-Today one of Britain's most incredible castles is under attack.

-What an extraordinary place.

-Originally, it was built entirely for show.

-It's certainly designed to impress.

-But now faces a huge restoration challenge to save some of its amazing treasures.

It's amazing and beautiful, but kind of crazy at the same time.

I'll be fighting fire... It's noisy in here, and it's very hot.

...to save a beautiful bridge on the verge of collapse.

-It's wrought iron sitting in the most horrendous, damp and shaded environment.

You don't get any wetter than this.

-Painstakingly reviving stunning ceilings that could be lost forever.

It's a bit like trying to mow a football pitch with a pair of scissors.

-Yes.

[ Laughs ] -And salvaging some very special chairs.

What sort of price to get all 10 done?

-About £18,000.

-Wow!

From castles to stately homes, Britain boasts some of the world's most glorious buildings.

But I think it's magnificent.

Nuts but magnificent.

With hundreds of years of history.

-Why was it hidden under a floorboard?

How did it get there?

-But our heritage is under threat.

-Something like 300 plus rooms are completely derelict.

-Come with me to see some extraordinary buildings being saved.

Look at the scale of it.

It's vast.

Meeting the craftspeople dedicated to their rescue.

-59 1/2 minutes of preparation.

30 seconds of glory.

-And witnessing the skills and passion needed to keep these incredible places alive.

-I'm leaving something behind that's going to last longer than I am.

It's a good way to make a mark on the world.

-For us all to visit and enjoy.

♪♪ I think it's fair to say that the English and the Welsh haven't always seen eye to eye.

So no great surprise that the borderlands that we're driving through here are dotted with castles.

But it's over 600 years since Owain Glyndwr rose up against the English, and 500 years since Henry Tudor combined the two countries in peace.

So why would you build a castle here only 200 years ago?

Built in the shadow of the Malvern Hills, Eastnor certainly isn't any old castle.

My word, this really is something.

This grade one listed building is designed to look hundreds of years older than it actually is.

♪♪ Today, as well as being open to the public, the castle is a go to location for big television dramas, and you can even get married here.

Hello there.

It's also home to the family of James Hervey-Bathurst.

Well, I'd like to say something sort of pithy and learned and interesting, but I'm taking my jaw off the floor at the moment.

What an extraordinary place.

-Yeah.

Well, it's designed to impress.

So you've reacted exactly as my ancestors hoped you would.

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

-Well, some people don't think it's beautiful, but it's certainly impressive.

I think that's the right word for it.

But I like it very much.

-It's a fairy tale castle, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I think you're absolutely right.

So if you look from the Malvern Hills down on to Eastnor, you'd think that was an ancient castle, an ancient family.

-So it really was showing off?

-It certainly was.

-Can I have a look inside?

-Please do.

Come on.

-Started in 1812, it took 250 men six years to build this place for the 1st Earl Somers.

And in today's money, it'd cost him the best part of £40 million.

But for that, he got 15 reception rooms, 21 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, and a lakeside setting with 300 acres of deer park.

-As we go up the stairs, you'll see this is the chap who built it, who is a distant ancestor of mine, and using money that he'd inherited over years and from his rich wife.

-Where shall we start?

-Let's start in the great hall.

-Wow.

It's very high, apart from anything, is the first thing that occurs to me.

And quite Italianate with the arches.

-I think it started off with a sort of very plain medieval look.

And then in 1865, they decided to make it Italianate.

-Big space.

What did you do with it when you were a kid then?

-Oh, we had a lot of fun in here on rainy days.

We used to bicycle round, play badminton.

-[ Laughs ] -We often had to put a coat on, but it was quite a useful indoor space.

A sort of hard play area.

Not a soft play area.

-I love the idea of you going round and round on bicycles when you're a child.

-It was good fun.

♪♪ -The truth of any historic building is that they're in constant need of care to prevent us losing our heritage forever.

Right now, James has three major projects about to start.

He's trying to save an ornate bridge from collapse, and two very special hand-painted ceilings which are flaking away.

