1. Establishing the importance of the yard

In 2003 Robin Hill, the Museums Officer from Worcestershire, a specialist in old wheelwrights and blacksmiths projects, wrote to Jonathan Parkhouse, the County Archaeologist for the Warwickshire County Council, stating the importance of the Yard in national terms.

During the following two years there was much correspondence and discussion about recording work to take place, particularly with Maggie Wood, the Keeper of Social History, suggesting that COBRA (Conservation Based Research and Analysis) take place. In 2004 English Heritage wrote a “Statement of Significance” regarding Chedham’s Yard which raised awareness further among enthusiasts of the importance of the site. Elaine Hughes was appointed as the Project Officer and in March 2005, the consulting firm PLB produced a major report and options appraisal on the viability of Chedham’s Yard as a working museum and educational attraction for the future.

2. Archaeological investigation

In the spring of 2005, and for a period of about three months at least 5 days a week, a team of archaeologists from Oxford University were in residence mapping and cataloguing some 5000 tools and pieces of equipment and doing a surface dig in the Yard.

3. Open Days and formation of Friends of Chedham’s Yard

On August 6th 2005 the first open day took place at Chedham’s Yard; Wellesbourne Water Mill, the other historic site on the outskirts of this village, was also open concurrently. A period British Charabanc ran hourly between the two sites and a good time was had by all the visitors.

The Parish Council produced a leaflet during these months summarizing the importance and historic implications of Chedham’s Yard; it outlined essential work to be done and reasons for the proposed restoration. Volunteers were asked for; several notices appeared in the local press, particularly when the giant bellows were removed from the forge and taken to be restored by Robin Coleman the well-known saddler from Kenilworth.

Towards the end of the year a voluntary body of interested people called “The Friends of Chedham’s Yard” was formed.

4. Entering Restoration Village

Shortly after this, early in 2006, an advertisement in the national press was spotted by several people in the village inviting applications for a new programme of Restoration on BBC 2. They decided this would be a wonderful opportunity not to be missed and Chedham’s Yard was entered for the competition. During this time the Friends, supervised by Elaine Hughes, were busy putting all the artefacts into a store in Leamington prior to the initial, essential restoration and repair of the building.

5. Filming of the yard by Endemol

In April 2006 we heard that Chedham’s Yard had been chosen as one of three sites in the Midlands to be filmed on behalf of the BBC by Endemol; there were 21 in total throughout the United Kingdom. From this moment there was an air of excitement buzzing through the Friends and the members of the Parish Council. We held an exhibition in the Methodist Church Hall featuring maps, photographs and items such as a restored child’s cart and a demonstration wheel (made by a wheelwright at the open day in 2005). Glynis Powell, the Community Museums Officer for Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull and the County Archaeologist were on hand to answer questions. Several local people who had lived in the area for a long time talked about the photographs and shared their knowledge of history, not least Bill Chedham the last surviving member of the Chedham family who could give a first hand account of life at the Yard before he finally closed the doors and ceased trading in 1965.

Now the BBC started to exert its pressure on us to perform in a way that would look good on television! With very little notice they announced they were coming with their cameral crew to film Chedham’s Yard on May 5th 2006. This necessitated bringing many of the 5000 artefacts, so recently put into store, back to the Yard to make it look like a working yard. This was all done in a few days ready for filming by volunteers and Friends of Chedham’s Yard. It was a challenging and difficult task as many of the artefacts are large and heavy to handle.

In early June 2006 Griff Rhys Jones the famous broadcaster and comedian, as well as presenter of previous Restoration programmes, came to Wellesbourne. He was filmed cycling up Church Walk and into the Yard. He also attended another exhibition in the Methodist Hall, was given a general tour of the village and was taken to Moreton Morrell College to look at the forge there and what the students were making under the watchful eye of their tutor Michelle Parker. He was very interested in everything and enthusiastically talked to those who were helping that day.

6. Ruin Detectives visit

In July 2006 Griff came again. This time he brought with him the BBC “Ruin Detectives” Ptolemy Dean and Marianne Suhr to be filmed looking around Chedham’s Yard. Griff was also filmed at Moreton Morrell Forge again this time making a metal object. The programme was to be shown on prime time BBC2 television on Fridays for 9 weeks throughout August and early September for the new and popular BBC series “Restoration Village.” The competition would be judged by the number of people phoning in; each entry would be given their unique telephone number that people could use when voting for their favourite choice. People phoned from all over the UK and Europe but also further afield from Australia and the States

Then what excitement came over us all when we won the first Midlands heat on Friday 11th August 2006 against the other entries from this big area.

