0:00:11 > 0:00:14If you turn your back on the town, take the village track,
0:00:14 > 0:00:19follow the unmade road, you'll find something extraordinary.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21The hidden houses of Wales.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25In this series, I'll be turning back the clock,
0:00:25 > 0:00:31stepping over the threshold of some incredible places,
0:00:31 > 0:00:35seeking out scandal-packed histories.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Bricks and mortar will never be the same again.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46In this episode, we'll be visiting a house that relied on the proceeds of the Irish Sea.
0:00:46 > 0:00:52It was a very profitable business because every ship that passed had to pay a toll.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55A house with a 140-year-old roller-skating rink!
0:00:55 > 0:00:59Great-great-uncle Henry, he built it in about 1880.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03And he did it really for his own entertainment.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08And where a former resident climbed this rope every night to bed.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12And two of his nephews greased the rope after they had a row with him.
0:01:37 > 0:01:44I'm in Pembrokeshire, which to its many, many, many friends is often known as Little England.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46And I'm fond of Pembrokeshire.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51I used to come here as a child on holiday so a lot of it's familiar
0:01:51 > 0:01:58but I'm in search of a house that's halfway of being an architectural milestone
0:01:58 > 0:02:00and a family millstone.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11The posh side
0:02:11 > 0:02:14is on the road, the other side
0:02:14 > 0:02:21is at the end of a swoopingly gracious drive...and there it is.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Cresselly House.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32That is text book country house, isn't it?
0:02:32 > 0:02:35A couple of wings, some rather gracious Venetian windows.
0:02:35 > 0:02:42But there is something a little bit foreboding about it.
0:02:42 > 0:02:49It looks like it should be occupied by a slightly eccentric major,
0:02:49 > 0:02:54a gentleman of means, but slightly short temper.
0:02:59 > 0:03:06The imposing Cresselly House was originally built by the Allen family nearly 250 years ago.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11That could be a fort, almost.
0:03:11 > 0:03:18Today, it's still owned by the Allens and is run by Hugh, the eighth squire of Cresselly.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26Hugh, how do you do?
0:03:26 > 0:03:31I'm just admiring your craggily handsome house.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33- Very craggily. Come in.- Thank you.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Do you mind me calling your house craggily handsome?
0:03:36 > 0:03:39- It's very craggily, it's not very handsome.- I think it is.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40I think it's very craggily handsome.
0:03:40 > 0:03:47Now you see, look, this is extraodinary because this is, to me, this is a very blokey environment.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50This is a very masculine hall, instantly.
0:03:50 > 0:03:51It's not a feminine hall at all.
0:03:51 > 0:03:57It's not, there are no bowls of pot pourri and chintz, you know, it's all huntsmen and furniture.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59It's a macho hall, isn't it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01It's macho! It's macho manor.
0:04:01 > 0:04:07So how long have your family been here because you're how many generations down the line?
0:04:07 > 0:04:13I'm eight generations so my great great great great great great great grandfather built it in 1769.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17- As we see it today or...? - No, just the central bit.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21It was built as a neo palladium villa with Italian influence.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26Each generation does a bit more, you know, tinkers with it.
0:04:26 > 0:04:27What have you done?
0:04:27 > 0:04:33- Painted it yellow.- I've done more landscaping... Painting yellow! Yes, lots of painting.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36- Very inappropriate colours. - I think this works very well.
0:04:36 > 0:04:42I think it's a very Georgian colour and it looks fabulous with the daffodils, at the very least.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46To that gracious Georgian villa were added a pair
0:04:46 > 0:04:51of clunky Victorian wings, which doubled Cresselly in size.
0:04:51 > 0:04:58Today it's a sprawling labyrinth
0:04:58 > 0:05:02of family history, memorabilia and eccentricity.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14It is, in a very real sense, a time-warp of a building.
0:05:14 > 0:05:20Everywhere you look, there are generations of Allens looking back at you.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Time just seems to have stood still.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37When you were a child, was it somewhere that you
0:05:37 > 0:05:43saw as a very warm home or was it slightly big and a little bit scary?
0:05:45 > 0:05:47I think it was quite big and scary,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50but...
