and-down on
:17:12. > :17:16.the furniture. Not sure how we will do it, but we will. We want people
:17:16. > :17:23.to enter this house and have as much fun as we have had putting it
:17:23. > :17:33.together. Yeah. The house is only part of what needs to be done here
:17:33. > :17:35.
:17:35. > :17:42.at Avebury. Of course, with every big house comes a big garden. Now,
:17:42. > :17:46.this is the topiary garden - it is lovely. I am very fond of topiary.
:17:46. > :17:56.Marvellous cut boxes and the pheasant, I think he is supposed to
:17:56. > :18:05.be. I think he's supposed to be a sheep. And they need a trim. Behind
:18:05. > :18:09.this door is something that looks a bit like a secret garden. I'm here
:18:09. > :18:15.to meet David Howard who is going to bring back to life a lost
:18:15. > :18:21.Victorian kitchen garden. Hello. Nice to see you. What a mess!
:18:21. > :18:26.It's a garden that's had many lives I think. Obviously, it was a
:18:26. > :18:31.productive walled garden... what? Vegetables? Mainly for
:18:31. > :18:41.vegetables, yes. David is no ordinary gardener. For ten years,
:18:41. > :18:42.
:18:42. > :18:46.he was head gardener at Highgrove. This is the Gloucestershire home of
:18:46. > :18:53.the Prince of Wales where David helped make Prince Charles' organic
:18:53. > :18:58.dreams come true. Now we want him to create a garden for us, growing
:18:58. > :19:08.vegetables and fruit in decorative borders. A garden both beautiful
:19:08. > :19:12.
:19:12. > :19:16.and productive and, of course, organic. It's a huge task, but
:19:16. > :19:21.unlike the house, we have the go- ahead from the Trust to begin work
:19:21. > :19:25.right away. What I would like to do in creating a new design is not be
:19:25. > :19:28.constricted by the plants and their positions. Right. I would like to
:19:28. > :19:34.remove them all and give myself a free space. There's two pines that
:19:34. > :19:38.won't be here? No, the pine trees are very incongruous. They are
:19:38. > :19:42.relatively young trees. They are only 15 or 20 years old. They are
:19:42. > :19:47.not for this garden. No, they are not. When I look around, it's quite
:19:47. > :19:52.big with an awful lot of work. a huge amount of work in a
:19:52. > :20:01.relatively short space of time. But I think I can do it. Bravo. Good
:20:01. > :20:06.luck. It's auction day in Berkshire. Even though Russell is working on
:20:06. > :20:11.the scheme for the house, there's an opportunity he simply cannot
:20:11. > :20:20.afford to miss. We won't be buying many antiques for Avebury, but we
:20:20. > :20:24.need a few special pieces. Today, we are interested in one lot - an
:20:24. > :20:29.antique bed. It's not the four- poster Russell was hoping for but
:20:29. > :20:36.maybe it could be adapted. The trouble is there's also a lot of
:20:36. > :20:45.other people after it. AUCTIONEER: Lot 184, an oak bed
:20:46. > :20:54.frame circa 1660 and later. And where are we with this? 550. �550.
:20:54. > :21:04.600 at the back. 650? No more. 700, the gentleman standing. 700. 75 0.
:21:04. > :21:11.
:21:11. > :21:21.800. 850. 900. 950. 1,000 with you, Sir. 1100 now. Now... The price is
:21:21. > :21:23.
:21:23. > :21:33.rocketing. My goodness! Can Russell go any higher? 1,500. 1,600. 1,700.
:21:33. > :21:37.
:21:37. > :21:42.1,800. At 1,800, the gentleman standing. 1,900. 2,000. At 2,000.
:21:42. > :21:51.The gentleman at the back there. I'll split it once for you. At
:21:51. > :21:59.2,100. 2,200 is bid. At 2,200, the gentleman at the back then. Selling
:21:59. > :22:04.now. I'm in trouble with the budget!
:22:04. > :22:09.Back in Avebury, we need to drum up some volunteer labour to help David
:22:09. > :22:16.get going in the garden. It's Paul. Do you mind if I put a poster up in
:22:16. > :22:20.the pub? Would you let us do that? We are trying to recruit a load of
:22:20. > :22:25.volunteers to help out in the manor house. People can read that when
:22:25. > :22:30.they are ordering a pint. Let me leave one of these with you. Do you
:22:30. > :22:35.live locally? If I leave you that, OK? You don't need any equipment,
:22:35. > :22:39.just turn up. I heard you, I'm passing through. Are you? Lots of
:22:39. > :22:44.vegetables, herbs... Can you stick it in the window for a few days?
