RESEARCHERS looking for a normadic Mongolian round house in which to base a new reality TV series found just what they were looking for in the tiny village of Llanishen. More specifically, at Lower Glyn Farm where Peter and Amanda Cobb have diversified from sheep farming, alpacas and chicken into selling yurts. "We had a phone call in the middle of March from a researcher for Betty productions," Amanda told the Beacon. "He said he wanted to do a programme based in a yurt; I asked him what he wanted and he said a composting loo, and I said yes, we can do that." "He ran through a check list and I sort of blagged my way through! If we hadn't got what he wanted, I said no but we can do that for you." Two days later the researcher arrived at the farm, took masses of photos and went back to his production team. Four days on the production rolled up and started building the set. "In the meantime we had to build a car park, put two decks up and start building a camp kitchen for them," said Amanda. " We also had to build animal pens, and rent in pigs and goats and, of course, there were the movement restrictions to deal with on all that, which they didn't understand at all! Once everything was in place, the first set of four unsuspecting families arrived. "None of them knew they were coming to a yurt - and the first family were aghast!" said Amanda. Entitled the House of Correction, the programme features wasteful families, all required to mend their ways, while living a back to basics lifestyle. Each family was given a challenge, relating to their particular brand of wastefulness; if, for example they were extravagant with heating, they had to walk on coals; one family had to push their bulging shopping trolley down the long hill leading to the farm, and in addition, all had to live the simple life, looking after the animals and seeing them killed. "One family definitely couldn't cope with the killing, and I do sympathise, said Amanda, "but I've got good news for them, the animal is living in my field even now and it's called Stone, after the girl, it's going to be mutton not lamb - Stone lives on!" Amanda was sometimes called in to look after the animals, and on one occasion had a panic stricken phone call from a family to say their yurt was falling down. "We shot down there and what had happened was - you've got to keep tweaking the ropes outside when the weather changes - it's just like a boat, horsehair ropes, they shift; we'd told them but they hadn't remembered to tighten them, which meant the outer tension was loose and the walls had relaxed !" In total, the production team spent two and half months filming at Lower Glyn Farm. "It was lovely but I was quite glad when it came to an end," says Amanda, adding: "One of the really nice things about getting the location was how many people actually benefited locally - the production team went up to the local pub; a friend did the catering, somebody else helped build the decks, another guy felled the timber for us - it sort of spread out in ripples really." Peace has now returned to the beautiful valley, which Peter and Amanda fell in love with when they moved there from St Briavels just over four years ago. Things may change again, however. "They're advertising for the next series of contributors now; there's is no guarantee, of course, that they'll choose us again for a location - we'll just have to hope really - I would like to do it all again," Amanda said. The first of four episodes of The House of Correction was shown on Tuesday at 9pm on BBC 3.