0:05:50 > 0:05:53you know, we played so much in the gardens.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56No, I think it was big and scary, but lots of fun.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00You've gone through various incarnations, haven't you?
0:06:00 > 0:06:06Because you grew up here but actually in your early years you were much more into machinery.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08I was fascinated by cars.
0:06:08 > 0:06:14My parents and the whole family, horses, and I really couldn't do horses.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17I just wanted to drive cars fast so anything with wheels.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22So your career as a fast car driver, we ought to point out,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26was not necessarily Kensington high street, it was something you did...
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Yeah, I did it for very few years, not very long.
0:06:29 > 0:06:3217 to 20-something.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35You know, you can't think of anything more opposite than here -
0:06:35 > 0:06:38you were travelling abroad a lot, living in London.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41What was it that brought you back here?
0:06:41 > 0:06:45I mean, the pull of Cresselly is huge and I did used to come back
0:06:45 > 0:06:49but I was definitely living away from here,
0:06:49 > 0:06:55and I wouldn't say I gave into the hall, because I'm absolutely consumed by Cresselly.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58I wouldn't say it's an obsession but it's close, really.
0:06:58 > 0:06:59I'm totally in love with the place.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06After giving up on his motor racing dream,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Hugh spent most of his life in London working for Microsoft.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14He married twice and divorced twice and has three children,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16two daughters and a son, James.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Hugh was born in 1950 to Auriol and David Allen.
0:07:23 > 0:07:30After leaving in 1967, he only returned to Cresselly 10 years ago following the death of his mother.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Despite it being one of the biggest private
0:07:36 > 0:07:43estates in Pembrokeshire, Hugh lives in this 12-bedroomed mansion alone.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Might be a little bit dusty up here.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50Oh, don't worry, I'm quite resilient. And we could always Hoover me.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55Today, the heir apparent is 22-year-old James Harrison Allen, who,
0:07:55 > 0:08:02just like his father, left Cresselly and moved to London to get more life experience away from the estate.
0:08:02 > 0:08:08- Sure you haven't had a team of stylists from the World Of Interiors in to style it?- No!
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Some of it has been cleared out, we had a big clear out here years ago.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Somewhere here, there's my fossil collection, I think!
0:08:15 > 0:08:20Is there?! Do you ever come up here on one of those rocking horses that just swing backwards and forwards?
0:08:20 > 0:08:24And weird dolls sitting on the side, following you round the room!
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Do you consider yourself to be a country boy or a town boy?
0:08:27 > 0:08:32I'd rather be seen as a country boy but I've got elements of both, to be honest.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36I grew up in the country but I'm used to London life now and city life.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Because that's kind of what your father did as well, isn't it?
0:08:42 > 0:08:46There seems to be something about your family in particular that there
0:08:46 > 0:08:52is a Georgian idea that you want to spend some time in your 20s and 30s doing what you need to do.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57- Sowing your wild oats. - At the moment, I don't see it as a huge weight on my shoulders.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02I see it as my life is slightly separate to this, at the same time I can go back and forth.
0:09:02 > 0:09:10I feel a sense of duty that I want to be part of the history down here but I don't feel obliged to do it.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Times have changed and the income from tenant farms
0:09:14 > 0:09:19and ancestral wealth, which has supported Cresselly throughout the centuries, is drying up.
0:09:19 > 0:09:27Today, an estate of this size needs to diversify to survive.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33That task may eventually fall to James, who'll have a harder job than the original Allens.
0:09:33 > 0:09:39The first of those Allens came to Wales from Ireland in the middle of the 17th century and didn't waste
0:09:39 > 0:09:44any time getting acquainted with the local aristocracy.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48In 1732 John Allen married Joan Bartlett,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52the wealthy heiress of Cresselly.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Their son John Bartlett Allen
0:09:54 > 0:09:59knocked down the previous building and in 1769 erected Cresselly.
0:09:59 > 0:10:06It was very different from anything this part of Wales had seen before.
0:10:06 > 0:10:12John Bartlett Allen was deliberately trying to make something of a statement in architectural terms.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Absolutely, yeah. It very competitive
0:10:14 > 0:10:17when you had money and here he really got ahead of the game.