:22:44. > :22:49.Yes. Can you put one of our posters up? Take a look at this. Are you
:22:49. > :22:59.green-fingered? Definitely. You want to put it up in the window
:22:59. > :22:59.
:22:59. > :23:09.yourself! I do. Getting volunteers and villagers involved in the
:23:09. > :23:10.
:23:10. > :23:16.garden is our only hope of success. All we can do now is wait. It's the
:23:16. > :23:26.first big day for the garden. Is David going to be disappointed? Or
:23:26. > :23:27.
:23:27. > :23:32.will it be full steam ahead? We needn't have worried. Lots of
:23:33. > :23:39.people have turned up. Local agricultural students, Trust
:23:39. > :23:44.volunteers and villagers. Good afternoon, ladies, gentlemen,
:23:44. > :23:51.students. Welcome. Thank you very much for giving up your time freely
:23:51. > :23:54.to help me transform this disused walled garden into a Victorian
:23:54. > :23:57.kitchen garden. Victorian kitchen gardens were a feature of most
:23:57. > :24:01.large country houses supplying fruit and veg to the household. We
:24:01. > :24:06.need to clear the garden of shrubs but not kill them in the process.
:24:06. > :24:12.Are you going to re-plant them? I want you to lift them all. I want
:24:12. > :24:20.this to be clear of plant material. It is quite a tricky operation. We
:24:20. > :24:25.really don't want to kill anything. A big old root down there. Trying
:24:25. > :24:35.to get it out. You have to keep the roots in tact otherwise the plant
:24:35. > :24:37.
:24:37. > :24:42.will die. It is hard work. It is a challenge. It is hard. The ground
:24:42. > :24:52.is actually quite full of gravel which makes it really compact. That
:24:52. > :24:53.
:24:53. > :24:57.is the challenge. Walled to create a microclimate and laid out in
:24:57. > :25:01.symmetrical beds and paths, the Victorian kitchen garden was a
:25:01. > :25:05.thing of beauty so we have a way to go. Most of what's here would be
:25:05. > :25:15.out of place in a kitchen garden and the two pine trees have to come
:25:15. > :25:29.
:25:29. > :25:34.But nothing will go to waste in our garden. The branches will be used
:25:34. > :25:38.to support runner beans. The great thing about having 50 people to
:25:38. > :25:42.help is you have 50 man hours. If they are here for two hours, that
:25:42. > :25:46.is 100 man hours. That is like me being in the garden for three weeks
:25:46. > :25:52.on my own. You can achieve an awful lot. All the uprooted plants are
:25:52. > :25:57.going at the end of the garden, leaving the rest free for David's
:25:57. > :26:07.ambitious plans. This is looking good. Are you pleased? Yes. I am
:26:07. > :26:07.
:26:07. > :26:11.pleased! It is fantastic. It is a pleasure to see people working as
:26:11. > :26:19.enthusiastically as this, wanting to create a new garden in a
:26:19. > :26:24.beautiful place like Avebury, creating something for the future.
:26:24. > :26:30.Girls and guys, let's stop for a moment - tea break. You have done a
:26:30. > :26:40.sterling job. Time to have a break. Thank you. And well deserved it is,
:26:40. > :26:50.too. Back in London, at Russell's design
:26:50. > :26:50.
:26:50. > :26:56.studio, there are days till the pitch to the National Trust.
:26:56. > :27:01.imagine it would be the same fabric or would it be a poorer fabric?
:27:01. > :27:07.is a frantic phone-round to his suppliers to get props and samples
:27:07. > :27:10.to illustrate his new take on this old house. The house has got to be
:27:10. > :27:17.this thing that fires people's imaginations so it is me playing
:27:17. > :27:25.history with a light touch, adding bits in that are quite unusual, or
:27:25. > :27:31.inspiring, or curious. That will keep all visitors happy. At last,
:27:31. > :27:38.the day of the pitch has arrived. Russell has been at the manor night
:27:38. > :27:42.and day preparing the rooms. quite a lot to do this morning.
