:00:58. > :01:08.The campaign to save the Palace. I am asked Hammersmith and this is
:01:08. > :01:20.
:01:20. > :01:24.It is reassuring that there are places that look after unwanted,
:01:24. > :01:33.abandoned and injured animals. These are tough times for Animal
:01:33. > :01:38.shelters across the south-west. North Devon in October last year.
:01:38. > :01:42.It is the end of a dream. These horses are being moved from an
:01:42. > :01:47.animal sanctuary after its owners were evicted for falling behind
:01:47. > :01:50.with their mortgage. The worst times are going to bed and getting
:01:50. > :01:56.up in the morning because it is the last thing and the first thing I
:01:56. > :02:03.think half. I get very emotional about it. It got to the point where
:02:03. > :02:08.it was mortgage, vet Bill, mortgage, pay bill, it was the mortgage that
:02:08. > :02:15.suffered. They are 374 animals here but paying for them is becoming
:02:15. > :02:22.difficult. The century had been in financial trouble since the
:02:22. > :02:28.beginning. As Debbie admitted. have been living hand-to-mouth for
:02:28. > :02:35.five years. Animal charities are bottom of the pile. Even at that
:02:35. > :02:40.stage, Debbie thought her refuge had a future. A year on on a cold
:02:40. > :02:46.October morning, it is all over. She has been locked out of the
:02:46. > :02:52.sanctuary where some animals still remain. The whole thing is
:02:52. > :02:57.diabolical. I turned up here this morning and the company have told
:02:57. > :03:03.me that my other animals have been removed. I have no idea where they
:03:03. > :03:06.have gone. I am not allowed on the property to load up my horses.
:03:06. > :03:16.Debbie is deficit -- desperate to see her beloved animals safely off
:03:16. > :03:16.
:03:17. > :03:26.the side. They are my animals. any more. I am going to find out
:03:27. > :03:28.
:03:28. > :03:34.where they are. I will sue the pants off you lot. Why are you so
:03:34. > :03:43.in compassionate. I have been going through hell. Can you move your car
:03:43. > :03:50.out of the way? Debbie has to leave not knowing the animal's fate.
:03:50. > :04:00.You'd better make sure not a single hair is harmed on their head.
:04:00. > :04:01.
:04:01. > :04:06.all of the horses were found a home. Five months on and they're the only
:04:06. > :04:12.has her dogs for company. She has learnt some tough lessons. Try not
:04:12. > :04:22.to have negative thoughts and trying not to feel better and not
:04:22. > :04:24.
:04:24. > :04:28.to feel resentful. In all honesty, a bit naive. There are a lot of
:04:28. > :04:34.people who are compassionate and want to do it but they are probably
:04:34. > :04:39.the wrong people to run an animal charity. Debbie's aunt ran an
:04:39. > :04:49.animal shelter in her native Jersey. When space got too tight, she sold
:04:49. > :04:51.
:04:51. > :04:55.up and joined Debbie at the Devon century. So many people say they
:04:55. > :05:01.want to open an animal sanctuary. It is hard and heartbreaking when
:05:01. > :05:07.it goes wrong. Today, the Devon sanctuary stands empty. Up for
:05:07. > :05:15.auction. The proceeds are unlikely to cover the debts. It was big
:05:15. > :05:22.plans. It was a cafe, open to the public, everything I wanted. I
:05:23. > :05:32.bought fencing to go around, fences, slides for children and a chalet to
:05:33. > :05:35.
:05:35. > :05:40.have a cafe. My money went. I managed to spend �100,000 in a year.
:05:40. > :05:45.Rose also snared -- spent much of her pension on food and bedding for
:05:45. > :05:51.the animals. A situation she now realises couldn't last for ever.
:05:51. > :05:59.had to be kicked. The bank had to come in, they had to do that to
:05:59. > :06:03.talk me into realising that it was all heart and no money. It was the
:06:04. > :06:11.best thing that could have happened for the animals. Thankfully, some
:06:11. > :06:21.Sanctuary's are surviving. Davey -- Debbie and Rose's horses ended up
:06:21. > :06:28.350 miles away in Norfolk. Wendy Valentine stepped in to help.
:06:28. > :06:37.are some of the horses and ponies that came from Devon. They arrived
:06:37. > :06:45.at by 1 o'clock on a Sunday morning. They are doing really well and stay
:06:46. > :06:53.together as an established her as. Who knows where they may have been.