-So this is the library.

-I was not expecting this.

When you say you're having a bit of work done in here, you're having quite serious work done in here.

-Yeah, you can't work on the ceiling off ladders, so we have to have the scaffolding in here and take all the furniture out.

-The library is a jewel in the crown of Eastnor.

Hidden above the 20 foot high scaffold are 44 hand-painted panels divided by gold gilded frames.

Oh, my word.

Yes.

Oh, this is quite something, isn't it?

But first impressions are short lived.

Up close, I can see the 150 year old paintwork is barely clinging on.

If it's lost, it'll be gone forever.

No, you never get close to these kind of things.

They're almost too close to take in.

The ceiling was painted in 1865, but time has clearly taken its toll.

As I look round, various panels in quite good condition, then this one here has got a massive crack through it.

Something good, something bad.

-Yeah, the one at the far end is really bad because it's under a bath.

There was a bit of a leak once.

And at this end, one of the cast iron beams cracked at one point, so the ceiling sank a bit.

-How big a job is it?

-It's pretty big because it needs a lot of people.

There's a team of five working here for five weeks in this room, five weeks in the dining room, so it's a big job.

-Preparation for the library ceiling repairs started three weeks ago... ...when specialist Rob Powell arrived to take down three enormous and very valuable chandeliers.

-If you put these three in auction, with their history here, you're probably looking probably well over £100,000 worth of chandeliers.

So they're serious bits of equipment.

-The whole job of dismantling, cleaning, and re-hanging the 800 or so individual crystals will take 60 hours.

-All these will be washed, and then they'll be checked, and each one will be hung back in its position.

Just trying to keep them -- if you throw them in a box... -They all fall apart.

-They all fall apart, and you get in one heck of a mess.

-Okay.

-That's fine.

♪♪ -Removing a few chandeliers has its risks.

But as the scaffolders set to work in the dining room, where there's another ceiling to restore, there's a few priceless paintings that raise the stakes to new heights.

-We've been told there were upwards of £15 million, so yeah, it's a bit apprehensive coming in here.

That's why we take our time.

-There's reason to be nervous because things can go wrong.

We do tell the insurance company, and I think they're insured, too.

-I've seen a lot of scaffolds in my time, but none that need to be so precise.

-It's a pretty quick process.

It's quite scary.

[ Chuckles ] And if I was to damage it, probably get a DCM in the post, "Don't come Monday, P45."

-Job done.

Paintings still intact.

But what do they think of the ceiling?

-Um, yeah.

It's nice.

[ Laughter ] A bit different to what I've got in my house.

Artex.

[ Laughter ] -Nothing wrong with a bit of texture, but at Eastnor, things are a little finer.

Even though it may be a mock castle, it's very precious.

This building, at first glance, does look like a defendable medieval castle.

But it wasn't its purpose.

It was literally just to show off how much money the family had.

This was, in its time, the equivalent of buying yourself a Lamborghini and parking it outside a huge pad in the south of France.

It's much classier, though, isn't it?

Oh, I could live here.

They wouldn't let me, but I could live here.

At least I'll get to see its ceilings restored and its bridge rebuilt.

♪♪ Nestled in the Malvern Hills, Eastnor Castle is undergoing some major restoration.

Inside, there are two hand-painted ceilings in danger of being lost forever.

And outside, in the 40 acres of carefully designed and planted castle grounds, there are more emergency repairs about to start in what, to the untrained eye, looks like a wood but is actually a collection of hundreds of specimen trees.

In the 1800s, a reverend very famously said, "Blessed is he who plants a tree under whose shade he will never sit."

The chap that planted this entire arboretum knew he'd never see it in all his glory.

He planted it for future generations, for us.

That is true altruism.

♪♪ The Victorians loved collecting trees from around the world, and the 2nd Earl Somers, who especially loved cedars, created his arboretum complete with stunning vistas like these.

A favorite was this one of the weir at the end of the lake.

Which included at its center a handcrafted iron bridge.

