NEWSLETTER - Holkham Hall

Transcription

Summer/Autumn 2009 • Issue 18
NEWSLETTER
Lord and Lady Coke and their four children: Ned, Minna, Juno and Bess
In issue 17 of the newsletter, I referred
to the overriding importance of
choosing the right person to replace
Richard Gledson. It was a task taken
very seriously with an extensive
interview panel of family, trustees and
our non-executive director, Jonathan
Barclay.
Though he has only been here for
two months, I am confident that in
David Horton-Fawkes we have chosen
well. His training and earlier career in
hospitality and more recent career in
rural and project management with a
healthy dose of marketing expertise
make him eminently suitable for this
diverse role at Holkham.
His management team will be
strengthened in August by a chartered
surveyor for whom we have created the
new post of estate surveyor. His
responsibility will be all things
pertaining to property, whether that be
farmland, woodland, commercial
property, or bricks and mortar and the
maintenance thereof.
I see the next six months as crucial to
the estate. It will primarily be a period
of consolidation, but one in which we
will also formulate and establish our
strategy, the management structure and
improve standards.
Already I see standards improving at
The Victoria and The Globe and they
come at little or no extra cost, but rely
on committed employees being well
trained and doing their jobs properly
and well, with a smile on their faces.
Our farmland is looking tidier as we
implement new policies and create
more habitats (this does have a cost).
We have fewer vermin on the estate as
our game keepers set an increased
number of traps; this benefits not only
game birds, but waders, songbirds,
raptors and farmland birds. No wonder
so many birdwatchers visit Holkham.
The foresters have hugely improved
the northern approach to the hall
through the village. The terraces,
www.holkham.co.uk
indeed all the gardens, are looking the
best I have ever seen them.
Our stewards in the hall continue to
work to a high standard and enhance
our visitors’ experience. Our executive
staff in the estate and finance offices all
work hard producing excellent management information. The financial results
of Pinewoods improve year on year as
holiday-makers return time and time
again – the team there must be doing
something right! But we should never
rest on our laurels; there are always
improvements we can make.
Sometimes it is necessary to maintain
those high standards by forming
partnerships with outside agencies. The
most topical example is with Marshall
Arts, the promoters who brought us Sir
Elton John. The concert he gave in
June was the largest in Norfolk this year
and arguably the best.
Our knowledge of the wonderful
collection of chattels of the library and
of the working estate continues to be
enhanced through study. Dr Susannah
Wade Martin’s new book Coke of
Norfolk (1754-1852) A Biography gives
us further insight into this early
nineteenth century political and
agricultural reformer. Dr Suzanne
Reynolds, our manuscript curator, has
made new discoveries which show how
far-sighted Thomas Coke (the builder
of the house) was on his Grand Tour
when he was one of the very few who
took an interest in early Etruscan
civilisation.
To everyone on the estate, thank you
for your contribution over the last six
months.
Viscount Coke
The Hall
I finished off my article for the last
newsletter with a wish for winter to
depart and sunshine to arrive. Silly boy.
As I type this Holkham is enveloped in
a bank of low dark cloud that has been
with us for a couple of days now. In the
perverse way of our weather it has been
burning off around 5pm just as the café
and shop are beginning to close down!
However, Easter Bank Holiday was
much, much better than last year – we
did get some sun but more importantly
we were able to welcome a great many
visitors to the park and hall. Not so
many to the beach of course but
enough to ensure that John and Jim
were kept busy selling tickets at the car
park. Jim Tuddenham and John Ramm
are the unsung heroes of Holkham
Enterprises. They are our “all weather”
car park attendants who work
throughout the year with unfailing
good humour and diligence. Thank
you both for your efforts and patience.
Our exhibition on The Duchess was
on display for the first time at Easter.
I know that Laurane and Shirley put
an enormous amount of effort into
producing the artwork and
commissioning the information boards.
I have to say that the result is first class,
giving an excellent insight into the
production.
I also mentioned in the last newsletter that Colin and I would be working
over the winter to refine the way in
which we present the house to the
public. In this present climate reducing
costs was a major factor in our
planning. In the end, I decided that it
would be necessary to reduce the pool
of stewards employed for 2009. No easy
decision to say goodbye to some
stewards, many of whom have worked
here for a number of years. My thanks
go to them all for their efforts over the
past years. For those stewards who were
due to return this year we held the
usual training day on 3 April. The picture below shows the effect of Colin’s
briefing on how duties will be
allocated. The phrase “rabbits caught
in the headlights” comes to mind.
I would like to welcome Richard
Edmondson who joins the team this
year as our front of house steward.
Richard knows the house well having
taken his police dog through the place
on more than one occasion in his past
life with the force. Richard has been
trained on the mysteries of the Jolly
Stairclimber – giving Colin and me
more time to spend wandering the
rooms and keeping on top of the paper
mountain back in the office.
Holkham is now a member of the
Treasure Houses of England. Nine
other great houses in the group pool
information and expertise to the
advantage of all. It’s been incredibly
interesting to meet colleagues from
these houses and hear of their trials,
tribulations and triumphs, and
reassuring to hear from them the cry of
“Been there, done that, got the t-shirt”.
Make sure you pick up the leaflet when
you visit us and take advantage of the
two for one vouchers on offer.
Over the winter Colin spent a great
deal of time and effort in designing a
major fire and salvage exercise in
conjunction with senior officers from
the Norfolk Fire Brigade. To make
things even more difficult for the crews
we were instructed not to switch on
any lights. Since most of the fire-
This year’s stewards receive their briefing
2 • Holkham Newsletter • Summer/Autumn 2009
Plotting the evening’s exercise
Lighting up the size of any future problems
fighters attending had never been to
the hall before, it proved to be an
extremely demanding exercise for them
and a stern test of Colin’s fire and
salvage planning. I know that the
crews were impressed with the house
and with the exercise. Commiserations
to our own Wells crew who were last
on the ground, having had to respond
to a genuine “shout” just before the
exercise started. You may imagine the
remarks of the other fire-fighters when
the Wells crew finally rolled up. Great
credit should be paid to Colin who
received many favourable comments
from the directing staff. A number of
lessons were learned and I look forward
to a continued close liaison with the
brigade.
By the time this newsletter falls
through your letterboxes the season
will be well underway. We are all
hoping that the present euro exchange
rate will encourage more folk to
holiday at home and that our
neighbours on the continent can be
tempted to come and see us over the
summer. Fingers crossed then for a
good warm summer for a change.
Mike Daley • Hall Administrator
Welcome To David Horton-Fawkes
David Horton-Fawkes has joined the
Holkham estate in the newly created
role of Estates Director. David is 45
years old and married. He is responsible for the management of the
whole estate and will report
directly to the trustees and (on a
more regular basis) to me. He will
also aid us in devising estate strategy
and delivering its objectives.
David began his career as a leisure
and hospitality specialist and is a
graduate of the rigorous Savoy Hotel
Management School. He managed a
number of large hotels in London,
then in 1995 was invited by Lord
Spencer to become general manager
of Althorp House in Northamptonshire, where he stayed for eight
years. He led the restructuring of the
house operation, developing a range
of visitor related businesses. David
directed the project to design and
build the Diana, Princess of Wales,
Memorial Exhibition and Gardens in
1998.
David’s career has also included the
leadership of a team to design a new
visitor centre at Stonehenge. He has
worked in the strategic marketing
and business management sector as a
director of Brand Architects in
London and he has also held the position of general manager of the Royal
Automobile Club’s country club and
its two golf courses in Surrey.
Directly before moving to
Holkham, David was working in the
public sector for the North West
Regional Development Agency in
Cumbria where he advised the
Lowther Castle and Gardens Trust
on the redevelopment of these core
assets within the 36,000 acre estate,
and in relation to the wider economic regeneration of the region. He
was successful in raising £10m of
European and government money for
the regeneration of Lowther
Castle and Gardens.
I am very pleased that David has
agreed to take up this key appointment at Holkham and we welcome
him, his wife Christa and son Peter to
the estate. David’s wide-ranging
experience reflects the diverse
nature of the Holkham businesses.
He will help us develop the Holkham
brand in the future. He will be ably
supported in his new role of Estates
Director by the appointment of an
Estate Surveyor who takes up this
new post in August.
Although only one month into the
job David is already showing a good
understanding of the various departments, having met all the managers
and many of the employees. A handy
bonus: he has also shown himself to
be an asset in the Holkham estate
versus Club 20/20 cricket matches!
David himself is excited by the
prospect of working with my family
to secure the future prosperity of
Holkham, which he regards as one of
England’s great estates.
Viscount Coke
Holkham Cricket: Thrilling Finale In Store
Last season was the first one in which the estate team
triumphed 2-1 in our annual competition against Holkham
cricket club.
This year we got off to a good start on 13 May, with a one
run victory on the last ball. The club batted first and
compiled 91 runs (scoring was somewhat limited by playing
13 aside). Performances of note were Kent Cooper playing
his first game since leaving school, making two excellent
catches in the deep (to give Kevin Bray two of his three
wickets – both HFC). Robert Savory (HBM) also took two
wickets. Estates director David Horton-Fawkes laid down an
excellent marker of the high standards he expects to see on
the estate with a spectacular low catch at square leg. In fact
not a single catch was downed. John Smith (HFC stockman) put in a very tidy performance as wicket keeper (again
his first game for many years). The estate’s reply, in the
looming dark, did not start off well with the Victoria hotel
contingent all falling cheaply! Thankfully runs were
eventually scored by Savory (25 not out), and Paul
Matthews (woods department). The final run chase was
down to Steven “Shrek” Hall (HFC) who scored 15, and
myself, scoring 22, winning in the dark with a bye.
On 3 June we were affected by injuries and holidays,
which led to a weaker bowling attack. In fact we only took
two wickets (both Vic chefs Roger Hickman and Dan
Gummerson) in open play (thanks to two excellent catches
by Robert Savory). Four of the club team scored 25 runs not
out (and had to retire) on their way to an imposing total of
135 in 20 overs.