0:10:17 > 0:10:23It would have been completely wondrous to his neighbours, who lived in pretty bog-standard
0:10:23 > 0:10:27rectangular boxes, to see this very carefully considered beautiful piece
0:10:27 > 0:10:31of brand new architecture suddenly appearing on the Pembrokeshire soil.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34It was really a classic piece of one-upmanship.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36He was very much at the forefront of fashion.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40He was showing that he had links to London and he knew what fashion was all about.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42He was very rich and he wanted to show that he was very cultured
0:10:42 > 0:10:46and that he was absolutely the first person with a new idea down here.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48It's what we all want to do, isn't it?
0:10:53 > 0:10:56And these elegant new ideas
0:10:56 > 0:10:59were also used on the interiors of Cresselly.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06This is obviously where
0:11:06 > 0:11:09the ladies lived, I would imagine.
0:11:09 > 0:11:10When was this done?
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Well this is a retro design, this is...
0:11:12 > 0:11:20Italian plasterers did this Rococo plastering about 1770, but apparently
0:11:20 > 0:11:24from a 1750s design so when they did it was fairly retro but,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27you know, Pembrokeshire is quite a long way behind the times.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Pembrokeshire does retro very well.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33The thing that I just absolutely love about this though is the fact
0:11:33 > 0:11:37that you can see, you know, all of this was done on site, wasn't it?
0:11:37 > 0:11:41They would have mixed up little tiny blobs of plaster, maybe put
0:11:41 > 0:11:47some horse hair in it or something else to give it a bit of strength, and then made all of the leaves.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51You know, allowed the strings of foliage to
0:11:51 > 0:11:54skittle all over the ceiling.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56It's terribly, terribly pretty.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59And at odds with the front hall, which is so blokey.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03Absolutely different. Different mood altogether, isn't it?
0:12:03 > 0:12:08Yeah, but I suppose it goes to show that houses like this had female areas and male areas.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11You know, you didn't have that sort of...
0:12:11 > 0:12:16- cohabitation in the same way. - This is the ladies' domain, I think, isn't it? Would you say?
0:12:16 > 0:12:17Yeah, definitely. With the view.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19The silks are very pretty as well.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21They're Edwardian.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Yeah, but work.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33There's no doubt this was a wealthy household.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Just look at the quality of the workmanship, which still survives today.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Only the very best would do for Cresselly.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57Affording this level of splendour takes dosh. Obviously John Allen
0:12:57 > 0:12:58had married an heiress,
0:12:58 > 0:13:03but it's obvious there's a lot more money coming in to increase the family coffers.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08Where is it coming from? To find out I'm travelling 25 miles to Haverfordwest.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16At St Ann's Head, guarding the shipping lanes into one of Britain's
0:13:16 > 0:13:18busiest ports, Milford Haven,
0:13:18 > 0:13:24stands the latest incarnation of a very important lighthouse.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Historian Tom Lloyd is waiting to tell its story.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Although the view is spectacular and I do love the
0:13:31 > 0:13:36outside of lighthouses, what specifically does this lighthouse have to do with the Allens?
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Well, the Allens settled on this very tip of Pembrokeshire.
0:13:40 > 0:13:46It was very important for ships coming into the Haven to be able to have some sort of guidance.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49And, in 1713, Joseph Allen
0:13:49 > 0:13:54applied to put a lighthouse here which he would run, and he got a patent out of Trinity House,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58they built the lighthouse, and his obligation was to make sure
0:13:58 > 0:14:02that there was always a light burning at night to guide the ships in.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06So this was of huge commercial importance in the area because
0:14:06 > 0:14:11you can see just by the way the sea changes colour that it must be very treacherous out there.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15It's very treacherous, as you say, and light was really important here.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21So it was a very profitable business because every ship that passed the lighthouse had to pay a toll.
0:14:21 > 0:14:27And you had toll collectors in every port that ships were likely to go to.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32They made a huge amount of money, that's why Cresselly was built such a lovely house.
0:14:32 > 0:14:38Unfortunately for the Allens they only had a 99-year lease, so in 1814 it all came to an end.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41This winning of the lottery every year came to an end for them.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55For the next 100 years, the Allen men continued to add
0:14:55 > 0:14:58to the family fortune by making profitable marriages,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01increasing their wealth and estates.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06By the time we get to Henry Seymore Allen in the 1880s, it seems they
0:15:06 > 0:15:10have so much money they simply don't know what to do with it.
