Escape to the Chateau (2016–2019): Season 5, Episode 6 - Harvest Time - full transcript
Dick and Angel harvest their pumpkins in the Autumn. But there's still time for family wheelbarrow races, to give the basement a swish makeover, and to convert the old piggery into a chicken coop.
- [Narrator] In the heart
of the French countryside,
a magnificent 19th
century chateau
stood uncared for and abandoned.
Until four years ago
when everything changed.
- [Angel] Wow, oh look at that.
- [Narrator] And an
intrepid British couple.
- Turn, turn, turn, turn.
Wow.
- [Narrator] Paid 280,000 pounds
to turn it into their
dream family home.
- Everything is gorgeous.
- It's so incredibly important
to bring it back to life.
- [Narrator] Since
they moved in,
engineer Dick Strawbridge
and his wife, designer, Angel,
have transformed
almost all 45 rooms
including three
sumptuous guest suites
for their wedding
and events business.
But despite their hard work,
their dream has often
resembled a nightmare.
- You should not be
able to see the sky
out of your roof.
- Behind every romantic
story is the reality.
- [Narrator] It's now
the middle of autumn
and time to find out
what happens next.
In this 21st century
French fairytale.
(peaceful music)
The golden season has arrived
and Dick and Angel's
chateau is surrounded
by a sea of yellow
and orange leaves.
Inside the 2000 square
meter walled garden,
the pumpkins and the
Potimarron squashes are ripe
for the picking.
- Faster please!
- Faster.
- [Narrator] And of course
when it comes to harvesting,
the whole family is involved.
- Right, Dorothy, go
ahead and slide out.
The garden's good
actually, isn't it?
These are Potimarron.
These are lovely.
These are really tasty ones.
You like these, don't you?
- [Angel] Oh, they're the ones
that you roast, aren't they?
I love those.
- [Dick] Put it in
gently, put it in gently
without bruising it.
Thank you.
- [Angel] Beautiful.
- Oh, let's look.
Oh, it's a bit
mucky on the bottom.
I think there's a rule
that you shouldn't eat
anything bigger than your head.
Go on.
- [Child] I got it!
- [Angel] Arthur.
- [Dick] I need help, Dorothy.
- Arthur, take mine from me.
- One, two, three.
- [Angel] There's space there.
- [Dick] Yeah, come
on now, gently,
do some more, do some
more, do some more.
- [Angel] Great,
that's well done.
- [Arthur] Do we
need another one?
- [Dick] Off we go.
Not a bad pumpkin patch eh?
- [Angel] Wheelbarrow race.
- Dorothy's winnin'.
Don't crash, don't
crash you two.
Right, okay, we need
to clean all these
and store them now.
(peaceful music)
- [Narrator] The year
may be coming to an end
but there's one more project
that Dick and Angel would
like to do before winter.
Four years ago when
they were first shown
the chateau's basement, Dick
and Angel found a kitchen
that had been neglected
for several decades.
Nevertheless it was
love at first sight.
- [Dick] Well
obviously we love it
'cause we live in the kitchen.
- [Narrator] And within
just a few months,
the kitchen was transformed
into a room filled with light,
warmth, and the heady
aroma of home cooked food.
- This morning it's turned
into a kitchen, hasn't it?
It's turned into, it has
turned into a kitchen.
- [Narrator] But even after
four years of hard work,
there are still some areas
of the 45 room chateau
that haven't been touched.
So as the guest suites
are now finished,
Angel's decided to
turn her attention
back to the basement and
revamp the busiest thoroughfare
in the chateau, the boot room.
- It's a nerve
center of the house.
- [Dick] Deliveries
and shopping.
- Deliveries,
everything goes in here.
It all goes in here before
it goes around to the house.
- [Narrator] 150 years ago,
the doors under the
stone staircase were
where the servants of
the chateau entered.
Today, the boot room on the
other side of the doors,
not only acts as
a dumping ground
and delivery depot but also
as a bridal antechamber.
Consequently, Angel's keen to
do a bit of gentrification.
- Can you imagine if all
the walls were repaired
like a country manor boot room.
Dark greens, dark browns.
Different to the
rest of the house.
- I need to do a
complete clear out.
Everything away but
my biggest concern
is that ceiling,
believe it or not.
I think when we take this off
and have a look up, I
may have to do some work
on the floor in
the entrance hall.
So this will come down.
- Oh God, that's something
that could end up settin' us
back a little bit, couldn't it?
I thought this was gonna
be a little small job
but it's just not is it?
This is not a small job.
- [Dick] It's not a small
job, none of them are.
- [Narrator] But the job
has to start somewhere.
So Dick has asked a member of
the chateau's team, Quintin,
to help him clear out
four years worth of,
well, bits and bobs.
- Boots.
It's started.
We always knew this
was an important room
'cause it's the main artery,
it's the way into the chateau
but you can't do it 'til
everything else around it
is sorted so we can move things
'cause only then will Angel
start telling me what to do.
- [Narrator] As
well as sorting out
the Strawbridge
family's belongings,
Dick also has to clear
out some left behind
by the chateau's previous
owners, the Baglione family.
- Oh look, I'd
forgotten about these.
Ski poles and skis.
These are the state of the art.
We need a little bit of
wax and they're good.
Hello Quintin.
Right.
This was going to.
(bell dinging)
(upbeat music)
There's a stone polisher which
is obviously very important.
- [Narrator] But the boot
room isn't the only area
that needs clearing.
When they first
explored the chateau,
one of Dick's earliest
and happiest discoveries was
the warren of wine cellars
at the back of the basement.
Each one filled
with hundreds of,
unfortunately
empty, wine bottles.
- Look at all these bottles
and they're all hand made.
- [Narrator] Now though
Dick needs the space
so they've decided to
reorganize one of them.
(bottle clinks)
(speaking in French)
- This shelf was for
eau de vie and cider.
- Sorry?
Eau de vie?
- And cider.
- Wow.
Okay.
Keep the sign, keep that
'cause we'll keep
our eau de vie.
- [Narrator] But on
closer inspection,
there appears to be
more to the bottles
than just old labels.
- It's red.
- Is it?
- Yeah.
- Well, the color, not.
- It's dark.
This could actually be anything.
That could anything Quintin?
Not bad, four years in
and we're finding
things in the cellar.
- [Narrator] Up in Dick's study,
Angel is searching
for inspiration
on how to turn a
bunged up basement
into a beautiful boot room.
- Actually boot
rooms are quite nice.
It's something really,
I don't know, homely
about a boot room.
I never even thought
I'd have a boot room.
I mean, that's
really quite funny.
I've got a boot room.
When we first moved
into the house,
we had massive
hopes for that room
and we installed one
of our 10 radiators
that we bought in there
and because it become
a dumping ground,
we sort of fell out
of love with the room
and now it's excitin'
that this room,
we've rediscovered it again
and it's lovely.
- [Narrator] The basement
and the boot room
may be more Dick's domain
but as brides have recently
asked to walk through it,
Angel's determined
to make her mark.
- I am just going
to try and work out
how to make it a
little bit more elegant
because it doubles
as a wedding exit
to the aisle so we have
to keep some elegance
so elegance and boot room
probably are not two words
that go together.
- [Narrator] But before any
work on the boot room can begin,
there's an essential job
that needs doing first.
The floor of the grand entrance
above is a stunning example
of 19th century antique
oaken decorative parquetry.
To fit the equivalent today
would cost over 40,000 pounds.
Unfortunately, though, after
150 years of wear and tear,
it's flexing and the
only way to find out why
is to inspect it
from underneath.
(drill whirring)
So down in the boot room,
Dick and builder mate Steve
are pulling down a ceiling
to find out exactly
how bad things are.
(suspenseful music)
- [Dick] Right, what I'm
gonna do is I'm gonna go up
and step on it and you're
gonna tell me what moves.
- [Steve] Yep, okay.
- [Narrator] If the oak
floor has begun to rot,
it could become a rather
expensive repair job.
- [Dick] Can you
see movement Steve?
- [Steve] Yeah.
- This is a real
worry because if it's.
If there's a problem with this,
do we have to change
the whole floor?
Do we have to take
out this section?
Doesn't even bear thinking about
because this is
just too beautiful.
- Yeah, that's the only bit
that's moving, the joint.
Just this little bit here.
- At the very, this end?
- Just that first bit
where it joins the tiles.
