16th-Century Chatsworth House Gets an Incredible Christmas Makeover _ Our History

Bonfire night marks the start of the Chatsworth Christmas season. 4,000 visitors paying £16 a head enjoy the first mass gathering in two years. It's held over two nights. And the first night proves to be a roaring success. In the house, the Christmas installation is already underway. These are made by my teens, they've got to look perfect. Head of Christmas Susie Stokoe faces the mammoth task of transforming five empty state rooms and six corridors into a celebration of the very best of 20 Chatsworth Christmases past. I've got steam coming out of my ears today. All our brains are massively full of all the things that you need to do, but you can't quite do them yet. Come on Max, come on. Morning all. Morning. Good morning. We won't be in here for more than two or three minutes, but then you've got a deadline. We'll catch up with you in a bit, I hope. This morning, she's pitching her plans to Stoker and Amanda Cavendish, the 12th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, and their rescue dog, Max. The big excitement is... The inner court. Yes. It's something I've wanted to do for so long and I'm hoping it will be that real magical moment. Susie plans to transform the entire central courtyard into a frozen landscape. Much rests on this ambitious scene designed to bring extra wow factor for the two and a half thousand visitors expected daily. It's such a lovely idea, it's a wonderful idea. With the snow falling. Yes. The problem is it's paper, the snow you see, it's pulverised paper, so if the children get a little bit overexcited there could be complete carnage out there. And I see they've put a wooden platform over the water. They've put a wooden platform because the company will be spraying a molten wax onto the wood which sets and it looks like ice. They're brilliant. That will be literally the icing on the cake. Back in the garden, there's trouble brewing over the viability of a second bonfire night. Gales are putting the wind up the senior management team. We need to make a call by, I would say, two at the latest. Yeah. Fireworks, are you receiving over? Yes, we're receiving. Head of events, IFAW, has ordered a test launch by the fireworks company. From the direction of the smoke, that was definitely coming in this direction. The smoke obviously is not the issue, the issue is whether or not the projectile itself actually came anywhere near the audience. The weather forecast is indicating stronger winds and actually building up, aren't they? At this stage, any stronger than this then it would probably be a no-go right from the start. And there's a chance that if we go ahead, we might have to then stop halfway through the thing, which seems... No, no, no, don't do that. Once you've got the fireworks people saying they don't think it's safe, we don't have any choice really, do we? No. But cancelling the second show means that Chatsworth will miss out on the best part of £50,000 of revenue. The situation is we can't take the risk. No. Because the alternative is worse. Yeah. I'll speak to the guys who've got gazebos and stage, because obviously that will need to come down if the winds are picking up. So I'll go back to my office now and I'll send that round. You can send the text, my team will send the emails, we'll update the website and social will go out. And then just, yeah, just let us know who you get to. I'll start refunding. It's really gutting. Last night was such a success and smiley faces and enjoyment and not being able to do that again after so much hard work is really disappointing. Chatsworth's Christmas season may be off to a staggering start, but in the house this year's grand installation is gathering pace. The inner court dates back to 1689 and is surrounded by the principal rooms of the house. Responsible for transforming this sanctum into a winter wonderland for the first time in Chatsworth's history is senior collections technician Luke Stones. I didn't think it was going to open. So we've got a company coming in, they're going to spray everything with like paper snow and we're going to run a hose through the house for the next three days. With the contractors on site, it's time to unload the white stuff. Oh yeah, this is exciting. Man, he's making a mess of the grass as well, oh my god. Is there anything that you want to get into here? Yes, we'll bring as much as we can bring in here and then we'll discuss this fountain with Susie. Well, she's hiding by the window just there. I'll have a chat to her then. The 300-year-old central fountain is crowned