I love my job.

House lit up at night for filming.

One thing I've found working as a volunteer at Cogges is that, you never know what you'll be called upon to do next. I've done some strange things in the past, like chasing escaped turkeys, taking goats for a walk and trawling through undergrowth in pursuit of escaped chickens. But one thing's for sure, it's never dull. Far from it.

Lady Edith and Marigold with farmer Drewe and family

Then there's the filming. It's no secret that Cogges is the setting for Yew Tree Farm, of Downton Abbey fame, where Lady Edith's daughter, Marigold, is, being looked after by Farmer Drewe and his wife.

Art and me.

Cogges is currently being used as the location for another ITV drama. A three part adaptation of 'Arthur and George', a book by the author, Julian Barnes, based on a true story about Arthur Conan Doyle. They've been filming here for nine days and it's almost becoming normal to see Martin Clunes, who is playing the part of Arthur Conan Doyle, and Art Malik, who plays a vicar, the father of the George in question, walking across the farmyard on their way to and from the filming.

Charles, 'Charlie' Edwards

Another actor taking part is Charles Edwards, who played Michael Gregson, the father of Lady Edith's daughter in Downton. He's playing the character of 'Woody', an associate of Arthur Conan Doyle. But his presence at Cogges this week has caused quite a bit of confusion. Apparently, he took a photo of himself outside the house and sent it to the Laura Carmichael, who plays Lady Edith, saying, "Guess where I am?"

New garden under dining room window

Most of the filming has taken place in the house, with the occasional shots taking place outside. A 'new' flowerbed has appeared under the dining room window and a 'new' wall with a gate, beside the dairy lawn.

One evening some filming was to take place outside and a request was made to Colin, the director of Cogges, to supply some of our chickens for the shooting. One of my jobs is to help put the chickens to bed and when I popped along to feed the farm cats, Colin asked me if I would come back later to help with the chickens during the filming. I of course said yes, although I wasn't convinced that the chickens would cooperate.

Martin and me

Using some of the net fencing that surrounds the chickens to stop them from wandering during the day, we cordoned off a section of the grassy area between the dairy and the side of the house, where the filming was to take place. Then a couple of the film crew were called upon to help move the chicken coop, containing the chickens who'd already settled down for the night, inside the fenced off area.

Waiting for the chicken scene to be filmed

I arrived on time at 6.30 to be told that they were running late. No surprise there then. When they eventually did start filming, I had to wait around while they shot another couple of scenes first. One of the things I've observed about filming is that there's a lot of hanging about done by the film crew. But unlike them, who are usually to be seen looking bored and on their mobiles, I was like a kid in a candy store watching everything that was happening, especially when Art Malik and Martin Clunes appeared.

'George' figure wearing hat, waiting for chickens.

Finally, the time came for the chicken' starring role. The Cream Leg Bars are normally the hardest of all the chickens we have at Cogges to put to bed. But this time they didn't want to come out. Colin and I opened up all the doors of the coop and had to coerce the reluctant chickens out. Colin had earlier scattered some food on the grass in an attempt to keep them in place for the filming. but the chickens were having none of it. Despite our best efforts, by the time George had made his way across the grass, the chickens had made their way back to the coop.

With the help of some of the film crew, and with much hilarity, we managed to get them back out again. The camera man quickly called action and finally the scene was shot with 3 out of a possible 6 chickens actually being captured on camera. All this for what will probably be only 30 seconds of film.

Cream Leg Bars, the morning after the night before.

By this time the chickens were clambering to get back inside the coop. Cold, but happy and excited, I made my way home, while the actors and crew moved on to shoot another scene. It was great fun. But I found out that the saying, 'never work with children or animals' is very true. Especially when it comes to chickens.


For anyone interested,Here's a link to an ITV website which gives a synopsis of the plot.

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/martin-clunes-plays-celebrated-author-sir-arthur-conan-doyle-arthur-george

Photos, Isabel's own.

Don't let the fear of failure stop you from trying.

Monday the 20th October 2014, I woke up to the news that the actress and author, Lynda Bellingham had sadly lost her battle with cancer. The media was full of well deserved tributes. Right up to the end Lynda never gave up. When being accused of giving up on life by stopping her chemotherapy treatment, she responded by saying that she was choosing life. By this she meant that she wanted the time she had left to be quality time. It seemed that the treatment had reached a point where the side effects where taking more of a toll on her body than the cancer. She expressed a desire to spend one last Christmas with her family, but sadly this wasn't to be.

But why am I writing this? what has this sad news got to do with me? 

Two years ago I was privileged to meet Lynda when she came to Cogges Manor Farm to film an episode of a series that she was doing called, 'My tasty travels'. For those of you who may not have seen my blog about it, Lynda was travelling the country recording programmes where she was challenged by someone to cook or bake something. Local people were then called upon to judge to see if they preferred Lynda's offerings or that of the challenger.

Lynda and Carole with their pies.

Here at Cogges, Lynda was challenged by Carole, one of the volunteers who cooks on the range in the Victorian kitchen at weekends, to bake a Victorian meat pie, using only authentic Victorian ingredients and cooking it in the oven of the range. I, along with several other volunteers, were filmed tasting the pies and voting on which one we thought tasted the nicest. Lynda's won and she was really pleased. She reckoned that it was the addition of onion chutney to the meat that did the trick.

Lynda with Tim and me.

In a break during the filming, I asked Lynda if I could take a photograph of her. She responded by asking if I'd like one taken with her. I of course said yes. Lynda then organised Tim, another volunteer at Cogges, to come out into the walled garden and take the photograph. After the photograph was taken, I was chatting to her and told her that I had started writing and had hopes of one day publishing a novel. She then confided in me that she was in fact in the middle of writing her first novel. She told me that she'd been approached by a publishing company, on the strength of her autobiography, to write one. She told me that she was aware that it was because she was famous that she'd been given this opportunity, but that she intended to do it to the best of her ability.  A year later, ' Tell me tomorrow' was published.

Lynda and me.

Sadly, unlike Lynda, I haven't written a novel. I've let the fear of failure stop me from even trying. Lynda's untimely passing has reminded me that life is short and we don't know what's around the corner, or indeed how much time we may have left. Lynda encouraged me that 'Ladies of a certain age' should make the most of any opportunities that life brings their way. After all, that's what my blog is all about.

I haven't been a complete wimp. I have taken other opportunities that have come along, like writing this blog, for example, which I'm pleased to say has been added to three recommended blogger's lists, But I've not been brave enough to start that novel- yet.

The world has lost a very special lady . I'll never forget the day I met her, or the encouragement she gave me. Rest in peace Lynda, you'll be sadly missed.

Photo's of Lynda; Isabel's own.

Cat photo; photo courtesy Drumully Irish Arts