7. More open days

Immediately the BBC demanded we hold another Open Day which was held on Sunday 13th August 2006. Again this coincided with the Water Mill being open. Approximately 500 people came – the news was beginning to spread throughout the Midlands. So much so that many people came on the Saturday 12th August thinking it would be open then – members of the friends had to be around all day to look after the constant stream of curious people coming to see round the Yard. Apart from a little rain early on the Sunday the weekend remained dry. Comments in the Visitors book were extremely encouraging and made us feel that we had a worthy place in the final. The Friends worked hard to cope with the huge tide of visitors; marshals were on hand to direct traffic and people. We also had help from the Lions, families of project members, and crafts people. All sorts of memorabilia were available to buy from mugs to wristbands from T-shirts to restoration books. The friends were beginning to raise some money and donations and sales had so far netted £1,628. The press were there in force and wrote some enthusiastic reports following the open day. There were also interviews on the local radio and television with Parish Councillor, David Close, Elaine Hughes the Project Officer, Bill Chedham and also our chief enthusiastic Friend, Iris Herwin.

On Friday 1st September the BBC came again the shoot an extra film for broadcast of Friday 15th September at the current Restoration time slot on BBC2. The programme was the summary of all the eight finalists projects; there was an extra film piece to feature Michelle the blacksmith from Moreton Morrell, Andrew the farrier, and Simon the blacksmith, all of whom attended the previous open day. Members of the Friends and the Parish Council, Bill Chedham, Iris Herwin and Elaine Hughes all attended this filming.

Again the BBC advised us to hold another open day in preparation for another programme on BBC2 on Friday 15th September followed by the final on Sunday 17th September. We planned this for Saturday 9th September between 11.00 and 4pm. We hoped to get as many people voting for us as possible during the final programme and so we needed as much extra press coverage as possible in the week prior to the final. Volunteers were appealed for to act as guides. The Water Mill was not used this time and the crafts people were not asked to attend. Even more people came to this open day than the previous one which was challenging for those managing the traffic and the people, but it was a happy day and we all felt very excited at the prospect of another showing on the Restoration programme.

8. Sunday September 17th 2006 THE FINAL

A bus load of 40 of us, adults and children, and ofcourse Bill Chedham, set off from the pick-up point outside the Stag’s Head Pub for the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton near Chichester in Hampshire in a bus provided by the BBC. We arrived at the Hilton Hotel near the Museum in the early afternoon where we were shown our rooms and made at home. We were driven to the Museum, wearing our Chedham’s Yard t-shirts, where we all congregated in huge marquees for a meal and to meet some of the eight finalists who had come from all over the country including Scotland and Northern Ireland. The atmosphere was electrifying, many people singing their own song or chanting their football like support for their project.

At last we were escorted to the set which had been constructed to copy the styles of the buildings that are features of the outdoor museum. We had to stand under canopies; fortunately it stayed dry and warm all evening for we were there in the enclosures for 2 hours. The excitement became increasingly intense after we had been rehearsed on how to cheer, not stamp our feet because the set would not survive it! There was the familiar theme tune to start the programme and in strode Griff Reece Jones – taking off his bicycle clips before welcoming everyone. The cameras flew about to get aerial shots of us all. There must have been at least four hundred people who had come to support their particular project herded in the enclosures as well as several hundred members of the public who had come to watch the show live. The Chedham’s Yard spot with Elaine and Iris speaking on stage with Griff Rhys Jones was lively and funny. Apparently it made a significant impact with the television audience at home, especially when Iris said it was her life’s ambition to see Chedham’s Yard restored. The climax of the programme came when Griff was given a card with the results. In a long drawn out and tense series of moments he eventually declared Chedham’s Yard the winner. We beat an art gallery in the south-east of England and a Lighthouse in Scotland to the post though the results, we were led to believe, were close.

The cheering, shouting and clapping by us as the result was announced did not need any rehearsal. We were over-whelmed with joy and excitement. We had won a million pounds against all odds to restore Chedham’s Yard. We were whisked away to another hospitality tent for a celebratory buffet and drinks with the television team and some of the executives of the project. Our local radio reporter roamed about getting reactions from us all to be broadcast the next day. Back at the hotel we were given champagne by the programmes film company. After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast we were driven back to Wellesbourne to be greeted outside the Stag’s Head pub by many local people and the media.

It is remarkable to think that this huge financial windfall, achieved after a great deal of hard work by Friends, members of Wellesbourne Parish Council Craftsmen and Museum experts both locally and further afield, will enable Chedham’s Yard to be restored to its former glory to be enjoyed by many generations to come both nationally and internationally.