with a leaping hair statue by renowned sculptor Barry Flanagan. Susie is worried about the risks of installing a wooden platform which will then be sprayed with a molten wax to look like a frozen pond. Our only concern I think is the edge because obviously we can't get any wax on the stone, can we? No. So that's our main priority. I think the plan was to cover it. Okay, yeah. So it looks like the snow's blown onto the ice. Yeah, I'm with you, I'm with you. So it's got to have a lining around there and we'll staple gun it on. Once this is in, I might sleep. It is keeping me awake at night. So quite exciting, quite nerve-wracking. It's the big thing but it's something we've never done before so there's always that risk. Is there a plan B? No. The collections team are just as sceptical. I don't understand how it's going to work. It's like magic. Witchcraft. Christmas Eve, we know what we're doing. Snow angels in the courtyard. It might be some people's only white Christmas coming here. It might be our only white Christmas, so no pressure. The snow team's installing a foam blowing machine designed to create a fake blizzard in the courtyard every 15 minutes. Come on then, Luke. You can have a go, mate. Yeah, I made it. There you go. Look at that. That's fantastic. Finely diced paper is used to create a snow blanket ground effect. So once this is all down and all dressed, no one will be able to walk through this. For one, it'll ruin the effect and two, they'll probably traipse paper snow through the building. That's starting to look really good. Welcome to Derbyshire, it's very wet. With just a week to go until opening, Chatsworth's Christmas installation gets into full gear. But the Derbyshire weather strikes once again. It's so grim. It's rained for about five days, but it feels like forever. Everything is wet. Come rain or shine, manager Pamela is responsible for all the exterior Christmas displays. So what's going on at the moment is I need to use this tape to basically anchor the bottom of each of these strands of light. Because of the wind at the moment, they're just going to be flying around. So this is like one of the only job that really requires no skills whatsoever, which is why I'm ending up doing it. This year, Christmas in the garden is going to be bigger than ever. They've given us the wrong size of plug. With over a mile and a half of cables powering 1400 lights, ensuring everything shines bright is head electrician Gary. Looks like about 800 lights going on each side of the cascades. They look very good. Let's get on with it. OK. Might as well pull this one straight over. I'm getting too old for this. The main cable to feed everything hasn't arrived yet. It might be in a container somewhere at a dock somewhere, to be truthful. Who knows? In the inner court, the wax may have frozen safely around the hair fountain, but the torrential rain is causing havoc for Luke. Pollocks. Shit. Not only has a downpour reduced his paper snow to papier-mâché... We have a slight technical issue. We've got no power to our snow machines. Chatsworth's electrics have shorted out and it's the last day of snow preparations. This is a standard Chatsworth curveball. Susie's coming in on a day off to check out the final result with Susie sort of like, you know, there. You know, I can feel her watching me. But little does Luke know that his paper snow pain... has only just begun. It's just an absolute mess. It's carnage. At Chatsworth House, the heavens may have opened, but Christmas has come early. Ready? Some of these are huge. Of the 33 trees destined for the house tour, eight Nordman firs will take centre stage. Today we've got to try and get the two big trees into the house, which are 24 feet tall. And negotiating it through the house past the ornaments is obviously quite difficult. And also we've got the added pressure of there's a snow display, which we're not allowed to leave footprints on. So we have to try and practice the art of levitating. And the weather is horrendous. Ready? We go right round. The downpour means that these monsters are nearly twice their normal weight. Can you open that door, Paul? It has to go through. Stop, stop, stop, stop. Getting this to stand up is going to be a nightmare. It's soaked. The soggy tree faces a fraught journey across a frozen landscape. I'm blinded. It's a blizzard. It's cool. Luke and Susie are in high spirits after the successful transformation of the inner court. I feel like a kid, it's great. I just want to run around in a snow angel. It's doing everything that I want it to do. This was the biggest worry because it's a first. But