From 1936 until 1950 James Lees-Milne was the full time Secretary to the Country Houses Committee of the National Trust. Though his title and salary were modest he was the beating heart of the Trust's attempts to save the country houses of England. Using a powerful combination of charm, tact and persistence he persuaded country house owners to surrender their houses to the National Trust. It is reliably estimated that he was personally responsbile for bringing to the Trust 50 houses which would otherwise have remained in private ownership many of which would not have existed today. Lees-Milne was a prolific and often scandalous diarist. Those diaries, his highly entertaining autobiography "Another Self" and the biography written by Michael Bloch provide the sources which Christopher Hotten will use to illuminate Lees-Milnes' close association with the North Cotswolds: his family, personal and National Trust connections.

Christopher Hotten was a barrister for 45 years, the last 24 as a Queen's Counsel, specialising in serious crime. He prosecuted and defended in more than 100 cases of homicide. He moved to Broadway in the Cotswolds in 2014 and retired from practice in 2018. He has been closely involved with the Gordon Russell Design Museum in Broadway as a volunteer, organiser of its Friends and Trustee. He is presently the Chair of the Broadway Trust.