This was not a total we felt we could get near. However,
we started well with our openers Savory and Horton-Fawkes
both having to retire having reached 26 and 25 not out.
Then, the now familiar Vic chef batting collapse, before
Paul Matthews (22) and I (21) resumed the run chase.
Finally there was a wonderful cameo innings by Luke Hylton
(Vic kitchen porter) restoring some pride to the kitchen
team with 15 not out. We needed two runs to win but lost
our last wicket on the last ball. It was another excellent
game very much enjoyed by all.
The decider is on Wednesday 1 July, the first day of the
Norfolk Show. Our thanks to Martin Joyce (injured) for
umpiring, but who we hope will play in that match, and to
the Victoria Hotel who have looked after both teams following each match with welcome refreshments and nibbles.
Viscount Coke
Holkham Newsletter • Summer/Autumn 2009 • 3
From The Archives
This year is the anniversary of several
milestone dates in Holkham’s history.
First of all, it is 400 years since the
Coke family’s earliest purchase of land
at Holkham. At that time, the parish
was divided between three manors
called Neales, Wheatley or Hill Hall
and Boroughall, and a scattering of
freehold properties, the largest being
Edmund Newgate’s at the staithe
village. The main village straddled the
road from Burnham Market to
Wighton, near the site of the present
hall. In October 1609, Sir Edward
Coke, a wealthy and famous lawyer,
Chief Justice and formerly Attorney
General, bought Neales manor from a
fellow lawyer. It consisted of the
manor house with grounds of 14 acres,
situated at the west end of the village;
424 acres of arable land scattered
throughout the three open fields, a
second house, and three acres growing
a valuable crop of saffron.
This was just one of numerous ‘buy
to rent’ purchases by Sir Edward in
several counties over a period of many
years, but he had already seen
particular possibilities opening up at
Holkham. In 1601 he had bought the
rights to the wardship and marriage of
Meriel Wheatley, the three-year old
heiress of Wheatley manor. Three
years after his purchase of Neales he
married his ward, probably by then
aged just 16, to his fourth son, John.
This inscription, at the front of a book
recording the marriage settlements of his
children, sums up Sir Edward Coke’s reasons
for purchasing land at Holkham in 1609
Account of the funeral expenses for Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester, in 1759. John Bullen,
who made the lead coffin, and James Lillie, who made the two ‘wainscot’ coffins, had been
employed by him for many years on building the hall
They took up residence in her old
home, the manor house of Hill Hall,
which remained the Coke family
home until the new Holkham Hall,
built right next to it, was ready for
occupation in 1756.
By this marriage John also gained a
home farm, consisting of about 200
acres and a fold course (land for winter
grazing of sheep). This set him up in
the ranks of the minor gentry and
saved him, as a younger son, from
having to earn a living in the law or
clergy. Twenty-two years later, in 1634,
John inherited his father’s first
purchase, Neales manor, which
brought him extra rental income.
After another nineteen years, the last
of his elder brothers having died
without leaving a son, John inherited
much more of the great estate founded
by his father, making Holkham the
focal point of a great agricultural estate
as it still is today.
Then in 1659 (exactly fifty years
after our first notable date) John
acquired the third Holkham manor of
Boroughall, consisting of 240 acres,
eight cottages, two meadows and two
particularly valuable fold courses,
capable of supporting 1,000 sheep.
Like his father, he had planned ahead,
buying the reversion of the manor in
1634 and waiting 25 years for the
death of the life tenant.
He immediately drained part of the
manor’s marshes; his bank can still be
seen, running south, from the bird
hide on the southern edge of the pines.
Later in the same year, he bought the
large freehold estate of Edmund
Newgate, concentrated in the north of
the parish and including the large
house, still standing, that became
known as The Ancient House. With it
he gained four more houses, 360 acres
of land and 450 acres of marsh.
Around the same time, he bought
several smaller Holkham properties.
Also in the same year, he enlarged and
improved his home, which was
occasionally known as Holkham Hall
and was to serve the family for nearly
another hundred years.
Thus in the 50 years between 1609
and 1659, by marriage, inheritance
and purchases, John Coke had
acquired much of the parish. He was
estranged from his only surviving son,
the youngest of eleven children, and
the next fifty years were a roller
coaster of early deaths, legal problems
and two long minorities. Eventually,
however, the Holkham estate passed
safely into the hands of Thomas Coke,
a direct descendant of another of Sir
Edward Coke’s sons.
The next anniversary marks the
death of the same Thomas Coke in
1759, exactly a century after John
Coke’s major contribution to rounding
off the Holkham property. The two
North vestibule with an arcade and porch, one of the plans rejected by the second Earl
men were strangely similar in
character, large men with a reputation
for making a lot of noise in meetings,
and devoted to Holkham despite being
disappointed in their sons.
By 1759, Holkham had been
transformed. The old manor house,
where both men had lived for most of
their lives, had been demolished three
years earlier, when the household had
moved into the vast new hall that had
been a building site for more than
twenty years. The only signs of the old
village were a few cottages and estate
workshops left near the south end of
the lake that had been created from a
long marshy hollow. The centre of the
old village was covered by walled
kitchen gardens (not the present ones,
which were built much further west in
later years). The arable land in the
open field to the south had been
transformed into lawns leading up to
an obelisk, surrounded by a wood,
beyond which lay the road that had
been diverted away from the new hall.
To the north, the other open fields
had been turned into parkland and
neat enclosed arable fields outside its
pales.
All this was the achievement of
Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester, who
was a fascinating character. He had
started work on creating the park as a
young man of 25. Planning the hall
itself took another twelve years;
building the first wing then took six
years; another sixteen years passed
before the rest of the hall could be
occupied; and his widow took another
five years to complete the building
he added the iron fitments still in
place in the old kitchen, new central
heating, a new water supply from the
artesian well and reservoir, gas
lighting, and 18 children from two
marriages! In the park he added the
deer, several lodges, the almshouse
entrance, glasshouses in the walled
gardens, a private gas works and much
of Longlands. In the 1880s he re-built
most of Holkham village and restored
The Ancient House that had been
bought by John Coke in 1659. He
established cricket as a feature of the
Holkham summer and made the
shoot world famous. He died in
January 1909, aged 88.
By a strange coincidence, John
Coke, Thomas Coke and the 2nd Earl
have given us three more related
anniversaries this year. In 1659 John
Coke drained and embanked the
western marshes; in 1719, Thomas
Coke reclaimed about 400 acres of
the central marsh (while Sir Charles
Turner of Warham continued the
bank eastwards); and the 2nd Earl
built the Wells sea bank, reclaiming
the remaining area, in 1859.
work after the Earl’s death at the age
of 61.
A hundred years ago, and a century
and a half after the death of Thomas
Coke, Earl of Leicester, came the
death of his great-great-nephew,
Thomas William Coke, 2nd Earl of
Leicester of the 2nd creation, who
Christine Hiskey • Archivist
also left a great imprint on Holkham.
Like John Coke in the 17th
century, he has been
overshadowed by more famous
members of the family but he
was lord of Holkham for nearly
67 years, having inherited
Holkham in 1842 at the age of
19.
His combination of youth,
wealth and a typically
Victorian passion for
modernisation has given us the
vast range of buildings to the
east of the hall, built in the
1850s: the estate office (barely
changed since his time), the
porter’s lodge (now the
accounts office), stables and
coach houses (now Bygones),
brew house and malt kiln (now
the History of Farming and the
ticket office) and laundry (now
the gift shop). He transformed
the south side with the
conservatory (a different type
of building from the 18th
The domestic staff in 1909. In addition to the 26
century orangery), terraces,
indoor staff, the Earl had employed twelve salaried staff
fountain and parterres, and the and heads of department, six keepers and three vermin
west side with more terraces.
killers, ten men in the building department, nine in the
On the north he added the
blacksmiths, six at the brickyard, sixteen in the
gardens, nine around the hall and forty-nine in the
entrance vestibule and the
farm, park and woods
bronze lions. Within the hall
Finance Department
The finance department has been very
busy recently with the setup of more
ventures at Holkham (we now have
more than 40 legal entities to
administer). Neil Morrell and Jane
Haynes have been implementing major
changes to the estate’s IT infrastructure
and we have had many new budgets to
set and year-ends to tie up. Funding our
recently-established ventures such as
Holkham Emerald Ltd, our new
vegetable growing enterprise, has also
kept us occupied.
Some of the early indicators show
that we have not yet suffered from the
full impact of recession. In fact with the
euro relatively strong against the pound
and consumers watching their spending
carefully, Holkham seems set to benefit
from the current economic environment. However, I would anticipate that
2010 might be a tougher year
financially.
Svenska Handelsbanken’s Peter Daines
Graham Page of accountants Ensors
I thought for this article I would
introduce you to some of the advisers
who work most closely with the finance
team and whose input and effort we
regard as invaluable. We see them as
honorary members of the Holkham
finance department and I hope that
they regard it as a ‘badge of pride’!
Our principal bankers are Svenska
Handelsbanken. They are a Swedish
bank with a branch in Norwich, and we
moved the Holkham business to them
in January 2005 and have been
enormously impressed by their in-depth
understanding of Holkham and their
innovative funding solutions. Peter
Daines is the account manager and we
Susan Shaw from Smith & Williamson, the
work very closely with the local team.
trust accountants
Despite global economic concerns our
relationship with Handelsbanken is
such that funding for the estate’s
activities has been preserved and
indeed enhanced. In other words our
credit has not been crunched.
