Doing DIY at 1am but it'll be worth it in the end

But home furnishings? Well, if it's all the same with you, I'll pass on that.

Regular readers will know some of my background. You'll have probably seen me cooking on ITV This Morning, with Holly and Philip, as well as on Channel 4's What's Cooking.

For many years, I'd also run a gastro pub, The New Inn, at Baschurch, with my wife, Jenny. But at the start of the year, we upped sticks and moved to Brompton Cookery School, at Attingham, on the outskirts of Shrewsbury.

We bought a cookery school and bed and breakfast, which is a delight. As with any new owners, we wanted to put our own stamp on the venue, so during the past month, we've been working all hours to give it a spring clean. Forget ITV This Morning, it's been more like 60 Minute Make Over. I've found myself drilling curtain rails into the walls at 1am, fixing new shower heads in guest bathrooms and generally improving the place.

Thankfully, our guests have been thrilled with the results. Brompton is one of the region's most picturesque locations. It's part of the National Trust's Attingham Park Estate, at Atcham.

We're surrounded by farm land and beautiful gardens. At this time of year, it's absolutely wonderful.

We've been busy taking bookings since moving here at the start of the year and wanted guests to experience real comfort when they stay with us. So we've invested a lot in revamping the rooms. Our idea is simple: when people visit Brompton, we want them to get away from everything and have not a care in the world. So we've created an environment where they can do just that. And if that's meant a few late nights doing DIY at 1am, well, it's a small price to pay.

I've not been neglecting my cookery, of course. I've been running a series of cookery courses for people who want to learn the tricks of the trade.

Now that spring has sprung, I've also been back on the road. I'm in demand at food festivals when the warmer months are here and this year is no exception.

I demonstrated in front of a large crowd at the Ludlow Spring Festival a couple of weeks ago and on June 29 and 30 I'll be at Shrewsbury Food Festival on the Wenlock Spring Chef Demonstration Stage. It's great fun. Chefs normally spend their working days stuck in dark, hot kitchens. They seldom interact with the guests – that's the job of the mâitre d' – so I thrive on seeing how much people enjoy it when I make a great dish.

At Ludlow's Spring Festival, the team running the chef demonstration stage took a few audience questions while I worked.

"Who's your favourite celebrity?" was the first question, as a hand shot into the air. I had to admit that Holly Willoughby probably takes that prize. She's great fun. She's friendly, a good laugh and is always complimentary about my food.

You can probably guess the next question....

"And who do you like the least?"

I tried to dodge the question, but with 100 people watching, that wasn't so easy. So I decided honesty was the best policy. "Greg and John," I told them. After all, nobody likes a critic.

Marcus Bean is a regular on ITV's This Morning. He owns the Brompton Cookery School, at Atcham, near Shrewsbury, on a National Trust Estate.