-Dominic!

Hello.

-Hello!

-150 years later, the bridge is in danger of collapse, so James has enlisted iron expert Dominic Grosvenor to save it before it's too late.

I've come to have a look at your bridge.

-Well, what do you think?

-Is it cast iron?

-No, it's wrought iron.

It's wrought iron sitting in the most horrendous damp and shaded environment.

You don't get any wetter than this, and it's falling apart with all the usual consequences of rust.

And it really is crying out for help.

-In an attempt to strengthen it 60 years ago, the original walkway was replaced with concrete, but that's caused both structural and aesthetic problems.

-On the way in creating the concrete deck, though, we've lost the bottom balustrade all along the side.

And in true conservation practice, we would love to restore something exactly as it was when it was first put here.

-To do that, Dominic would need to remove the concrete, and there's no knowing what he might find.

Are you saying in a very nice way it's yet to be negotiated how far are you going to go with it?

-I'd like to get rid of the concrete.

[ Laughing ] -I imagine.

Thank you very much.

We'll catch up and see how it keeps going.

-Thank you.

-In the library, a specialist team are hard at work rescuing the flaking ceiling.

Of the 44 panels, 27 are in serious danger of flaking away.

I've managed to convince Chief Conservator Ruth McNeilage to stop what she's doing and explain how they're saving the ceiling.

I notice basically sticking bits of paper to the ceiling.

You put the paper up there, and then you sort of paint through it.

-So where there's a flake hanging down, if it's very unstable, we put tissue on and we use a material a little bit like wallpaper paste.

So you secure the area around it so it's safe.

In places where it's not so fragile, we feed the consolidant, or glue, in with a brush.

But where it's particularly fragile, you inject it through the tissue, and then they will work over with a mushroom to make sure it's gone completely flat.

-What's a mushroom?

-It's a ball of cotton wrapped in a polyester sheet that doesn't react to anything.

-Which you can then use as a pad to press on.

-Yes, yes.

-Oh, I see.

Okay.

-In some places, we use a warm consolidant, and that's made from a sturgeon swim bladder.

-A what?

-A sturgeon.

-We're talking about sturgeon fish that you get caviar from?

-Yes, yes, this is it in its raw state.

So we heat this up, and as it heats, it softens and forms a jelly.

In areas which are in a very fragile state, you can sort of apply this warm and it feeds through the warmth, sort of helps it to feed through.

-Who finds out that if you take the swimbladder from a sturgeon, some obscure fish, and boil it down and create something that you can mend a ceiling with?

-I think that actually in the past, collagen based materials were used, like rabbit skin glue.

Have you heard of that?

-No.

-Oh.

[ Laughs ] -Science never was my forte.

After 20 minutes or so, the tissue can be removed and the stabilized paintwork cleaned.

A mix of traditional and modern method.

It's extraordinarily detailed work.

You're essentially doing that tiny micro work on a ceiling that is massive.

It's a bit like trying to mow a football pitch with a pair of scissors.

-Yes.

[ Laughing ] -And why are they all stood on different sized boxes?

-Um, because they're different heights.

And so they've each got their own personal box with their name on.

-How brilliant.

Do you chat much when you're working?

-Not on this job, actually.

No.

Not really, because we're having to concentrate.

-Right.

I'd be terrible for a job like this then, wouldn't I?

While rescuing the ceiling continues inside in silence... [ Jackhammer thudding ] ...outside, it's a different story.

On the bridge, man of iron Dominic and his team have been given the go ahead to dig out the 1960s concrete.

Only now could he really see the extent of the job ahead.

-The concrete is revealing a lot of rusty old iron and a lot of hidden work that we hadn't anticipated.

The center span that we hadn't been able to see before, which is totally encased, is now revealing the circles that match the other ones.

Once you encapsulate something in concrete, it carries on corroding inside.

-Although a lot of iron workers rusted beyond repair, Dominic is undaunted.