We use two sets of accountants, one
to help us with the trading activities of
the estate and another to assist with the
complexities of the trusts and strategic
issues. Ensors, a firm of accountants
based in Bury St Edmunds, are the
trading advisers. We have wellestablished and productive working
relationships with Graham Page and his
colleagues. A wealth of financial
accounts and audits are completed
every year, always on time thanks to
very close liaison between the finance
Fiona Duff of Butcher Andrews solicitors
office and the Ensors team.
disputes. Sometimes we use external
Smith & Williamson, led by Susan
legal help to assist and we are indebted,
Shaw, are the trust accountants and
were appointed last autumn following a if you will forgive the phrase, to Fiona
competitive tender. Based in Salisbury, Duff of Butcher Andrews in dealing
with such matters. Butcher Andrews
but always ready to attend meetings
are based in Fakenham and Fiona is a
first thing in the morning (thereby
determined and diplomatic pursuer of
boosting The Victoria’s turnover!)
those who need encouragement to pay
Smith & Williamson have made a
their debts or discharge other
terrific initial impact and have
obligations.
reviewed the overall financial position
The professionals I have mentioned
of the estate, produced a (positive,
above are those who are in closest daynaturally!) report on the operational
effectiveness of the finance department to-day contact with the finance departand dealt with several other issues. We ment but we work with many other
are convinced that we will continue to firms covering the diverse activities
and specialisms of the estate. We
enjoy a very productive relationship
regard all of them as working in
with them.
partnership with us to help Holkham
Occasionally, the estate does
experience difficulties with tenants and achieve its objectives.
other parties either in securing
Mike Wyard • Finance Director
payment or in relation to other
Marketing Department
exhibition.
The media, governing bodies and
This has been further helped
tourism organisations have all
by the announcement earlier
been predicting that due to the
this year that the film’s costume
current economic climate, many
designer, Michael O’Connor, won
people will choose to holiday in
an Oscar, BAFTA and Satellite
Britain this year.This trend has
Award for Best Costume Design
been recognised at Holkham,
– a true endorsement of the
with a bumper start at Easter and
costumes’ authenticity. The cosearly summer trading for the attumes are currently on display
tractions, while bookings for
until the end of August and the
groups and private guided tours
exhibition will run until the hall
look encouraging.
closes for the season.
September last year saw the
This newsletter has been
release of the film The Duchess
planned to be out in time for the
starring Keira Knightley and
Country Fair on 18 and 19 July
Ralph Fiennes. Holkham Hall was
and I therefore intend to report
one of the country houses
on this event in the next edition.
selected as a location for making
For several years now Holkham
this film. Along with Kedleston
has had a marquee at the fair
Hall and Chatsworth in Derpromoting the estate and this
byshire, the hall was used to
year is no exception. At the time
recreate the interiors of Devonof writing this article, we are all
shire House, the London resiworking hard on the preparadence of the Duke of Devonshire
tions for a display entitled “A
– a building which no longer exyear in the life of a working esists.
tate” which will highlight the
Using Holkham as a location
work through the year of the
for a major film captured a great
various departments and busideal of both media and public interest, so for this season we have Christine McSweeney from Cosprop puts the finishing touches nesses here. To ensure that all
our staff had the opportunity to
created an exhibition, designed to to one of the mannequins
be involved in this project, a
take our visitors “behind the
To complete the exhibition, the origi- photo competition was launched last
scenes” of the filming. Aptly entitled The
nal costumes have been hired. Cosprop year, inviting people to take photoDuchess Exhibition, we have created disgraphs through the year of everyday
plays which convey the enormity of the in London specialises in costume hire
and has loaned items worn by the Duke activities around the estate. Lord and
set up, the background of the film and
and Duchess and their children for a
Lady Coke judged the competition,
how the hall was adapted for the
scene in the Saloon at Holkham.The
selecting the best three photographs
scenes.To enhance the detail, we have
delivery note accompanying the packand awarding prizes of Holkham gift
also been fortunate to obtain stills of
ages made interesting reading when
vouchers – 1st prize went to Kent
the scenes filmed here from the prochecking off – two torsos, one pair of
Cooper (farms department), 2nd prize
duction company Pathé.Watching the
calico arms, one leg’s torso etc, etc!
to Glyn Ingram (game department)
film, it isn’t difficult to recognise the
Christine McSweeney from Cosprop
and 3rd prize to Darren Cave (building
state rooms at Holkham and with the
kindly helped to assemble and dress the department). If you would like to see
imagination of the director and the
mannequins and we invited the local
more of the images taken, do rememtechnical wizardry of production, the
three properties used have been seam- media to come along to see the result.. ber to visit our marquee in Row F.
This generated some excellent publicity
lessly melded to give the impression of
and raised further awareness of the
Laurane Herrieven • Marketing Manager
one very grand house.
First prize – Kent Cooper
Second prize – Glyn Ingram
Third prize – Darren Cave
Bygones Museum
The Easter Trail held in the Bygones
Museum at the beginning of the
season was a tremendous success and
visitor numbers eggceeded all
expectations!
Adults and older children took up
the challenge to complete the Easter
quiz whilst younger children had the
opportunity to find hidden rabbits
within the various displays and
count the eggs the rabbits were
Lady Coke and some of the children from Wells Primary School with their certificates
Inset: the rosettes they won
holding. On completion of the trail
everyone received a chocolate egg,
which had been kindly donated by
Kinnerton chocolate factory in
Fakenham. Also on hand for both
days was children’s entertainer Justso
James, who kept kids and
parents enthralled with
his balloon modelling
skills.
As animated children
scurried from room to room
in search of rogue rabbits
and quiz questions, parents
who had not visited Bygones
before seemed impressed
with the museum’s collection
and information to hand in the
displays.
Our thanks must go to the children
of Wells-next-the-Sea Primary and
Nursery School who were invited to
enter a spring competition to paint a
picture, design a tree decoration or
write a poem. All entries were
completed to a very high standard
and displayed in the conservation
room of the museum – they made a
marvellous array of colour. Lady
Coke chose the winners from each
category and presented the children
with their prizes at their morning
assembly on Monday 27 April.
I thought the whole Easter weekend
was a great success and hope all the
museum visitors were able to take
away with them a special memory of
their time spent in Bygones.
Kerry Cave • Events Co-ordinator
Ticket Office
This winter I have been working with Christine Hiskey in the archives. Most
of what I did involved a duster or vacuum cleaner, which has given my family
much amusement, but the training doesn’t seem to have had a long lasting
effect!
The Ticket Office has been redecorated and is once again open for the summer. This year I am joined by Jan Yates, as Kerry has moved to the Estate Office.
The office will be open every day from 10am to 4pm during peak season for
the sale of tickets for the outdoor theatre productions, as well as information
and any help required by visitors to the park.
Why not come and see one of the outdoor theatre shows in the Pottery
Yard? Bring a picnic and the family and do something different with one summer
evening!
Christine Hawkes • Ticket Office
King’s Men morris dancers who came to
Holkham on the spring Bank Holiday
Outdoor Theatre
Take a moment to reflect upon the great line-up of shows
we have chosen for your entertainment this summer.
We kick off the season with Shakespeare’s The Taming of
The Shrew, performed by the brilliant actors from Rain or
Shine Theatre, an extremely adept and professional company able to bring Shakespeare to old and young alike.
Four days later we have built on the success of children’s
shows from previous years and booked Cinderella and Merlin the Magician, both performed by Chapterhouse Theatre,
who delighted theatre guests last year with Sleeping Beauty
and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The remaining shows
introduce two new theatre companies to the Pottery Yard
to entertain us with The Three Musketeers and Babe,The
Sheep-Pig. Hope you can make it.
The Taming of The Shrew
26 July • 7pm
Cinderella
30 July • 6pm
Merlin the Magician
13 August • 6pm
This romantic farce, full of disguises
and role-playing, is widely known as
one of William Shakespeare’s most
clever and sophisticated comedies.
Join Louisa, Milky-White the cow and
their friends in their favourite fairytale
of pumpkins and princes. Come in
fancy dress for the fairytale parade.
In an exciting world of fearsome
beasts and magical creatures, Merlin
and the knights of Camelot embark on
the most thrilling journey of their lives.
Tickets
The Taming of the
Shrew and Merlin the
Magician
Adults £12, children/concessions
£7, families (2 adults & 2 children)
£34
Cinderella,The Three
Musketeers and Babe,
the Sheep-Pig
The Three Musketeers
20 August • 6pm
One for all, and all for one! D’Artagnan aspires to be a Musketeer of the
Guard, but are his swashbuckling credentials sufficient?
Babe,The Sheep-Pig
27 August • 6pm
This fabulous farmyard adventure tells
the tale of lovable ‘sheep-pig’ Babe. An
unmistakable bond develops between
pig and man!
Adults £11, children/concessions
£7, families (2 adults & 2 children)
£32
All tickets for the shows are
available from the Holkham Ticket
Office at Holkham, or by
telephoning 01328 713111.
Energy Efficiency At Holkham
In these times of shrinking world resources, an estate such as Holkham must do all it can
to be energy efficient. Consultant Jonathan Clarke explains how the recent energy survey
was conducted, and what steps will be taken to conserve energy at Holkham
As the prices of fossil fuels become ever
more volatile and the very real threat of
climate change becomes increasingly
apparent, we all have a duty to ensure
we use energy more responsibly.
As an external consultant, I have
been working with Mike Daley and
other members of Holkham staff, along
with a leading building services
company (Roger Parker Associates in
Cambridge) to assess what improvements can be made specifically at
Holkham Hall (including the ancillary
buildings), The Victoria and The
Globe.
Such historic buildings were never
built to be energy efficient. The hall in
particular is large and inevitably
draughty. Making alterations to such
buildings is not without risk and with
this in mind we developed a three
pronged approach for meeting this
challenge.
● Get the buildings to hang onto their
heat as well as possible
● Ensure the buildings are generating
and controlling their heat as efficiently
as possible
● Be sure never to undertake any
alteration which might compromise the
character or the fabric of the building.
It is perhaps surprising to find that
none of the lofts in the hall have any
insulation. The best insulation for
historic buildings is sheep wool because
it absorbs up to 40% of its own weight
in moisture, and releases it naturally.