their celebrations may have come too early. As over half a tonne of tree and 12 burly estate workers blunder through Luke's freshly laid blanket of fragile paper snow on their way to the painted hall. Oh man, this is ridiculous. It's just an absolute mess. It's carnage. So now we've got to try and manoeuvre this tree so it stands up vertically and we've got to aim it into that eight inch pipe, which it can be quite stressful. The painted hall with delicate murals dating back to the 1600s is Chatsworth's largest and grandest room. You've only really got one go to get it up and there's all these delicate ornaments everywhere and the public, which are also in today. Ready? Yep. One attempt, that's the first time I've ever done that. The 24 footer may be sitting pretty but Luke is unimpressed. No one is going to be allowed to walk on the snow after this. I'm going to be on snow patrol for the entirety of Christmas which is like two months. A fresh batch of paper snow has to be made up to patch up Narnia. Let's just have a wander out, shall we? So what I'm trying to do here is only walk on the footsteps that have gone before and it's proving really difficult to like cover their tracks. Oh man, this is absolutely terrible. Oh, I mean it looks an absolute state now, doesn't it? In the garden, the mile-long light trail is nearing completion. Come on, come on, come on, good boy. It's his favourite bit along here. The garden lights team have gone home for the night but the Duchess has snuck out to check up on their handiwork. This evening I've got Max, of course, who's the star of the show and then I've got Astra and Paxton. Oh, now round this corner is the fountain and I can feel it now, it's lovely. And also tonight it's changing colours which is thrilling but I also love this hedge which has got like stars. Come on, come on. Nearly a thousand lights have transformed the Grand Cascade into a golden staircase. The avenue of beech trees are in technicolour and for the first time the glass house is part of the illuminations. This year's light trail is full of surprises. I thought I might take the dogs home, see what happens. Oh, oh, oh and music too. Oh, where's the music coming from? Where is it? Oh, there you are Astra, well done, well done. And now here is a special treat because if you press this red button you'll see what happens. And at the very far end is a bust of the 6th Duke, the Bachelor Duke. And it's just such a lovely thing to be lit up at the far end, it's lovely. Whee, oh look, it's all sparkling too. There's always quite a bit of pressure with this one in the chapel tree to make them look really spectacular. In the painted hall the giant tree has finally dried out but there's still a mountain to climb for Emma and the house team. We estimate that there are about 3,000 baubles on each large tree but that's just a guess. But at least they're having a smashing time. We've got quite a lot of glass baubles on this tree so they have got quite a long way to go and it's marble floor at the bottom so I've had to really reach with the long pole to get up to the very top and this is as high as our scaffolding will go. If you smash a glass bauble then you get a point and the person with the most points at the end of the week has to buy some prosecco to celebrate finishing Christmas in store. So the game is on. Over the course of 500 years generations of Cavendish family have collected a spectacular array of art. In the north sketch gallery Luke has been tasked with yet another delicate mission. Just removing the ceramics display in the north sketch for tree as part of the Christmas display for this year. These contemporary masterpieces are the Duke's passion. The Duke and Duchess love collecting contemporary ceramics love purchasing so that they can put them on the public route for the visitors to enjoy. And the Duke is here to supervise replacing the current display with pieces that have more Christmassy sensibilities. Not a good moment to arrive by the look of things. Hi Duke, you all right? Shall I take that? Oh amazing, thank you. We're going to talk a little bit about what we're going to put for Christmas. So might you have ceramics in the middle and silver on the side? It might be worth the Kato suite maybe on this. Yes. On this level because they're quite interesting from the book. Yes. I mean it looks like a huge ashtray. I think that's wonderful and I like having the difference in the textures. Yeah. I mean like almost everything that I like acquiring it's pretty visceral and go for it. I believe ladies do that with clothes sometimes. This is best on its