-Here we've got a really, really elegant pretty little bridge, not really able to show its beauty, and we've got the chance to put back the structure as it would have been when it was first created.

It's been lost for the last 60 years.

-To do that, they'll need to restore the main iron spans.

Made up of a series of rings and arcs, they've been under attack from the water and the concrete.

♪♪ So they're taken to Wolverhampton... ...to blacksmith Bob Garlick, who's been working a forge for 20 years.

Bob!

-Hi, Nick.

-The bridge was in such a state that Bob is having to remake several of the rings from scratch.

What does it look like at the moment?

Oh, it's literally rebar.

-We'll draw it down to that section there, and then we'll trim it off.

And then it can be curved to the right circle, then.

-Pumping air into the flames gets the temperature up to the required 800 degrees, three times hotter than most domestic ovens.

What are you looking for in that piece of metal to know that it's ready?

-Nice color.

If it's only orange, then it's too soft.

End up with the material splitting.

You want it to be a nice yellow.

♪♪ -With the iron up to temperature, it needs to be beaten into the correct square section.

That's an unbelievable bit of kit.

And the iron flattened out can then be trimmed.

I think I'll hold it, you hit it.

-That'll be sound.

-Before we can start to make a curve.

-Give this a little tap with hammer for me, please.

All right.

-How hard do I hit it?

-Just a little bit on end.

That's it.

Less.

Not as hard.

Not as hard.

-Not so hard?

-That's it.

-Again.

Whoa, whoa!

Swung there.

-The tools are much better in the hands of an expert.

-I see how much more gently you're actually shaping it than I did.

-There's a lot more to it than hitting it hard.

It's just technique and how you swing your hammer, yeah.

-It's like any other skill.

It's knowing your job, isn't it?

-Did you mean to put your wooden brush in the fire?

-No, and it's not mine either, that.

-[ Laughs ] -They just put that out properly.

-[ Laughs ] ♪♪ -Bob makes shaping the iron look simple, As he works the ring on the anvil with hammer and tongs, I realized that the tools of Bob's trade have changed little over the centuries.

So you've got it pretty much to a circle now.

You just want to perfect that circle.

-That's right.

We'll shape it to the mandrel.

This is the mandrel.

-Okay.

-And then we'll flip it over, and then we'll do it again because it tends to twist it if you just do it one way.

You end up like that instead of parallel sides.

-Flared if you go hard on it.

Yeah, I get it.

-That's it.

Yeah.

Turn it for you.

-For Bob, it might be like having your 5-year-old help with the cooking.

-Anywhere else?

-Turn him over.

It's a bit high there.

-But we've all got to start somewhere.

-Yeah.

-It's such a beautiful thing.

It's such an earthy thing to do.

I'm getting an enormous sense of pride from having been involved with making something.

-Yeah.

-You must have that every day.

-I do.

I do get a lot of satisfaction out of it, I do.

-The idea that this has been the same, you know, for hundreds of years, I think is a wonderful thing.

Isn't that brilliant?

I don't know why I'm so overjoyed, but I really am.

Back at the castle, more delicate work is in hand as Rob Powell cleans the £100,000 chandeliers ready to rehang.

-It's just a standard non-biological washing powder.

Just put them into clean water just to rinse.

♪♪ -It's taken the best part of 60 hours over six weeks to remove, clean, and repair the chandeliers.

-It's just like a great big jigsaw puzzle.

This is where the time goes.

Dressing it and making sure everything's fitted securely.

And this really is our history at its best, isn't it, really.

♪♪ -With the change of the seasons comes the transformation of the library.

Where a cracked and flaked ceiling sat above a dust sheeted empty cavern, now that's become a fantastical reading room.

-Come in.

-Well, that's...[ Laughs ] That's absolutely stunning, isn't it?

And the ceiling glows vibrantly overhead.

-It's a fantastic result.

I'm really, really happy with it.

-Absolutely breathtaking.

I actually haven't seen the ceiling without the scaffolding and actually haven't even seen the walls without plastic on them.