:06:53. > :06:57.It is home to 2000 animals. Wendy employees 90 staff and it is one of
:06:57. > :07:01.the biggest Sanctuary's in the country. You have to make people
:07:01. > :07:08.believe in what you are doing and have a good administration. Without
:07:08. > :07:15.that, you haven't got the rest of it because you think people are
:07:15. > :07:23.going to fund you and it rarely happens. Wendy employees 13 people
:07:23. > :07:26.in admin and believes Sanctuary's can only survive by being run like
:07:26. > :07:33.businesses. It is only because we have the administration that we
:07:33. > :07:37.have been able to survive. There is so many well-meaning people that
:07:37. > :07:43.want to set up a sanctuary because it is a nice idea but you have to
:07:43. > :07:51.have that knowledge and the mind set to carry the whole thing
:07:51. > :07:58.through. Back in North Devon, Rose is happy looking after her cats.
:07:58. > :08:05.She now fundraisers for other Sanctuary's. It is hard times and
:08:05. > :08:10.people are finding it very hard to keep that animals. Animal
:08:10. > :08:17.Sanctuary's are needed. I would like to say that they are not, but
:08:17. > :08:22.they are. They do need help. Treat any animal sanctuary like a
:08:22. > :08:32.business. Still have the element of compassion as well. It is very
:08:32. > :08:33.
:08:33. > :08:37.difficult. In the south-west, we are happy to live next to some
:08:38. > :08:42.great places for wildlife. This winter, Nick visited one that is
:08:42. > :08:52.not only a beauty spot, it is a vital food resource for some of our
:08:52. > :08:59.
:08:59. > :09:04.most endangered animals. It is on the doorstep of our biggest city.
:09:04. > :09:13.The beauty over a tranquil, flowing river. This gem is not what it
:09:13. > :09:18.seemed. The river isn't that tranquil at all. It is full of
:09:18. > :09:23.birdlife. This is an illustration of the amazing tolerance of nature.
:09:23. > :09:27.It has to be the noisiest place I have ever birdwatcher to stop the
:09:27. > :09:32.traffic noise doesn't bother them. The critical thing is there is a
:09:32. > :09:39.habitat for them to go about their business in. This place is doing
:09:39. > :09:49.reasonably well for birds. Goal -- girls a paddle away for worms.
:09:49. > :09:51.
:09:51. > :09:57.These turn stones are sifting through seaweed. These are using
:09:57. > :10:01.their long bills to get -- to get down into the mud. They can pull
:10:01. > :10:08.out juicier worms. Key to everything is the stuff that lines
:10:08. > :10:13.estuaries like this and I am talking about mud. It is everywhere
:10:13. > :10:17.here and it is a habitat to countless different species of worm,
:10:17. > :10:25.crustacean and molluscs. They are fed upon by thousands of different
:10:25. > :10:29.species of wild file. -- the wild fowl.
:10:29. > :10:34.Two-times a day washing more nutrients for those worms and
:10:34. > :10:40.molluscs to feed on. There is something like 40
:10:40. > :10:46.different bird species that come here every winter. They can take
:10:46. > :10:56.out different animals from the various layers of the mud. These
:10:56. > :11:01.shelduck are doing a characteristic sweeping movement. It is a classic
:11:01. > :11:05.winter site. There are abundant shellfish on the rocks and in the
:11:05. > :11:10.water and these crows are being clever. They are dropping their
:11:10. > :11:16.shellfish onto the rocks to smash them open. Then, it is time to tuck
:11:16. > :11:22.in. This estuary is one great takeaway for all birds. The hand of
:11:22. > :11:26.man has had a huge impact here and not all of it is good.
:11:26. > :11:32.Unfortunately estuaries are not just of interests for wildlife.
:11:32. > :11:37.Humans like them as well. With this large source of water and flat land
:11:37. > :11:45.surrounding them, they are ripe for industrialisation and development
:11:45. > :11:50.and that is the biggest threat. It has been heavily developed. It has
:11:50. > :11:56.road and rail and a supermarket and dual-carriageway on the old marshes
:11:56. > :12:00.to the north. This is Blagdon Meadows, a relatively dry, grassy
:12:00. > :12:08.Nature Reserve today. What I am working on -- walking on his
:12:08. > :12:14.reclaimed. Thousands of tons of the river channel were dumped here. We
:12:14. > :12:20.have gained a great meadow but lost a much rarer estuarine habitat. Mud
:12:20. > :12:29.that is essential for these birds in winter to feed on and to gain
:12:29. > :12:35.strength so they can go on to their breeding sites. The mud is a
:12:36. > :12:44.valuable commercial resource. These bait diggers are taking up lugworms
:12:44. > :12:52.for fishing. The worms are valuable. They told estate would get �16 for
:12:52. > :12:56.a pound of the worms. It is difficult to be sure what impact
:12:56. > :13:03.these activities are happening on the birds of our local estuaries.