This is important because the humidity
levels in loft spaces can change very
significantly and as insulation is added
to the floor of a loft the air above it
becomes significantly colder and
condensation can more easily arise.
Detailed specifications and costs are
currently being produced for insulating
such loft spaces, closely in line with
English Heritage guidelines which I
helped to write. Once insulation is
installed we will invest considerable
care to ensure any risks of condensation
are minimised. This will be done by
constantly measuring the temperature
and humidity of the air above the
insulation, with small electronic data
loggers, while also regularly testing the
moisture content of any potentially
vulnerable timbers with damp meters.
Heat for the hall and The Victoria is
generated by traditional oil fired boilers
which have worked well but are
nearing the end of their working lives.
The Globe is better served by new,
highly efficient, mains gas condensing
boilers. The long term aim for the hall
and the ancillary buildings will be to
provide all heat from a new bio-mass
plant, located in the old bowling alley.
This would be fuelled by wood chips
sourced from the estate allowing us to
not only gain control over our own fuel
supplies but also to dramatically reduce
the carbon output from these buildings.
Preliminary work is underway with a
specialist company, Econergy, based in
Bedfordshire.
In the short term we are testing
highly sophisticated electric infra-red
heating panels in the Finance Office.
These are considerably less expensive
to run than the traditional electric
storage heaters. The new panels are
based on the latest German technology
and are expected to provide a much
more comfortable, lower cost, even
heat.
Huge advances are being made on
heating controls which are easily
installed and provide significant
additional savings. The newest control
systems are very flexible and can
provide efficient operation of the
heating system but even the best
controls cannot compensate for a
Laying sheep wool insulation panels
building which will not hang on to its
heat or a heating system which has
been badly engineered. With this in
mind a specialist heating control
engineer from Norwich is preparing
recommendations for the hall and
ancillary buildings through Roger
Parker Associates.
As mentioned, both The Victoria
and The Globe have come under the
same careful energy scrutiny. Valuable
heat will be retained more efficiently
and controlled better. Roger Parker
Associates have recently sent an
engineer to produce a detailed
recommendation for the elderly boiler
system at The Victoria which is
augmented by electric immersion
heaters which are very expensive to
run. A little money invested here will
generate significant savings in years to
come.
Be assured that energy is an issue
which is taken very seriously at
Holkham. Accurately predicting future
energy prices is extremely difficult but
most analysts predict it will only get
increasingly expensive. Therefore, as
the days of cheap energy disappear we
must all do whatever we can to reduce
energy consumption. Adapting our
most precious buildings to be
increasingly energy efficient is
expensive but it has to be done if we
are to ensure Holkham Hall is to
continue to thrive for many more
generations to come.
Twenty Years Of Celebrity Concerts
In 1990, Heinz Liebrecht and Maggie
Whitman came to Holkham to discuss
the possibility of SPANN (Society for
the Promotion of the Arts in North
Norfolk) holding regular concerts here.
With the support of Lord and Lady
Leicester, SPANN concerts became a
regular event in the Marble Hall.
We celebrated Heinz’s 90th birthday
in 1998 with a gala concert and dinner,
featuring many of Heinz’s friends, including Julius Drake, the world-class
pianist, who had played at Holkham
every year since SPANN was formed.
Although he suffered a stroke, Heinz
always travelled from his home in
London on the day of every concert.
He, and indeed a great number of the
musicians, stayed the night, and as Lady
Leicester gave them such wonderful
hospitality it was no surprise that they
always wanted to return to Holkham.
Heinz selected the most amazing
musicians. Sometimes, they were up
and coming stars such as the worldrenowned tenor, Ian Bostridge, and my
own favourites – ‘Red Priest’ – a very
modern classical group. The large but
lovely pianist, Ivan Klansky, whose
luggage was lost by the airline when he
came here, ended up borrowing a
dinner jacket three inches too short in
the arm, but brought the house down
with his performance. All the best
quartets and individual musicians have
appeared at Holkham over the past 18
years.
On the death of Heinz early in 2005,
Lord and Lady Leicester could not
bear to see the demise of the concerts, so we decided to run them from
Holkham, with the help of Julius Drake
and Michael Chance (the fabulous
Norfolk-based counter tenor, with an
amazing voice), as our artistic directors. Two years ago we took the decision to hold just two concerts each
spring, and two each autumn, as of
course there were many other musical
events in the house. Each July for the
last ten years, Lady Leicester has
organised performances by Diva
Opera, the most talented young opera
company in the UK, in aid of various
charities, including her favourite – the
Norfolk Churches Trust. We have also
had several concerts in aid of St. Withburga’s Church, by the renowned
Gresham’s School choir, under their
World-famous musicians, pianist Julius Drake and tenor Andrew Kennedy, taking the applause
at one of the celebrity concerts held in the marble hall
dedicated Head of Music, Mark Jones.
Brancaster Midsummer Concerts have
also held several June concerts in the
house.
In the spring of this year, we had two
excellent concerts. The first one was
billed as Julius Drake with the Swedish
mezzo soprano, Anna Grevelius. Disaster struck as I had a phone call from
Julius at 5pm the night before the concert to tell me that Anna was ill and
would not be able to perform, but he
had managed to secure the services of
the excellent tenor, Andrew Kennedy.
The programme would have to be
amended – and very swiftly!
In April we had the brilliant pianist
Charles Owen, who wowed everyone
with his incredible performance of
Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 in B minor.
Running the concerts is a team effort, and although I have been the
voice of the box office and the face
everyone sees at the door on the
night, I could not have done it without
the help of many people, including
Norman Smyth and Helen Cringle
(now Seaman) in the early days, Mike
and Colin in the hall, and the staff in
the house who set the chairs out, and
move the piano, Daniel and his team
who ensure that everyone has a glass
of wine or fresh lemon in the interval,
Margaret Quince who operates the
lighting, Graham Cooke who tunes the
fabulous Steinway piano (bought 14
years ago by the generosity of Lord
Leicester), Alf Carrington (one of our
regular concert goers) who writes the
programme notes, the staff in the estate office who have always helped
with photocopying, my husband, Winston, who has valiantly stood at the
door in the coldest of weathers to
welcome people, help the disabled in
wheelchairs, and let people in and out;
and especially Lord and Lady Leicester,
and now Lord and Lady Coke, for their
continued support in providing hospitality, to ensure the concerts go on.
Now, it is time for me to retire from
the concert administration work and
hand over to Kerry Cave, and I know
that she will be the perfect person for
the job – she is efficient, unflappable,
and always pleasant – not quite the
qualities I would ascribe to myself, but I
like to think that it has worked pretty
well, and I have been privileged to hear
some wonderful concerts, and meet so
many nice people in the process. I wish
Kerry much good luck. She can be contacted on [email protected] and
if you think you don’t like classical
music, give it a try, you might be very
surprised, because a lot of popular
music is based on tunes from hundreds
of years ago!
Marilyn Franklin • PA to Lord Leicester
Remembering When Rock Was Y
Could there have been a more perfect
setting for this – a concert by the
megastar that is Sir Elton John? The
hall looked magnificent as a back-drop,
the estate’s cricket pitch, pressed into
service for the concert, looked green
and smooth, and the sun shone gloriously down on a crowd of over 14,000
people – all there to see the Rocket
Man perform on Sunday 14 June.
During the previous week, the area
around the cricket pitch had been host
to all sorts of goingson. Huge lorries
bearing tons of what
looked like steel
girders had rolled up
and a large number
of portacabins had
been delivered and
had grouped themselves under the
trees. A long fence had been erected
round the cabins, and a special track
consisting of hundreds of pieces of interlocking plastic had been laid down
from the road down to the end of the
cricket pitch. Lots of people appeared
with hi-viz vests and hard hats, and
there was a general air of calm purpose
about the site. This was all the more
surprising given that the weather was
really not kind – rain came down in
buckets at times.
Wandering round the site during that
week was an eye-opener for me. I’ve
been to huge concerts before, but only
as a spectator – this time I got to have a
nosey around behind the scenes. I
talked to one of the men rigging the
stage and was amazed by some of the
facts and figures. The stage is made out
of 120 tons of steel – the roof alone
takes 15 tons. Then there are all the
lights, speakers, video screens and the
huge weights that are used to act as balances for the equipment that is hoisted
into the air. It takes
60 men six days to
build and is truly
impressive.
On concert day itself the gates were
opened to the public
at 3pm. I arrived
shortly after that, deposited my son
Sam with friends and collected my pass
to access all areas! I made one trip into
the portacabin area, accompanied by
Ben Martin, the marketing manager for
the highly experienced and very impressive promoters Marshall Arts,
where we came upon Richard Fleeshman (the support for Elton John) heading off for a shower. However I soon
realised that the main event would be
on stage shortly, I was not sure who I
Picture courtesy of EDP
“We’re so lucky – it’s
a real joy to have
someone of Sir Elton’s
calibre here”
Lord Coke
Talented actor turned singer-songwriter Richard Fleeshman was the support
should and shouldn’t be talking to and I
was, quite honestly, just getting in the
way, so I removed myself, went and
found my friends and my son, tucked
into their picnic and settled down to
enjoy a superb afternoon!
As we’d walked up to Holkham, a big
helicopter had gone overhead, and I’d
joked to Sam that it was Elton flying in.
We’d waved enthusiastically, just in
case. It turned out that it had been
Elton – I like to think that he was looking down at us and waving regally
back...
Once on the site, the rumour flashed
round that Posh and Becks were there,
though no-one confessed to having
seen them. They’d stayed over at Cong-
Young – Elton John At Holkham
ham Hall, at The Vic, at The Globe, at
the Hall itself the previous night and
were around somewhere. Sadly, when I
asked Ben Martin about it, he was unable to confirm or deny the rumour, and
so, regrettably, it had to stay as just that,
a rumour.