:27:42. > :27:48.Probably an hour-and-a-half to go. We need to keep working through the
:27:48. > :27:52.rooms, dog a few last minute things. It will be -- doing a few last
:27:53. > :27:57.minute things. It will be fabulous. The Trust has a duty to protect
:27:57. > :28:07.buildings. It also has a bigger duty to bring them to life and this
:28:07. > :28:19.
:28:19. > :28:27.building hasn't been alive for a At the Avebury Estate Office, the
:28:27. > :28:30.National Trust team is gathering. Sarah Staniforth is one of the
:28:31. > :28:36.Trust's bigwigs. And without her approval, the whole thing will be
:28:36. > :28:39.off. If we were doing this from scratch, then we would do much more
:28:39. > :28:45.research into the sort of the structure of the building because
:28:45. > :28:50.we tend to base our restoration on precedent and whether it is from
:28:50. > :28:54.documents or from physical evidence that we can find so this is a
:28:54. > :29:03.rather different approach to what the National Trust would normally
:29:03. > :29:11.do. Russell will also be seeing a lot of Lucy Armstrong. She has been
:29:11. > :29:15.brought in by the Trust to approve day-to-day decisions on what is
:29:15. > :29:20.historically acceptable. It really is huge. It's not how we would
:29:20. > :29:24.normally work. It is not how I would work. It is exciting. It is a
:29:24. > :29:30.fantastic opportunity to work in this way. It is also nerve-wracking
:29:30. > :29:33.because you want to get it right. If we stop that for a second?
:29:34. > :29:40.needs to be historically accurate and sympathetic to the building. If
:29:40. > :29:44.it is not, then you have to go back and change it. The bigger
:29:44. > :29:51.challenges are simple red tape, of you are not allowed to do that to a
:29:52. > :29:56.wall, you are not allowed to change the architecture. We totally
:29:56. > :30:01.understand Grade-I listed but we can change buildings without
:30:01. > :30:08.affecting what they are and what is important about them. Don't get
:30:08. > :30:12.confused! Avebury's General Manager, Janet Tomlin, won't have a veto on
:30:12. > :30:16.what Russell does, but she is the one who needs the manor to start
:30:16. > :30:20.earning its keep. I hope what we get is a really good idea where we
:30:20. > :30:26.might be going with the transformation. We have all been,
:30:26. > :30:34.not kept in the dark, but none of us really know. We have
:30:34. > :30:41.expectations. Today we see what the designer is thinking. Also here are
:30:41. > :30:45.Anna and Dan. Armed with historical evidence to back up Russell's
:30:45. > :30:50.proposals. We are minutes away from our presentation to the National
:30:50. > :31:00.Trust. I hope Russell's all right, he hasn't slept for the last two
:31:00. > :31:01.
:31:01. > :31:09.nights. He is a worried man - well, we all are. And enthusiasm? Indeed.
:31:09. > :31:15.This is what the whole thing is about. It's a lot to pull off. How
:31:15. > :31:18.are you feeling? I was all right till a minute ago! It is going to
:31:18. > :31:23.be great. The National Trust haven't seen it since Russell's
:31:23. > :31:30.dressed the room. The last time they saw it, it was an empty house,
:31:30. > :31:39.empty rooms, and we have to hope... Oh my God! We have to hope that
:31:39. > :31:45.what they see they are happy with! This is your big pitch, Russell.
:31:45. > :31:49.feels like that at the moment. We will see how big it is in half an
:31:49. > :31:55.hour! It is the moment of truth. We are all here to give Russell a
:31:55. > :31:58.boost. I think he's going to need it. I'm apprehensive because I know
:31:58. > :32:07.it means so much to everyone. There's still lots to learn about
:32:07. > :32:15.the house. Looks like they are coming soon! LAUGHTER Looks like a
:32:15. > :32:25.School Report! Hello. I'm Russell. Nice to meet you. Lucy. Sarah.
:32:25. > :32:25.
:32:25. > :32:30.Lovely to meet you. Jan. Well, at least the numbers are even - five
:32:30. > :32:38.against five. Shall we have a look at a few rooms? I have forgotten
:32:38. > :32:43.their names already - I'm sorry! The pitch starts in the oldest room
:32:43. > :32:50.in the house. We wanted to take it back to the time of our Tudor
:32:50. > :32:55.courtier, William Dunch, a social climber and a self-made man.
