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Private Notes
Alan Titchmarsh goes behind the scenes at Knole in Kent, Anneka Rice visits Croome Court and Miriam O'Reilly walks in the footsteps of giants on the Jurassic Coast.
Alan Titchmarsh reveals some surprising facts about Beatrix Potter. Plus a rare plant nursery, a time capsule and the UK's largest seal colony.
During this episode, Alan visits Attingham Park to tell the incredible story of the 2nd Lord Berwick, the extravagant 19th-century owner who squandered the family fortune. Anneka Rice goes fly-fishing on the River Test and Lisa Holloway is in Norfolk at one of the world’s leading textile conservation studios as they set about restoring a 430 year old tapestry.
At Quarry Bank, Alan learns about the people behind Britain’s Industrial Revolution, uncovering the true stories of the child workers. Oz Clarke climbs the battlements of Dunster Castle and historian Dan Jones joins an archaeological dig on the South Coast.
Alan rolls up his sleeves to help the specialists working hard to maintain Lyme in Cheshire, from winding the 50 clocks throughout the house to vacuuming a 17th century tapestry. Dan Jones goes panning for gold in Wales and Jon Culshaw visits one of the most famous trees in the world at Woolsthorpe Manor.
Exploring Fountains Abbey, Alan learns about the monks who lived and worked there over 800 years ago and meets the researchers who have recently discovered the burial site of more than 2000 monks that had been hidden for centuries. Anneka Rice learns the historic technique of spade making at the last working water-driven spade mill in Britain and Miriam O’Reilly spends a night out on the South Downs with the our bat experts.
Alan visits Hardwick Hall, the magnificent Derbyshire home of Bess of Hardwick, to tell the story of how she rose from humble beginnings to become the secondmost powerful woman in Elizabethan England. Continuing the family history, Miriam O'Reilly visits nearby Stainsby Mill, Jenni Bond travels to the copper mines at Ecton and Peter Peter Purves visits Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, where Bess once held Mary, Queen of Scots, in custody.
Alan visits Stowe in Buckinghamshire, the most magnificent landscape garden of late 18th-century Britain and the site of a well-known public school. Pete Waterman discovers the link between Stowe and the Beatles, Dan Jones abseils down Lord Cobham's Pillar at Stowe and Suzannah Lipscomb visits a Norfolk stone masonry to help re-create some of Stowe's iconic statues.
On a visit to Waddesdon, Alan uncovers the story of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, famed for his lavish lifestyle, notable guests and the parties he threw at his French Renaissance-style château in the heart of the Buckinghamshire countryside. Alison Hammond heads to Polesden Lacey to party 1900s-style, architecture enthusiast Clive Aslet visits another grand design on the Waddesdon estate, and writer and presenter Oz Clarke travels to Kent to see one of Baron Ferdinand’s most prized possessions as it undergoes essential restoration.
In this episode, the working lives of people in the 19th and 20th centuries are investigated. Alan uncovers the stories of the Victorian poor who found themselves living in harsh conditions at The Workhouse in Southwell – now the most complete remaining workhouse in the country. Elsewhere, Angellica Bell uncovers the contrasting environment of a Tudor-era town house that was taken over by squatters during the 1980s, while Nigel Havers explores the Back to Back terraced houses in Birmingham, where conditions were only marginally better than life in a workhouse.
Cragside was the home of William Armstrong, a Victorian industrialist, scientist and philanthropist who came to be known as the ‘Modern Magician’. Join Alan as he explores the world’s first ‘eco home’ – lit by hydroelectric power and brimming with Armstrong’s ingenious inventions that intrigued even royalty. In Cragside’s Pinetum, Miriam O’Reilly tests her head for heights as she scales one of its towering trees, while Angela Rippon heads to William Morris’s home near London to learn about another of Armstrong’s passions: the Arts and Crafts movement.
Join Alan to discover a house of split personalities that bore witness to lunacy, attempted murder and later the ground-breaking work of pioneering 19th-century scientist, Mary Ward. The drama doesn’t end there, as historian Suzannah Lipscombe learns about Castle Ward’s starring role in the TV adaptation of Game of Thrones and gets hands-on making swords with the show’s resident armourer. 20 miles away, Nina Wadia meets the team at Murlough National Nature Reserve to lend a hand with some vital conservation work and joins the search for butterfly larvae.
