ALL HANDS TO THE PUMP AT HAM

At 17th-century Ham House, on the Thames riverbank in Richmond, Surrey, collections and house manager Dr Hannah Mawdsley wasn’t expecting that her recent PHD thesis on the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19 would suddenly prove so topical. ‘Talk about seeing your research come to life,’ she says.

Head gardener at Ham, Rosie Fyles (inset below), had to watch as 500,000 spring bulbs flowered in sequence, then withered away. On the last day before lockdown, almost 1,000 people turned up to admire them – and then there was no one. The display was the result of years of work. What helped her to manage her disappointment and restore her perspective, she says, is hearing about the wider effects of the lockdown from her best friend, who works in the NHS.

Rosie’s garden team of 80 volunteers was reduced to seven. Chard, spinach and salad leaves from the kitchen garden, which would normally supply the café, went to a local food bank, together with bunches of tulips and peonies. Suddenly house staff were conscripted as undergardeners to tackle the weeds. ‘I’ve got a gardener’s tan and strong glutes,’ boasts house manager Hannah.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever been fitter!’ When the garden reopened to limited numbers of visitors in June, Hannah donned a plastic pinny and became possibly the most over-qualified lavatory cleaner in history.

‘During lockdown we could have been back in the 17th century. No planes, just horses clip-clopping past and church bells,’ she says. ‘That was special, like stepping back in time. But it’s nice to see visitors back. The whole point of houses like this is that they’re here to be shared.’ ■

George Clarke’s National Trust Unlocked will air on Channel 4 soon. As National Trust properties reopen, visit nationaltrust.org.uk for up-to-date information.

The gardens at Ham House and (bottom) the 17th-century facade