:32:55. > :33:04.Obviously, this is a beautiful tie dor room. Everything in the room
:33:04. > :33:09.needs to re-- -- Beautiful Tudor room. Everything in the room needs
:33:09. > :33:15.to be done. We are picking a date of around 1660 for it when it was
:33:15. > :33:20.seen as a very kind of flashy room. It was a new statement of opulence
:33:20. > :33:25.for the owners and the things were quite gilded, there was a lot of
:33:25. > :33:29.colour at that time. To think about somebody doing this to their house
:33:29. > :33:35.today is quite a crazy thing. To think of it happening then was a
:33:35. > :33:42.real show of wealth and... Come on, Russell! Let's be honest. You want
:33:42. > :33:48.some Tudor bring! Tudor inspired furniture... He wants the Dunch
:33:48. > :33:53.coats of arms painted all over the walls. I want people to go wow, was
:33:53. > :33:56.it really like this? I can see what he is trying to do factually here.
:33:56. > :34:02.Historically, bringing colour into the room, lots of golds because it
:34:02. > :34:05.was a way of reflecting light. How would you propose doing the
:34:05. > :34:09.painted walls? Obviously, I would like to paint the walls. But you
:34:10. > :34:15.are not going to let me do that. would be a real issue for us if
:34:15. > :34:20.that was straight on to the panelling. If you could find a way
:34:20. > :34:23.of actually doing that on something that's in front of the panelling...
:34:23. > :34:27.Whether we could find a piece of panelling to mount above the
:34:27. > :34:32.fireplace, hung like a picture, and go through the process of painting,
:34:32. > :34:41.gilding and really hung like a picture but true to the state of
:34:41. > :34:47.the walls. That would look really nice. So Russell's colour scheme
:34:47. > :34:51.has got a lukewarm reception from the Trust which is worrying.
:34:51. > :34:56.Upstairs, he's talking even more colours. I have done a few samples,
:34:56. > :35:00.both in the window and there is one here of the frieze which is picked
:35:00. > :35:05.up on some of the historical colouring. The frieze is beautiful.
:35:05. > :35:13.We have found various examples that it could potentially be coloured
:35:13. > :35:18.and have more colour... The ceiling, these emblems have to be picked out
:35:18. > :35:24.in colour? I think that ceilings simply for the very simple fact of
:35:24. > :35:30.reflecting light back into the room... They don't like that.
:35:30. > :35:34.very cost of trying to re-paint this every year, when the candle
:35:34. > :35:39.fat had blackened it and when the soot from the fire had blackened
:35:39. > :35:42.it... Are you saying the Tudor Rose would have been whitewashed?
:35:43. > :35:46.think so. It is an economy as much as anything. You have the
:35:46. > :35:53.fabulousness of the plaster, it is there. I think what she is saying
:35:53. > :36:02.makes sense. I wouldn't paint the freezes, would you? Yes. You would?
:36:02. > :36:07.-- The friezes, would you? Yes. would? Brace yourself, Lucy, you
:36:07. > :36:12.ain't seen nothing yet! Welcome to the biggest and most exciting
:36:12. > :36:17.bedroom for me in the house. As you know, this room has been referred
:36:17. > :36:22.to as the Queen Anne bedroom. We would like to bring that image to
:36:22. > :36:28.life. She is reported to have been here in 1704. For me, I would like
:36:28. > :36:34.to bring that to life for you by going to town on the biggest bed
:36:34. > :36:39.that really is a statement for the house and something I would love
:36:39. > :36:44.the visitors to talk about before they even get there. My thoughts
:36:44. > :36:48.are whether the bed could go in the middle of the room. In a sense,
:36:48. > :36:51.that would be to work against the room itself. The back of the
:36:51. > :36:57.headboard, it is a typical space that is never decorated because
:36:57. > :37:02.they do expect it to be against... There aren't free-standing state
:37:02. > :37:07.beds. I think that in a sense this is a space that we have. I want the
:37:07. > :37:11.bed against the wall. That is interesting. Obviously, if you
:37:11. > :37:16.lived here, yes. But I think... know, we are trying to give people
:37:16. > :37:21.the impression that people do live here. It should be there. Putting
:37:22. > :37:28.the bed in the middle of the room hasn't gone down well. So what
:37:28. > :37:38.about the colour scheme? Marble effect walls and a sky effect
:37:38. > :37:38.
