A recent rugby football match got us at Plover Cottage thinking back to our visit to Twickenham. Not to see a game unfortunately, but nevertheless a wonderful experience all the same. We had just begun our adventure by appearing on the tv programme Four In A Bed. We had no idea what to expect and didn’t have any preconceived ideas, it was quite a journey and an interesting experience. Plover Cottage was approached to appear on the show and Cleide in truth, hadn’t even seen the show so had no idea what she was about to become involved in, or indeed let herself in for.
The filming is undertaken over two weeks, though of course the ‘finished article’ is shown over one week’s consecutive viewing. If you think about this, the logistics of filming at four different locations around the country wouldn’t be feasible over 4 consecutive nights, as we were about to discover! The magic of tv though of course can create this illusion. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves – you get an opportunity to showcase your business on national tv for a week at prime viewing time, what could go wrong?
Well with hindsight let’s think about that, you are away from your businesses for the best part of two weeks, admittedly you ‘host’ for one night and you have a weekend interlude in between shooting. However in reality that weekend isn’t a weekend because depending when you are in the filming schedule you could be the upcoming hosts, and if so, as the hosts you have to be ready for the guests arriving (the other 3 parties in the show) or you are travelling on a Sunday in preparation for the filming commencing the following day, if you’re one of the visitors assessing your fellow hoteliers.
Your business, it’s hoped, is busy, but of course you cannot be in two places at once, so has perhaps involved a lot of toing and froing over the phone whilst others are acting on your behalf in your absence. Always a worry at the best of times in any small business where ‘you’ are the business. We also collectively were in the midst of Covid regulations – this was June 2021 and we were all living in this strange world and none of us knew what the future held, or indeed what was happening week to week at the time. Worrying times for everybody which nobody could have foreseen, knew what to expect, or what the future would hold, uncertainty was rife.
So, we had ‘auditioned’ virtually and been accepted, we now received our call-sheet which outlined our schedule for the show, where we to go, when, timings etc. For the show to be realistic you cannot have any prior knowledge of where you are going to be staying, any details of each other’s establishments and of course no contact prior to being introduced on day 1 of filming. This guarantees that when you see the contestants arriving at each other’s properties you honestly have no preconceived ideas, where you are going, what type of accommodation, or the quality of accommodation, indeed anything at all. The looks you see on people’s faces, their comments, along with first impressions when they arrive are 100% realistic. Without wishing to spoil the fun should you wish to watch the programmes we’ll just give a little synopsis of what took place during filming, without giving away the result.
Destination 1 – The Swan Inn Midhurst, West Sussex
So, it was as we arrived at destination 1 – The Swan Inn Midhurst, West Sussex we met the one & only Digby who welcomed us to his traditional inn with a twist – we weren’t expecting a secure gun cabinet in our room! Though in fairness Cleide thought it was perhaps a means of storage for umbrellas until I put her right. It transpired, as we were about to discover that Digby was a shooting fan, and his establishment was geared up for this niche clientele. If you’ve watched the show and are familiar with its format you will know that after arriving at your destination and settling in, each host or hosts provide an activity for the day. We duly were taken a short distance to the nearby countryside and discovered we were to try our hand at clay pigeon shooting. Imagine Digby’s dismay when John scored a hit with his first shot! – however this turned out to be beginner’s luck and a couple of clipped clays were all that followed. Cleide managed to hit a clay too with some assistance from her instructor for the day.
All the other contestants enjoyed themselves, though it’s fair to say Digby and Gary’s previous experience showed through. We then went back to change and enjoy food and bubbly in the Swan, and everyone was getting a chance to get to know one another. The following morning breakfast was served across the road at a café that Digby had an arrangement with which was heartily enjoyed in some much appreciated morning sunshine. None of us had appreciated how much filming would be required to create the ‘edited’ show which we get to see on the tv. Late nights and early starts were going to become the norm for us all.
After breakfast it is time for each of the contestants to critique the hosts establishment and provide your thoughts on the hosts and your accommodation (how you’d slept, the welcome you’d received, the standard of cleanliness and state of the facilities, breakfast etc) you then decide how much you will pay – full amount, reduced rate if you were dissatisfied with something, or indeed overpayment if you felt the hosts provided over and above for the rates they were charging. Then you were filmed individually leaving to travel to your next destination.
Destination 2 – The Osterley Park hotel in Isleworth
Which took us to London. The destination was to be west London – so maybe Richmond or Chelsea? we tried to guess, maybe some luxury boutique B and B, though that thought was dispelled when the previous night Sunny disclosed he ran a 78 room hotel! We are now thinking wow, what’s this going to be like?
However, it’s fair to say it wasn’t quite what we expected, we arrived at destination 2 – The Osterley Park hotel in Isleworth. We were again welcomed by our hosts then shown our rooms which as we were filmed, we commented on giving our first impressions before being readied to get away to our day’s activity. This turned out to be a trip to the home of English rugby union Twickenham. On the way we were following Digby who managed to lose his case from his boot without realising. Quite literally as he sped along his car boot flipped open and the case came out, bouncing down the road, we managed to retrieve it and return it as we arrived at Twickenham stadium. There we had a wonderful afternoon taking in the stadium itself, impressive in its own right. Managing to sit in the best seats in the house, if you watch the programme, you’ll see Sunny had a very special seat. We were shown the museum which was fascinating and even got into the changing rooms for the players. At the time by coincidence it was in readiness for the following day’s Gallagher premiership game between Harlequins and the Exeter Chiefs – it appears we were not a lucky charm for the Chiefs as we visited their changing room and they subsequently lost! Nevertheless we’d had a great day, back to the hotel before we were going to enjoy a meal prepared by Sunny’s staff then retire for the evening. Again we would decide what we’d made of our visit and give our scores and pay what we felt was appropriate for our accommodation.