Just a little bit of
flex there, that's it.
- That's not bad is it eh?
- [Steve] That's pretty good.
- I'm bloody happy about that.
- [Narrator] It looks as
though the problem's been
there for a while.
In fact, from the
very beginning.
- That's a couple little
chocks in there isn't it?
- [Steve] It is.
- Hold on, it's been
done 150 years ago.
Look at those little
chocks under there.
What we're doing is exactly
what the chipper
did 150 years ago.
When he put the floor in.
See how little we've
learnt in 150 years.
He's a cheeky bugger, you know.
- [Steve] That's softwood.
- Instead of oak
which means it's not,
A, as resilient, and B as hard.
You can actually,
over time, this can
actually be suppressed.
- Squashed.
- You know what, should've
been doctor's wages.
- [Narrator] But luckily,
Dick's 21st century
hardwood version
should soon sort
the problem out.
- The original floor lasted
the best part of 150 years.
And that was with a bit of
softwood wedged in there.
With out bit of
nice seasoned oak,
yeah, another 150 years
wouldn't be bad would it?
That's for you.
That's for you.
Why?
'Cause what I'm gonna do.
I'm going to, we're
tattooing these bits of oak.
There we go.
There we go, Steve, let
me hold that for you.
This is history in
the making isn't it?
Yeah.
- [Steve] We're
part of the history
of the chateau I would say.
- We already are.
Will it go in?
- [Narrator] Once
the historically
important wedges are in
there's just one
more test to do.
- I am not the smallest
person in the world.
That's rock solid, yes!
- [Narrator] It's
the middle of autumn
and the year is coming to an end
but work on the boot
room is just beginning.
Soon though Dick and
Steve are uncovering
another 150 year
old building trick.
- [Dick] I used to love
the fact that they used
whatever they've got in hand.
Oh my goodness.
That is.
- [Narrator] Back in 1868
when the chateau was built,
a plasterer decided to
save time and materials
by filling a large gap
with something solid.
- [Steve] Is that a sardine tin?
- [Dick] That looks
like sardines.
To pack the hole.
- [Steve] It is.
- [Dick] That's brilliant.
- [Narrator] What's
not surprising
is that it's a sardine can
because by 1880, over 50
million were being produced
in northwestern France alone
with at least one ending
up in Dick's walls.
- But, it's a good size
to plug up the hole
so you didn't use
as much plaster.
This was free.
- [Narrator] And when he
starts pulling apart one
of the two built in cupboards,
Dick soon discovers
a third secret.
- [Dick] Why would that
be up there, Steve?
Why would they have a
box round the corner?
Proper box, you
just can't see it.
- [Steve] To hide things.
- Yeah.
Birds nest by the look of it.
Sadly I don't think there's
anything we want to find.
That was interesting.
- [Narrator] For Dick
though, pulling off the doors
of both cupboards has
revealed something
even more interesting
and he's hoping Angel
will be just as impressed.
- Have a look at this.
What do you see that's
really quite exciting?
- What do I see that excitin'?
It's empty, that's excitin'.
- Have a look up there.
You see this bit of
lath on the plaster.
It's above the wall.
This wall was added after
the ceiling existed.
So there's a whole
ceiling across here
and then somebody
added this wall.
- So this is not supportin'
the ceilin' or is it?
- No.
- Are you sayin' that
we can get rid of it?
- I think this
wall can come down.
It's not tied in to
this wall at all,
the front wall of the
house, not tied in.
It's not attached to the top
and it's been set
underneath there.
Now we have to stand back
and have a real look
at them, okay, so.
That we have here, it's
not a bad piece of space.
- No, it's lovely, and
if you get rid of them,
I think that's quite exciting.
Like I'm really excited.
- One thing I would say is there
are tons of rocks in there.
So this is a one way move, yeah?
- [Angel] What do you mean?
Like I can't have it
back if I don't like it?
- That's exactly
what I'm saying.
- [Angel] No, I
think it's brilliant.
- I suppose the worst
thing that could happen,
shock, horror, if
we were in there
and we noticed it
started to sag.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Now Dick's
received Angel's blessing,
the demolition of the two
built in cupboards can begin.
- Now you told me that
this isn't load bearing.
- [Steve] I didn't say that.
- [Dick] You said it
wasn't load bearing.
Go for it.
- [Narrator] As soon as the two
hopefully non-supporting
walls have gone,
Steve starts smoothing
over the rough edges
which in effect means covering
the whole room with plaster.
But a full morning of hard work
has got stomach's rumbling.
(upbeat music)
(bell dinging)
One of the main reasons Dick
and Angel came to France
was for the lifestyle
and the local market in Laval
is a regular port of call.
- Arthur, when was the
last time you ate snails?
- I haven't.
- They got big ones,
they got little ones,
or they got them in there.
You choose.
- In there.
(speaking in French)
- Thanks.
- [Angel] Put it in a hot oven.
- Very hot oven.
- Five six minutes.
- That's it.
(speaking in French)
- [Angel] Dorothy, this lady,
she actually has
all wild flowers.
Are they (mumbles) there?
They open?
- Right Arthur, have
a look, come on.
- [Narrator] Laval may be
100 kilometers from the coast
but the fish is always fresh.
In fact, very fresh.
(children shouting)
- [Dick] They're spider crabs.
- [Angel] Look,
look, look Arthur,
he's waving to you this one.
- Okay, that's
enough for Dorothy.
Thank you.
We'll be eating fish
within about 10 minutes.
Oh the bells are ringin'.
I think Quasimodo's
up there ringin' them.
- [Narrator] Back
at the chateau,
it's time for some
culinary experimentation.
- Dorothy, look at that.
- Who is havin' one
of these snails?
- [Arthur] Me, me, me!
- [Dick] Snails in.
- Snails in.
- [Narrator] The jury may
still be out on the snails
but the shellfish definitely
have the children's vote.
- [Dick] How are
you doing over there
with your prawns, Dottie?
- Good.
- Cheers to the buccaneers.
Cheers to the buccaneers.
- [Angel] Dorothy, cheers.
Cheers, cheers, cheers, cheers.
- [Dick] Okay Dottie,
say yes, yeah.
- [Narrator] Inevitably
there's washing up to do
but this time it's
actually quite fun.
- These have been
handmade, these bottles.
- [Narrator] Dick has
decided to inspect,
purely in the
interest of science,
the contents of
the antique bottles
that were found in
the wine cellar.
- That dimple is, I love it.
That's a dimple I would keep.
Look at that.
That smells really good.
Right, there's little bits
in there, that's corkage.
That is, I gotta tell ya,
that would clear your sinuses.
That is proper,
that'd be eau de vie.
That smells
completely drinkable.
Before I would do
anything with that,
in case it was apple
scented toilet cleaner,
I want to see what the
alcohol content is.
- [Narrator] And to do that,
Dick needs a spirit hydrometer
and a tall, thin, obviously
homemade, container.
- What's wrong with
two syringes, it'll
look better, glue
and a couple of clips.
This is my sort of
experimentation, here we go.
- [Narrator] As alcohol
is less dense than water,
the higher the content, the
higher the hydrometer floats.
- It's floating.
Thank goodness for that
and it's floating at 60%.
That would put
hairs on your chest
or take the hairs
off and remove paint
at the same time.
Okay, so that's
a 60% eau de vie.
- [Narrator] Eau de
vie or fruit brandy
has been made in France
since the middle ages
and near the chateau,
one of the specialties
is apple flavored
Calvados like this.
- We have no idea
what year this is.
I'm thinking, that in
there is chateau history.
Definitely chateau history.
Chateau history at 60%.
- [Narrator] It
may be historical
but whether it's palatable
is a very different matter.
- Here we go, look, here we go.
The last little dribble
from there is into that one.
Okay, and what I'm
gonna do is taste it.
It's actually really smooth.
- [Narrator] The final major
building task of the year,
transforming the chateau's
crumbling boot room
into a beautiful space
is now in full swing
but outside there's another
project in the pipeline.
Ever since Dick and Angel
arrived at the chateau,
they've tried to grow as
much fruit and vegetables
as they can.
As well as rear both
pigs and chickens.
Now Dick wants to introduce
some new residents,
a gaggle of geese.
But first he needs
to find somewhere
for them to live and he's
hoping the 150 year old piggery
will pass muster.
- Stop just short,
that'll do, okay.
That'll do.
- [Angel] Okay.