:13:03. > :13:09.Habitat loss and the loss of food is certain to be a factor. Barbara
:13:09. > :13:13.and Roger Swain Fen hadn't bird counts here. They found it declines
:13:14. > :13:17.in a wintering migrant birds and that tends to be the same across
:13:17. > :13:26.most of our Severn estuaries. has been a massive decline over
:13:26. > :13:34.that time. It is difficult to pin down a reason that has been a major
:13:34. > :13:42.decline of many species. It has been exacerbated here by the
:13:42. > :13:51.encroachment of development and extra activity and disturbance of
:13:51. > :13:57.the area. It adds extra pressure on this area. The Plimmer was a home
:13:57. > :14:07.to redshank and now there is 150. Much of the decline is due to
:14:07. > :14:08.
:14:08. > :14:18.climatic factors. As the water comes in, the worms come up and it
:14:18. > :14:23.
:14:23. > :14:26.is then that they are eaten by the It is not all bad news. There has
:14:26. > :14:34.been some effort made to undo the damage we have done too many of
:14:34. > :14:39.these habitats. All we are trying to do is move the EC back to the
:14:39. > :14:49.outside. This sea wall was built in the 19th century to keep the water
:14:49. > :14:51.
:14:51. > :14:55.out and create dry fields. At one stage, this was a cricket pitch.
:14:55. > :14:59.With the marsh dry, it turned to grass. 50 years ago the National
:14:59. > :15:02.Trust put these gates into the sea wall here. At high tide, it will
:15:02. > :15:05.allow the saltwater to pass through into this area on the other side of
:15:05. > :15:13.the sea wall, creating one of the rarest habitats in Britain today
:15:13. > :15:19.which is Saltmarsh. At low tide, I went with Dr David Dixon to check
:15:19. > :15:22.on progress. This is a good example of a salt marsh plant. This is the
:15:22. > :15:32.glass wart and if you burn this, with sand, you can make a high-
:15:32. > :15:35.
:15:35. > :15:38.quality glass. This is another plant we are seeing here. Sea beet.
:15:38. > :15:47.This is the ancestor of beetroot, Chard, sugarbeet, a whole range of
:15:47. > :15:53.commercial species. We have two good indicators of salt marsh.
:15:53. > :15:59.is a salt marsh but the cracks show you that it is not flooding enough.
:15:59. > :16:06.It is only flooding at extreme high water, spring tides. To fully
:16:06. > :16:11.fulfil its potential, it needs to be more wet. Close, but no cigar.
:16:11. > :16:16.Absolutely. Sadly even this precious place isn't free from dogs.
:16:16. > :16:22.Halfway through talking, one ran right across the marsh. Walkers now
:16:22. > :16:27.seem to be running the dogs along the lagoon edge. Despite all these
:16:27. > :16:32.problems, it is developing as a bird roost. As the tide comes in,
:16:32. > :16:35.curlews fly into rest. These little ponds of freshwater are the perfect
:16:35. > :16:45.place wash the salt from your feathers body before the tides roll
:16:45. > :16:47.
:16:48. > :16:52.in. When the water is in, you know I am staying well away from the
:16:52. > :16:57.roost but it is a privilege to be able to get this close to the local
:16:57. > :17:01.birdlife on the river. You can look out over the lagoon edge and pick
:17:01. > :17:08.up the locally rarer green shank. Only a few of these compare to the
:17:08. > :17:12.redshank. This is a real rarity, a spotted sandpiper. You have to be
:17:12. > :17:18.an expert to tell it from a common sandpiper. This is probably an
:17:18. > :17:23.American vagrant blown off course. It doesn't matter if you don't know
:17:23. > :17:29.your birds, you can't put a name to the actual bird, just enjoy them.
:17:29. > :17:34.They are doing cool things right now. The big issue is places like
:17:34. > :17:38.this remain and I respect it for that. Without this, the birds would
:17:38. > :17:44.have nowhere else to go. A lot of these birds are amber listed so
:17:44. > :17:50.there are some conservation concerns. It is a case of long let
:17:50. > :18:00.this place remain. Long let the Plym remain, haven for some of our
:18:00. > :18:03.
