The fifth episode in this second series of ‘Grundy’s Wonders’ produced by Tyne Tees Television and written and presented by architectural historian and broadcaster John Grundy. In this edition John travels across the Northeast to find good and bad examples of building that have been converted, changed or reused when their original usefulness has ended. An animation of a book with its pages turning revealing different buildings and architectural styles ending on presenter John Grundy holding...

The fifth episode in this second series of ‘Grundy’s Wonders’ produced by Tyne Tees Television and written and presented by architectural historian and broadcaster John Grundy. In this edition John travels across the Northeast to find good and bad examples of building that have been converted, changed or reused when their original usefulness has ended. An animation of a book with its pages turning revealing different buildings and architectural styles ending on presenter John Grundy holding the programmes title card. Title: Grundy’s Wonders Over a montage of Warkworth Castle presenter John Grundy provides details on the Percy family who have owned this and other properties across Northumberland since 1307. After admiring the Great Tower described as ‘one of the greatest pieces of domestic architecture in the whole of Britain’ John goes onto explain that Warkworth was abandoned by the Percy’s hundreds of years ago and has become a ruin as it never found another use. Views of the Percy family’s current home at Alnwick Castle with John explaining that it has obviously been altered changing it from its original use as a castle into the palace of a great ruling family. Following a montage of some of Alnwick Castles sumptuously decorated rooms John sits on a sofa in The Library talking about an interview he once had with the mother of the current Duke of Northumberland. She explained to John why she considered this vast space a perfect family room. With a balloon stuck on the ceiling John states that if all buildings are going to survive they need to change, adapt and be brought up to date. John then states he knows of another ‘palace’ that has gone through similar levels of change. John opens the front door of his home in the Newcastle suburb of Gosforth. Leading the camera inside the home of Lord and Lady Grundy he points out many of the changes that have taken place such as the installation of electric rather than gas lighting, a gas rather than coal fire as well as having walls knocked through and central heating adding. All these changes are described by John as necessary accoutrements of modern life. Sitting in the living room beside his gas fire John explains that due to changes in taste the house has been decorated hundreds of times and virtually like every other household in Britain is in a constant state of change. Without these changes he believes it would be hell to live in a museum as the past is totally unacceptable to modern standards. Walking past a row of cottages on a farm at Cheswick near Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, John tells a story of how these homes were built following an inspection by Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital in London who owned the farm in around 1807. He goes onto describe the new cottages as, for the time, very modern with two rooms for each family that lived there. However, today these conditions are unacceptable so rather than be abandoning the cottages they have been adapted with the additions of extensions for kitchens and bathrooms and two of the cottages being knocked into one. An archival photograph of Twizell House north of Alnwick in Northumberland changes to that of the Dutch bungalow built on the site in the 1960s when the hall was demolished. At Belford Hall also in Northumberland John remembers visiting the hall in the 1980s when it was in a terrible state having been abandoned when the army moved out at the end of World Ward Two. Over a montage of both the exterior and interior of the hall today John talks about how impressed he is in the work converting it into flats. Coming to stand across the road from Alderman Fenwick’s House on Pilgrim Street in Newcastle John talks about the work of Northern Heritage Trust who renovated Belford Hall and Buttress aka the Tyne and Wear Preservation Trust who worked on the renovation of Alderman Fenwick’s House. John describes these organisations as dedicated to our built environment and will to go to any lengths to find new uses for much loved but endangered old building. Over a montage of views inside Alderman Fenwick’s House John talks about the impressive work describing it as restoration as a love affair with history. As John explains that neither charitable organisation or vast amounts of money are the only ways builds can be reused views of large middle-class terraced townhouses in the Newcastle suburb of Jesmond many of which have been turned into hotels and businesses. Along Park and Kensington Terrace, the administration offices for Newcastle University which are based in all the terraced houses in these streets. Inside John wonders around the building admiring much of the retained original features and fittings with new technology being squeezed in around them. An ornate turn of the 20th century office buildings on