side. Changing it around is great fun. In the Victorian laundry, textiles technician Amy and her team are seeking inspiration from Chatsworth's Christmases past. I'm at one with the stalk. The triffids are leaving the building. Nine years ago a 45-foot beanstalk adorned the oak staircase for Christmas and was such a success that it's undergone a reincarnation. So we've been busy making our beanstalk. So they're all patchworked and all done out of cloth this year. So hopefully it'll look beautiful and we're hoping that we're going to launch it without any hitches. On hand and perched on Chatsworth's acre of roof are house team George and Paul. Shall I lower this rope down? Perfect. Okay, thank you. Carry on for that now George. It's up. The Chatsworth Christmas team may be in full swing but there's one major problem. The 17th century chapel is missing a key highly ambitious brand new commission. We're having a difficult day today. In a Nottingham workshop and still under construction is a nutcracker inspired all singing all dancing life-sized music box. Just heard that one of the key people in the production of the music box has Covid. So I'm hoping he's not had a lot of contacts because I think there's about five guys coming. So that means that they're not going to get it completed in time for installation on Wednesday afternoon which was quite important because we've got press on Thursday morning and the chapel was going to be one of the key locations for press. So it's a bit of a blow. Not only is Susie's masterpiece sure to miss tomorrow's all-important press day, it's now looking highly unlikely that it will arrive in time for the public opening in three days time. We are all trying to rack our brains to sort of work a solution. At Chatsworth House, preparations are nearly complete for the first festive house tour in two years. A 20th anniversary celebration of the best Chatsworth Christmases past. 2015 returns in the Oak Room where Mr Toad has once again gathered his friends. In the Grand Dining Room, the table has been laid with the finest Cavendish family silver and the 24-foot tree in the Painted Hall, an annual favourite, is fully baubled. But the key music box installation in the chapel, which has cost Chatsworth over £10,000, is still a no-show. Now Susie's worried whether it's going to turn up at all. The music box, you know, when it opens and it's completely lined in mirror and shines, it should be that thing that people don't forget. It is the showstopper. So it's important we get it done, we get it in. It just might be a bit late. The phone's ringing. Hello, Luke speaking. Hi Cal, you all right? Yeah, thank you for getting back to me. So yeah, where are we currently at? OK, yeah, magic. All right, thanks for that, Cal. Thanks a lot, bye. The music box will arrive tomorrow morning. It should be done by midday. And then it's done at that point. Talk about on the wire. I mean, that is on the wire. It's the lunchtime. Can't get much closer, could you? But at least it's... Nothing else can go wrong. It's got to go like clockwork. We've literally just got to open it. Oh, thank God for that. The news may be a welcome relief for Susie, but now is not the time to relax. This morning, 20 journalists are arriving for an exclusive preview of the Christmas tour. Actually, if I keep my radio turned up, we'll probably hear when somebody gives the nod. For head of marketing, Jonathan, it's his biggest day of the year. A bit more challenging this year, because usually we have actors as part of the route, and we haven't this year due to COVID. So we got some of the collections team to stand in instead. Of course, they are very busy trying to finish decorating. So me trying to drag them into photos doesn't make for the easiest of situations. I'm very quickly trying to tidy up after last night's slightly late finish. I've got to go and don a white rabbit outfit for press day. Conservation assistant Nia may be unimpressed by Jonathan's call to duty, but supervisor Sheena... All right, Jill, everything okay? Yes, absolutely fine, thank you. ...has managed to marshal a more willing mix of volunteers. We've got all manner of characters from all the themes of Christmas. We've got pearly queens, we've got flower girls, and I believe we've got a weasel. Yes, we have a weasel. Jonathan leads his hungry press pack through the route. Shall we go in the painted hall, and then we'll wait for the other guys to turn up. The white rabbit's on its way. Just as a late-for-a-very-important-date white rabbit, a.k.a. Nia... This is what I'm talking about. ...catches up with the