:18:03. > :18:08.most threatened and beautiful Our town and city halls come in all
:18:08. > :18:11.shapes, sizes and state of repair. Many councils face the dilemma over
:18:11. > :18:17.what to do with important but crumbling civic buildings that are
:18:17. > :18:27.too costly to repair. David Stafford has been to South Devon to
:18:27. > :18:28.
:18:28. > :18:33.Oldway Mansion in Paignton. It is a little bit of Versailles by this
:18:33. > :18:35.seaside. It is a remarkable building with a romantic past,
:18:35. > :18:45.building local historian, Paul Hawthorne, has been campaigning to
:18:45. > :18:55.preserve. My first memory is being taken in the gardens aged five on a
:18:55. > :18:59.
:18:59. > :19:09.school outing. Ever since, I have Crowning the Empress Josephine.
:19:09. > :19:17.
:19:17. > :19:21.original. The centrepiece of his Soon the council workers will be
:19:21. > :19:24.gone, the plan is to turn it into a luxury hotel. Paying guests will
:19:25. > :19:34.admire the mansion that was built by American travelling actor and
:19:35. > :19:35.
:19:35. > :19:38.prolific inventor, Isaac Singer. Acting was his main love so we went
:19:38. > :19:41.from place to place, trying to invent things, sell the ideas on
:19:41. > :19:46.and use that money to form his acting company and survive as an
:19:46. > :19:54.actor. He used his skills to develop a new machine and patented
:19:54. > :19:57.that. It was his most successful invention. The company is the
:19:57. > :20:00.world's first true multinational company and by the time he comes to
:20:00. > :20:10.Paignton here in 1872, he is already one of the richest men
:20:10. > :20:13.
:20:13. > :20:18.There is a Singer sewing machine in every home in the world. They were
:20:18. > :20:24.the personal computers of their day. Isaac told his architect to build
:20:24. > :20:27.me a wigwam and make it a big wigwam at that. He had his lawyer
:20:27. > :20:29.knock on every door in the neighbourhood and bought out some
:20:29. > :20:36.15 people, buying their back gardens, orchards and having all
:20:36. > :20:40.these plots put together. There are a couple of ladies that lived here
:20:40. > :20:50.for a long time and refused to sell so the great entrance to the state
:20:50. > :20:50.
:20:50. > :20:52.that he wanted to build never The house Isaac built looked very
:20:52. > :21:02.different to today's, with its huge conservatory, stables and grand
:21:02. > :21:03.
:21:03. > :21:06.carriage entrance. What he wanted was the inhabitants of Paignton to
:21:06. > :21:11.be able to look up and see their benevolent friend on the hill
:21:11. > :21:21.looking down on them. Even his horses had a luxury exercise yard
:21:21. > :21:21.
:21:21. > :21:24.and stables called the Rotunda. Blimey! That is extraordinary.
:21:24. > :21:28.was built as part of his original wigwam and it was a horse riding
:21:29. > :21:32.and exercise pavilion by day. The children would be able to come in
:21:32. > :21:35.here and exercise the horses and then by night, there was a polished
:21:35. > :21:42.wooden floor that could be laid and this was used for dancing and
:21:42. > :21:49.entertaining by the family. great showman and benefactor barely
:21:49. > :21:56.lived long enough to enjoy his house. Dying in 1875. Isaac left
:21:56. > :21:59.behind a $13 million fortune and 24 children. Sorting that lot out took
:21:59. > :22:08.time and it wasn't until 20 years later that Paris, son number three,
:22:08. > :22:11.Paris Singer gives the house a complete makeover inside and out
:22:11. > :22:21.and brings in the foremost designers of the day and the garden
:22:21. > :22:22.
:22:22. > :22:25.designers to landscape the house As if to prove that money can't buy
:22:25. > :22:35.you love, even this magnificent estate was not enough to persuade
:22:35. > :22:37.
:22:37. > :22:42.the passion of Paris's life to be his wife. I am in love. In love?