But it's such a rich, beautiful room, and I mean rich in as much as sumptuous on the eye.

-But not too glittering, which is great.

-The combination together, not too blingy, but the richness of the colors and the tapestries.

Everything about it just really works, doesn't it?

It's beautiful.

-Well, it's always been my favorite room, and now it is now more favorite than before, if that's possible.

-Yeah, well, this is just a joy.

James and the team may have cracked the cracks here in the library, but with a dining room ceiling still to repair, some antique chairs that need a complete overhaul, and a bridge to rebuild, there's no downing tools yet.

♪♪ Keeping Eastnor Castle looking this grand has been a full time occupation for James Harvey Bathurst since taking it on in 2000... ...transforming cold spaces like this into sumptuous places like this.

But he's not been without help.

Since they married 16 years ago, James's wife Lucy has taken on the interiors, tackling anything and everything, from saving priceless four poster beds to commissioning rugs and curtains fit for a castle.

Her next challenge is in one of Eastnor's finest rooms.

It's nuts, isn't it?

It's amazing and beautiful, but kind of crazy at the same time.

So who's responsible for this?

-In 1849, the 2nd Lord Somers decided to commission Pugin to redesign his drawing room.

-Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was one of Britain's most important architects.

You may not know his name, but you'll certainly recognize his work, which includes the Houses of Parliament.

Pugin died after being committed to a mental asylum just three years after designing the drawing room, and pretty much everything in it.

It is perhaps a reflection of the thin line between genius and madness.

It's just so elaborate.

-I know.

It's amazing, isn't it?

James's grandparents didn't really like this room.

They thought it was too fussy and too elaborate, and this room was only used as a sort of, um, for parties or for gathering of sort.

-There's a lot to look at the sort of eye level, but actually you just keep doing this, don't you?

-No, it's very, very ornate.

-The ceiling is just stunning, isn't it?

-I know.

it's amazing.

-The thing is, you know, with design, you say, "Well, don't go too far."

-I know.

[ Laughs ] But actually, it's a feast for one's eyes, really, I think.

-So you look after the interiors of the place.

Do you have a sort of a yearly budget to try and keep an eye on things?

-On average, I have a budget of about £80,000 to £100,000 a year, depending on the year.

-That sounds like quite a lot.

-That's inside and out, which for a building of this size, um, is not an awful lot because it's just the wear and tear of the fabric of the house.

-So I can't help noticing that, actually the seat on that is looking pretty knackered.

-Well, that's another project that we've got going, that all of these Pugin chairs have got to be reupholstered, and all the braid and tassels and everything redone.

-Are the artisans around to be able to do this kind of work?

-Yes, there are specialist people who will make anything.

It's just a question of time, lead in time, and cost, of course.

-The chairs go to London Antique Upholstery in Wimbledon, where Chris Bonnard starts the lengthy process of restoration.

-Unfortunately, we can't save the fabrics.

But we're going to do our best to keep all these, conserve all the original nails.

So I've just got a blunt inch wide chisel, and try and leave them out carefully as I can.

Easier said than done.

And that one's broken, so... So what we're going to have to do is get some of these renovated, reattach a new steel pin to them.

-Each chair is stripped down to the frame before the seat can be built back up, starting with new webbing and canvas.

It's tricky work, enough to make you spit nails.

-Process is to store as many tacks as you can in your mouth, and then draw them out with a magnet one at a time.

And that's it.

And put them in.

Make sure they're clean.

-That's one I wouldn't recommend trying at home, folks.

It's a skilled craftsman who doesn't swallow.

Stuffing falls to John Allchurch, who's been upholstering for 38 years.

-I'm just putting these ties in.

These ties are to hold a hold hair and fiber in place.

-And it starts with coconut husk, which is more robust than traditional horse hair.

-I'm just teasing.

They call it teasing the hair together.

At the moment.

Underneath the ties.

It doesn't collapse like hair would.

I do put hair in the chair.

Horse hair in the chair.

Again, this hair and fiber.

A bit of both we put in.