entourage. Thanks. The inner court proves to be an irresistible visual magnet, and the journos want all Chatsworth's cast of characters to go out and play in the virgin snow. That'd be amazing. We will get a snow queen, and we'll get her in the middle. I agree, I agree. Jonathan may be happy to oblige, but Luke is underwhelmed. Obviously, they want to walk out on the snow. I went out yesterday to redress the snow. It took me three hours. The question is, can we get people out in the snow? Can we take people outside into the snow? No, they just reset it last night. I'm not happy, but, you know. You can't stand on the snow. We can't stand on the snow, because it's not real snow, and it'll make a mess of it. Basically, you can't make any footprints. We have a snow queen outfit, and we could always sort of scoot around and do a quick hop. Just when they seem to be at an impasse, textiles assistant Olivia comes up with a snow queen solution. Having a great time. I guess. To be a princess. In a true Chatsworth compromise, a solo Olivia is sent out across the icy wasteland. But Luke's snow anxiety levels are still running high. Four minutes to snow time. It's a big build up for this. And Jonathan can unleash his inner court blizzard. It'll be beautiful. Christ, I think we should get some good coverage. Jonathan's got away with it, but there's one major downer. With just 36 hours to go until the grand opening, the chapel's centerpiece installation still hasn't arrived. One of the key shots we're hoping for today was of the music box, and so we did have a few photographers that were rather disappointed by that. It is Susie's central pièce de résistance. God forbid if it doesn't arrive, fingers crossed, everything's gonna be okay. The day has come. The music box team has made it, but by the closest of margins. They've less than 24 hours to construct and test Susie's contraption before it performs in front of paying visitors. Can't tell you how excited I am. It's that final thing. It has to work. You feeling strong? Sorry, just gonna squeeze past you, sorry. Thank you. Once on its plinth, the automated music box is keen to spring to life and flex its muscles. Jesus God. Probably a slight nervous breakdown now. Chatsworth's new baby seems intent on making its mark on the chapel's 300-year-old irreplaceable marble floor. I think it's all right. But all is forgiven when the music box reveals her inner talents. Magical. I was worried about it last week, but, you know, sort of. We were all worried about it last week. And the Duchess is here to greet the latest addition to the Chatsworth family. Morning, Susie. Hello. It's an exciting moment. It is, it's so wonderful. Really, really thrilling. It's the final thing. Will it be ready for tomorrow? It will be ready. It must be. Thank goodness for that. Oh, I was so nervous. It was slightly on the wire, wasn't it? Slightly. Thank you again, you two, especially, because you've done so much to get it ready. Susie in particular, you've been amazing. It's very, very exciting. Bye, bye. This year is so special and it's full of lovely things and every room is bursting with excitement. Outside the main entrance, it takes a team of contractors less than 48 hours to install one of the nation's favourite Christmas markets. Christmas at Chatsworth is amazing. It's one of my favourite shows of the year. The smell some of these food stalls come out with, it does drive you a bit insane in the morning. If I started on the mulled wine, you wouldn't see me that much. I'd be in the corner quite happy. With 135 stalls and crowds of over 2,000 expected each day, this potentially gigantic revenue earner for both Chatsworth and stallholders has always been a gamble. And last year, it was cancelled entirely thanks to the pandemic. Lots resting on it. For most of the people here, it's a year's worth of work. Depends on the next three weeks. This is our first big event back after over 18 months and this has always been our best event. We just make the most money really, it helps us to survive and so we hope there's going to be a really good time. There we go. Merry Christmas. From stallholders to staff and even for a duke and a duchess, everything is riding on a successful opening day for Christmas at Chatsworth. Morning team. Hi there. Merry Christmas. Chatsworth staff arrive early to welcome 2,000 visitors for the first day of the Christmas house tour. Hello there, you got a booking? Brilliant. Straight on down the roadway and somebody will park you up down there. The duchess is up and about. There we are. Ooh, yes, there's a bit of a queue. And Jonathan is here to greet the morning rush. We don't open for another 20 plus minutes and already those with the 10 o'clock tickets are already starting to congregate around the entrance. There's always going to be some early birds and that's fine. Hopefully people won't have to wait too long and there's more and more people coming in. Lovely. Merry Christmas, you can come in. Morning everyone. That is the first people to go into Chatsworth House at Christmas for two years. Very exciting times. Good morning, good morning. Oh, there's a beginning to snow. It's snowing. 