At 5 o’clock, the support act came on
stage. Coronation Street actor turned
singer-songwriter Richard Fleeshman
has the honour of supporting Elton
John on this tour and he did a creditable job of warming up the crowd. It
can’t be easy to be in his position, especially as he’s only 20. He knows that
everyone is there to see Elton, and he’s
only just starting out, so few of his songs
are well-known yet, but clearly Elton
sees his talent, having invited
him on tour and having written
a song for him. Richard was obviously thrilled to be on stage at
Holkham, and even stopped
halfway through his set to have
his photo taken with the hall
and crowd in the background.
As Richard was finishing,
there was brief excitement as
five microlights appeared overhead and got a bird’s-eye view.
It seemed a complicated way to
go about gate-crashing, but I’m
sure that wasn’t really what they
were up to.
After that, as we waited for
the main event, there was a roar
from the crowd. Everyone on
our side of the stage leapt to
their feet and we thought this
was it. But no... everyone was
looking off to the side of the
stage. A pair of binoculars was
produced and two naked people
appeared through the lens! This
caused huge amusement, especially when the police and security personnel arrived to
persuade them that sunbathing
naked in front of 14,000 people
possibly wasn’t the best idea
they could have had!
As they were moved on, Elton John
moved in – appearing on stage dressed
in a black tailcoat, red shirt, and in
high good humour. He had with him
his hugely experienced and long serving
band – Nigel Olsson, Davey Johnstone,
John Mahon, Guy Babylon and Bob
Birch. He launched into 150 minutes of
sheer gold – all the songs you could
hope to hear from a back catalogue that
contains some truly magical and iconic
tunes. Among them were Saturday
Night’s Alright (for Fighting), Goodbye
Yellow Brick Road, Daniel, Honky Cat,
Rocket Man, Candle in the Wind – I’m
sure I wasn’t the only one in the crowd
who was transported back to seventies
school discos, and listening to Radio 1
during long hot summers, when Elton
John was part of the soundtrack to my
youth. In fact, it has to be said that it
wasn’t a particularly young crowd.
However, as I looked around at the
number of people who were approximately my age and who were singing
along and clearly knew all the words to
all the songs, it was clear that the majority of people there were like me.
They’d grown up with these songs,
loved and lost to them, and the chance
to see the man himself delivering them
was just too good to miss.
Finally, after two hours and thirty
minutes of fabulous music, finishing up
with Crocodile Rock and then an encore of I’m Still Standing and Your
Song, Elton left the stage, and after a
short pause, the noise of a helicopter
starting up was heard, and soon after
that the chopper lifted effortlessly
above the crowd. Sir Elton John headed
off into the sunset as the crowd waved
farewell – his work at Holkham was
done!
Sara Phillips • Newsletter Editor
Elton John’s helicopter heads off into the
sunset after a truly fabulous concert
Holkham Foods
As I write this report Holkham Foods seven days a week until September.
is again up and running for a new sea- During October, the Stables will be
open for six days a week and closed
son. The team is back, ovens and
on Saturdays. Then from November
freezers have been switched on and
garden canopies have been opened up through to the end of December, we
will be closed on Fridays and Saturin readiness for the visitors and sundays. We will also be open for refreshshine.
As I reported in the last
newsletter, the Stables Café
stayed open through the winter
until the end of January instead
of our usual end of October
closing. This proved quite popular with walkers and birdwatchers and there will be a repeat
performance this coming winter. We will however close at
the end of December.
The Stables Café opened on
1 April and has been steady all
spring with very busy Easter
and May Bank Holidays to ease
us into the season. For the rest
of the summer, we will be open The Stables Café – a great place for refreshments
ments during the children’s theatre
productions in the courtyard before
they start and during the interval, but
will close before the plays start their
second halves.
The trailer at the beach went out
through the winter when the weather
was nice over Christmas and
New Year. It will be out seven
days a week through the summer selling all sorts of goodies,
from muffins to ice creams, to
make your day on the beach
better. So please come and see
us at one of our venues. Remember if you are a member of
staff, please bring your Holkham
identification for a discount.
Ice cream is in production
again now. For more information please ring Wendy on
01328 713114.
Wendy Mason • Holkham Foods
Holkham Retail
The shop
opened over last
winter for the
first time, and
we were quite
surprised at
how many
people found
their way to us,
but by midJanuary when
everyone’s
Christmas
bills started
arriving on
their doorsteps, sales slowed down.
During February when the shop was
closed, I went to Springfair
International to source new stock for
this season, and this time took the
decision to make Fair Trade, recycled
products and suppliers who were
environmentally responsible a priority.
Now in the shop you can see, for
instance, a model aeroplane and a
model car made from recycled tin cans,
cufflinks and coasters made from circuit
boards, a wonderful gadget (made from
wood from sustainable sources) for
making seedling containers out of
newspaper, and a toilet bag made
from a car tyre!
At the same time, it is essential that
attention is paid to current and future
trends. Despite the economic downturn
affecting retailers I am certain that we
must not lower our standards, and I feel
that the shop looks better and more
attractive than ever this season, as we
have extended our range of gifts to include leather handbags, shopping bags
and pretty scarves.
Unpacking and
pricing new stock and
cleaning and getting the
shop ready for opening
more than occupied us
throughout March.
Waxing and polishing
the floor did more for
toning our muscles than
two hours in the gym!
Each season, when the
shop is prepared ready
for opening in April, we
begin with a renewed
feeling of tremendous
enthusiasm and
optimism for the
forthcoming season.
I did however enter
the 2009 season with
slight apprehension as to what it would
bring, but in fact we had extremely
successful Easter and May Bank holidays. We are led to believe that more
people are taking holidays in Britain
than ever before, and so hopefully the
main summer season will see us busier
than ever.
Sylvia Daley • Retail Manager
The Victoria
diners, having a wonderful time. The
New Year party had everybody raving
about the food and also raving on the
dance floor, and as the evening ended
we brought the New Year in with a
fantastic display of fireworks – many
thanks to Kevin, Chris and his son for
supervising the pyrotechnics!
After things had slowed down, we
got January off to a good start with a
wine evening. Celebrated wine makers
from Italy came over and talked our
guests through wines that had been
chosen to complement the special
menu prepared by Roger the chef. A
good night was had by all.
In February we held a Woodcock
Evening – using birds shot on the estate at the end of the woodcock season.
Once again the kitchen stepped up to
the plate, with many guests saying it
was the best woodcock they had ever
eaten.
For us at The Victoria, the winter
passed as quickly as it arrived and we
are now deep into spring with summer
just around the corner. It’s fair to say
we are feeling distinctly positive about
the future.
The first barbeque of the year was
over the Easter period and we served
over 200 people on Easter Sunday. The
May Bank holidays, with their fine
weather, surpassed even these numbers.
Throughout the winter and spring the
staff once again proved invaluable and
we know we have a great team to go
forward into the summer.
Ian and Lisa Clark • General Managers
Picture © Alan Bond
With the summer of 2008 over, we
entered the autumn and winter
months, and the accompanying credit
crunch, with some trepidation. It was
hard to know what to expect.
The credit crunch was hitting
businesses all over the country and we
knew, like most hotels, we would be in
for a tough winter. We therefore felt it
was time to put some special offers out
on both the hotel and lodges, which
proved popular with guests, old and
new.
In the kitchen, newly arrived chef
Roger Hickman got to grips with some
wonderful grouse brought back from
north Yorkshire by Lord Coke. We had
our first game evening of the season in
late October which proved a great
success.
We reached November in quite a
positive mood and it was nice to see
the return of local customers that had
been lost over the last year or so. Some
good nights were enjoyed in the bar
and at that point we felt we were going
in the right direction.
Before we knew it Christmas was
upon us. After an early scare that we
might not fill the hotel for the
celebrations, our fears subsided when
the bookings rolled in.
Anticipating a busy holiday period
we brought in some old faces – Matt
and Sarah Higham – to help us out.
We are delighted that they are also
going to stay for the summer.
Christmas went really well with all
our guests, both hotel residents and
The Vic looking stunning in the sunshine!
The Globe
The Globe Inn had a very good Easter, and May Day
brought more people out. Then thanks to fantastic
weather over the May Bank Holiday and half term week
we have been very busy, making good use of our marquee
and now very colourful courtyard, thanks to the planting
carried out by Tim Marshall and his team.
The Globe is undergoing a revamp. We are busy decorating our bedrooms which will be followed by the bar
and restaurant. We will replace our patio furniture and
have a thorough tidy up in all areas. Our staff have also
been tidied and now proudly wear their Holkham shirts!
Our summer menu, which was introduced in May, is
proving very popular as is our new wine list which now
includes two excellent organic wines from France and
Spain. Do pop in and try them out.
The Globe on a summer evening – the perfect place to relax with
Johanna Lissack • Assistant Manager a drink or treat yourself to a meal
Gardens Department
We’ve had a busy but very satisfying
winter, though there never seems to be
enough time to get everything done!
Mulching of the borders around the
hall and at the various contract sites
has been completed, this should make
these areas less labour intensive and
also look aesthetically pleasing. Over
the last few weeks we have been
mowing virtually continuously to try
and keep on top of the grassed areas.
We have been landscaping at Dairy
Farm where we have constructed a
bank around the back of the house to
improve the appearance of the garden.
At Cuckoo Lodge we have grass-seeded
the beds outside the house, which were
herbaceous shrub borders.
At The Victoria we have refreshed
the herb area and have improved the
playground, making it more user
friendly (for the children that is!)
At the hall we have done some
replanting of the old borders and have
started preparing beds to receive
vegetables which should be ready in a
few weeks.
Since February we have been doing
a lot of spraying, it really helps to start
spraying as early in the year as possible
as it pays dividends with regard to
saving labour time in the main growing
season.
In the arboretum, we have continued
pruning back hydrangeas and other
shrubs which are slightly delicate and
prefer to be pruned at this time of year,
rather than in the autumn so that they
have some protection for their stems
though the winter.