They're mixed together.

And that's going to go in the center of the chair.

Coconut each for the edge.

And the horse hair is for the center, for the softness, to sit on.

As simple as that.

-To take on all 10 chairs will take several weeks of stuffing, trimming, sewing, and tacking.

♪♪ -The next thing I do is I put it on the floor, and I'll sit on it for 30 seconds, just feel it, make sure it feels fine.

-And with the original nails to be restored, their final fabric cover will have to wait.

Back at the castle, as work on the bridge continues, Dominic Grosvenor has made a very useful discovery.

-On my toes.

-In the shadow of the castle walls... -It's heavy.

-...a ton of buried iron is being uncovered.

-And a new -- out the big end.

-Heavy, ain't he?

-These redundant old cast iron girders have been donated by James for us to melt back in the furnace and create some new castings for the deck plates.

-One, two, three.

-Oh!

Don't push.

-Recycling at its best.

-Thank you now.

-With a bit of enthusiastic help from the works department... -Who's not lifting?

-You!

-...Dominic and the iron head 60 miles north to Wolverhampton and one of the Black Country's longest serving foundries.

Smelting since 1853, Barr & Grosvenor do all sorts of conservation, but specialize in making weights and measures.

And it's that precision that makes them perfect for this job.

-Where are we working?

-We're going over here to the molding.

-Morning.

-Morning.

-Morning.

-Morning.

-Here, Dominic and the team plan to turn the old girders into a new walkway for the bridge.

-Right, what we've got here is a pattern.

-What is it a pattern for?

-Right.

Well, that's going to be the new deck place.

-So where you took all that concrete out, now you're replacing it with foot plates that you can see the water through, which is going to be lovely.

-Yes, you'll be able to see.

-And a series of these running across the bridge?

-A whole set, yes.

-Okay, lovely.

What's that made of?

-Well, the lattice, the circles.

-The red bit.

-Those are all made from a resin that's poured.

And then we've got a timber edge to it, and it's all set on a backing board.

The whole thing ends up being in reverse at the moment.

-Each of the 24 new deck plates will be cast in its own special mold based on a deck plate Dominic already had.

-So what we've got here now is sand, resin, and binder.

In a matter of a few minutes, it will set hard like a little block of sandstone.

And that then becomes the hard molding into which we pour the metal.

That will be off in another couple of minutes.

-Chief molder Rupe, who's been at the foundry for 35 years, is up against the clock.

If someone comes in with a really complicated piece, is that annoying, or is that an interesting?

-No, it's a challenge for me.

I can do it.

-So no matter what it is... -Doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter.

Anything.

Anything.

I can mold a man.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪ -Rupe, you're a doer, not a chatter.

-No.

I don't like chatting.

[ Laughs ] -Just as well, really, because in less than 10 minutes, the sand has hardened and the mold is ready to be opened.

-Okay.

Go, Nick.

-That's it.

-That's it.

Perfect.

-Okay.

-Whoo-hoo!

-Now, what do you make of that?

-Oh, that's beautiful, isn't it?

-It's got every detail, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

Absolutely every detail.

It's almost like, um, plaster, like you've plastered a wall.

-Totally.

-It's like finished plaster.

So, and that's one half.

So you need to do the same thing with the other half when it's ready, and then sandwich them together.

And then you have a three dimensional hole in which to pour them.

-Exactly.

-While the mold is completed, Mac, the master smelter, is preparing the molten iron from a recipe of car brake discs and the girders from the castle.

Hey there, Mac.

-Hello, mate.

All right?

-Very good.

It's noisy in here, and it's very hot.

-Yeah.

They're at the moment, about 1,550.

-How much molten metal do we have in there at the moment?

-Just under three quarters of a ton.

-Wow.

-At the moment, the furnace is full, but if the discs are damp and wet, then it'll just spit out at you.

It's a very dangerous job.

-So when your career officer at school said to you, "What do you want to do for a living," did you say, "I want to go and work with molten metal"?

-No.

