A major Channel 4 documentary series about the wonders of the
Titanic and starring the magnificent Shugborough Estate, begins
next Monday (September 27).
Titanic: The Mission follows a team of modern day historians and
engineers as they recreate innovations on board The Titanic against
the clock.
During the five-part series they rebuilt part of the ship's hull
in Belfast and forged the anchor in Sheffield.
At Shugborough - which is the location for the third episode -
they recreated the electrical power needed on the liner as part of
the three and a half day filming event in May.
An enormous steam-powered electricity generator from 1911 was
placed in front of the mansion house. The striking UK-made
equipment weighed 16 tonnes and was brought up from the south coast
on a 60 foot flat bed trailer.
This generator was fired up and used to operate traditional
equipment in the estate kitchen including an authentic cooker from
the period, ice cream makers and mixers. Here one of the country's
best chefs produced a six course menu - a meal which was due to be
cooked on the Titanic but was never made because of the ship's
demise.
The meal included such delights as quails' eggs in aspic and
roast squab.
The dinner was served to 20 guests in the mansion house's state
dining room. The guests include descendants from people on the
Titanic including relatives of the ship's pianist who lost his life
when the boat sank. Guests were entertained by a piece of music
which he composed especially for the journey.
The programme also features guests keeping fit on an unusual
piece of gym equipment- an electric horse (again powered by the
steam generator).
Finally the entourage retired to the garden terraces to find out
just how much power this incredible generator could produce.
Thousands and thousands of lights adorned the formal garden
terraces in an attempt to power up exactly the same number of
lights that were on board the fated ship.
To find out whether the team were successful or not watch the
hour long Shugborough episode at 9pm on Monday October 11th.