Country House Rescue

In the first episode of a new series, Ruth visits Wyresdale Park in Lancashire, home to the Whewell family. The Hall belongs to James Whewell senior and his wife Sally, who have spent decades restoring the estate back to its former glory. Next in line is their son, Jim, who currently lives in London and runs a successful arts and music festival. At some point, his parents would like him to take over the estate, but for that to succeed they need to turn it from a money pit into a viable business. The only trouble is, James junior and senior don't see eye to eye: the father is a traditionalist, the son a reformer. Can Ruth Watson help bring this family together and reverse their fortunes?

Tapeley Park is a mansion located near Westleigh, Devon, that has been in the Christie family for 300 odd years. Current owner, Hector Christie was running Tapeley as a quasi-commune, but has now called on Ruth Watson to help turn the crumbling mansion's destiny around. Tapley has one of the largest collections of William Morris furniture in existence, and Ruth suggests that Hector should capitalise on this as well as the gardens of Tapley to secure the future of the mansion.

Monreith House is an imposing Georgian Mansion built in 1799 near Port William in south west Scotland. It is home to Sir Michael Maxwell, the last in line to one of Scotland's oldest families, who can be traced back to 1481, and whose power and riches have contributed to the architectural heritage in the area. Sir Michael inherited Monreith in the early 1980s from his uncle. But his uncle took the view that it would be cheaper for the grand property to fall down rather than to pay to have it demolished, and left Sir Michael with a house in disrepair.

Ruth visits Trereife House in Penzance, Cornwall. It's a crumbling manor that is making a loss - with the bank close to forcing a sale. Tim Le Grice inherited Trereife House and its huge debts in 1986, and has spent the past 25 years trying to turn around the fortunes of the family home. But Trereife is a house in peril, falling apart at the seams. And while holding down a full time job as a solicitor, Tim has been working 15 hours a day trying new business ventures to give them a much needed cash injection. The house is making a loss.

Kentchurch Court is one of the most historically important houses Ruth has ever worked with. The place has been handed down through the Scudamore family since 1058. When Jan Lucas-Scudamore first married into the family she imagined a life of luxury, but with annual running costs totaling £120,000 Kentchurch is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.

Garston Manor is a Grade II listed Georgian house on the outskirts of Watford, built in 1812. Headmistress Sheila O'Neill bought the house as a wreck for £500,000 from the local council with dreams of turning the decrepit building into a school. Thirteen years later and the Montessori school is just about breaking even. But attempts at diversifying into a wedding and conference venue have failed.

Hill Place in Swanmore, Hampshire is a Grade II listed Georgian villa. Built in 1791, it has been home to Will and Rebecca Dobson since inheriting it from Will's grandmother. With a long list of expensive and urgent repairs needed, as well as additional yearly running costs of £50,000, the pair have no choice but to make Hill Place work as a commercial business.

Pen-y-Lan was built in 1690 by the founder of Lloyds bank and was bought by the Holloway family in 1849. The house has been passed down the generations. Emma Holloway grew up in the house and has, in turn, brought up her four children there. To Emma Pen-y-Lan is her life. But the house is also a noose around her neck - with £300,000 of debt. The house is in a shabby state and without the income to do it up the future looks bleak.

Ruth Watson revisits Abbey Dore Court to see how Charis Ward and her granddaughter Clare's catering holiday business is faring. Charis Ward bought Abbey Dore Court in 1967 for £12,000. In 2000, Charis decided to leave Abbey Dore to live in a more manageable property and the house fell into disrepair. Charis' s 26-year-old granddaughter Clare is determined to bring her formerly happy home back to life.

Ruth revisits Heath House to see how the owners are getting on with their plan to make money using the house as a venue for weddings and events. Since Ruth's visit, Ben has left his job in London and moved to Heath House full time to concentrate on running the house as a business. But will John and Flavia be relieved to see Ben thrive in his new role at the helm of the business?

Ruth Watson revisits Cornelia Bayley at Plas Teg, a Grade I listed Jacobean mansion that has remained virtually unchanged since it was built in 1610. On Ruth's return, she arrives to find a well attended tour of the house in progress, hosted by the organisation the Friends of Plas Teg, who have been working extremely hard to support the house - although they report that Cornelia is still nervous about letting people into the house. Ruth realises Cornelia is still working as hard as ever and resigns herself to the fact that some things will never change.

Ruth Watson revisits the Rogers family at Riverhill House in Kent to see if Ed and Sarah have made a success of their plans to make the estate pay for itself. Four generations of the Rogers family live at Riverhill House in Kent, including 87-year-old great grandmother Evelyn Rogers, who has lived in the grounds since the end of World War II. But over the past 60 years Evelyn has seen the once magnificent estate fall into disrepair.