Politician.

[ Laughter ] -Mac's experience tells him when the metal is fully molten.

Once again, the clock is ticking.

♪♪ -You got to go round.

Hang on.

-That's fine.

-Just a minute, chaps.

Now.

-Dominic and the team have about eight minutes to get the molten iron from the crucible into the molds.

If you look now, they're pouring into all three holes at the same time, so the metal spreads evenly.

-Okay.

-And then Roop shouts "That's it" When he sees it come up through the little pilot holes that he drilled.

-Well done.

-And they're done.

You can feel this.

It's like standing in front of a massive open fire.

It's so warm.

I mean, it's 1,500 degrees.

It's like, you know, you can't mess about with stuff like this.

Fantastic.

Just let it cool now, and we'll be able to break one of these open and show you the end result.

♪♪ About half an hour later, the iron should have solidified.

♪♪ This is the moment of reckoning.

-What have we got, Nick?

-As the sand mold is smashed, it reveals its treasure.

-There you go.

-That's fantastic.

I can't see anything wrong with any of that.

Can you?

-Looks great to me.

-Very clean.

You must be chuffed with it.

-Yeah, and it'll be there forever.

-It's loud, it's hot, but it's unbelievably rewarding when you actually turn out a piece like that and know it's going to be there for hundreds of years to come.

-That's right.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

Thank you for your help.

-Yeah.

I got in the way more than anything, didn't I?

-One, two, three.

-On the estate... -Steady, steady.

-...before any of the new treadplates can be fitted to the bridge, they need a bridge to fit them to.

-Gently over.

Straight backs, everybody.

-The three perfectly smithed wrought iron sections have arrived.

-It's about right.

-But must go cross country before they can go in.

-Morning, Bill!

-To get the job done, Dominic's brought back the A-Team.

-We're good.

-The plan is a simple one.

-We got to unload the metal bars off there and put over the bridge.

-Okay.

-And then dig up, carrying them on the back bucket and put them into place.

It sounds easy, but I enjoy being a digger.

-Right.

Straight up.

Up, up.

That's all right.

That's good.

Can you swing?

-As the lads hang 150 kilo spans over the scaffold... -Okay.

Come on down gently.

Down, down.

Are you all right, Peter?

-Can we go down any lower?

-Going down gently.

Mind your fingers.

Fingers, fingers.

-...getting them to fit proves slightly trickier than they might have envisaged.

-Right.

-It won't fit.

-Yeah, it'll fit.

-[ Laughs ] -Trying to get that into the back of that slot.

It's like fiddle, but it's a bit tight.

-A few minor adjustments might suggest that the process is all a bit Heath Robinson.

-Getting rid of bit of the original, causing us to be a little bit restricted.

-Watching the sparks.

-But with a steely determination... -Peter, are you in safely?

-Yes.

-...or is it iron man grit?

The spans are forced into submission.

-That one's in.

That one's good.

It fits.

I think we've proven that the technique works.

-Now all that remains is to top it all off with its deck plates.

-It's good.

-Back in the castle, Summer sees the final touches being made to the dining room ceiling.

-It's the sort of final aesthetic presentation.

-The Pugin chairs get their last layer of finesse, as well as their restored nails.

♪♪ And as the final pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of a bridge go together... -Hopefully they're going to slide into place.

Like that.

-...I can't wait to see the results of the last nine months work.

It's summer at Eastnor Castle.

The end of a long period of restoration.

When I first rocked up here about nine months ago, everything was covered in snow.

And it's been lovely to see the castle go through the seasons.

But it's not just the seasons that have changed.

♪♪ In the stunning arboretum, there was a very sorry looking bridge which had been covered in concrete.

Cue Dominic Grosvenor and his team.

Dominic.

-Hey.

-Look at your beautiful bridge.

Who showed their mettle and literally set it free.

What's the word?

Elegant.

Isn't it?

-It's fantastic.

-And I love the fact that with the foot plate inserts, you can see all of the water running underneath.

-I think the transparency of it is lovely.