:22:42. > :22:50.With a sewing machine? No, the man who makes them, Paris Singer. The
:22:50. > :22:55.He had an affair with Isadora Duncan, the avant-garde American
:22:55. > :23:02.dancer. She came to Oldway but despite Paris's devotion, she
:23:02. > :23:12.wouldn't stay. Paris brought her here to his version of Versailles
:23:12. > :23:16.in order to woo her into being the charms of Devon and Paignton were
:23:16. > :23:19.not for her. The problem Isadora found was that Paris was older than
:23:19. > :23:29.her, his lifestyle was that of an Edwardian millionaire spent long in
:23:29. > :23:34.
:23:34. > :23:37.interminable meals, days in the He tried very hard, he tried
:23:37. > :23:47.everything he could to woo her but she decided she didn't want to
:23:47. > :23:49.
:23:49. > :23:51.marry him. They parted after that. After the Second World War, the
:23:52. > :23:59.Rotunda briefly became a film studio where John Mann's lifelong
:23:59. > :24:04.love of film and cinemas began as a schoolboy with a holiday job.
:24:04. > :24:13.was put up by the film studios. We put up the sound reflecting panels
:24:13. > :24:21.on the ceiling. We took the balcony down. I made myself a nuisance and
:24:21. > :24:28.was allowed to be the clapper loader. I used to wash the vehicles.
:24:28. > :24:36.Generally dogsbody, would make dozens of cups of tea. Did any of
:24:36. > :24:42.the big stars of the day come? one and he later became Doctor Who.
:24:42. > :24:45.William Hartnell? Also the sergeant in Carry on sergeant film. William
:24:45. > :24:52.Hartnell, the first doctor who made his first film here. The only
:24:52. > :24:58.As the Great War menaced Europe, the affair between Paris and
:24:58. > :25:01.Isadora was doomed. Paris turned their house into a hospital for
:25:01. > :25:07.casualties from the trenches. The grand rooms were converted into
:25:07. > :25:12.wards and 5000 men were treated here. Paris never came back to
:25:12. > :25:19.Oldway. Poor health, high taxes and the end of his affair with Isadora
:25:19. > :25:26.drove him away. The sadness that the relationship broke up and saw
:25:26. > :25:31.him move on to other projects in Nowadays, it is bowling which
:25:31. > :25:33.arouses passions at Oldway. It is where local clubs have their greens.
:25:33. > :25:36.The building's future has aroused feelings also after years of
:25:36. > :25:46.discussions, Torbay Council has decided its best chance of survival
:25:46. > :25:48.
:25:48. > :25:58.This is why. Repairing the outbuildings and patching the old
:25:58. > :25:59.
:25:59. > :26:02.house will cost millions. We are on solid floors here so it is safe.
:26:02. > :26:12.With �11 million of cuts to its budget coming up, the council says
:26:12. > :26:13.
:26:13. > :26:16.leasing Oldway to a private partner We have major services like
:26:16. > :26:25.children's services, adult social care, both of those items alone
:26:25. > :26:31.represent in excess of 60 % of our budget. We have 40 million left to
:26:31. > :26:35.do everything else. A hotel for Oldway was not our first choice. We
:26:35. > :26:43.looked at many schemes, we spoke to the National Trust to see if they
:26:43. > :26:49.would be interested. Unfortunately, they weren't interested. Probably
:26:49. > :26:53.because of the costs involved. everyone is happy about the hotel
:26:53. > :26:56.plan or about the homes being built in the grounds to fund the work.
:26:56. > :27:06.Developer, Akron, has cut the number of houses and flats and says
:27:06. > :27:09.
:27:09. > :27:12.In a way, the history of Oldways is coming full circle. Once upon a
:27:12. > :27:19.time, Paris Singer wanted to turn his Versailles by the sea into a
:27:19. > :27:23.hotel. Paul Hawthorne says its rescue can't come too soon. We are
:27:23. > :27:27.getting to a critical point where investment must come in if we are
:27:27. > :27:29.to preserve the house and grounds for the future. Hoteliers would
:27:29. > :27:32.start to see that the building reintegrating with the town,
:27:32. > :27:42.becoming a beacon again and becoming a great provider of
:27:42. > :27:44.
:27:44. > :27:50.At the end of the day, this house is a fusion of American dreams,
:27:50. > :28:00.aspirations and money and English warmth and hospitality. The finest
:28:00. > :28:01.
:28:01. > :28:03.example of what can be done in that It's seen plenty of life. Crucial
:28:03. > :28:10.public affairs, steamy private affairs, theatrical performances,
:28:10. > :28:20.ministrations and celebrations. Now the curtain is set to rise on the
:28:20. > :28:30.