10 o'clock on the first day, we just wanted to be here. You come in and you just feel just proud to be British. Oh, it's just magical. I mean, you can't do this in your own house, can you? Incredible. The displays are so creative. I like Mr Toad, it's fantastic. Morning, morning. Welcome to Chatsworth. Thank you very much, isn't it nice to be back? Oh, isn't it wonderful? The Duke's not here, sadly. He's having a new knee. At his lady's side, as ever, is Max. Come on, Max. He looks rather bored. Max, come on. Good boy. Hello. Good morning. Now, have you heard a lot of people commenting about the Little Reindeer? We have, and they love the idea that it's homemade. I have to keep an eye on Max because she sometimes goes and picks them up. Oh, bless. Come on, Max. Come on. Have you seen the snow? Yes. Do you want to stroke him? Very friendly. Oh, yes. I like the snow near the Christmas tree. The first day of the Christmas house tour makes Chatsworth over £50,000. And another 2,000 visitors flood through the market, which is enjoying an unseasonably balmy 14 degrees centigrade. Today's particularly warm, so no coat, jump around my neck and a T-shirt on. Must be really warm. I've taken off my jacket. Yeah, to take off a jacket in November is good. I've got the scarf, my gloves, my hat, they're all in the bag. It's like bloody swim shorts weather, isn't it? But for market organiser Simon, it's attracted some uninvited visitors. I think it's not only do people come out when the weather's like this, the bees, they're all coming out foraging. And they're having field day. Can you do me a favour? You've got a load of bees swarming around the front here. Can you get a brush and sweep this out? I'm assuming there's loads of sugar here. Do you mind? There was a swarm of bees attack one of the chocolate stalls, which is unfortunate for the owner because she had to bin most of it, I think. Everyone was running down to my stall. I thought, wow, everyone's heard how amazing my honey is. But no, it was like, because I'm a beekeeper, quick, there's a beekeeper, come and help. There's nothing I can do because if the bees are out foraging and they can't find nectar or pollen, the sugar and donut stall will do very nicely. I've only had a few, but I know at the top they've been really bad. She had to throw everything away and that is heartbreaking. Some stalls have been forced to shut up shop entirely. If the temperature's above 10 degrees, really that's going to happen every day. And now on the house tour, visitors have spotted another pesty invasion. Yeah, go ahead, Dorothy, over. I'm just going to be a couple of minutes. But this time it's not apian, it's avian. I'm going to try and let it out the window. Good Lord. I mean, he's not going to get out there, is he? A blue tit has found its way into the great chamber. Luckily, Luke has his trusty bird-catching net. He's just perched up on the top there. Can't really do anything with my net from down here. Hi. Backup arrives. This is the smoke alarm tester. In the form of Dorothy and her magic bird wand. I've got a degree to make me qualified to use this. I'm hyped. Where's it gone now? Oh, dude. Don't say anything. That was really bad timing. Is it over there? No, it's over here. There. Damn it. Did I get it? No. Did you get it? No. Nearly broke my stick, though. Suddenly, the blue tit makes a bid for freedom. Shut the door, shut the door, shut the door. Flies into a side room off the visitor route. Game on. Let's do it. And does a disappearing act. Maybe it's gone straight out the window, then. But that would be too good to be true. We didn't see it. I'm going to take that. No, you cannot take that. I can take that. That's nothing to do with you. I was involved in the process. I opened the door and the windows. So really, that's my win. We weren't against each other. At Chatsworth House, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire are enjoying a white Christmas. This is the first time we've really had proper fake snow, isn't it? Yes. Even if it's not entirely real. You know it's