- Right, look, I've been
down here a couple times
with the tractor, see.
- Right (gasps).
- [Dick] Come in.
- [Angel] God, it's magical.
So beautiful.
But baby I thought you
wanted to live here
when we argued.
- I have actually threatened
to move into the
pigsty, piggery.
It's a beautiful building.
- It is lovely isn't it?
- [Narrator] In
19th century France,
pork was such a popular
dish that almost every farm
or small holding would've kept
at least a couple of pigs.
Now Dick wants to turn the
chateau's private piggery
into a character
home for his geese.
- I'm thinkin' if we
have that, open that door
and have an area in there
like a shed using two
walls of the building.
That's will be
their inside part.
I don't even know how
this works by the way.
We haven't looked at this door.
- Oh that is not a.
When I get my ivy I
know how many spiders
there are livin' in there.
- Oh look, there's a handle.
Right, that's gonna be
a bit of fun, come on.
It's probably full of rocks
on the other side.
- So are they
gettin' all of that?
- [Dick] No.
- The whole of the inside, no?
- [Dick] No, no, no,
they're just gonna get
a little bit here like a shed.
- Right, you're gonna
build something within.
- [Dick] Oh, no, no, yeah,
it's gonna be a little
lean to inside that wall
just the other side of the door.
- So nothing falls of
them and that, okay.
- That's it, but this isn't
open enough for them, okay?
Because they're not interested
in living under the trees.
They wanna be out in the open.
- [Angel] Out in the open.
- Sort of eating grass.
Well, all right.
That's where they're going.
- Right, great.
They've got a great home.
- Right, we'll get
that sorted out, good.
- [Narrator] While
Dick tries his best
to get in one old
door, Angel climbs
to the top of the
chateau to open another.
(door creaks)
She's hoping to find among
the attic's collection
of curiosities,
something that might
just solve a design dilemma.
- This is the first time
that I've opened these.
I've been looking
at these for years.
Ah, that must go up
into that, I see.
- [Narrator] Dick wants to
be able to dry damp coats
in the new boot room
so Angel's hoping this
19th century day bed
might convert into a
stylish radiator cover.
- So how do I make
that into one?
I mean, it could work if
that goes on top of that.
And maybe.
It's gonna have to
really be cut up though
to actually make that work.
Sometimes things
just don't work.
And you do have
to look elsewhere.
- [Narrator] Dick though
is still struggling
with stage one of
operation piggery,
opening the door.
(leaves rustling)
- It's the new take on
breaking and entering.
There's a piece of
wood against the door.
What I have to do is
move it out of the way.
I could climb in but the
roof doesn't look very safe.
I'd rather go through the door.
Ridiculous.
Just (mumbles), I get a fit of
the giggles half way through.
Nobody's been in here
since we've owned the place
and I don't know for
how long before that.
- [Narrator] But
once Dick has cleared
the decades of detritus,
success is imminent,
even if it is by
a narrow margin.
- Look at that, beautiful.
That was easy, wasn't it?
But we have a door!
Got a bit more
clearing out to do.
I like it.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Just
over 20 miles away,
Angel is still
hunting for something
that she can convert into the
boot room's radiator cover.
So she's come to her
favorite brocante.
- I've come to
look for railin's.
I can't help myself though.
Have a quick look
while you're in here.
You never know.
I can hear Dick
saying focus, focus.
It's very hard to focus though.
- [Narrator] Especially
when there are boxes filled
to the brim with old
French magazines.
(speaking in French)
Now her craving for vintage
magazines is satisfied,
Angel gets down to the
business of looking
for a radiator cover.
Well, almost.
- Now this is not
for the boot room
but that's quite
lovely, isn't it?
I mean, that could be
something really lovely.
Right, concentrate!
That's probably right.
I said about like that.
(speaking in French)
- [Narrator] As the iron
balcony railing seems
to be approximately
the right width
and height to cover a
radiator, it's a done deal.
(speaking in French)
- I have got what I came for.
Plus lots of fabulous
magazines, gosh.
Can't help myself.
- [Narrator] Converting the
piggery into a goose shed
may be taking some time
but work on the boot room
is marching on.
And whilst Steve
tidies up the remains
of the demolished walls,
Dick checks in with Angel.
- Just to make sure we're
talkin' the same game still,
power's coming in, where
all the power's coming in,
the two bits here,
something along the sides?
Those walls are clear walls.
Those little nubs.
You called that a
nub, didn't ya Steve?
- [Steve] Nibs.
- Nib.
- [Steve] Nibs.
- The little sticky out bits.
- You're filling
those in are you?
- Those bits have
to stay sticking out
so those bits of stone.
Otherwise you have
to have bits of.
- No, no, I love them but,
do you have to fill them in?
Do they have to
for supportingness?
- No.
- No, they just looked
really nice and
interesting yesterday
and I don't why you.
Genuinely.
- See that would never
have crossed my mind.
Stop, stop, stop, Steve.
No, because these
bits are sticking out,
we're gonna have three
bits sticking out.
- Yeah, I thought how lovely.
I could put a drink on there.
- [Dick] How solid are
the ones you've done?
- Could take 'em
out in 10 minutes.
- Right, okay, so stop
any more ones all right.
Who told you to do that, Steve?
I would never have
thought of that.
- Great, perfect, lovely.
Well done.
(birds chirping)
- [Narrator] Now the
men know what's what,
Angel starts transforming
the rusty balcony railing
into a thing of beauty
or at least good enough to
cover the boot room radiator.
Over at the old piggery,
Dick and Quintin
have come to a
gentlemen's agreement.
- [Dick] Just grab two of them.
Grab two of them,
we'll see what happens.
- [Narrator] Carpentry
lessons in exchange
for a mini French
language course.
And building the new goose shed
is the perfect opportunity.
- Righty tighty, lefty loosey.
Good.
The reason what happened.
The first time
you screwed it in,
you make a little
bit of a tap hole,
your little start hole,
then when you pull
it out, it goes in.
It pulls it so you
don't have that air gap.
On the sides,
(speaking in French).
Another one here.
(speaking in French)
Other side, you see?
It's all about
learnin' the French.
(drill buzzing)
Stop, stop.
Gotta push it again, push it in.
- That's it?
- Yeah.
- That's good for me.
Yeah, 2.5.
Okay, careful comin' in.
There.
- There you go.
- Yeah, not bad is it?
- That's good.
- [Dick] See what
Quintin's been building?
- Yeah!
- [Dick] This is where
Quintin's going to live.
- [Dorothy]
Quintin's gonna live.
(speaking in French)
It's not so big.
- [Quintin] That's okay.
- [Dick] Do you know how
many geese we're gonna get?
- Three!
- [Dick] No.
- Four?
- Seven?
- Six.
- Six, are we
getting six Quintin?
- Yes.
- We're getting six geese.
I think they're in
for a bit of a shock
because geese aren't
always friendly
to begin with.
(peaceful music)
- [Narrator] But at least
the unfriendly geese
will soon have a
cozy shed to live in.
- Thank you very much.
- Pleasure.
- I didn't realize you
were a carpenter now.
I know it, yeah.
- [Narrator] After a long
day, Dick decides to relax
with a little light ax work.
Unfortunately though.
- [Angel] Hello.
- [Narrator] Not for long.
As Angel's latest purchase
for the boot room has arrived.
- Be careful.
It's not metal.
- Is it one or two?
- It's, well, hopefully two.
- Okay, do you
know what this is?
- Yeah.
- You have bought a pair
of pretend giraffe's legs.
- Yeah, but, but.
- Well, feet.
These are only feet.
- What I thought
was our giraffe head
could be comin'
through the ceiling
and then these
could be coming down
so when people go, oh, isn't
your giraffe head lovely
and we'll go yeah and
the feet are downstairs.
Isn't that funny?
I don't know, I
think that's funny.
Can I show you?
- I'll make an
observation to you.
It's probably the skinniest
legs for the fattest ankles.
- [Narrator] For the
past three years,
a faux giraffe's head has
watched over proceedings
from the corner of
the first floor salon.
Now it's about to receive an
extension through the floor
and into the boot room below.
- So I thought in my mind's eye
that they would be kind of
sort of like this, okay?
Close together.
Do you think they
look good like that?
- I think, what, what?
You've seen a giraffe?
- [Angel] Yeah.
- It's got legs
spread out like this.
- They don't look as,
do they look as good like that?