The next day we were to head back home in readiness for Plover Cottage ‘hosting’ the 3rd night and John was to attend his retirement from a full time work party that evening (Friday), what could go wrong on a return trip from London to West Yorkshire? After getting things ironed out with the film crew and director to make sure we would be conducting all filming and interviews first, we were up early to conclude our interviews to allow us to leave in good time for our drive back north.
Suffice to say after John’s boss and former colleagues had gone to great lengths for his send off and organised a pig roast, cake and gifts, the inevitable happened. The return trip couldn’t have gone worse, leaving London in good time, it was only on reaching the M1 that things took a turn for the worst. To say things then literally went from bad to worse doesn’t do it justice really. Frantic telephone calls giving updates on the journey back, but the reality was the trip took around an extra 2/3 hours due to a series of accidents and hold-ups, true to form the party was now in full swing without the retiree, but as can only happen in these situations the weather too conspired to be atrocious in God’s Country. So it was that John’s last call on the day to report still being at least an hour away, he was informed that they’d had to call it a day as the weather was getting worse and the party therefore having to be called short as it was becoming a complete washout. You just couldn’t make it up.
Destination 3 – Plover Cottage
So, destination 3 was to be the turn of Plover Cottage to ‘host’ for our fellow contestants. After the events of the dreadful evening return it was a case of all hands to the pumps as we prepared to get ready for the arrival of our ‘tv guests’ – including making one of the properties, Plover Cottage itself, the ‘nerve centre’ for the tv crew to set up their equipment and temporary mixing studios whilst in West Yorkshire. That said there was of course the ‘regular day to day running of the business’ to contend with first, some cleaning and preparing of the properties for all guests in addition to the Four in a bed contestants, on Cleide and John’s return. Back to reality then, and as Cleide commented when asked after her 15 minutes of fame on tv, what’s it like now being a celebrity? She so perfectly replied ‘well I’m still cleaning toilets and making beds’, a fairly pragmatic and realistic assessment I think it’s fair to say.
Cleide was keen to present Lindley and West Yorkshire in their best light. She feels strongly that since coming to England some years ago the country has been good to her and allowed her to sustain a good way of life through hard work and she definitely calls it her home. With this in mind as Plover Cottage properties are ‘self-catering’, it was necessary to provide a nearby breakfast for our guests. What better place than Caffe Dolce Vita run by Sam, a mere 5 minute walk from the properties. After organising an activity it was another local establishment that did us proud, Eric’s Restaurant and Bar where we were able to enjoy a lovely meal before being back ‘on camera’ discussing our day and our ‘guests’ having their opportunity to ‘grill us’ a little over Plover Cottages and properties and a little bit of our backstory, how we met, how long Cleide had run the business and how John was going into semi-retirement to help where he could.
As for the activity itself, we journeyed to the local landmark of The Piece Hall in Halifax which Cleide had discovered a few years ago after it was regenerated with lottery funding into a local attraction. This was originally an 18th century cloth hall for trading fabrics and now houses historic museum style exhibits, has shops, bars, restaurants and is home to concerts during the summer, so is a hub for the local community. You’ll have to watch the programme on channel 4 catch up to see how we got on (our episode was season 23 episode 38, and the week was covered in episodes 36-40). All we can say is John was offered a job as a volunteer anytime by Nicky Chance-Thompson DL, the CEO of the Piece Hall, for as she said, ‘flying the flag’ for The Piece Hall, maybe just a little tongue in cheek.
So, our penultimate day was to be spent at The Forge Guests Rooms in Leicestershire. Gary and Liz were to be the final hosts for the week. We arrived in a small village and after having been greeted and allocated our accommodation we had a look round at our final surroundings for the show.
We were then whisked away for the day’s activity which transpired to be different again, with a short journey to the nearby East Midlands Aeropark which is both an aviation museum and viewing area. This allows you to study the preserved aircrafts of the past whilst at the same time having great views of the modern airliners of today taking off and landing at the adjoining East Midlands airport.
We were shown some fine aircraft and were able to go inside a surveillance aircraft which is believed may well have been used in the days leading to the end of Saddam Hussain’s leadership. It was interesting being able to get so close and personal to these magnificent aircraft and a significant part of recent history. We enjoyed a wonderful ‘final evening’ by relaxing at Liz and Gary’s home with both our fellow contestants and all the film crew and staff of the production company. At the end of a nice social evening we once again all had to film our thoughts and impressions of our final hosts and their accommodation before turning in for the night.
The next morning we would complete our ‘scores’, and make our payments before departing to a ‘neutral hotel’, where the scenes are filmed for the payment day sequence where everybody discovers what they have been paid by their fellow competitors and are able to get any questions answered they may have about the feedback they received for their various establishments. This was filmed by reviewing the first two properties we all visited and discovering how they had faired with payments, a break for lunch, then back to do the same for the final two properties. After which the results are announced and the winner is given the distinctive Four in a Bed plaque and a glass of bubbly for all the contestants before we all return home.
For us at Plover Cottage we were delighted with our scores and the feedback we received, along with the important question everybody is asked: would you stay again?
So if you want to see how we fared and where we finished you’ll need to watch the shows.