:37:38. > :37:43.ceiling. I see a worried face. worried face was about the sky with
:37:43. > :37:47.the marbling. Can you think of another room where there's that
:37:48. > :37:53.sort of marbling and in a bedroom? I'm not keen on the marble
:37:53. > :37:58.panelling. I love the blue ceiling. I want that all... In that coving
:37:58. > :38:06.area, that would look stunning. That is so Queen Anne. It's all too
:38:07. > :38:12.showy for the Trust. That's quite palatial decoration. A lot of the
:38:12. > :38:16.ideas the Trust does like. This is almost like Harry Potter, isn't it?
:38:16. > :38:21.The Governor of Jamaica, who lived in this house, died in this very
:38:21. > :38:27.room. I'm with it. I love the idea of capturing the Governor of
:38:27. > :38:32.Jamaica in this room. This feels as if we are on a journey now. I love
:38:32. > :38:36.it. Absolutely love it. I do think it would be wonderful to have a
:38:36. > :38:41.dramatic carpet covering most of the room. The more daring the
:38:41. > :38:44.better. Can I get one of these? Let's take a big risk. Let's not go
:38:44. > :38:54.half-way and regret that we didn't do the whole thing. If we are going
:38:54. > :39:01.
:39:01. > :39:05.to do something brave, I would like us to be courageous. Ten rooms and
:39:05. > :39:12.several hours later, what's the verdict? Has it all been too much
:39:12. > :39:17.for the Trust? You have seen the rooms now, there's been a lot of
:39:17. > :39:22.talking. A lot of talking! Are we in business? I think there are some
:39:22. > :39:26.matters of detail that we need to... Many matters of detail? Erm...
:39:26. > :39:32.Actually fewer than I expected. When is it full steam ahead or
:39:32. > :39:40.partly steam ahead? I think what we have been given so far is very
:39:40. > :39:45.broad strokes. Now is the time to next couple of weeks we can do.
:39:45. > :39:51.not quite a green light, then. hope you won't be pulling in the
:39:51. > :39:56.reins on Russell too much. Do you think he was holding back today? I
:39:56. > :40:00.felt... I felt very comfortable. don't think he was necessarily
:40:00. > :40:04.holding back. Absolutely, he's the creative type. He's got all these
:40:04. > :40:08.fantastic ideas. If he had it all his own way, then it becomes
:40:08. > :40:11.personal taste and this isn't about personal taste, this is about
:40:11. > :40:15.historical accuracy and that little bit of fairy dust on top. Let's
:40:15. > :40:20.make it work. We need to get that rubber-stamped within the next two
:40:20. > :40:24.or three weeks so we can start. don't know whether we can agree the
:40:24. > :40:32.whole. We can agree aspects of it. So we can get started? We would
:40:32. > :40:37.want to get moving. But it has to be right. I was excited and I loved
:40:37. > :40:41.all your things. I found them fascinating. I don't want the bed,
:40:41. > :40:46.Paul and I were saying, I would prefer the bed against the wall. I
:40:46. > :40:49.wasn't that keen on the marbling in that room? There's a wonderful
:40:49. > :40:54.sense of adventure to materials like marble. We are not talking
:40:54. > :41:00.about real marble, just painting that effect and I love it. I love
:41:00. > :41:08.the clouds. Yes. We must have that. I'm trying to win the marble and
:41:08. > :41:12.lose the clouds. Are you? We won't get it all. We will keep...
:41:12. > :41:20.wonder - I will have a bet with you that they will take the clouds and
:41:20. > :41:24.not the marble? OK. What's the bet? A fiver. No problem. LAUGHTER Our
:41:24. > :41:30.plans for the house and the garden will mean a big change of gear por
:41:30. > :41:34.the Trust. -- for the Trust. I'm not sure they are ready. After the
:41:34. > :41:44.hottest May since records began, there's a nasty surprise for David
:41:44. > :41:46.
:41:46. > :41:50.in Our Vic torian kitchen garden. - - in our Victorian kitchen garden -
:41:50. > :41:54.no-one has watered the shrubs. They are looking very sickly indeed.