- [Narrator] But at
this time of night,
Dick reckons the intricacies
of a giraffe's anatomy
can wait for another way.
- I'll just keep saying
okay and maybe it will be.
(Angel laughs)
- [Narrator] It's a beautiful
autumn day at the chateau
and over at the old
piggery, the whole family,
including Angel's
parents, Jenny and Steve,
have come out to welcome some
rather noisy new neighbors.
- Use the other half.
- Dorothy, you sit on grandma
in case was have to get away.
- [Narrator] Six oie de Guinée
otherwise known as Chinese
geese have just arrived
and in Arthur's eyes,
their toilet training
is something to be desired.
- Oh, he's got poo all over him.
- [Angel] Oh no, your jumper!
No!
- Right, do you wanna
go open the door for me,
far end, yeah, open
the other door.
No, the far end,
the door on the end.
Come on, you can
do it, pull hard.
Oh nearly, nearly.
- I don't want it to bite me.
- [Dick] They're not going
to bite you, they're babies.
- [Arthur] Dad!
- [Dick] Okay.
Come through, you come through.
I'll get you in
charge of the door
so they don't escape.
Now what we're gonna do.
This is a white one.
Look, there's one out.
- [Angel] They have freedom.
Oh, that is gorgeous.
- Right, what we need to
do is fill up their water
so we got the electric fence
to give them a lot of
running around space
and we've brought a
bale of straw in there.
- [Narrator] The geese
are not only some
of the noisiest birds around
but also some of
the most productive
because each one could lay
at least 50 eggs a year.
- I cannot wait
for our first egg.
How long will that be?
- February, March next year.
They're only babies.
You have to wait
for everything good.
- I was kind of plannin' on
breakfast at the weekend.
(geese clucking)
- [Narrator] Rosie the
cat might not be impressed
but Dick's happy that the
geese are soon settling in.
It also means he can
return to his pet project,
the boot room.
And, hoping to impress
Angel with his creativity,
has come up with a
cunning boot rack design.
All he needs to do now
is convince Steve exactly
how cunning it is.
- What we're gonna
have here, yeah?
Is, imagine all
these bits of wood.
- Yes, okay.
- Chopped into bits.
- Okay.
- Okay,
attached to the wall.
That's one of those
little bits of wood, okay?
So this is the
wall full of wood.
All looks like that.
Whole lot of planks
but they're all.
Okay, this is just one.
Then what happens this time.
Time to hang up a
pair of wellies,
what are we going to do?
It better be made
better than this.
All right, and then, but you see
then you have a gap there
and you put your welly in it.
Yeah, okay, when we're
not storing any wellies
it can go back there
and you've got a
wall full of bits.
So basically it's a wall
full of bits of wood
that can come down.
Couple of thumbs,
we could very easily
make this look terrible.
Let's start makin' 'em, okay,
so we go into that corner.
Cut me, Steven.
- [Narrator] Dick's
idea for an artistic
wooden wall cum boot rack
though requires precision
engineering to cut
and drill 72 perfectly
identical pieces.
- One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.
- [Narrator] But
like a lot of art,
it can be hard to interpret.
- [Dorothy] What are
these gonna be, daddy?
- Well, I want you to guess.
Do you know what it is?
- [Dorothy] Stairs?
- [Dick] No, don't step on it.
It's going to be.
- Give me a clue.
- Give us a clue.
When you have muddle
puddles, what do you do?
- [Arthur] Put boots on.
- Put boots on, you're
going to jump up
and down in muddle
puddles aren't ya?
- Oh yeah.
- So where are you
gonna put your boots?
- There!
- Watch, watch, watch, watch.
Watch, if push this, watch.
We can hang our
boots in the gaps.
Don't break 'em,
don't break 'em,
don't break 'em yet.
- [Narrator] As work in the
boot room's progressing nicely,
Angel's been busy
digging out decorations
like the odd pair of antlers.
- [Angel] Whoa, brilliant.
- [Narrator] But before
anything can be put up,
Dick first needs to reuse
some old wardrobe doors
to make two handy sideboards.
- Four, 790, it's about 86.
So this is for the fridge side
and the drink side for service.
This is for coats.
One quarter of a side panel.
- [Narrator] And
once they're done.
Angel can finally begin giving
the room her personal touch.
Like vintage cinema seats.
- They just, they look fab.
I'm so chuffed.
This is detail that you
can't find in a reproduction.
- [Narrator] In the meantime,
Dick and Dorothy retreat
to the kitchen.
- Wow, smells good,
toffee, doesn't it?
- [Narrator] And as
it's bonfire night,
toffee apples, much
to Dorothy's delight
are on the menu.
- Can you do that in French?
(speaking in French)
Bilingual!
Are you bilingual?
What does that mean?
You speak two languages.
- And I can I can speak Spanish.
- Do you?
(speaking in Spanish)
- [Narrator] But there's
no end to her talents
because as the sun goes down,
Dick notices that
Dorothy can transform
into a human mirror ball.
- Now, look, look,
look at all that.
Look at that, look
at the whole room!
What's happened to the room.
Turn around, just
do a very slow turn.
Just turn around slowly
and look at the room.
Slowly around.
What can you see?
Look, look, look at our kitchen.
Oh my goodness.
(Dorothy mumbles)
- It's, they're really quick!
(Dick laughs)
(birds chirping)
(geese honking)
- [Narrator] For
both Dick and Angel,
the boot room has always been
about combining
practicality with elegance.
And as soon as the last
pieces are put into place.
- [Angel] I'm just loving this.
- [Narrator] The boot room
is declared officially open.
- [Dick] Onward you go.
What do you think of this?
(Dorothy shouting)
- That's, wow!
- [Narrator] What was once
a crumbling dumping ground
has been transformed
into an elegant
and well organized
country boot room.
Befitting both wet
coats and muddy boats
and even the most
beautiful of brides.
- What about over there?
- [Dorothy] Oh look.
- Are those skiing rods I see?
- Yeah!
- Skiing, yeah.
What do you think of the seats?
Where are your welly boots?
Can you see welly boots?
That's for taking off shoes.
Arthur, have you looked
up to the ceiling?
- Oh, there's fishing rods.
- Fishing rods up
on the ceiling.
What else can you see
up on the ceiling.
- That's from our pigs!
- They're from the pigs.
- What's above these legs?
- [Dorothy] A giraffe!
- A giraffe!
- Yay.
- A giraffe.
- Where's (mumbles) both legs.
- Oh, stop being so precise you.
- [Narrator] Now the
boot room's finished,
it's time for the family
to put on their coats.
- Right, I'm ready, come on.
- I'm ready.
- [Narrator] And head outside.
- Let's go.
Do you know what I
think we could do?
Careful, careful.
We're gonna be making
dunking apples.
- Oh this is lovely isn't it?
- Right.
Hey.
- [Narrator] France may not
celebrate Guy Fawkes night
but this little corner of
Britain certainly does.
- What we need to do is
start filling this guy up.
Now, first things first.
See this is his body.
For his body.
I need him filled up.
You're filler uppers.
Shake 'em out, shake it out
so it goes in, that's good.
Shake out, make sure
you shake it out.
Put it down in there.
Oh, do you know what?
He's got a physique like daddy.
That means he's very
handsome and well built.
Right, okay, put him down.
- [Angel] I'm
putting his hat on.
- [Dick] He's got a
chest now, hasn't he?
That's good.
- I need some eyes and nose.
- Look, he's going like this.
- Let's go, who's got him?
I've got a limb each.
- Oh, you've got a limb each.
- I've got a limb.
- Oh fantastic.
- Come with daddy.
Ready, two, three,
and up he goes.
Oops, his hat.
Look at that.
- Oh he looks like he's going.
- [Dick] The fire's lit,
let's grab a toffee apple.
- [Narrator] There
might not be fireworks
at the Strawbridge
family bonfire night
but there is something
just as spectacular.
- Pretty little bows.
- [Man] Oh look!
- [Dick] Oh wow.
You can hear the noise of
the wings against the leaves
of the bamboos.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Next time.
- [Dick] What'd you wish?
- [Narrator] It's
Christmas at the chateau.
- There's always pressure
buyin' a Christmas tree.
- [Narrator] And
there's tree trouble.
- What do we think of this one?
No, we don't like
it either, come on.
- [Narrator] Winter warmers.
- I'm really quite
impressed with that.
