Heart of the Country [Programme 200 Version 1]

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Summary

Series about life in the countryside presented by Tony Francis. Non broadast version of the programme intended for 21 October 1997.

Year:

1997

Duration:

0:25:00

Film type:

Colour / Sound

Company:

Kingfisher Television

Master format:

Digital Betacam

Description

Tony Francis introduces the programme outside Althorp in Northamptonshire, the former home of Princess Diana. The house remains closed to the public since the death of the princess this year.

The first item is about the author Sophia Creswell who lives and works on a canal boat on the Oxford Canal. She provides a commentary on her own feature about her lifestyle. We see her travelling along the canal, negotiating a lock, swimming, and cycling into Oxford. Inside the boat she works at a word processor. At Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford we see copies of her novel 'Sam Golod' and she talks about her experiences living in St Petersburg, Russia which inspired the book.

The next feature is captioned 1994, although it was first shown in 1992. Views of Althorp, the Spencer family home in Northamptonshire. Wendy Nelson chats to Earl Charles Spencer in the grounds of Althorp about his family's history and his own ambitions for the house which he had recently inherited on the death of his father. Views of fallow deer and sheep in the grounds. Series of family photographs of the Spencer family. Charles first lived at Althorp in 1975 following the death of his grandfather. Charles then shows Wendy the stable block where he has recently discovered a large collection of carriages. Finally, inside the house he chats about his restoration plans and the balance between work and trying to retain his privacy. Views inside Althorp showing the large collection of art. He does not talk about his sister, the Princess of Wales.

For the final item Laura Martin visits the Vale of Evesham for a report about the traditional plum harvest which is thought to be in terminal decline. Shots of people picking plums in an orchard and a wild crop alongside a road. B/w stills of the industry and plum grower Walter Martin. Roy Jaynes talks about the history of the local crop. Views of Pershore town centre where the first local plum fair was being held. Laura talks to Ann Nicholas who shows how to make a plum flan, plum farmer Paul Hayward about the state of the industry, and John Edgeley of the horticultural society.


Credits

Camera: Roger Hough; Ian O'Donoghue; Adrian Camm
Sound: Roger Guest; Brian Green
VT Editors: Peter Mason; Justin Eely; Saul Prolze
Dubbing: Robin Ward
Research: Holly Tatham; Jill Fraser
Reporters: Wendy Nelson; Laura Martin
Location Directors: Tony Francis; John Dickinson
Series Producer: Tony Francis


Notes

Production number CEN/00938/0030