In the greenhouses at the walled
garden we have been sowing a number
of seeds, with many more to be sown;
mainly vegetable seeds. Robsons building contractors have embarked upon
the refurbishment of the final two bays
of the large glasshouses and should be
finished in September.
During the winter months we have
been busy pruning the fruit trees in the
walled garden and removing ivy and
brambles from the walls. This will be an
ongoing project as and when we have
time.
The gardens are showing signs of
spring; many of the cherry and
magnolia trees are in full flower and the
arboretum is crammed full of bulbs – I
am keenly waiting for the bluebells to
come into flower over the next few
weeks.
Tim Marshall • Head Gardener
Jason Hewitt checks that everything is coming up roses (actually clementines in this case!)
Forestry Department
The Victoria Hotel and the lodges have had a constant
supply of firewood, which was definitely needed during the
cold weather over the winter.
We have been helping the Game Department to cut
flushing points and places to let in light in the hope that new
undergrowth will grow to give some ground cover.There were
several dead trees in Admiral Lord Nelson’s Tonnant Wood,
Burnham Thorpe so we have been along to replant them.
We have visited the church yard in the same village to fell six
sycamore trees which were interfering with the church yard
wall. All the branches were chipped and used by the Gardens
Department on a path in the arboretum.
Nicky Beck, Paul Matthews and Freddie Futter have been
busy with training courses. In March all three completed a
crane trailer course. Nicky has also completed a teleporter
course while Freddie passed his JCB course.
Most recently, with the aid of a tree surgeon, we have
section-felled a large softwood which was very close to a barn
and wall at Longlands.This has let a lot of light into the house
(this should brighten Mike Daley’s future!)
The large tree that has been felled at Longlands – letting light into
the adjoining building at last!
Ian McNab • Head Woodsman
Building Maintenance
One of the other things that has happened at Longlands is that we have
been able to let the old forge to James
Spedding and Roger Foyster, formerly
of Deepdale Forge.
They are now trading as Holkham
Forge and we wish them every success
for the future.They will be a great asset
for the estate in getting all those little
iron work jobs completed.
Roger has also moved into Tower
House here at Longlands. Not long
after he moved in he complained about
the noise the
weathervane
From 100 questionnaires returned
1 Was an appointment made?
96% said yes was making
2 If an appointment was made, was it kept? 95% said yes when he was in
bed – we told
3 Did the contractor show ID?
90% said yes
him to work
4 Was the furniture/carpet protected?
98% said yes
longer hours
5 Were the contractors polite?
97% said yes and not go to
6 Was the standard of work satisfactory?
96% said yes bed! Oddly, he
wasn’t happy
Overall how do you rate their service?
with this so we
Poor 1% Average 1% Good 2% Excellent 96%
had to erect
Roger Foyster and James Spedding with the
scaffolding to
mended weathervane
enable us to gain access to attend to
We have been using our new comthe weathervane. On inspection we
puter system for a year.We are now
found that the metalwork had worn
able to run off reports on certain eleand needed some repair, so who should
ments of the business, like how many
orders we received in a year, how many do this work but James and Roger.
Hopefully there should be no more
in a certain month, what sort of jobs,
problems.
value of jobs and so on. I think that
Our workforce of nine tradesmen
Dawn, Rebecca and Jayne in the finance
department have now got to grips with has been working on various farm
barns over the last six months and now
this system.
with the external painting season upon
We have lost two members of staff
us we hope to be decorating Wighton
due to retirement – Rodney Lovick
properties this year.
(painter and decorator) on 4 March
From our remaining team of four
and Avelino de Brito Pereira (our Portuguese carpenter) on 20 March.We all windowcraft operatives, Maurice and
And getting it back where it belongs!
Adam continue on with the linseed
wish them well in their retirement. It’s
also nearing time for Charmaine (Char- painting of the hall.They have now
completed the mammoth task of reworked their way round to the north
lie) Cornwall to return to work after
pairing and painting all the windows and
side and there’s only about another
giving birth to her son, Preston: both
doors in the hall!
four years to go before they will have
mother and child are doing well.
The other two members of the windowcrafting team, Alex and Andy, have
been attending to the buildings at Longlands during the winter and have now
re-started on the properties in
Holkham village.
As we have said before, nothing
stands still at Holkham – we were
sorry to lose Richard Gledson, but we
wish his replacement, David HortonFawkes, all the best in joining us here
on the Holkham Estate.
In the last newsletter we mentioned
that we would be using Needhams
Building Contractors of Norwich for all
our day to day property maintenance
and they are now ten months into their
three year contract.Their service has
been good in general.
We have been monitoring their performance by means of a tenant questionnaire that we have been sending
out with copies of the works order to
tenants.The results received have been
as follows:
Rodney Lovick who retired in March 2009
And Avelino de Brito Pereira who followed him
Barry Turner • Maintenance Manager
Holkham Farming Company
ity vegetables for the pre-packing secdrilled using minimum tillage techThe farming company has continued
tor; primarily potatoes, carrots and
niques. Other purchases have into expand its operations in the last
year. The return of 400 acres of land at cluded a trailed sprayer, to replace the parsnips, using Holkham land and
water and Emerald’s growing and
existing machine which became very
Egmere from Keiths of Barsham has
marketing skills. HFC are providing
unreliable.
added to the area of Waterden farm
contract services to the new venture
The redevelopment of Chalk Hill
and the formation of the joint venture
including ploughing, bed tilling, sprayhas been a success, with the convegetable business, Holkham Emerald
ing and irrigation. This has been a
verted shed being full all winter, alLtd, has added further to the farming
learning experience for many of the
lowing all the cows to be housed on
company’s workload as we provide
Holkham team who have never been
contract services to this new venture. one site.
involved in vegetable production in
Holkham Emerald Ltd was formally
In order to continue this expansion
the past.
we have recruited another new mem- inaugurated last autumn, as a joint
venture between Holkham and Emerber, David Wroth. His primary role is
Mark Bowyer • Farm Manager
ald Crops. Its aim is to produce qualto operate the self propelled sprayer,
and fill in with general duties during
the few periods of the year when the
sprayer is idle. His uncles used to rent
Peterstone, Model and Dairy farms at
Peterstone and Overy Staithe and his
mother has made curtains for the hall!
We also have a student starting this
summer for a 12 month work placement. This will relieve some of the
pressure from everyone else.
The increased workload has also
resulted in some new purchases, notably a huge new 315hp Massey Ferguson tractor and nine-furrow plough.
Operated by David Leithall this combination has ploughed over 1500
acres since Christmas. This has allowed us to apply turkey muck to all
the sugarbeet land and still be able to
plough most of the land in front of
the drill. A small area of beet has been Happy Holkham cows – now all the cows are housed on one site at Chalk Hill
Holkham Linseed Paints
We’ve had a busy start to the year with high sales; we wouldn’t have got through it
without help from the building maintenance department. Thank you!
Rory Gould has joined us to help with the packing. Some of you may have
already met him last summer when he worked at the hall. He’s very efficient and
seems to be happy with his new role.
We are waiting for our second shipment of the year as we have sold out of Black,
Lichen and Iron Primer. A huge cast iron conservatory in Scotland is taking 30
litres of the Iron Primer, which we don’t usually sell in vast quantities, the Lichen
has always been a must-have colour from customers who see it on the orangery at
the Victoria and Black seems to be the colour of the year.
The new coloured wax has recently gone on sale and has had lots of interest. In
addition we have introduced three new colours of paint, Graphite Grey, Marsh
Green and Dusky Rose; all three, especially Dusky Rose, are already proving to be
very popular.
We would like to ask everyone again if they can continue to save boxes for our
recycled packing as our supply of smaller boxes has now dried up, as well as any
shredding that you may have. I know we haven’t been very prompt in collecting
them of late but that’s not to say they’re not needed. Please be patient with us – we
will be round to collect them as soon as we can.
Rebecca Amphlett • Holkham Linseed Paints
Holkham Deer
It looks like spring is now
here and the grass is
growing. The winter was a
lot harder than most people
think and we sadly lost a
number of deer to natural
causes. I would like to
thank the staff and visitors
who took the time to
inform me of weak or dead
animals so that I could
attend to them as quickly as
possible.
I have finished feeding
the deer and completed the
cull for this season. The big
red stag has cast his antlers,
which proved to have
twenty-nine points, despite
convincing myself that
there were thirty when I
studied them through
binoculars! The other stags
will not be far behind and
the fallow bucks will start to
lose theirs any day now. I
will be out several times a
day looking for them but
could I ask anyone that sees
any on their travels through
the park to pick them up
and drop them into the
Estate Office for me as they
form a valuable part of the
income from the deer herd.
My attention now turns to
the difficult, and seemingly
never-ending, task of mole
catching so if you see me, or
any of the other keepers,
standing in the park staring at the
ground or crawling around on our
hands and knees you will know what
we are doing!
The fallow does and red hinds start
to have their fawns and calves around
the middle of May so it’s very
important that all dogs are
kept on leads and vehicle
traffic on the grass areas is
kept to a minimum. If any
members of staff see dogs off
their leads please politely
speak to the owners and
explain why this is not
acceptable especially at this
time of year. I’m not sure
what the fawns will think of
being welcomed into the
world by Elton John!
On a slightly negative
note, there seems to be an
increase in the number of
people who visit or pass
through the park but have
no respect for the environment or the animals. Gates
are frequently being left
open, vehicles driven too
fast, signage ignored and
litter left around. We’ve had
our first crashed and
abandoned car in the park
since I’ve been here and I
am struggling to understand
the strange phenomenon of
dogs leaving their poo in
bags and hanging it on
bushes, tree guards and
signs!
On a much more pleasant
subject, venison sausages
and chipolatas should be
available for barbeques
throughout the summer,
contact me on 07825
972249 or at game@
holkham.co.uk for details.
Glyn Ingram • Deer Keeper
Game Department
I have now been here at Holkham for over a year and I
consider that I have found my feet and understand the
land and the local area. Big inroads have been made into
improving the habitat in both the woodland and cover for
brood rearing and we are starting to get on top of the
vermin pressure.
