At the end of October 2013 Denholm Siegertsz of BBC Radio Stoke came to Combermere and conducted a long interview with Sarah Callander Beckett about the Abbey, its history, and the restoration plans for the North Wing. That went out in five parts over the first week in November.

The BBC has very kindly allowed us to upload all 41 minutes of it to our site, and we’ve arranged that into four handy, bite-sized, utterly fascinating chunks. 

PART ONE

In which we meet Viscount Combermere, are amazed at the age and depth of the lake, wonder how many rooms there are in the Abbey, and go dowsing for architectural remains.

PART TWO

Early off-the-shelf architectural details, the Henry VIII connection, the poignant end of The Duchess of Richmond’s Ball, ‘Carson’s’ nerve centre, and newts in the bath.

PART THREE

The great Cottons of Cheshire, powering the army and the Royal Flying Corps through the First World War, The ‘Harrods of Chicago’, and how to keep bat poo out of your supper.

PART FOUR

Seventies discos in the North Wing, floor beams swaying in the wind, where a staff of two dozen lived and worked, a Grade 1 listed game larder . . . and the real Downton Abbey connection.