That's a result.
- [Narrator] And
magical markets.
- I would love one of these.
- [Arthur] Father Christmas.
- Who's that?
(peaceful music)
of the French countryside,
a magnificent 19th
century chateau
stood uncared for and abandoned.
Until four years ago
when everything changed.
- [Angel] Wow, oh look at that.
- [Narrator] And an
intrepid British couple.
- Turn, turn, turn, turn.
Wow.
- [Narrator] Paid 280,000 pounds
to turn it into their
dream family home.
- Everything is gorgeous.
- It's so incredibly important
to bring it back to life.
- [Narrator] Since
they moved in,
engineer Dick Strawbridge
and his wife, designer, Angel,
have transformed
almost all 45 rooms
including three
sumptuous guest suites
for their wedding
and events business.
But despite their hard work,
their dream has often
resembled a nightmare.
- You should not be
able to see the sky
out of your roof.
- Behind every romantic
story is the reality.
- [Narrator] It's now
the middle of autumn
and time to find out
what happens next.
In this 21st century
French fairytale.
(peaceful music)
The golden season has arrived
and Dick and Angel's
chateau is surrounded
by a sea of yellow
and orange leaves.
Inside the 2000 square
meter walled garden,
the pumpkins and the
Potimarron squashes are ripe
for the picking.
- Faster please!
- Faster.
- [Narrator] And of course
when it comes to harvesting,
the whole family is involved.
- Right, Dorothy, go
ahead and slide out.
The garden's good
actually, isn't it?
These are Potimarron.
These are lovely.
These are really tasty ones.
You like these, don't you?
- [Angel] Oh, they're the ones
that you roast, aren't they?
I love those.
- [Dick] Put it in
gently, put it in gently
without bruising it.
Thank you.
- [Angel] Beautiful.
- Oh, let's look.
Oh, it's a bit
mucky on the bottom.
I think there's a rule
that you shouldn't eat
anything bigger than your head.
Go on.
- [Child] I got it!
- [Angel] Arthur.
- [Dick] I need help, Dorothy.
- Arthur, take mine from me.
- One, two, three.
- [Angel] There's space there.
- [Dick] Yeah, come
on now, gently,
do some more, do some
more, do some more.
- [Angel] Great,
that's well done.
- [Arthur] Do we
need another one?
- [Dick] Off we go.
Not a bad pumpkin patch eh?
- [Angel] Wheelbarrow race.
- Dorothy's winnin'.
Don't crash, don't
crash you two.
Right, okay, we need
to clean all these
and store them now.
(peaceful music)
- [Narrator] The year
may be coming to an end
but there's one more project
that Dick and Angel would
like to do before winter.
Four years ago when
they were first shown
the chateau's basement, Dick
and Angel found a kitchen
that had been neglected
for several decades.
Nevertheless it was
love at first sight.
- [Dick] Well
obviously we love it
'cause we live in the kitchen.
- [Narrator] And within
just a few months,
the kitchen was transformed
into a room filled with light,
warmth, and the heady
aroma of home cooked food.
- This morning it's turned
into a kitchen, hasn't it?
It's turned into, it has
turned into a kitchen.
- [Narrator] But even after
four years of hard work,
there are still some areas
of the 45 room chateau
that haven't been touched.
So as the guest suites
are now finished,
Angel's decided to
turn her attention
back to the basement and
revamp the busiest thoroughfare
in the chateau, the boot room.
- It's a nerve
center of the house.
- [Dick] Deliveries
and shopping.
- Deliveries,
everything goes in here.
It all goes in here before
it goes around to the house.
- [Narrator] 150 years ago,
the doors under the
stone staircase were
where the servants of
the chateau entered.
Today, the boot room on the
other side of the doors,
not only acts as
a dumping ground
and delivery depot but also
as a bridal antechamber.
Consequently, Angel's keen to
do a bit of gentrification.
- Can you imagine if all
the walls were repaired
like a country manor boot room.
Dark greens, dark browns.
Different to the
rest of the house.
- I need to do a
complete clear out.
Everything away but
my biggest concern
is that ceiling,
believe it or not.
I think when we take this off
and have a look up, I
may have to do some work
on the floor in
the entrance hall.
So this will come down.
- Oh God, that's something
that could end up settin' us
back a little bit, couldn't it?
I thought this was gonna
be a little small job
but it's just not is it?
This is not a small job.
- [Dick] It's not a small
job, none of them are.
- [Narrator] But the job
has to start somewhere.
So Dick has asked a member of
the chateau's team, Quintin,
to help him clear out
four years worth of,
well, bits and bobs.
- Boots.
It's started.
We always knew this
was an important room
'cause it's the main artery,
it's the way into the chateau
but you can't do it 'til
everything else around it
is sorted so we can move things
'cause only then will Angel
start telling me what to do.
- [Narrator] As
well as sorting out
the Strawbridge
family's belongings,
Dick also has to clear
out some left behind
by the chateau's previous
owners, the Baglione family.
- Oh look, I'd
forgotten about these.
Ski poles and skis.
These are the state of the art.
We need a little bit of
wax and they're good.
Hello Quintin.
Right.
This was going to.
(bell dinging)
(upbeat music)
There's a stone polisher which
is obviously very important.
- [Narrator] But the boot
room isn't the only area
that needs clearing.
When they first
explored the chateau,
one of Dick's earliest
and happiest discoveries was
the warren of wine cellars
at the back of the basement.
Each one filled
with hundreds of,
unfortunately
empty, wine bottles.
- Look at all these bottles
and they're all hand made.
- [Narrator] Now though
Dick needs the space
so they've decided to
reorganize one of them.
(bottle clinks)
(speaking in French)
- This shelf was for
eau de vie and cider.
- Sorry?
Eau de vie?
- And cider.
- Wow.
Okay.
Keep the sign, keep that
'cause we'll keep
our eau de vie.
- [Narrator] But on
closer inspection,
there appears to be
more to the bottles
than just old labels.
- It's red.
- Is it?
- Yeah.
- Well, the color, not.
- It's dark.
This could actually be anything.
That could anything Quintin?
Not bad, four years in
and we're finding
things in the cellar.
- [Narrator] Up in Dick's study,
Angel is searching
for inspiration
on how to turn a
bunged up basement
into a beautiful boot room.
- Actually boot
rooms are quite nice.
It's something really,
I don't know, homely
about a boot room.
I never even thought
I'd have a boot room.
I mean, that's
really quite funny.
I've got a boot room.
When we first moved
into the house,
we had massive
hopes for that room
and we installed one
of our 10 radiators
that we bought in there
and because it become
a dumping ground,
we sort of fell out
of love with the room
and now it's excitin'
that this room,
we've rediscovered it again
and it's lovely.
- [Narrator] The basement
and the boot room
may be more Dick's domain
but as brides have recently
asked to walk through it,
Angel's determined
to make her mark.
- I am just going
to try and work out
how to make it a
little bit more elegant
because it doubles
as a wedding exit
to the aisle so we have
to keep some elegance
so elegance and boot room
probably are not two words
that go together.
- [Narrator] But before any
work on the boot room can begin,
there's an essential job
that needs doing first.
The floor of the grand entrance
above is a stunning example
of 19th century antique
oaken decorative parquetry.
To fit the equivalent today
would cost over 40,000 pounds.
Unfortunately, though, after
150 years of wear and tear,
it's flexing and the
only way to find out why
is to inspect it
from underneath.
(drill whirring)
So down in the boot room,
Dick and builder mate Steve
are pulling down a ceiling
to find out exactly
how bad things are.
(suspenseful music)
- [Dick] Right, what I'm
gonna do is I'm gonna go up
and step on it and you're
gonna tell me what moves.
- [Steve] Yep, okay.
- [Narrator] If the oak
floor has begun to rot,
it could become a rather
expensive repair job.
- [Dick] Can you
see movement Steve?
- [Steve] Yeah.
- This is a real
worry because if it's.
If there's a problem with this,
do we have to change
the whole floor?
Do we have to take
out this section?
Doesn't even bear thinking about
because this is
just too beautiful.
- Yeah, that's the only bit
that's moving, the joint.
Just this little bit here.
- At the very, this end?
- Just that first bit
where it joins the tiles.
Just a little bit of
flex there, that's it.
- That's not bad is it eh?
- [Steve] That's pretty good.
- I'm bloody happy about that.