As always, April through to June were very important
months for the game department as pheasants and partridges began to nest and hatch young. Over the next few
weeks the keepers will be busy monitoring and protecting the broods of young on their beats from threats such
as foxes, stoats, and of course people and their dogs!
To maintain the strong bloodlines established on the
estate, wild pheasant and partridge eggs are retrieved
from the wild and reared under broody hens. This helps
us maintain a good level of stock even if birds in the wild
lose their chicks due to vermin or bad weather. The rearing field is slowly filling up with clucking bantam hens and
their chicks. These will all be reintroduced into the wild
by the end of August. So keep your fingers crossed for
some great summer weather and hopefully another productive shooting season awaits.
Nick Parker • Head Keeper
Holkham National Nature Reserve
Although I am writing this following
the hottest weekend of the year, I have
to cast my mind back to the coldest
winter for ten years in order to summarise the events of the past six
months on the reserve. In the event,
northwest Norfolk managed to escape
the worst of the winter weather, the
odd days of snowfall and sharp frosts
had no obvious effect on the wildlife
and didn’t disrupt our winter work
programme at all.
The wintering flocks of pink-footed
geese are becoming an increasingly
popular spectacle with people travelling some distance to watch the
evening flight of birds coming into their
roost site adjacent to Lady Anne’s
Road. This winter the birds arrived
slightly earlier than usual and at their
peak in early December, the reserve
played host to some 38,000 birds out
of a northwest Norfolk total of about
96,000. Otherwise, most wintering
wildfowl were present in their usual
numbers with the exception of wigeon
and brent geese, which were not quite
as numerous as expected.
The winter months are the time
when quite a lot of our practical management work is undertaken. This
ranges from annual tasks such as cutting and clearing vegetation from areas
where orchids flourish, to replacing and
repairing fences and other structures.
This year the old wire fence by the
boardwalk onto the beach was replaced with a much smarter and more
durable post and rail version.
One of the main features of the
spring has been the lack of rainfall and
the grazing marshes beginning to dry
out much earlier than usual. Luckily a
brief spell of heavy rain in the second
half of May came just in time to reflood some of the shallow pools just as
the nesting wading birds were hatching
their chicks.
Butterflies seem to have benefited
from the spring weather and most of
Holkham Country Fair
This year’s Country Fair on 18 and 19
July is approaching fast, and
everything is in hand for a great
weekend. We have the Minden Band
in the grand ring, as well as the
Flying Gunners motorcycle display team, and many other
regular favourites – Charlotte
Hill with her birds of prey,
Graham Watkins and gundogs,
terrier racing, vintage cars and
much more.
The Holkham estate marquee
will be even bigger this year, and
will include a Pinewoods static
caravan. In keeping with this
year’s theme of food there will be
cookery demonstrations of Holkham
game at the estate marquee. The Fine
Food village on the north of the house
will incorporate a demonstration tent
for the first time, with a fantastic line
up of local chefs and personalities.
The popular showground events will
all be there – the fairground for
children, gundog events, fly fishing on
the lake, one of the best clay shoots in
the east of the country, lurchers,
archery, the Countryman’s Walk, trade
stands and so on.
All members of the wider Holkham
family are welcome to come and see
the Minden Band Beating the Retreat
in the grand ring
on the eve of show
(no passes or
tickets required).
This is in aid of
the Army
Benevolent Fund,
and is always a
special moment
the early
species have
been seen in
very good numbers this year, but
the most remarkable event has been
the mass immigration of painted lady
butterflies in the last week of May.
These insects originate from north
Africa where exceptional winter rains
allowed their food plants to flourish,
thereby creating a huge population explosion leading to a mass northward
movement in search of pastures new.
On some days several thousand were
moving westward along the beach and
dunes at Holkham, weaving through the
largely oblivious Bank Holiday crowds.
With a hot summer forecast, we are
anticipating a good year for butterflies
and other insects on the reserve.
Michael Rooney • Senior
Reserve Manager
before the event starts on Saturday
morning.
The weather two years ago was
awful, but hopefully there will be none
of that this year and we shall have
good show weather! The park is
already looking lovely, and with the
good weather organised, we should
have a great Country Fair.
Christopher Lloyd Owen • Holkham
Country Fair Office
The sun did shine in 2007 – though wading through the mud was one of the attractions!
Pinewoods Holiday Park
As I write this at the end of April, I have
just made a full tour of the Pinewoods
site and I don’t remember completing
this task in previous years at this time
and not finding water lying about. Even
the tent field around Abraham’s Bosom
was dry! Could this be an indication of
a good summer to come? This is the
one thing all Pinewoods customers deserve.
It was good to see shoots of new
growth in the landscaped areas. I noticed the grass needed cutting in some
places and the reeds have started to
grow in the reed beds we planted last
autumn.
We get busier each winter; in 2005
only 40 owners used their caravans up
to 2 January, this winter it was over 140.
It is always pleasing to see more customers using Pinewoods during the
winter months. Every spring I refer to
the challenge of getting the park ready
for opening, as there is always repair
work to complete before customers arrive again. Once again the site team
have successfully completed the tasks
prior to opening.We have also completed major repairs to the toilet block
roofs and replaced more decks to the
lodges.
Standards continue to be an area of
major focus and importance for us, so
this winter we have tidied up the caravan sales ground, putting in hard runways for the caravans to be moved on,
and gravelling the surrounding areas.
We’ve had new steps made with hand
rails which are safe, irrespective of
which way the doors open.The gardeners have supplied us with planters
which will be planted with the seasons
in mind.
The first of our electric buggies has
been delivered. I was allowed to try it
out and what a fabulous machine it is,
very quiet and responsive with a small
tipping box on the back which will give
a lot of versatility for the site team.We
are expecting our housekeeper’s buggy
any day and this will replace the last
working Piaggio.
Our speed activated sign is making a
substantial contribution to the safety of
all customers.The vast majority of customers slow down considerably when
the “10mph slow down” flashes at
them.The only exceptions continue to
be children on bikes who think it is far
more fun to try and get it to flash!
We have now issued all our caravan
owners with new “model standard
pitch licence agreements” which are
written in plain English and have taken
four years to produce. In drawing up
these agreements, we consulted with
the British Holiday and Home Park Association, the National Caravan Council
and Park operators and received guidance from the Office of Fair Trading.
This agreement gives our holiday home
owners greater fairness and protection
than the old agreements and to date
we have had over 50% returned to us.
Business continues to be good and
once again we are all expecting a good
year. Easter was successful, the weather
was kind to us and all trading outlets
performed well: we even sold ice cream
and had tents on the horse paddock. So
all we need now is for the temperature
to rise and the sun to shine and all our
customers should then have a good
season, hopefully one to remember for
all the right reasons.
Richard Seabrooke • General Manager
© Matthew Usher
Mechanical Marvel
John Bear, who was a stalwart of
Branthill Farm for 50 years, retired at
the end of last year. John started work
for David Maufe in 1958, just after his
15th birthday, though he’d experienced
work on the farm before that, having
helped with the harvest the year
before. David Maufe needed a good
mechanic, and found one in John,
whose great delight was the
challenge of modifying farm
machinery so that it could be used
more efficiently.
His first job was helping with the
sugar beet harvest – he used to walk
behind the harvester picking up
spilled beets and taking over from
the other workers when they needed
a break to warm up. His wages were
£3/12 shillings (£3.60) a week, and
he saved as much as he could to put
towards a new motorcycle.
He moved on to his first tractor
when he was 17, and spent long days
ploughing with no cab to keep him
protected from the elements! One of
his other jobs was to get rid of much
of the runway at the old North
Creake aerodrome near Egmere mill
during the bitterly cold winter of
1963. The land under the concrete
of the runway was what they were
after, and all the hardcore was
usefully recycled to Brancaster
Sailing Club, whose commodore just
happened to be David Maufe!
John’s mechanical know-how came
in very useful, especially for a Danish
firm of machinery manufacturers.
They had a prototype beet harvester
that they asked John to test and he
suggested several modifications
which were incorporated into the
final design. He brought his skills to
bear on machinery used at Branthill
all the time, often coming up with a
modification that saved time and
money for the Maufes.
David’s son, Teddy, is now the
farmer at Branthill and will miss his
mechanical marvel man, but hopefully John will still be involved at
Branthill – he’s doing some part time
work for the farm, in between getting a 1958 Roadless tractor back
into working order!
Long Service Awards Royal Norfolk Show
The estate would like to congratulate the following employees who are to be presented with Long Service
Awards at the Royal Norfolk Show on Thursday 2 July.
Between them they represent 300 years of service on the
estate, which is a substantial achievement!
Our congratulations go to:
Ian McNab, head forester, 51 years 11 months service
Maurice Bray, senior windowcraftsman, 50 years 7
months service
Ian Barrett, carpenter, 46 years 3 months service
Douglas Codman, former pottery factory manager, 44
years 2 months service
John Hall, former farm mechanic, 49 years 10 months
service
Kennie Rowe, former forester, 49 years 10 months
service
A Friend Remembered
When Garry Maufe died on 6 April it
brought to an end his tenancy at Leith
House Farm, Burnham Thorpe, where
he had been farming for over 60 years.
On the day he turned 18 in May
1940, he presented himself at the
King’s Lynn recruiting office and
eventually found himself as a young
lieutenant in the 60th Rifles; the
Greenjackets.
Garry fought in North Africa, all the
way up Italy, and ended the war in
Klagenfurt in Austria. In the process he
was awarded a well deserved Military
Cross for ‘conspicuous gallantry and
leadership’ during a night action in
January 1945.
After the excitement of war, Garry
took some time to settle down to the
more mundane business of farming.
Never a natural farmer, he nevertheless
made enough money to take his wife,
Marit, (a Norwegian whom he married
within six weeks of meeting) and
young family of four girls on monthlong holidays immediately after every
harvest. This always involved long
drives through the continent, on
occasions as far as Greece, and very
often to out of the way countries such
as Macedonia in the former Yugoslavia.