0:15:11 > 0:15:18If course, it's very usual to have a shed or a gazebo in your garden - but that's neither.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22It's neither a shed nor a gazebo - what is it?
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Well, it was a roller-skating rink,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27but it's fallen into disrepair.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32So who wanted to build a roller-skating rink in the gardens of Cresselly House?
0:15:32 > 0:15:37Great-great-uncle Henry, he built it in about 1880 to 1890,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41and he did it really, as I said, for his own entertainment.
0:15:41 > 0:15:47So one would imagine that there weren't many roller-skating rinks in the area in the 1890s.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50I wouldn't think there were any in Wales.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53- So he decided to just build one. - Probably read about it somewhere.
0:15:53 > 0:16:00Yeah, because this looks like it's relatively lavish, for the 1890s.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04It's got central heating and it's got a tremendous sense of space.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07It had a sprung maple floor, which was wonderful.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10They had dances in here as well after roller skating.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13I have to say, there's a strong strain
0:16:13 > 0:16:17- of independent thinking in your family.- Yes. Yes, extremely.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Is it a sort of just a sense of "I like this so I'm going to do it"
0:16:21 > 0:16:23independence?
0:16:23 > 0:16:27Yes, I think it was quite selfish, he just wanted to do his own thing. He didn't do a huge amount.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31His mother was a great benefactor, did a lot for the estate.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Uncle Henry thought he would go and enjoy himself.
0:16:34 > 0:16:35Which he did!
0:16:35 > 0:16:37So what else did he get up to?
0:16:37 > 0:16:39- He climbed to bed on a rope.- Really?
0:16:39 > 0:16:40Every night,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42which is an odd thing to do.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Odd indeed!
0:16:44 > 0:16:50And yes, you did hear right, old Henry shinned up three floors every evening until the day he died.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55But where he put his mug of cocoa is pure conjecture!
0:16:55 > 0:17:01To honour Henry's fortitude, we've asked Peter Ward from the Prince's Trust to try and recreate the deed.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05See, this is what I love about this place and your family,
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- it's a never-ending outward bound course, really, isn't it? - It is, isn't it!
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Oh, you've got to keep it there now.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14I think we will.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19So do you reckon he just had like a kind of obsession with the idea that if he climbed up the rope every
0:17:19 > 0:17:24night rather than using the stairs he'd be, you know, live longer, be fitter, be more glamorous?
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Yes, and he didn't have sex.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30- Because of the rope? Do you think he had rope burns? - It might have been burns.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35- Because I don't suppose Great-great- uncle Henry ever went down the rope. - Yeah, he did,
0:17:35 > 0:17:41and two of his nephews used to grease the rope after they had a row with him.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44Yes, absolutely true.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49Now we've got Pete who is going to walk the plank or do the rope.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53- Are you confident that that's going to be all right?- Yeah, it looks OK.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57Well it's an absolute first, I think, for Hidden Houses Of Wales.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Let's re-enact Great-great-uncle Henry.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Yes, you see, that is much more like it.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11See, that's absolutely wonderful.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16That really feels as if Great-great-uncle Henry is back with us.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19You are Great-great-uncle Henry, as I live and breathe.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- I can see the appeal of doing it, actually.- Can you?- Yeah.
0:18:26 > 0:18:27Bravo, right you next!
0:18:31 > 0:18:39Ah! Just for a second, it felt like Cresselly had returned to its giddy eccentric heyday.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44But then everyone's gone and the old girl retreats back into her shell.
0:18:45 > 0:18:51100 years ago, she was a gentle, feminine villa barely resting on
0:18:51 > 0:18:56the hillside, but, as with so many houses of this age, tastes change,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59not necessarily for the better.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04This is all real Georgian gentleman textbook stuff.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07You've got the text book landscape so you need the text book house.
0:19:07 > 0:19:15- Absolutely.- And that's small but perfectly formed, this villa that's quite relaxed. What happens, Tom?
0:19:15 > 0:19:16Because look at it now!