- [Narrator] It looks as
though the problem's been
there for a while.
In fact, from the
very beginning.
- That's a couple little
chocks in there isn't it?
- [Steve] It is.
- Hold on, it's been
done 150 years ago.
Look at those little
chocks under there.
What we're doing is exactly
what the chipper
did 150 years ago.
When he put the floor in.
See how little we've
learnt in 150 years.
He's a cheeky bugger, you know.
- [Steve] That's softwood.
- Instead of oak
which means it's not,
A, as resilient, and B as hard.
You can actually,
over time, this can
actually be suppressed.
- Squashed.
- You know what, should've
been doctor's wages.
- [Narrator] But luckily,
Dick's 21st century
hardwood version
should soon sort
the problem out.
- The original floor lasted
the best part of 150 years.
And that was with a bit of
softwood wedged in there.
With out bit of
nice seasoned oak,
yeah, another 150 years
wouldn't be bad would it?
That's for you.
That's for you.
Why?
'Cause what I'm gonna do.
I'm going to, we're
tattooing these bits of oak.
There we go.
There we go, Steve, let
me hold that for you.
This is history in
the making isn't it?
Yeah.
- [Steve] We're
part of the history
of the chateau I would say.
- We already are.
Will it go in?
- [Narrator] Once
the historically
important wedges are in
there's just one
more test to do.
- I am not the smallest
person in the world.
That's rock solid, yes!
- [Narrator] It's
the middle of autumn
and the year is coming to an end
but work on the boot
room is just beginning.
Soon though Dick and
Steve are uncovering
another 150 year
old building trick.
- [Dick] I used to love
the fact that they used
whatever they've got in hand.
Oh my goodness.
That is.
- [Narrator] Back in 1868
when the chateau was built,
a plasterer decided to
save time and materials
by filling a large gap
with something solid.
- [Steve] Is that a sardine tin?
- [Dick] That looks
like sardines.
To pack the hole.
- [Steve] It is.
- [Dick] That's brilliant.
- [Narrator] What's
not surprising
is that it's a sardine can
because by 1880, over 50
million were being produced
in northwestern France alone
with at least one ending
up in Dick's walls.
- But, it's a good size
to plug up the hole
so you didn't use
as much plaster.
This was free.
- [Narrator] And when he
starts pulling apart one
of the two built in cupboards,
Dick soon discovers
a third secret.
- [Dick] Why would that
be up there, Steve?
Why would they have a
box round the corner?
Proper box, you
just can't see it.
- [Steve] To hide things.
- Yeah.
Birds nest by the look of it.
Sadly I don't think there's
anything we want to find.
That was interesting.
- [Narrator] For Dick
though, pulling off the doors
of both cupboards has
revealed something
even more interesting
and he's hoping Angel
will be just as impressed.
- Have a look at this.
What do you see that's
really quite exciting?
- What do I see that excitin'?
It's empty, that's excitin'.
- Have a look up there.
You see this bit of
lath on the plaster.
It's above the wall.
This wall was added after
the ceiling existed.
So there's a whole
ceiling across here
and then somebody
added this wall.
- So this is not supportin'
the ceilin' or is it?
- No.
- Are you sayin' that
we can get rid of it?
- I think this
wall can come down.
It's not tied in to
this wall at all,
the front wall of the
house, not tied in.
It's not attached to the top
and it's been set
underneath there.
Now we have to stand back
and have a real look
at them, okay, so.
That we have here, it's
not a bad piece of space.
- No, it's lovely, and
if you get rid of them,
I think that's quite exciting.
Like I'm really excited.
- One thing I would say is there
are tons of rocks in there.
So this is a one way move, yeah?
- [Angel] What do you mean?
Like I can't have it
back if I don't like it?
- That's exactly
what I'm saying.
- [Angel] No, I
think it's brilliant.
- I suppose the worst
thing that could happen,
shock, horror, if
we were in there
and we noticed it
started to sag.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Now Dick's
received Angel's blessing,
the demolition of the two
built in cupboards can begin.
- Now you told me that
this isn't load bearing.
- [Steve] I didn't say that.
- [Dick] You said it
wasn't load bearing.
Go for it.
- [Narrator] As soon as the two
hopefully non-supporting
walls have gone,
Steve starts smoothing
over the rough edges
which in effect means covering
the whole room with plaster.
But a full morning of hard work
has got stomach's rumbling.
(upbeat music)
(bell dinging)
One of the main reasons Dick
and Angel came to France
was for the lifestyle
and the local market in Laval
is a regular port of call.
- Arthur, when was the
last time you ate snails?
- I haven't.
- They got big ones,
they got little ones,
or they got them in there.
You choose.
- In there.
(speaking in French)
- Thanks.
- [Angel] Put it in a hot oven.
- Very hot oven.
- Five six minutes.
- That's it.
(speaking in French)
- [Angel] Dorothy, this lady,
she actually has
all wild flowers.
Are they (mumbles) there?
They open?
- Right Arthur, have
a look, come on.
- [Narrator] Laval may be
100 kilometers from the coast
but the fish is always fresh.
In fact, very fresh.
(children shouting)
- [Dick] They're spider crabs.
- [Angel] Look,
look, look Arthur,
he's waving to you this one.
- Okay, that's
enough for Dorothy.
Thank you.
We'll be eating fish
within about 10 minutes.
Oh the bells are ringin'.
I think Quasimodo's
up there ringin' them.
- [Narrator] Back
at the chateau,
it's time for some
culinary experimentation.
- Dorothy, look at that.
- Who is havin' one
of these snails?
- [Arthur] Me, me, me!
- [Dick] Snails in.
- Snails in.
- [Narrator] The jury may
still be out on the snails
but the shellfish definitely
have the children's vote.
- [Dick] How are
you doing over there
with your prawns, Dottie?
- Good.
- Cheers to the buccaneers.
Cheers to the buccaneers.
- [Angel] Dorothy, cheers.
Cheers, cheers, cheers, cheers.
- [Dick] Okay Dottie,
say yes, yeah.
- [Narrator] Inevitably
there's washing up to do
but this time it's
actually quite fun.
- These have been
handmade, these bottles.
- [Narrator] Dick has
decided to inspect,
purely in the
interest of science,
the contents of
the antique bottles
that were found in
the wine cellar.
- That dimple is, I love it.
That's a dimple I would keep.
Look at that.
That smells really good.
Right, there's little bits
in there, that's corkage.
That is, I gotta tell ya,
that would clear your sinuses.
That is proper,
that'd be eau de vie.
That smells
completely drinkable.
Before I would do
anything with that,
in case it was apple
scented toilet cleaner,
I want to see what the
alcohol content is.
- [Narrator] And to do that,
Dick needs a spirit hydrometer
and a tall, thin, obviously
homemade, container.
- What's wrong with
two syringes, it'll
look better, glue
and a couple of clips.
This is my sort of
experimentation, here we go.
- [Narrator] As alcohol
is less dense than water,
the higher the content, the
higher the hydrometer floats.
- It's floating.
Thank goodness for that
and it's floating at 60%.
That would put
hairs on your chest
or take the hairs
off and remove paint
at the same time.
Okay, so that's
a 60% eau de vie.
- [Narrator] Eau de
vie or fruit brandy
has been made in France
since the middle ages
and near the chateau,
one of the specialties
is apple flavored
Calvados like this.
- We have no idea
what year this is.
I'm thinking, that in
there is chateau history.
Definitely chateau history.
Chateau history at 60%.
- [Narrator] It
may be historical
but whether it's palatable
is a very different matter.
- Here we go, look, here we go.
The last little dribble
from there is into that one.
Okay, and what I'm
gonna do is taste it.
It's actually really smooth.
- [Narrator] The final major
building task of the year,
transforming the chateau's
crumbling boot room
into a beautiful space
is now in full swing
but outside there's another
project in the pipeline.
Ever since Dick and Angel
arrived at the chateau,
they've tried to grow as
much fruit and vegetables
as they can.
As well as rear both
pigs and chickens.
Now Dick wants to introduce
some new residents,
a gaggle of geese.
But first he needs
to find somewhere
for them to live and he's
hoping the 150 year old piggery
will pass muster.
- Stop just short,
that'll do, okay.
That'll do.
- [Angel] Okay.
- Right, look, I've been
down here a couple times
with the tractor, see.
- Right (gasps).
- [Dick] Come in.
- [Angel] God, it's magical.
