HOLKHAM GAZETTE

ISSUE 29 • SPRING 2019 First words

New rooms unveiled Cover picture © Andy Bloomfield © picture Cover This issue of The Gazette has an emphasis on nature, wildlife and conservation and where Holkham positions itself as a leading rural estate in terms of conservation, farming, employment and development. Lord Leicester’s article makes for very interesting and in part, controversial reading. The success of the Spoonbill breeding colony on the Holkham National Nature Reserve is celebrated Holkham has opened two new rooms, the Old Servants’ Hall and the stunning with superb pictures by warden Andy Venetian Bedroom for visitors to look into for the first time. The Venetian Bedroom Bloomfield. There is also news of the will delight visitors and art lovers. The bedroom features tapestry panels and Easter celebrations and food fair, the historically important portraits. Guests of the Earl and Countess of Leicester often Great British Cycling Festival, which stay in this room with its Spanish travelling bed, rich gilt work and striking Venetian passes through Holkham in June and window overlooking the parkland to the north of the hall. so much more. The Old Servants’ Hall is home to an extensive natural history collection of Sara Phillips, Editor mostly local species, including birds, fish and mammals. Visitors can also see a large billiard table and Georgian furniture. The Old Servants’ Hall was last used by the lower servants as their dining room in 1942. Contents Fascinating glimpses of the hall’s hidden heart First words...... 2 A history of Holkham in 50 objects...... 3 From April to October, there is also an opportunity to enjoy two fascinating and Conservation leads the way...... 4 – 7 different behind the scenes tours, accompanied by an expert guide. Employment opportunities ...... 8 On the Hidden Passages and Servants’ Stairs tour you can find out how the Introducing Katherine Hardwick ...... 8 army of servants managed to flit between the grand state rooms without being Spoonbill success ...... 9 From young shoots... To a mature crop .. 10 – 11 seen and how they serviced the state bedchambers, where royalty slept. Visit the The Benjamin Foundation charity appeal ..... 12 tower rooms and attics where you can see what sits above the magnificent Hospitality in Action fundraising ...... 12 ceiling of the Marble Hall and hear how it was built. All the fun of the Country Fair ...... 13 Just hangin’ around – new ropes course ...... 14 Cellar Tours of the hall will treat visitors to a glimpse of the warren of Easter fun and food...... 15 corridors and chambers serving the hub of the building, from the old bakery and Last words – Great British Cycling Festival... 16 the heating system, to the massive wood store, highlighting the vast amount of maintenance and machinery required to maintain this great house, both past www.holkham.co.uk and present. For more information and to book tickets visit www.holkham.co.uk © The Holkham Gazette 2019 Published by Coke Estates Limited Are you a local accommodation provider? Holkham Estate Office Why not come on a complimentary visit to see what we do as a visitor Wells-next-the-Sea attraction and how we can offer your guests a great day out. Are you NR23 1AB interested? If so please email: [email protected] and we will be in touch. Telephone: 01328 710227 Please provide: owner’s or manager’s name, accommodation name, Next issue published Autumn 2019 accommodation address and your email address. 2 • Holkham Gazette A HISTORY OF Holkham IN 50 OBJECTS

The head of a goddess

History talk about Lucy Purvis introduces a statue of Roma, airfield brought to Holkham by Edward Coke Tucked away in the Marble Hall is a small head RAF North Creake airfield was built on of a goddess. One of the earliest pieces in both Holkham and Estate land. the room, it is likely that this sculpture was During the Second World War, it was a large acquired by Edward Viscount Coke (1719- heavy bomber base and it has a fascinating 53), son of Thomas Coke, first Earl of secret history. Nigel Morter and Claire Leicester and builder of the hall. Like his Nugent, owners of The Control Tower Bed father, Edward completed his education & Breakfast at Egmere, have plans to raise with a of Europe, spending money for a memorial to the men and almost two years travelling in Italy with his women who served at RAF North Creake. tutor. Little archival evidence remains On Tuesday 16th April Nigel Morter will of his tour but as details of the head give a talk on the airfield in the Marble Hall at are included in ‘The Plans, Holkham. Tickets are £20 and include light Elevations and Sections of refreshments. They are available from The Control Holkham in Norfolk...’ by Matthew Tower by emailing [email protected] or Brettingham in 1773, and there is no from The Black Lion Hotel in Walsingham at the bar. account of it being purchased by him or Arrival from 6.30pm, free parking. Thomas Coke, it is most likely that Edward bought it in Italy. Chamber music concert This small masterpiece is the divine representation of the Romans. It is of the goddess Roma who wears her helmet showing her fortitude, though her femininity is seen in her smooth skin and wavy hair which is plaited at the back. Her aegis, or breastplate, is made from a thin layer of rosso antico, a type of special red marble reserved to make a dramatic impact. In the centre is the head of a Gorgon, commonly associated Doric String Quartet: Alex Redington and Ying Xue violin, with Zeus and Athena. It is her helmet that confirms her Hélène Clément viola, John Myerscough cello identity: the presence of lupa romana or the she-wolf and infant Firmly established at the pinnacle of the string quartet twins she raised, Romulus and Remus. Romulus went on to world, the Doric String Quartet has played in north found the city of Rome on Palatine Hill and the image of the Norfolk for 15 years, right from the start of their twins being suckled by the she-wolf is known universally as the career. They will be performing in the Marble Hall at symbol of the city. Holkham on Friday 3rd May at 7pm. The head of this Greek goddess was made in around 130-140 Their programme starts with two pithy 20th AD, when Roma was worshipped in a similar way to Athena century works; the 3rd String Quartet by Bohuslav (Minerva) who was worshipped in her temple, the Parthenon, Martinů, composed in the modernistic Paris of the in Athens. 1920s and Benjamin Britten’s startling ‘Divertimenti’ At Holkham Roma has always been on public display; in 1773 from the early 30s. These works are followed by she was recorded as being in the ante-room in Strangers’ Wing pieces by Beethoven and Mendelssohn. before moving to the Long Library in the 19th century. During Tickets: £28 – includes a glass of wine in the Saloon the 5th Earl’s time she was moved to the Marble Hall. This during the interval and an opportunity to view some magnificent space, which was inspired by the ruins of the of the other state rooms in the hall. Book online, or Temple of Venus and Roma, near the Forum in Rome, seems a telephone our ticket office on 01328 713111. fitting place for this sculpture. Spring 2019 • 3 Conservation leads the way for the whole estate