-Yeah, I love it.

-The whole thing is, it's uncomplicated.

I think that matters.

-How does it make you feel when you've worked and produced something like this, and then you see it back in place?

-I think it justifies why you're actually in business.

It's not always about profit.

For the guys who've actually worked on it, it is also there for them to be proud of and to tell their grandchildren, and them to visit.

And it goes on, passes on into generations, doesn't it?

♪♪ -This beautiful bridge now suits its setting as well as it ever has since it was built 200 years ago.

But I'm also eager to see the changes in the castle itself.

In the incredible drawing room, the Pugin designed chairs were long overdue an overhaul.

♪♪ I've absolutely got to try and not be distracted by the room, which is not easy when you walk into a place like this.

-I know.

-But important because we come back to see these amazing chairs which look beautiful.

You must be very happy with them.

-I am.

I'm so happy with them, actually.

I'm thrilled.

-Interesting because they look -- How can I put it?

Pristine, but not brand new.

-No, no, they don't.

I think that's the art of choosing the right colors and the right materials, and then also getting the right upholsterer to do the work.

-What's the cost of renovating the 10 chairs that you have?

-About £18,000.

-Which is, you know, $1,800 a chair is, you know, it's a lot of money.

Mind you, having said that, if you went for cheaper material, it's not going to work in the room really, is it?

An entirely Pugin room.

-No, no, no, no, I think it would be incorrect.

You know, and I think that these warrant the way that they've been recovered so that it's to the correct period.

And hopefully they will last for another 150 years or 200, and they won't have to be touched.

I think it's worth spending that amount of money, even though it's an awful lot.

-Doing a proper job that should last for centuries may not come cheap, but given their lifespan, beauty, and historic importance, I can see how the expense could be justified.

The ceilings were another challenge, and whilst the one in the library was a triumph.

I've yet to see the one in the dining room.

[ Chuckles ] Well, that is a substantial improvement, isn't it?

After six weeks of work, it has a new vibrancy that hasn't been seen for decades.

Now with the restoration, it really pops, doesn't it?

-It really does.

-Yeah.

It's fantastic.

-And the colors are much more vibrant, as well.

-They are, aren't they?

Yeah, absolutely.

It's much more impressive as a ceiling, and a real statement ceiling, as well.

-It certainly is.

Yeah.

Intricate.

Very beautiful actually, isn't it?

-These coats of arms shows that most of the families to whom we were related or are related, it's all about sort of establishing, demonstrating the dynasty of the family.

-Restorers like Ruth and her team, it's not just a job to them.

The care that they bring to your ceiling, it must be very rewarding for you to see people love it so much.

-Well, it is.

I mean, because they are passionate about what they do.

For them, finishing off and transforming something which in theory should last a long time, I think is very important, and it's nice to see that.

-It's also worth noting that the paintings survived their ordeal by scaffold without a single scratch.

It was quite funny watching the scaffolders because they were literally putting scaffold up within inches of paintings, all absolutely terrified that they might do something, but they managed to get in and out safely.

-And I think they thought the paintings in here were more valuable than they actually are, so that helped.

[ Laughter ] That was good.

-Much to the relief of the scaffolders as well as Ruth and her team, the room now looks incredible.

As curators more than owners, James and Lucy have an attention to detail I've rarely witnessed to such a degree anywhere else.

-We are curators because you have to have that attitude of looking after it and getting jobs done properly so they won't have to be done by the next generation.

-But whilst they've always looked to the future, they still know how to put on a show today, and this castle was always meant to do just that.

The interesting thing about Eastnor Castle is it wasn't built to be defendable.

It was built to be beautiful and make a statement.

We are powerful.

We are wealthy.

We are a really important family.

But whilst the story is of James and Lucy and their forefathers who owned the place, it's also of the artisans who designed it and built it, and the workmen now bringing their skills to bear and their love and attention to make sure this place is safe and that we can all visit it.

I've fallen in love with it, and I think anybody else who visits would, too.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