The Hairy Bikers' new series, Go Local kicked off on Tuesday, January 3, at 8pm and sees Dave Myers and Si King, across six episodes, exploring the delicious landscape of the UK. And for its first episode, the pair started off in South Wales, where they stayed in a venue perhaps only well-known in the small seaside village it's found in.
The show sees Si and Dave return to complete a mission in which they are "to play matchmaker and bring together the best local restaurants with the most innovative local suppliers."
And with them needing to take their time in finding the perfect producers, they had to find somewhere equally as magnificent to stay, lucky for them they booked into an impressive Llantwit Major property. known locally as 'Llantwit Castle' - although it isn't actually a castle at all, but an Elizabethan manor house that was built in the 1500s.
Read more: Hairy Bikers sing Wales' praises as they visit 'bounteous' land of delicious produce
Introducing the property, the VT shows the pair riding on their iconic motorbikes as viewers are told: "We're heading to the glorious picturesque village of Llantwit Major to find our new base for the week. And it's fair to say neither of us have stayed anywhere quite like this before."
The voice-over continues: "This gorgeous historic castle fell in disrepair some three hundred years ago and has been lovingly restored by its present owner."
Cutting back to the pair arriving, Dave is seen turning to 'Kingy' to say: "That's a proper castle, Kingy."
Si added: "Look at that. Where there's bits of it and everything. It's fabulous."
Dave proceeded to tell Si some history of the place. "That was built in 1596 by a man called Griffith Williams for his son-in-law Edmund Vann. Do you know, nobody's lived here since 1670, 'til we've come to cook!"
Now, unfortunately, Dave, that isn't strictly true! The man who lived in the property up until 2019, Anton Jones, bought it back in 2014 for £5,000 and renovated it into a new home worth £1.25 million.
Anton told us in 2019 that he had a lifelong fascination with the ancient Vale of Glamorgan building - which used to scare him as a child. However, he overcame his fear and took it upon himself to renovate the place using the same techniques and materials that would've been used back when the castle was first built.
The former medieval manor house known as Old Plas - or The Old Castle - on the edge of Llantwit Major was scheduled as an ancient monument and had been overlooked by CADW - a body that helps protect historic buildings - until he took on the conservation project.
After years of auctions, Anton purchased the property and it took five years for him to transform one wing of the house into his dream home, by hand, while retaining much of its history and character.
This meant there were no cranes (just a rope and chain), cement mixers or modern plaster and pre-cut wood. He used all traditional materials such as lime mortar and the solid oak beams within the property were cut and constructed on-site. Not a task for the faint-hearted.
He explained: "It was completely ruined, in fact, it shouldn't really have been saved because it was too far gone!
"At least five metres off the top of the walls had to be taken down simply because it has been open to the elements for over 300 years. Yes, it hasn't had a roof for over 300 years." Quite the undertaking - although it certainly paid off as it looks incredible, as marveled at by the Hairy Bikers.
If you are familiar with the property, you would know that the ruins that remain have a story behind them also. In one of the walls there is a gigantic hole, and legend has it, it dates back to a time when the site was pillaged and stripped of all its internal features by thieves using a horse and cart to carry the spoils away. What's more is, that with parts of the property dating back hundreds of years, it should come as no surprise to hear that local legend deems the place haunted - by the ghost of a 17th-century Dutch sailor.
Anton told Wales Online: "We found lots of the stone from the hole buried and put them all back in one of the walls.
"It was smashed out probably hundreds of years ago so people could come in and steal substantial things like all the sandstone windows and fireplaces."
But during his time renovating, Anton himself found some treasures - coins that date back to the 1300s.
The ruins of the wing that once had no roof, floors and hardly any walls is now a property standing at three storeys that is filled with medieval charm and warmth - and hints of modernism throughout. This is showcased perfectly in the clean wooden finished kitchen The Hairy Bikers use in the show. For more information on the renovation, see here.
The Hairy Bikers Go Local airs on BBC2 at 8pm on weekdays until Wednesday, January 11.
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