So beautiful.
But baby I thought you
wanted to live here
when we argued.
- I have actually threatened
to move into the
pigsty, piggery.
It's a beautiful building.
- It is lovely isn't it?
- [Narrator] In
19th century France,
pork was such a popular
dish that almost every farm
or small holding would've kept
at least a couple of pigs.
Now Dick wants to turn the
chateau's private piggery
into a character
home for his geese.
- I'm thinkin' if we
have that, open that door
and have an area in there
like a shed using two
walls of the building.
That's will be
their inside part.
I don't even know how
this works by the way.
We haven't looked at this door.
- Oh that is not a.
When I get my ivy I
know how many spiders
there are livin' in there.
- Oh look, there's a handle.
Right, that's gonna be
a bit of fun, come on.
It's probably full of rocks
on the other side.
- So are they
gettin' all of that?
- [Dick] No.
- The whole of the inside, no?
- [Dick] No, no, no,
they're just gonna get
a little bit here like a shed.
- Right, you're gonna
build something within.
- [Dick] Oh, no, no, yeah,
it's gonna be a little
lean to inside that wall
just the other side of the door.
- So nothing falls of
them and that, okay.
- That's it, but this isn't
open enough for them, okay?
Because they're not interested
in living under the trees.
They wanna be out in the open.
- [Angel] Out in the open.
- Sort of eating grass.
Well, all right.
That's where they're going.
- Right, great.
They've got a great home.
- Right, we'll get
that sorted out, good.
- [Narrator] While
Dick tries his best
to get in one old
door, Angel climbs
to the top of the
chateau to open another.
(door creaks)
She's hoping to find among
the attic's collection
of curiosities,
something that might
just solve a design dilemma.
- This is the first time
that I've opened these.
I've been looking
at these for years.
Ah, that must go up
into that, I see.
- [Narrator] Dick wants to
be able to dry damp coats
in the new boot room
so Angel's hoping this
19th century day bed
might convert into a
stylish radiator cover.
- So how do I make
that into one?
I mean, it could work if
that goes on top of that.
And maybe.
It's gonna have to
really be cut up though
to actually make that work.
Sometimes things
just don't work.
And you do have
to look elsewhere.
- [Narrator] Dick though
is still struggling
with stage one of
operation piggery,
opening the door.
(leaves rustling)
- It's the new take on
breaking and entering.
There's a piece of
wood against the door.
What I have to do is
move it out of the way.
I could climb in but the
roof doesn't look very safe.
I'd rather go through the door.
Ridiculous.
Just (mumbles), I get a fit of
the giggles half way through.
Nobody's been in here
since we've owned the place
and I don't know for
how long before that.
- [Narrator] But
once Dick has cleared
the decades of detritus,
success is imminent,
even if it is by
a narrow margin.
- Look at that, beautiful.
That was easy, wasn't it?
But we have a door!
Got a bit more
clearing out to do.
I like it.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Just
over 20 miles away,
Angel is still
hunting for something
that she can convert into the
boot room's radiator cover.
So she's come to her
favorite brocante.
- I've come to
look for railin's.
I can't help myself though.
Have a quick look
while you're in here.
You never know.
I can hear Dick
saying focus, focus.
It's very hard to focus though.
- [Narrator] Especially
when there are boxes filled
to the brim with old
French magazines.
(speaking in French)
Now her craving for vintage
magazines is satisfied,
Angel gets down to the
business of looking
for a radiator cover.
Well, almost.
- Now this is not
for the boot room
but that's quite
lovely, isn't it?
I mean, that could be
something really lovely.
Right, concentrate!
That's probably right.
I said about like that.
(speaking in French)
- [Narrator] As the iron
balcony railing seems
to be approximately
the right width
and height to cover a
radiator, it's a done deal.
(speaking in French)
- I have got what I came for.
Plus lots of fabulous
magazines, gosh.
Can't help myself.
- [Narrator] Converting the
piggery into a goose shed
may be taking some time
but work on the boot room
is marching on.
And whilst Steve
tidies up the remains
of the demolished walls,
Dick checks in with Angel.
- Just to make sure we're
talkin' the same game still,
power's coming in, where
all the power's coming in,
the two bits here,
something along the sides?
Those walls are clear walls.
Those little nubs.
You called that a
nub, didn't ya Steve?
- [Steve] Nibs.
- Nib.
- [Steve] Nibs.
- The little sticky out bits.
- You're filling
those in are you?
- Those bits have
to stay sticking out
so those bits of stone.
Otherwise you have
to have bits of.
- No, no, I love them but,
do you have to fill them in?
Do they have to
for supportingness?
- No.
- No, they just looked
really nice and
interesting yesterday
and I don't why you.
Genuinely.
- See that would never
have crossed my mind.
Stop, stop, stop, Steve.
No, because these
bits are sticking out,
we're gonna have three
bits sticking out.
- Yeah, I thought how lovely.
I could put a drink on there.
- [Dick] How solid are
the ones you've done?
- Could take 'em
out in 10 minutes.
- Right, okay, so stop
any more ones all right.
Who told you to do that, Steve?
I would never have
thought of that.
- Great, perfect, lovely.
Well done.
(birds chirping)
- [Narrator] Now the
men know what's what,
Angel starts transforming
the rusty balcony railing
into a thing of beauty
or at least good enough to
cover the boot room radiator.
Over at the old piggery,
Dick and Quintin
have come to a
gentlemen's agreement.
- [Dick] Just grab two of them.
Grab two of them,
we'll see what happens.
- [Narrator] Carpentry
lessons in exchange
for a mini French
language course.
And building the new goose shed
is the perfect opportunity.
- Righty tighty, lefty loosey.
Good.
The reason what happened.
The first time
you screwed it in,
you make a little
bit of a tap hole,
your little start hole,
then when you pull
it out, it goes in.
It pulls it so you
don't have that air gap.
On the sides,
(speaking in French).
Another one here.
(speaking in French)
Other side, you see?
It's all about
learnin' the French.
(drill buzzing)
Stop, stop.
Gotta push it again, push it in.
- That's it?
- Yeah.
- That's good for me.
Yeah, 2.5.
Okay, careful comin' in.
There.
- There you go.
- Yeah, not bad is it?
- That's good.
- [Dick] See what
Quintin's been building?
- Yeah!
- [Dick] This is where
Quintin's going to live.
- [Dorothy]
Quintin's gonna live.
(speaking in French)
It's not so big.
- [Quintin] That's okay.
- [Dick] Do you know how
many geese we're gonna get?
- Three!
- [Dick] No.
- Four?
- Seven?
- Six.
- Six, are we
getting six Quintin?
- Yes.
- We're getting six geese.
I think they're in
for a bit of a shock
because geese aren't
always friendly
to begin with.
(peaceful music)
- [Narrator] But at least
the unfriendly geese
will soon have a
cozy shed to live in.
- Thank you very much.
- Pleasure.
- I didn't realize you
were a carpenter now.
I know it, yeah.
- [Narrator] After a long
day, Dick decides to relax
with a little light ax work.
Unfortunately though.
- [Angel] Hello.
- [Narrator] Not for long.
As Angel's latest purchase
for the boot room has arrived.
- Be careful.
It's not metal.
- Is it one or two?
- It's, well, hopefully two.
- Okay, do you
know what this is?
- Yeah.
- You have bought a pair
of pretend giraffe's legs.
- Yeah, but, but.
- Well, feet.
These are only feet.
- What I thought
was our giraffe head
could be comin'
through the ceiling
and then these
could be coming down
so when people go, oh, isn't
your giraffe head lovely
and we'll go yeah and
the feet are downstairs.
Isn't that funny?
I don't know, I
think that's funny.
Can I show you?
- I'll make an
observation to you.
It's probably the skinniest
legs for the fattest ankles.
- [Narrator] For the
past three years,
a faux giraffe's head has
watched over proceedings
from the corner of
the first floor salon.
Now it's about to receive an
extension through the floor
and into the boot room below.
- So I thought in my mind's eye
that they would be kind of
sort of like this, okay?
Close together.
Do you think they
look good like that?
- I think, what, what?
You've seen a giraffe?
- [Angel] Yeah.
- It's got legs
spread out like this.
- They don't look as,
do they look as good like that?
- [Narrator] But at
this time of night,
Dick reckons the intricacies
of a giraffe's anatomy
can wait for another way.