made of paper? Yes. I think that's extraordinary because you'd think it would go all soggy. No, they seem to have got it beautifully organized. I'm sure it's something we'll do again. And I love the way they've made the pond icy. It's really realistic. I think the grandchildren would love that. All 10 of them are coming for Christmas this year. It's our turn, as it were. And they'll be thrilled, the ones who haven't seen it. The Christmas market is seeing record visitor numbers. And temperatures have dropped to normal December levels, which is bad news for the bees. The Chatsworth bees love joining everybody in the market, which is quite cute, really. But today, they won't be out if it's below 10 degrees. They don't like to fly unless they're desperate, really. Everybody's happy, which is nice. And I think everybody needs that with all the years we've had. And I'm actually running out of stuff, so that's why I'm knitting more. Head of marketing Jonathan is on his last Christmas mission. Every year, we have a competition for the best dressed stall at the Christmas market. Fiercely contested, probably because the first prize is a free stall at the Christmas market next year, which can obviously be worth quite a lot of money. It's about who's gone above and beyond. Just photographing your stall. Don't worry about it. Can you guess why I'm photographing your stall? Because we look so gorgeous. Because we're going to win the prize. Love the honey lady, giant sunflowers, smiley people that work inside it as well, which always helps. I knew that there was a competition, given it's Chatsworth, and it is prestigious. I chopped down my garden, so all of the leaves in our display are real, because I'm all about natural ingredients and my perfumes as well. She's certainly pushed the boat up on that. I think it'll be close for number one. Some people take it really seriously. It's not designed as that. It's actually designed to be a bit of fun. Jonathan hands over to market organiser, Simon, to award the prizes. One of the best parts of the event is actually passing these out and seeing the looks on people's faces. Have you got a moment? Do you want to come out the front? Congratulations on being nominated in the top 10. Thank you very much. Brilliant effort. This is the top prize. Oh my god! Thank you very much. Delighted for you. Don't you sock me off in a minute. This really is the best bit. It was worth chopping down my garden. It's such a great display. First place. Thank you very much. Absolutely stunning. Find someone else's garden to chop down next year then. That was lovely. Christmas at Chatsworth is nearly complete. In Enzo Village Church, the community gather for carols with their Duchess and Duke. Right, it's really good to see so many people. Shall I keep it on? Canon Dave leads his congregation outside for one last Chatsworth tradition. It's getting quite glowy and rainy. Everybody ready for the countdown? Five, four, three, two, one. As Christmas has truly begun. Oh come let us adore him. Despite the challenges of the last few weeks, Christmas at Chatsworth has proved a triumph in the face of adversity. These gardens are fantastic. Yeah, it's given us inspiration for when we go home, hasn't it? It's amazing. It's so interactive. It's brilliant. I love it. I'm like a little kid. In the gardens, the spectacular light fandango has wowed over 150,000 visitors. It's fantastic. It's beautiful. In the US, it's kind of like tacky, a little bit more colourful. Yeah, this is very much more classy. Classy, yes. In the house, there's time to reflect on one of the toughest years in over three centuries of Chatsworth history. Well, we've opened, so that's a good start. This year, they've really had a triumph. Yes, but we couldn't know that for sure. So of course, we had to keep going and keep going. And hope. It's all part of the process of, you know, Christmas at Chatsworth. Is it worth all the hard work? Yes, it is. Absolutely, it is. I will admit that I kind of got to that point of what I call borbolitis, where I start thinking about 22 now. So I don't really know what year I'm in at the moment. When you're in the midst of standing in the pouring rain, trying to get electricity to work and get the snow filled in the inner court, but then to see people just say, wow, it's absolutely worth the payoff. It's been really amazing. It is a bit emotional. We just want it to be bigger and better. Each year. For me, it's quite emotional. You know, we're open and we're back. And I think I'm feeling a lot of what others are feeling. It's lovely. And, you know, long may it continue.