Robin Wright, National Trust Engineering Warden, and Andrew Sawyer, National Trust Head Gardener, talk about their work at Cragside.

Andrew: Cragside is all about what I call Armstrong moments. So many times Lord and Lady Armstrong must have stopped, looked up and said, ‘Just look at what we’ve done!’ But the Giant Redwood they planted is still in its nappies, only 150 years old. In the year 3006, it’ll be 30 feet wide and weigh 6,000 tons. The National Trust is here to make sure that 1,000 years from now, people will still enjoy the thrill of those Armstrong moments.

Robin: The £6 million restoration appeal has come only just in time. All this amazing engineering, architecture and gardening were created by an incredibly wealthy man. But after he died things quickly deteriorated. There is no second chance for us if, for instance, we lose the rock garden through subsidence, or his unique iron bridge falls down. Just one breach in the dam and the whole water system goes and with it everything that makes Cragside special.

Andrew: When I came here, they told me there was a rock garden, but it was totally obliterated. Even the cascades were buried 6 feet underground. With volunteers, we started stripping the area and uncovered a wonderful tumbling sandstone rock garden, the biggest in Europe. Armstrong had water on the brain: he loved it as an engineer and for its beauty. Now we’re bringing its power and glory back to Cragside. Once again, the cascades will flow and water turbines will whirr in his power-house.

Robin: Armstrong has so much to teach us today as we tackle our energy crisis: 150 years ago, he warned everyone that coal would run out. He used his engineering genius to find ways to make life comfortable without damaging the world we live in. Cragside was the first home to have modern electric lighting, but all the power came from this system of dams, lakes and aqueducts which we’ve just restored. He showed what sustainability meant before the word had even been invented.

Andrew: At 56, his phenomenal mind turned to gardening – always looking sideways, never satisfied. So the pots in the restored Orchard House revolve so the sun reaches all the fruit equally. Other plants were on little railway trucks so they could get sunlight in the daytime and shelter on frosty nights. Tynesiders’ lives are rooted in engineering. We love Cragside partly because it’s an engineer’s garden.

Robin: You can’t work here and not be ambitious. But there’s only so much we can do. He had 300 staff, we have 28 permanent and 24 seasonal, plus 70 volunteers. But you need big money as well as enthusiasm to restore this place. Even the rewiring is costing £1.5 million – the old wiring simply wasn’t safe. Best-quality fireproof cabling is a nightmare to install in a higgledy-piggledy place like this, but it should last for 30 years or more.

Andrew: All of us here have dreams. Mine’s to bring the glasshouses back to life – but that would cost £2 million, so it won’t happen in my time. This year the Italian terrace opens, the cascades start flowing, there’s a new play trail and arts programme. We’re passionate about the future, but as practical people we move forward step by step. We want everyone to feel the same thrill we feel when they come here – and for that to go on, hopefully for thousands of years.