- I'll just keep saying
okay and maybe it will be.
(Angel laughs)
- [Narrator] It's a beautiful
autumn day at the chateau
and over at the old
piggery, the whole family,
including Angel's
parents, Jenny and Steve,
have come out to welcome some
rather noisy new neighbors.
- Use the other half.
- Dorothy, you sit on grandma
in case was have to get away.
- [Narrator] Six oie de Guinée
otherwise known as Chinese
geese have just arrived
and in Arthur's eyes,
their toilet training
is something to be desired.
- Oh, he's got poo all over him.
- [Angel] Oh no, your jumper!
No!
- Right, do you wanna
go open the door for me,
far end, yeah, open
the other door.
No, the far end,
the door on the end.
Come on, you can
do it, pull hard.
Oh nearly, nearly.
- I don't want it to bite me.
- [Dick] They're not going
to bite you, they're babies.
- [Arthur] Dad!
- [Dick] Okay.
Come through, you come through.
I'll get you in
charge of the door
so they don't escape.
Now what we're gonna do.
This is a white one.
Look, there's one out.
- [Angel] They have freedom.
Oh, that is gorgeous.
- Right, what we need to
do is fill up their water
so we got the electric fence
to give them a lot of
running around space
and we've brought a
bale of straw in there.
- [Narrator] The geese
are not only some
of the noisiest birds around
but also some of
the most productive
because each one could lay
at least 50 eggs a year.
- I cannot wait
for our first egg.
How long will that be?
- February, March next year.
They're only babies.
You have to wait
for everything good.
- I was kind of plannin' on
breakfast at the weekend.
(geese clucking)
- [Narrator] Rosie the
cat might not be impressed
but Dick's happy that the
geese are soon settling in.
It also means he can
return to his pet project,
the boot room.
And, hoping to impress
Angel with his creativity,
has come up with a
cunning boot rack design.
All he needs to do now
is convince Steve exactly
how cunning it is.
- What we're gonna
have here, yeah?
Is, imagine all
these bits of wood.
- Yes, okay.
- Chopped into bits.
- Okay.
- Okay,
attached to the wall.
That's one of those
little bits of wood, okay?
So this is the
wall full of wood.
All looks like that.
Whole lot of planks
but they're all.
Okay, this is just one.
Then what happens this time.
Time to hang up a
pair of wellies,
what are we going to do?
It better be made
better than this.
All right, and then, but you see
then you have a gap there
and you put your welly in it.
Yeah, okay, when we're
not storing any wellies
it can go back there
and you've got a
wall full of bits.
So basically it's a wall
full of bits of wood
that can come down.
Couple of thumbs,
we could very easily
make this look terrible.
Let's start makin' 'em, okay,
so we go into that corner.
Cut me, Steven.
- [Narrator] Dick's
idea for an artistic
wooden wall cum boot rack
though requires precision
engineering to cut
and drill 72 perfectly
identical pieces.
- One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.
- [Narrator] But
like a lot of art,
it can be hard to interpret.
- [Dorothy] What are
these gonna be, daddy?
- Well, I want you to guess.
Do you know what it is?
- [Dorothy] Stairs?
- [Dick] No, don't step on it.
It's going to be.
- Give me a clue.
- Give us a clue.
When you have muddle
puddles, what do you do?
- [Arthur] Put boots on.
- Put boots on, you're
going to jump up
and down in muddle
puddles aren't ya?
- Oh yeah.
- So where are you
gonna put your boots?
- There!
- Watch, watch, watch, watch.
Watch, if push this, watch.
We can hang our
boots in the gaps.
Don't break 'em,
don't break 'em,
don't break 'em yet.
- [Narrator] As work in the
boot room's progressing nicely,
Angel's been busy
digging out decorations
like the odd pair of antlers.
- [Angel] Whoa, brilliant.
- [Narrator] But before
anything can be put up,
Dick first needs to reuse
some old wardrobe doors
to make two handy sideboards.
- Four, 790, it's about 86.
So this is for the fridge side
and the drink side for service.
This is for coats.
One quarter of a side panel.
- [Narrator] And
once they're done.
Angel can finally begin giving
the room her personal touch.
Like vintage cinema seats.
- They just, they look fab.
I'm so chuffed.
This is detail that you
can't find in a reproduction.
- [Narrator] In the meantime,
Dick and Dorothy retreat
to the kitchen.
- Wow, smells good,
toffee, doesn't it?
- [Narrator] And as
it's bonfire night,
toffee apples, much
to Dorothy's delight
are on the menu.
- Can you do that in French?
(speaking in French)
Bilingual!
Are you bilingual?
What does that mean?
You speak two languages.
- And I can I can speak Spanish.
- Do you?
(speaking in Spanish)
- [Narrator] But there's
no end to her talents
because as the sun goes down,
Dick notices that
Dorothy can transform
into a human mirror ball.
- Now, look, look,
look at all that.
Look at that, look
at the whole room!
What's happened to the room.
Turn around, just
do a very slow turn.
Just turn around slowly
and look at the room.
Slowly around.
What can you see?
Look, look, look at our kitchen.
Oh my goodness.
(Dorothy mumbles)
- It's, they're really quick!
(Dick laughs)
(birds chirping)
(geese honking)
- [Narrator] For
both Dick and Angel,
the boot room has always been
about combining
practicality with elegance.
And as soon as the last
pieces are put into place.
- [Angel] I'm just loving this.
- [Narrator] The boot room
is declared officially open.
- [Dick] Onward you go.
What do you think of this?
(Dorothy shouting)
- That's, wow!
- [Narrator] What was once
a crumbling dumping ground
has been transformed
into an elegant
and well organized
country boot room.
Befitting both wet
coats and muddy boats
and even the most
beautiful of brides.
- What about over there?
- [Dorothy] Oh look.
- Are those skiing rods I see?
- Yeah!
- Skiing, yeah.
What do you think of the seats?
Where are your welly boots?
Can you see welly boots?
That's for taking off shoes.
Arthur, have you looked
up to the ceiling?
- Oh, there's fishing rods.
- Fishing rods up
on the ceiling.
What else can you see
up on the ceiling.
- That's from our pigs!
- They're from the pigs.
- What's above these legs?
- [Dorothy] A giraffe!
- A giraffe!
- Yay.
- A giraffe.
- Where's (mumbles) both legs.
- Oh, stop being so precise you.
- [Narrator] Now the
boot room's finished,
it's time for the family
to put on their coats.
- Right, I'm ready, come on.
- I'm ready.
- [Narrator] And head outside.
- Let's go.
Do you know what I
think we could do?
Careful, careful.
We're gonna be making
dunking apples.
- Oh this is lovely isn't it?
- Right.
Hey.
- [Narrator] France may not
celebrate Guy Fawkes night
but this little corner of
Britain certainly does.
- What we need to do is
start filling this guy up.
Now, first things first.
See this is his body.
For his body.
I need him filled up.
You're filler uppers.
Shake 'em out, shake it out
so it goes in, that's good.
Shake out, make sure
you shake it out.
Put it down in there.
Oh, do you know what?
He's got a physique like daddy.
That means he's very
handsome and well built.
Right, okay, put him down.
- [Angel] I'm
putting his hat on.
- [Dick] He's got a
chest now, hasn't he?
That's good.
- I need some eyes and nose.
- Look, he's going like this.
- Let's go, who's got him?
I've got a limb each.
- Oh, you've got a limb each.
- I've got a limb.
- Oh fantastic.
- Come with daddy.
Ready, two, three,
and up he goes.
Oops, his hat.
Look at that.
- Oh he looks like he's going.
- [Dick] The fire's lit,
let's grab a toffee apple.
- [Narrator] There
might not be fireworks
at the Strawbridge
family bonfire night
but there is something
just as spectacular.
- Pretty little bows.
- [Man] Oh look!
- [Dick] Oh wow.
You can hear the noise of
the wings against the leaves
of the bamboos.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Next time.
- [Dick] What'd you wish?
- [Narrator] It's
Christmas at the chateau.
- There's always pressure
buyin' a Christmas tree.
- [Narrator] And
there's tree trouble.
- What do we think of this one?
No, we don't like
it either, come on.
- [Narrator] Winter warmers.
- I'm really quite
impressed with that.
That's a result.
- [Narrator] And
magical markets.
- I would love one of these.
- [Arthur] Father Christmas.
- Who's that?
(peaceful music)