:41:54. > :41:59.This is what I didn't want to happen. This border looked rather
:41:59. > :42:04.lovely when we re-planted all the material. It hasn't rained for a
:42:04. > :42:14.good while. No rain at all. These plants obviously haven't had the
:42:14. > :42:14.
:42:14. > :42:19.water that they require. And quite The trouble is the full-time
:42:19. > :42:24.gardens at Avebury, who tend the rest of the garden, have told the
:42:24. > :42:27.Trust they are too busy to help David out. I'm not happy with the
:42:27. > :42:32.situation with the National Trust at the moment. I don't feel they
:42:32. > :42:42.have bought into the idea of re- creating this garden and it leaves
:42:42. > :42:45.
:42:46. > :42:55.me a little bit uneasy. It's been a join it to the rest of the existing
:42:55. > :43:01.garden. It's a fortnight since the pitch. The Trust is still chewing
:43:01. > :43:07.over our dramatic proposals. Until they have agreed our plans, nothing
:43:07. > :43:12.can happen in the house. The problem is we want to decorate the
:43:12. > :43:18.manor in vivid colours using other historic houses as our model. While
:43:18. > :43:24.the Trust wants us to use only colours they can prove were once on
:43:24. > :43:29.the walls and ceilings at Avebury. So Lucy has commissioned paint-
:43:30. > :43:36.scrapers to find out what colours lie beneath the modern paint and to
:43:37. > :43:41.prove she's right about the Tudor ceiling only ever being white.
:43:41. > :43:45.think it will be really worth analysing to see what lies beneath.
:43:45. > :43:51.We don't know yet. By gently scraping away, you can reveal
:43:51. > :43:54.slightly larger areas that you can possibly start to understand the
:43:54. > :44:00.archaeology beneath the surface of what we have presently. It's bad
:44:00. > :44:06.news for us if they don't find any evidence of colour. So is there
:44:06. > :44:12.colour on the Tudor ceiling? Or not? I have taken about ten samples
:44:12. > :44:18.so far. From various areas on the ceiling. And I haven't been able to
:44:18. > :44:24.find any evidence of colour. I will set them in resin and make cross-
:44:24. > :44:29.sections and then have a closer look at them under the microscope.
:44:29. > :44:39.Certainly the main body of the ceiling from visual examination
:44:39. > :44:45.
:44:45. > :44:51.today looks like it was white. That Maybe the Trust is right to be
:44:51. > :44:55.worried. Lots of people care about the fate of Avebury Manor. Back in
:44:55. > :45:05.the 1980s, there was another attempt to breathe new life into
:45:05. > :45:06.
:45:06. > :45:11.Avebury Manor and it all went disastrously wrong. Before the
:45:11. > :45:17.Trust took it over, Avebury Manor was owned by maverick property
:45:17. > :45:23.developer, Ken King. Like us, he wanted to re-launch it as a visitor
:45:23. > :45:29.attraction. Ken's vision was a kind of Elizabethan theme park. And it
:45:29. > :45:39.did attract visitors. But the transformation of the manor enraged
:45:39. > :45:39.
:45:39. > :45:42.the villagers of Avebury. NEWSREEL: I think we would all
:45:42. > :45:46.agree that the Avebury Manor scheme represents the unattractive face of
:45:46. > :45:52.the enterprise culture. We are determined to exercise our
:45:52. > :45:58.democratic rights to resist it. That is our aim. Eventually, the
:45:58. > :46:08.Elizabethan experience was forced to close. And the manor was bought
:46:08. > :46:15.
:46:15. > :46:25.Hello. 20 years on, the locals want to make sure we don't get it wrong
:46:25. > :46:33.as well. You are not flogging this? No. We enjoy your programme. Thank
:46:33. > :46:38.you. Villager Sir Hugh Jones led the 1988 campaign. NEWSREEL:
:46:38. > :46:46.attractive face of the enterprise - - an unattractive face of the
:46:46. > :46:50.enterprise culture. Now he is back. Thank you so much for giving up
:46:50. > :46:53.your Sunday afternoon. I know this means a lot to you. It is great to
:46:53. > :46:56.see some young faces here as well. Your opinion really counts. It
:46:56. > :47:03.really does. I expect some of you have been through this meeting
:47:03. > :47:11.before with Ken King, have you? ended up in jail! LAUGHTER Well,
:47:11. > :47:14.don't send me to the Tower just yet! What is there to prevent it
:47:14. > :47:18.becoming the Elizabethan theme park that it was once? We are not
:47:18. > :47:23.creating a theme park. That is for sure. It won't be a theme park.
