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From Shetland to the Scilly Isles, Open Country travels the UK in search of the stories, the people and the wildlife that make our countryside such a vibrant place. Each week we visit a new area to hear how local people are growing the crops, protecting the environment, maintaining the traditions and cooking the food that makes their corner of rural Britain unique.
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In this week's Open Country, Richard Uridge travels to Northumberland to uncover a story that would put Robert the Bruce's spider to shame. Ho Sanderson (his unusual name means "joy" in Chinese) was born and brought up at Eshott Hall, a house which dates back to the 17th century, but which had seen better days.
When the trustees in charge of the estate decided to demolish the hall and replace it with a bungalow, Ho and his wife decided they had to act to save it. It took seven years to devise a plan, track down the trustees and begin the restoration work. The Sandersons found themselves being pioneers of enabling development.
The restoration of the estate village at Eshott (which included some new houses) provided income to restore the Hall. Now the village is thriving and the Hall is once more a beautiful house - and a place for conferences and weddings too.
Having been so successful in saving his own stately home, Ho realised that this could be a way of preserving those bits of our heritage which are not quite special enough for organisation like the National Trust to save, but which shouldn't be allowed to crumble. And at the same time, developments like these could revitalise rural areas, providing much needed houses and jobs.
So now Ho - a farmer ten years ago - has turned conservationist-developer with sustainability as his watchword, busy applying his beliefs to Hartford Hall, another local estate whose main building is on English Heritage's "at risk" register.
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