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Well it was built as an ornament to the landscape, you know, and then it got...
0:19:20 > 0:19:22- Victorianed!- Victorianed!
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Well, the Victorians have at least been tactful.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30I mean, they could have done something enormous and completely squished the original house.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35I mean, quite often that did happen. But in this particular case they've used the bay
0:19:35 > 0:19:39as the inspiration and put two more three-sided bays on each side.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42At least they've been kind to the original house.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45It doesn't quite work because it's
0:19:45 > 0:19:49too heavy, it compromises the lightness of the touch.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Who put these blobby little wings on?
0:19:51 > 0:19:56Well, Lady Catherine Allen built them for her son, the one who climbed the rope,
0:19:56 > 0:20:02as a 21st birthday present, at which point he said, "Thanks very much, Mum," and kicked her out!
0:20:02 > 0:20:09So, Great-uncle Henry was somewhat ungrateful as well as a bit weird.
0:20:15 > 0:20:22And maybe Cresselly reflects his outdoorsy Victorian masculinity.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Of course, you would expect family portraits,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35but where are the ladies? There is something terribly "Boys Own" about this.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39All these blokes in uniform.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Every corridor, you know, these aren't
0:20:47 > 0:20:51just paintings, these aren't just artefacts, they are your ancestors.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Do you ever get the feeling you're surrounded by ghosts?
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Yes, it's quite a presence sometimes,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00and sometimes very approving and sometimes definitely not approving.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- Really?- Which makes it more fun!
0:21:03 > 0:21:09- Yes, I can't believe you'd ever be intimidated by the Lady in Grey in the corridor.- No.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12I'm really, really struck by Cresselly House
0:21:12 > 0:21:18because I think that it does have a personality, and it has a very, very masculine personality.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23Where is that femininity? Where's the feminine presence here?
0:21:23 > 0:21:28I think the house reflects me, probably, at the moment, but, you know, you go through
0:21:28 > 0:21:34different life changes, don't you, and sometimes it can seem quite feminine, depending on who's about.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40I think there's quite a strong sense about the entire place of it being
0:21:40 > 0:21:43quite a boy zone, naughty boys hanging out in a big house.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47I think that's mainly for the last five to 10 years or so because he's been living here
0:21:47 > 0:21:51without his wife, so it's become more that way, it's become more a sort of...
0:21:51 > 0:21:55I wouldn't say bachelor pad, but more bachelor-ish because of that.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00We are a long way away from most things here, it is reasonably remote.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Your father must enjoy his own company a lot, I would have thought?
0:22:04 > 0:22:08Also he's got a very, very strong local community here.
0:22:08 > 0:22:14- True.- If you go down to The Quay, which is our local pub, there is no other place like it.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16It's got such a strong bond between the people there.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Do you miss the fact that you don't know your neighbours in town?
0:22:19 > 0:22:22I do, actually. It is...
0:22:22 > 0:22:28Everyone down here is a lot more sort of warm and friendly, but that is always the way in a small community.
0:22:28 > 0:22:34And Cresselly's links to that community stretch well beyond its walls and fields.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48Outside Cresselly's local, it's like olde worlde pub wallpaper...for real.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56The Pembrokeshire hunt dates from the 18th century, and for almost all of the last 200 years
0:22:56 > 0:22:59it has been based at Cresselly.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07- Are you having a quick fondle? - Indeed we are.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10It probably wouldn't be the first time, would it?
0:23:11 > 0:23:16I can honestly say, this is one of the best turned-out hunts I have ever seen.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21- Really?- Yeah, look's brilliant! Lady over there with side saddle. - She'll be very flattered.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23- She looks brilliant. - She does look elegant.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27But it's such a lovely location as well.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29These days, they're not after the fox.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32It's more to do with hunting down the latest gossip
0:23:32 > 0:23:36before charging through the countryside looking, well, fab.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40People that live in towns don't understand things like this
0:23:40 > 0:23:44- and fear things like this because it sort of, you know... - They misunderstand it.- They do.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48- That's the issue. - But you can tell from this, this is an entire community.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52If you look around, it's everyone here.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57All the farmers, everyone getting together in the morning to have a meeting and see each other.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Are you are not tempted to do the horse thing?