Alan is in North Wales, discovering the unique story of Erddig, a grand mansion where the servants and the Yorke family, who owned it for many years, enjoyed a very close relationship. At Powis Castle, Nigel Havers checks out some magnificent topiary, and Miriam O'Reilly learns how servants were kept very firmly in their place at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire.
Shugborough Hall was the work of two brothers: swashbuckling sailor George Anson who made his fortune on the high seas, and the artistic traveller, Thomas. Alan uncovers their stories and that of another Shugborough resident: jet-setting earl and photographer to the stars Patrick Lichfield. Meanwhile, Miriam O’Reilly seeks out a photographic pioneer at Lacock in Wiltshire, and actor Louis Emerick follows the ale-trail from Shugborough’s on-site brewery to the hop farm at Scotney Castle
In this episode Alan learns about the life and legacy of Edith, Marchioness of Londonderry, who transformed both the gardens at her home Mount Stewart, and the political landscape for women in the early twentieth century. Oz Clarke goes behind the scenes of the famous Mediterranean-style garden Edith created, while Alison Hammond visits Cliveden House in Berkshire to find out more about former resident and first female MP to sit in the House of Commons, Nancy Astor.
Alan uncovers the scandal that rocked local Victorian society, when the seventh Earl of Stamford, George Harry Grey, rebelled against expectations and married a beautiful circus performer. The reaction forced them to flee and leave the estate to decline, until it found a new purpose as a military hospital during the First World War. Louis Emerick and Angellica Bell meet Dunham’s resident bees and historic deer herd while Nigel Havers travels to Smallhythe in Kent to learn about a revered Victorian performer: actress Dame Ellen Terry.
In Dorset, Alan unearths the story of William John Bankes, an Egyptologist who filled his family mansion with treasures while exiled abroad, but never got to see the home he lovingly created. At Corfe Castle, Oz Clarke learns about William’s great, great, great grandmother Dame Mary Bankes, who resisted a three-year siege during the Civil War. Meanwhile, Joan Bakewell travels to Cambridge where the secrets of one of Kingston Lacy’s paintings are uncovered using new technology.
At Tyntesfield, Alan learns about the rise of William Gibbs, who became the richest non-aristocrat in 19th-century Britain through the trade of guano - otherwise known as bird droppings. Meanwhile, Chef Tony Singh and presenter Miriam O’Reilly explore beyond the Victorian Gothic house to discover the estate’s gardens, while Louis Emerick visits Mr Straw’s House in Nottinghamshire where, like Tyntesfield, it seems as though time has stood still for almost a century.
Set in beautifully designed grounds and owned by the art-loving third Earl of Egremont, Petworth was the inspiration for many famous painters.
Alan Titchmarsh and the team go behind the scenes at Sir Winston Churchill's former country house, Chartwell, in the Weald of Kent.
An elegant mansion on the banks of the Menai Strait, Plas Newydd has been home to the Marquesses of Anglesey since Waterloo, and boasts a history packed with action and adventure.
The presenter visits the Dorset estate of Kingston Lacy, a country house with a vast collection of rare art, including an Egyptian obelisk which proved vital to the original deciphering of ancient hieroglyphics. The house also has a history of scandal involving its 19th-century owner William Bankes, who was forced to flee the country and live in exile - but is rumoured to have occasionally snuck back home. Plus, Alison Hammond meets the estate's herd of cows and Oz Clarke visits nearby Corfe Castle.
Alan Titchmarsh is joined by Shappi Khorsandi to explore Kedleston Hall in Derby, and learn about its most famous past resident - George Nathaniel Curzon, Viceroy of India.
Alan Titchmarsh visits Ham House on the banks of the River Thames, braving the house's ghost tour and learning of a remarkable female resident who lived during the Civil War.
Alan Titchmarsh reveals the shocking truth about Penrhyn Castle and how it was built from fortunes made in the plantations of the West Indies.
At Tyntesfield, Alan learns about the rise of William Gibbs, who became the richest non-aristocrat in 19th-century Britain through the trade of guano - otherwise known as bird droppings. Meanwhile, Chef Tony Singh and presenter Miriam O’Reilly explore beyond the Victorian Gothic house to discover the estate’s gardens, while Louis Emerick visits Mr Straw’s House in Nottinghamshire where, like Tyntesfield, it seems as though time has stood still for almost a century.
