In February 2003 after visiting Chez Jallot for the first time, we returned to England to formulate a plan that would allow us to renovate this wonderful house. As can be seen from the picture there wasn't much to see but to our inexperienced eyes, it had potential.
It was necessary to stretch our budget [and experience] to its limits, but contacting Grand Designs gave us deadlines to work to and with the prospect of a professionally made video of our efforts at the end of it, we couldn't resist.
It wasn't going to be easy. Forget the fact that there were no floors or roof, just getting to the house was a nightmare and we ended up removing something like 100 trees from around the side and back of the house. Once we were inside, there was even more greenery to be cut down and it seems that we have spent the last two years trying to stop nature from reclaiming the gardens.
Not to be daunted, we got stuck in and the results have amazed us as well as our many visitors
We were so wrapped up in what we were doing with the house that the thought of being in front of a TV camera didn't worry us in the slightest. Talk-Back Thames, the programme makers had already visited our house in Dorset to film an interview and they seemed a friendly lot, and as it turned out, the whole experience was a joy.
The cameras arrived, on average every three to four weeks, with Kevin McCloud coming out about seven times during the years filming. For the first visit though, we had everyone, cameraman, sound-recordist, director, assistant director, researcher etc. quite a crowd and not quite what we expected.
Still, straight in with an interwiew with Kevin and then again, and again, and again and........OK not that many times really but with just the one main camera it was necessary to film it from different angles and sometimes there was external noise so over the year we became used to "can we do that just one more time?" from the director.
The first days filming was done in temperatures of about 40ºC so it was shorts and tee-shirt and try and find somewhere cool
when we weren't needed. At the end of the day we were so glad to get into the shower and then into fresh clothes. The problem was, we had to wear the same clothes the next day, something about continuity, aaaaaaaaaarrgh. Just imagine, we had thrown the clothes into the wash basket so even picking them up was pretty unsavoury, having to wear them again.......yuk!
But we didn't get all the bad deals. The crew had to make their way around the house carrying filming gear, balancing on beams and narrow planks, even climbing rotten beams just to get that special shot.
We were quite used to walking around on beams and planks, but the camera men were amazing, they seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to finding their footing. Just imagine walking around on these planks, looking at the world through a camera lens, attatched to the director and sound man by umbilical cords , it makes me shiver just to think about it.
This wonderful piece of equipment produced some amazing shots of the house that appeared in the programme. The camera could be raised and lowered, swivelled and pivoted to get views that would be impossible with a normal camera mount.
As you can see, it wasn't all go, there was a certain amount of planning to be done by the director which gave everyone else time to relax and enjoy the day. This picture shows part of the crew including two camera men, a sound recorist, stills cameraman, assistant director and series director.
And then came the helicopter........ Our director had to work hard to justify getting this machine, but the opening and final shots made it all worth while, plus, we got a ride too and managed to get some good arial photos for ourselves.
The cameraman and cameralady were both mad. They worked sitting on the side of the helicopter, their feet resting on the skids, with a harness and safety line attached to the inside of the cabin. Fine when you're flying straight and level but when the helicopter banked to turn, they were relying 100% on the safety line to keep them from falling, and of course the cameras had to roll no matter what was happening.
Watch the programme on Channel 4's website