:47:23. > :47:29.This is still a National Trust house. Will any of the existing
:47:29. > :47:32.rooms be left as they are? Yes. It's been lived in. That makes it
:47:32. > :47:39.quite interesting? We are going to try and retain that. We want it to
:47:39. > :47:44.be lived in. We want that lived-in look. It's all that social history
:47:44. > :47:54.experience which we want to capture. I think it's an achievable project
:47:54. > :47:58.but we need the help of everybody. It sounds to be an imaginative
:47:58. > :48:06.project. One has to be careful not to develop an artificial promotion
:48:06. > :48:11.for tourism here. Is it going to be helpful in teaching people about
:48:11. > :48:19.the past? Or is it going to cause friction in the village again? We
:48:19. > :48:29.will have to wait and see. Avebury welcomes visitors, but we don't
:48:29. > :48:38.
:48:38. > :48:43.At nearby Wiltshire Agricultural College, an army of students are
:48:43. > :48:47.working hard to provide David with seedlings and young plants ready
:48:47. > :48:52.for our kitchen garden at Avebury. Carrots. We are going to put the
:48:52. > :48:55.peas into these. David was quite lucky to find a willing local
:48:55. > :48:59.college that has the facilities and the will and the students to carry
:48:59. > :49:04.it all out. It is a massive job to undergo by yourself. You couldn't
:49:04. > :49:14.do it in the time space he's got. So he needs as many hands as
:49:14. > :49:17.
:49:17. > :49:25.possible to get the job done. all, about 500 seedlings will come
:49:25. > :49:32.from here to our garden. We've got lettuce, Brussel sprouts, carrots,
:49:32. > :49:37.tomatoes, beans, peas, and this particular one is a runner bean
:49:37. > :49:47.called Painted Lady. The seedlings will germinate and grow faster here
:49:47. > :49:51.
:49:51. > :50:01.in the glass houses than they will in the open ground. Back at Avebury,
:50:01. > :50:02.
:50:02. > :50:06.You will see very rapid transformation. The machines have
:50:06. > :50:09.only been here ten minutes. You can see what they have achieved. If you
:50:09. > :50:14.leave them in here all day, most of the day, you will see the paths dug
:50:14. > :50:24.out, the beds creates and literally within the space of a day we will
:50:24. > :50:36.
:50:36. > :50:44.have created the bones of this There is a long way to go before
:50:44. > :50:54.David will be ready for planting. Now, it is time to begin work on
:50:54. > :50:55.
:50:55. > :50:59.the paths and create the borders. The plan for today is to get our
:50:59. > :51:04.granite scalpings in. The nice bit is putting the edging boards in
:51:04. > :51:12.place and creating the shapes of the new bed. That is the plan.
:51:12. > :51:21.Fingers crossed! The paths will need 120 tonnes of gravel and
:51:21. > :51:23.limestone chips, all laid by hand. Most of the people here are amateur
:51:24. > :51:32.but extremely enthusiastic volunteers. What I am looking for
:51:32. > :51:40.is some fit and strong young men with big muscles! David wants
:51:40. > :51:45.everything to be right. If that is the centre where the board finishes,
:51:45. > :51:48.I want you to put them two inches that way and two inches that way.
:51:49. > :51:52.have watched this garden for the last 20 years, and I came in here
:51:52. > :51:56.today and I could not believe what's happened in this short space
:51:56. > :52:00.of time. It is a great opportunity for lots of different people to get
:52:00. > :52:04.involved from different backgrounds and here you've got people from the
:52:04. > :52:08.college, you've got school-children, you've got people from the National
:52:08. > :52:12.Trust. And you've got people like myself from a local gardening club.
:52:12. > :52:18.It will be interesting to see what it does in five years' time.
:52:18. > :52:22.trick will be to ensure this hard work is sustained and let's hope
:52:22. > :52:32.that in ten years' time we will think, wow, what we are doing now
:52:32. > :52:50.