Collingwood Street in Newcastle with John explaining that it isn’t just mansions and houses that need to be reinventing. Admiring the superbly carved doorway the camera enters this old office building which has been turned into a male hair salon. As the camera moves through the room it finds John sitting in one of the salon chairs. He asked the viewer to come back after the commercial break and they will find there is absolutely no type of building that somebody somewhere isn’t prepared to turn something else. Title: Grundy’s Wonders End of Part One Part Two Standing beside a Northumberland farmstead John explains that buildings like these were designed for the sort of farming that doesn’t go on anymore. After talking about being a Listed Buildings Officer during the 1980s and issues he had trying to save these fantastic buildings of great historical significance, he explains that in the past 15-years a revolution has taken place with regards the reuse of old farm buildings. Two people on horseback riding past a holiday cottage changes to a montage around this the first farm in the county to convert their farm buildings into housing. A montage around the village of Kirkharle 20-miles from Newcastle in Northumberland and the birthplace of English landscape gardener Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown featuring its unspoiled Medieval church of St Wilfred and a stone erected by an 18th century member of the Loraine family to a murdered ancestor. Sitting on an old tractor in the grounds of Kirkharle Courtyard John talks about why he likes the conversion of old farm buildings into a café, museum and workshop for furniture. Sitting at a table in the café at Kirkharle Courtyard John is distracted by the cakes and so sends the viewer off to see examples other categories of buildings that have outlived their former usefulness and suitable cases for change. A montage follows of churches, industrial building and old railway stations including workmen abseiling down the side of the Baltic Flour Mill on the Gateshead Quayside during its conversion into the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, a church which had been changed into a local shop and Barter Books based at the former Alnwick railway station. Standing on the derelict platform of Whittingham railway station John explain that while the stock of old building in need of renovation and reuse is shrinking, it will never run out. Looking around the platform John is impressed with the ironwork but saddened that it never found a reuse. He goes onto explain that time marches on and building that have been done up one day may become abandoned again. Retuning to Newcastle views of Holy Jesus Hospital on City Road with John providing details on its history originally opened as an alms houses and later becoming a museum which failed. Due to its location built around Swan House Roundabout, John is concerned that it will never find a reuse. On the corner of Neville and Collingwood Street is the Collingwood Building which has been a hotel, bank and now a failed restaurant. Inside standing on a balcony John looks out at its ornate marble interior alongside the remains of the restaurant that includes an abandoned bar areas and cordial bottles. Standing on Newbridge Street surrounded by houses that have been converted into unattractive small businesses John expresses concerns about some of the new uses that can’t be considered improvements. On Westgate Road he is critical of the shops that have been built onto the road off the backs of quite grand early 19th century houses. However, John asks does it matter? Back on Newbridge Street with traffic speeding past John explains why the conversions featured on this street won’t be crushed under ‘Grundy’s Great Boot of History.’ He explains that not every part of a town needs to be pretty, requiring instead cheaper places that are alternative, unfashionable and untidy. As he walks around the restored 13th century priory known as Blackfriars John talks about how over the 500 years since it lost its original use it has been reused again and again from meeting houses for Medieval guilds and craftsmen to the 1970s when it was restored by the City of Newcastle into a centre for arts, crafts and restaurants. Today it is the focus of attractive new buildings creating a genuinely attractive quarter of the town and is awarded this weeks ‘Grundy’s Wonder’. An animation of a fanfare of trumpets over the following title. Title: Grundy’s Wonders Sitting at a table in the Blackfriars Restaurant John explains how this restaurant illustrates his final point of the programme that a good reuse shouldn’t just rescue the old but pay just as much attention to the reuse and the quality of the new design as well as the quality of its cakes. Over the closing credits John happily eating a mince pie. Title: Thanks to English Heritage Credit: Written and Presented by John Grundy Camera Simon Elphinstone, Dave Leeder Sound Gail Westwood, Cliff Burr Lighting John Haynes Production Assistants Margaret McKie Production Manager Christine Stewart-Tilling Graphics Dave Richardson Title Music and Dubbing John Cook Editor Mike Pounder Executive Producer Jane Bolesworth Producer & Director Steve Robins End title: A Tyne Tees Television production. © Tyne Tees Television MMI