In the Europe of the 1950s and early
60s, this was no mean undertaking. In
winter they used to drive through
France, Germany, Denmark and
Sweden to ski in Norway. Not for them
the boring business of flying.
Garry was a keen sailor as well as an
accomplished skier, two pursuits he
gave up only in his mid eighties. He
was astonishingly well read. He would
talk authoritatively on all the Russian
classics, and enjoyed nothing more
than arguing well into the night on all
the issues of the day.
He was unconventional, entertaining
and the best of companions. Marit and
his daughters will miss him dreadfully.
So will a great many others.
Lord Leicester
Garry Maufe... My Father
My father began the tenancy of Leith
House farm (then referred to as
Manor Farm) in 1945. The rent was
£628/15s. In addition he had to deliver
two wagonloads of good wheat straw
to the Holkham stables, plus one fat
turkey in December and six days’
work with four horses anywhere
within ten miles of the farm. By the
time I took over the tenancy in October 1998 the rent was somewhere in
the region of £26,000-£30,000!
Dad learnt his farming with Bill
Simms Adams at Brancaster Hall, with
whom he remained good friends. My
mother enjoyed Bill’s wife Gaby’s
company as they were two foreigners
in this strange land!
I remember some of the many men
that used to work on the farm in
those days. They were always dressed
in an assortment of clothing with
binder twine as a belt and were outdoors all the time – even in horrid
weather. One of these men was Billy
who seemed to always be trimming
the hedges with a hook. That was until
Dad bought one of the first “hedgers”
and he himself started to trim the
hedges. What a mess he made, but he
remained the ‘hedging guy’ until I took
over. The hedging tractor was a small,
two wheeled drive tractor that always
felt it was going to topple over if you
extended the arm of the hedger too
far (in spite of wheel weights). It was
very uncomfortable to ride in and had
no radio or heater.
Dad had a tractor for each job on
the farm. The ploughing tractor, the
forklift tractor, the hedging tractor, the
mowing tractor etc. He had seven
tractors! Attachments in those days
were not so easy to take off so they
stayed attached. Everything was kept
outside; no thieves then!
In the beginning he farmed sheep
and pigs. The pig man had a donkey
that pulled a cart with meal on it between the pig barns. That donkey was
a male and he fathered other donkeys
that we children had as pets. I rode a
donkey as a child for miles around the
countryside.
Dad may have wanted a son to help
on the farm but he certainly never
said so to any of his four girls. We
were brought up with no reference to
our sex and no thought that working
on a farm could not be done by fe-
males. We learnt to drive tractors and
most of us drove one for at least one
harvest. I drove one of his tractordrawn John Deere combines all one
harvest and did many a lunch hour
stint during other harvests, little realising that I would end up running the
whole show one day.
Harvest was always a good time: the
men picnicking in the field for lunch:
the grain in the barn working its way
over the old coal fired drier and all
the bustle down in the farm yard. As a
child I loved going round with Dad. I
rode on trailers full of grain, helped in
the barn and even rode on grain lorries all the way to a grain merchant.
In the late 1970s the plum orchard
was started and this kept my father
occupied right up till this last year. Because he lived next door to it he was
always pottering round, keeping an eye
on the trees and filling in his plum
diary. Part of the entry for 2008 reads
“Made a list of all the trees in the orchard, including garden, showing
colour, size, etc and ancestry, sterility
or not” and he also comments “Pond
very high still due to gross lack of
maintenance, lots of trees in water.
Self have done what I can but not up
to a lot of digging”. He was 85 at the
time! He never stopped.
He loved his plum orchard and trees
in general. He planted two whole
woods on the farm. No conifers for
him, always hard woods.
Dad was a great supporter of the
Holkham estate. He considered that
he was fairly treated, that it was a
good estate and he embraced any
modern schemes that were started if
he thought they would help Holkham
survive. He did not mind being a tenant and not owning his own home. As
a family we are delighted that Lord
Leicester has announced that he will
plant a wood on Leith House Farm in
my father’s memory. We will all miss
him very much.
Nina Plumbe
Holkham People
WELCOME
HOLKHAM FOODS: Emily Perowne and Dominic Rzeczkowski
FARMS: David Wroth, a new sprayer driver
PINEWOODS HOLIDAY PARK: Michelle Harrison, Elaine Wright
and Karl Tansley (retail), Terry Luxton, Lindsey Waajen (site) and
Hayley White and Andy Fuller (reception)
HOLKHAM ENTERPRISES: Caroline Muncey who will be in the
Pottery Shop for the summer season (gift shop), Richard Edmondson
(Hall), Jan Yates who is assisting in the Ticket Office and Helen
Hawkes at the front desk for the season (Bygones)
ESTATE OFFICE: Joanna Hobson, PA to Lord and Lady Coke,
Theatre co-ordinator Kerry Cave, who has moved here from the
Ticket Office
GAME DEPARTMENT: Austin Pinney
FINANCE OFFICE: Robert Kilbourn
THE VICTORIA HOTEL: Stephanie Ogilvie, Lee Newstead, Bruno
Viegas, Issy Deterding. Also Luke Hylton, Grant Ayres, Tony Robins
and his wife Bev, all kitchen porters
THE GLOBE INN: Kayleigh Fox (housekeeping), Julie Bushby and
Polly Mills (waitresses) and Craig Ward (kitchen porter)
WELCOME BACK
HOLKHAM FOODS: Eileen Heyhoe, Karen Beck, Dot Cooper,
Simon Weller, Emma Weller, Emily Gould, Becky Mahon, Victoria
Smith, Jamie Hepher, Tarquin Bix, Aaron Ward, Taylor Hammond,
Samantha Price, Hayley Baxter and Emma Reynolds
HOLKHAM LINSEED PAINTS: Rory Gould (ex Hall steward) as
part-time packer
THE GLOBE INN: Phil Wakeman, Sarah Powley, Dale Pope
THE VICTORIA HOTEL: Matthew and Sarah Higham and Alan
Clarke. Also Rebecca Williamson (HBM) is working in the bar parttime
PINEWOODS HOLIDAY PARK: Kelvin Armiger, Philippa Cooke,
Louise Palmer and Joby Sikes-Sheard (all retail) and Tom Sands, dog
warden
FAREWELL
Richard Gledson after 12 years at Holkham has moved on to become
Factor to HM the Queen at Balmoral
HOLKHAM FOODS: Lianne Page
HOLKHAM BUILDING MAINTENANCE: Rodney Lovick retired
on 4 March 2009 and Avelino de Brito Pereira retired on 20 March
2009
HOLKHAM LINSEED PAINTS: Amanda Taylor, after six years at
Longlands
GAME DEPARTMENT: Tim Rothwell left in March to become head
keeper at Harewood House
HOLKHAM ENTERPRISES (Hall stewards) Rita Smyth, Moyra
Saunders, Lynn Barham, Lynn Marr, Sheila Jones, Margaret Quince,
Ken Hulme, Eileen Ruffles, Judy Whitcher and Janet Wood. Also
Daphne Taylor, who has retired
THE VICTORIA HOTEL: Sharon Thorne after five years in housekeeping
CONGRATULATIONS
HOLKHAM FOODS: Eileen Heyhoe on becoming a grandmother to
Preston, born to her son Kevin and Charlie (from Building
Maintenance)
FINANCE OFFICE: Denise Durrant on passing IAB Level 3 Diploma
– she now can put FIAB after her name!
ESTATE OFFICE: Jane Haynes has announced her engagement to
Mark Berwick
GARDENS: Daniel Beresford, Carl Balding and Dave Collier all
achieved NVQ11 passes
THE VICTORIA HOTEL: Ben Hunter-Watts (sous-chef) was married in April to Stephanie Barber
THE GLOBE INN: Ben Hunter-Watts who has been promoted across
to food and beverage manager
Sarah Seabrooke (daughter of Richard Seabrooke at Pinewoods) has
announced her engagement to Martin Billings of “Bringing the
Outside In” gallery
Nick Gardner (son of tenant Farmer Chris Gardner) who married Eve
Van Poortvliet on 29 May
BIRTHS
FINANCE OFFICE: Karen Griffiths and her partner Pete whose baby,
Kristin Sofia Page, weighed in at 9lb on 30 December 2008 – a sister
for Alara
PINEWOODS HOLIDAY PARK: Mike Robinson who has two new
granddaughters, Erin and Anya Ency
COUNTRY FAIR OFFICE: Alice Elizabeth Green was born on St
George’s Day (23 April) to Ricky and Sarah
THE GLOBE INN: Danielle Poyser gave birth to a baby girl, Faith, on
2 August 2008, weighing in at 9lb 9oz!
BUILDING MAINTENANCE: Charmaine Cornwall and her partner
Kevin, whose baby, Preston Jae Heyhoe, weighed 6lb 12oz
KEEPERS: To Neil White and Gemma Dale, a boy Liam, 8lbs on 24
December 2008
TENANT FARMERS: To Matthew and Susy Harrison a daughter,
Polly Eugenia Kate on 5 January 2009, a sister for Joseph and Rebecca.
To Philip and Fenella Harrison a son, Theo Leslie on 17 March 2009,
both are grandchildren for Mark and Heather Harrison (tenants of
Church Farm, Warham). To Philip and Clare Allen a daughter, Alice,
born on 1 May weighing 7lbs 3oz, a new granddaughter for Geoff
Allen and his wife Barbara, tenants of Morleys Farm, South Creake
DEATHS
Garry Maufe, former tenant at Leith House Farm, died age 86 on
6 April 2009
Phyllis Potter, Lord Coke’s grandmother, died on 15 January 2009,
aged 100
All contributions for the next newsletter should be submitted to the Editor, Sara Phillips, by 2 November 2009. E-mail [email protected]

NEWSLETTER - Holkham Hall

Transcription

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