:52:51. > :52:54.here today, this week, has all been It is fantastic the way it is
:52:54. > :52:57.coming together. Of course, not everybody on the ground can see it
:52:57. > :53:03.all coming together. You come up here, you get a bird's-eye view and
:53:03. > :53:08.you can see it happening. It is like somebody painting a picture
:53:08. > :53:17.and eventually the artist completes the picture and it is like that.
:53:17. > :53:22.The more activity, then all of a sudden the picture is complete.
:53:22. > :53:31.It's been a long and successful day. The borders are marked out, ready
:53:31. > :53:36.for planting. Where shall I go? Over here? Pretty hard work. Very
:53:36. > :53:46.rewarding to see all that we've done. Just to see how other people
:53:46. > :53:50.
:53:50. > :53:56.work as well. It is great. Very tiring, but I shall sleep well!
:53:56. > :54:00.While work in the garden is well under way, the house is still on
:54:00. > :54:05.hold. We can't wait any longer or we will never open the manor on
:54:05. > :54:15.time. We have dispatched Dan and Anna to argue our case for colour,
:54:15. > :54:20.
:54:20. > :54:27.regardless of the paint-scrape results. I am perplexed. We are
:54:27. > :54:32.going to use relevant examples from around England. We cannot be
:54:32. > :54:37.expected to have all the information. This is one thing. I
:54:37. > :54:42.thought we had agreed it. We need to hit home that this is all about
:54:42. > :54:48.what is it that gets visitors through the door? There's lots of
:54:48. > :54:53.talk about heritage tourism and staycations. Legoland in Windsor
:54:53. > :54:58.has God knows how many visitors a year. How do you get visitors into
:54:58. > :55:08.heritage properties? Absolutely. We are trying to help them realise
:55:08. > :55:10.
:55:10. > :55:20.their own aims and ambitions, really. Everything hangs on our
:55:20. > :55:23.
:55:23. > :55:28.experts convincing Lucy and Sarah from the Trust. Hello. Hi. Nice to
:55:28. > :55:31.see you. Come in. We meet again after that epic day touring around
:55:31. > :55:35.the house explaining our vision to you. The purpose of today is to
:55:35. > :55:43.perhaps re-state that vision and clearly, it's a different kind of
:55:43. > :55:46.thing for you. It's not a traditional National Trust project.
:55:46. > :55:49.It is not a traditional re- interpretation. It is about
:55:49. > :55:54.ambition and also, I think, what excites us about this project, and
:55:54. > :55:58.I think hopefully you, too, is the fact we can be experimental. How do
:55:58. > :56:06.you make things real for a visitor? How do you choreograph that
:56:06. > :56:11.experience? We are suggesting an interpretation. That's right.
:56:11. > :56:16.That's what's so exciting about the project. I think it's inspiration
:56:16. > :56:22.rather than re-creation. We agreed some way back that the references
:56:22. > :56:26.we would use and apply wouldn't be specifically from Avebury but from
:56:26. > :56:32.buildings of the right period, the right location, the right time.
:56:32. > :56:37.That is the agreement? Yes. If the paint-scrape comes back with paint
:56:37. > :56:44.- brilliant. If it doesn't, given that time is pressing, can we paint
:56:44. > :56:50.the ceiling? It's crunch time. If the Trust says OK, we can brighten
:56:50. > :56:57.up the house from top to bottom. If they say no, it's back to square
:56:57. > :57:00.one. What we are saying is that from the point of view of our
:57:00. > :57:05.visitors next year, we would explain to them that there is no
:57:05. > :57:08.evidence there was ever coloured paint there. But for the purposes
:57:08. > :57:14.of this project because there are precedents from other places, you
:57:14. > :57:21.know, we have gone ahead with a reversible paint scheme so we are
:57:21. > :57:25.saying yes. We are open to it. Brilliant. Let's give Russell a
:57:25. > :57:35.ring! He better get busy! At last, we have the green light from the
:57:35. > :57:43.
:57:43. > :57:48.Trust and work on the house can Next time: Setting Avebury alight.
:57:48. > :57:57.Are we allowed to have real fires in the house? Most of the smoke
:57:57. > :58:03.will probably leak. Keeping fit and healthy, the 18th Century way.
:58:03. > :58:07.Secrets of the Tudor bed. yourself comfortable. As Anna and I
:58:07. > :58:13.get cosy. Good night, Penelope. Victorian kitchen range saved in
:58:13. > :58:19.the nick of time. It can be repaired. It is disappointing.