0:24:00 > 0:24:01Not for a while, to be honest.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05I had a go when I was younger and fell off a few times, so it's not really for me.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06Do it on a quad bike.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11That would be a lot more fun. If you had quad bikes and trail bikes I'd definitely be up for it.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13An experience like this must bring...
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Must make you feel a part of quite a long history.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20I mean, this is something that hasn't changed for 200 years.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23It's a huge continuity.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27- Sounds really pompous, but the continuity...- No, no, I can see that.- It's a complete community.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31If you want to know when somebody's funeral is then you come to the pub.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35If you want some cash, you don't go to the hole in the wall, you cash a cheque here.
0:24:35 > 0:24:41So it's, you know, very special and everyone knows everybody.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Thank you very much. We'll be hacking up towards the big wood. Thank you.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56It is actually just like watching a table mat suddenly come to life.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01- Talking of table mats, shall we go into the pub?- Sounds great. I think it's your round, isn't it?
0:25:05 > 0:25:10Cresselly. Built, owned and lived-in by the same dynasty.
0:25:10 > 0:25:18Let's face it, it's rare to find such a survival, but that is the continuing challenge for the Allens.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26It's very easy to dismiss a house like this and an estate
0:25:26 > 0:25:29and a situation like this as being an anachronism.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31But actually it doesn't have to be, does it?
0:25:31 > 0:25:36It can be something that moves with the times and that re-incarnates.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38I think it's got to evolve.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40It couldn't...
0:25:40 > 0:25:45This house couldn't survive purely on farm tenancy, it's just... There's not enough land there.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50You've had to guide this place through a very sort of bumpy landscape
0:25:50 > 0:25:54in a way that your grandparents, your great-grandparents, possibly parents, didn't.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Yes, it's a model for change.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01My grandparents wouldn't have dreamt... And they didn't need to change anything.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05But we have to change everything now. And it's fun doing it.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09The responsibility to keep it in the Allen family
0:26:09 > 0:26:14and to ensure its future rests not really with Hugh but with his son, James.
0:26:14 > 0:26:21And he's got big ideas for Cresselly to become a luxury B&B and wedding venue.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24All this is the Georgian part, none of it is the Victorian wing.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26This is all the oldest part of the house up here.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31I see what you mean, though. These would make really, really good guest rooms.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Yeah. Well, they've got the light, they've got the windows.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40Each generation adds something to the house and that continues.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Your father has done an enormous amount of work in the grounds,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46- is there something you would really like to do?- I'm not sure.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49The attic, it would be quite nice to make it more up to date
0:26:49 > 0:26:52because at the moment none of it has been used for decades.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56If you look at many country houses nowadays, many of them have diversified.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Some have turned into restaurants, hotels or started selling things.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02They've all moved into an industry or market place.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06I think it's important to find that niche or market place which Cresselly can then do.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11But I think giving a useful purpose to the house would be a nice thing to have, so Cresselly can be protected
0:27:11 > 0:27:18for future generations and everyone else can have the benefits and pleasures of using this house.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23So it seems that James' time away from Cresselly is having
0:27:23 > 0:27:27the same effect on him as it did on his father.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31He's been in London for some time working,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34and he's appreciated Cresselly now he is not here so much.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37And he would really love to come back and run things,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40and so he must in about 10 years' time, when he is ready to do it.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43But also he'll have a completely different way of looking at it.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46He will put his own identity on it.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51- Some of his ideas are quite commercial, which I think is quite amusing.- Yeah, that's right.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53You know, the house making money for itself.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57And I was always brought up not to talk about commerce or making money.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02- Yeah, but even the Queen has got a chain of shops now, it's fine. - Exactly.
0:28:13 > 0:28:19I can't decide whether this house has moulded his inhabitants or whether it's the other way round.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24Certainly, Cresselly is somewhere where the clocks have stopped.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26There was a point when it flirted with the 20th century
0:28:26 > 0:28:32and decided that although it's a nice place to visit, it's not the kind of place you want to live.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Now, nowadays I think it's content in its rugged handsomeness
0:28:36 > 0:28:40and blokeish charm to simply keep its own company.
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