A frequent comment that we get whilst sharing our project with visitors is ‘this should be on the telly!’. Over the years we have been approached many times by various TV companies, most of whom want to show the restoration and house conversion from start to finish within a time frame of year or so – hence why we have never been featured!
However, when the call came from the producers of BBC Wales’ Weatherman Walking it seemed a perfect programme to be involved in.
If you don’t know the programme then the format is a series of scenic walks by Derek ‘the weather’ Brockway (who is a BBC Wales weatherman, senior meteorologist and general Welsh legend!) as he seeks out interesting things along the way. The walks are also published online – do check them out if you are looking for some walking inspiration (we have used the routes for walking ideas before so we do recommend!).
Therefore we were very excited yesterday when Derek and the BBC Wales team arrived to Christ Church as part of his Welshpool based walk.
The team were such a joy to have here as they genuinely loved the building and were full of admiration for what we have achieved here so far. They were a real pleasure to work with – so professional, friendly and quick to reassure.
It was a fascinating experience to see behind the scenes how a programme is produced. Fortunately we have a lot of materials to hand to create a makeshift light board!
The team were also keen to see and film The House (thank goodness we had had a quick tidy up just in case!). They loved the original features we’d retained and of course the kitchen.
Whilst having thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, I am now rather nervously awaiting the screening of the episode in a few months time. I have talked about the church, project and house soooo many times, but with a film crew in situ it all goes out of your head… and I have no idea if I said anything that I meant to say! After repeating each shot many times it feels like it all becomes quite a muddle. And on top of that, I completely lost the ability to ‘naturally’ walk into a space and talk at the same time while the cameras were rolling… oh dear!
I just hope that somehow I managed to do us and Christ Church justice.
Derek however was such a pro, and a charming one at that! It was fascinating to work alongside him for 2 hours. Off camera he was very calm which helped to put me at ease. Filming is not an easy environment to gather your thoughts as everyone is bustling around setting up the next shot and it was interesting to see him snatch a quiet moment to compose himself – a master at work! (note to self: REMEMBER this if I ever do this sort of thing again!)
As a token of my gratitude, I gifted him The Observer’s Book of Weather – one of our collection of nature table display books. It felt appropriate that he should have it (and he kindly asked me to sign it!), he was delighted, especially as he’d spotted it earlier in the day.
Certainly 13 years ago when we bought Christ Church, we never envisaged we would have a national TV film crew here… all part of the ever challenging joys of Christ Church Living!