Lord Leicester explains how conservation is at the forefront of Holkham’s aspirations for the future

Ten years ago, shortly after he was appointed to take responsibility for Holkham Estate, David Horton-Fawkes and I worked hard on formulating a robust estate Strategy. It took time, and of course it continually needs updating. We also took the opportunity to address the management Structure of all departments. My final S was to establish high Standards throughout. While the estate strategy has been successfully disseminated to all Holkham employees, it dawned on me that each department or business also needed its own high level business strategy. Peter Mitchell’s appointment as the new managing director a year ago provided the perfect opportunity to put this into action. Indeed within two weeks of his arrival at Holkham I asked him to act as facilitator for our National Nature Reserve strategy away-day in the hall. This role would quickly bring him up to speed regarding the importance of the NNR within all Holkham activities. This lasted a little over 24 hours and involved our four members of the Advisory Board – Philip Merricks MBE, chairman of the Hawk and Owl Trust and the only other private individual running a National Nature Reserve – Elmley NNR on the north Kent coast; Richard Carden CB, DPhil, a keen ornithologist, ex-acting Permanent Under Secretary at MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and Fisheries) the predecessor to DEFRA; Paul Dolman, Professor of Environmental Sciences at UEA and David Lyles, local farmer, conservationist and recipient of a number of awards for conservation from organisations such as Below: The Lookout on Lady Anne’s Drive FWAG (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group). We were joined by Sarah Opposite: Holkham beach Dawkins, area manager for Natural , and Sarah Henderson and her team of three wardens Andy Bloomfield, Paul Eele and Jonathan Holt. It was an extremely valuable exercise at which everyone’s input was welcomed, especially that of our wardens, those on the ground every day. Since that exercise in April 2018 we are very lucky to have also recruited Professor Rob Fuller, recently retired Science Director at leading conservation charity the British Trust for Ornithology, an organisation of which I am a life member. At the beginning of the year Sarah Henderson left us after seven years of leading the NNR team during which time she gained us our much prized ‘Section 35 Approved Body Status’, giving the estate the legal right to manage NNRs, on the same level as Elmley NNR, the RSPB and Wildlife Trusts. Whilst a loss, Sarah’s departure allowed us to re-appraise what sort of individual we wanted to manage the NNR, but also almost as crucially, how much that role could be deployed 4 • Holkham Gazette across the wider estate. My vision for this individual was that he or she should not It is a joy to watch only manage the game department but also advise, even influence, our own small children farming and forestry operations, and maybe even extend to offering advice to neighbouring farmers and landowners, irrespective of whether they were tenants of following our recycling the estate or not. Maybe we could go some way to fulfilling the ambition of guidelines and telling Professor Sir John Lawton CBE, FRS in his landmark 2010 report ‘Making Space for Nature’, which advocated ‘bigger, better and joined up wildlife habitats’. their parents which Jake Fiennes was appointed in November 2018. For 24 years he had worked at bins to put rubbish, the Raveningham Estate in south east Norfolk for Sir Nicholas Bacon, initially as recyclables and a gamekeeper, then head gamekeeper and for the last 14 years as estate manager. We were attracted to him because of his knowledge, ideas and track record. compostables in I already knew him within Norfolk as he sat on two CLA (Country Land and Business Association) committees I chaired; Norfolk, and Wildlife Estates, but his influence on the national stage is also much prized. He sits on the NFU (National Farmers’ Union) Environmental Committee and on Julian Glover’s National Parks Review Board. Importantly he is a practitioner and he has passion. In February he enthused estate employees and some farm tenants to take part in an important citizens’ science survey, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s ‘Big Farmland Bird Count’. And his leadership and communication skills are already in evidence with his NNR team who are now being given more individual responsibility. This was a fine example of nature conservation, not just being about the four employees and our valued volunteers on the NNR. I want everyone on the estate to be involved. In December last year we undertook the Farms Strategy away day (and night). Prior to the workshop I gave everyone attending a copy of Isabella Tree’s book Wilding – the story of the re-wilding of the Knepp Castle Estate in Sussex. I did have to preface this by reassuring all concerned that I had not lost my marbles and was not planning the same at Holkham. Our soils are too productive, we are after all in the bread basket of England. But in the book there are wonderful Spring 2019 • 5 Above:The NNR office. The posts on the references to the ways natural processes, free from human intervention, create soil left support a barn owl box and two bat fertility, improve ecosystems and enhance bio diversity. I was delighted that all the boxes farming team really enjoyed the book and ‘got it’. Indeed for the last five years, Opposite, top: The iconic Red Squirrel since Poul Hovesen’s appointment as part-time Executive Director of Farming at Bottom: An Avocet Holkham, we have been working at improving soil fertility and organic matter therein, reducing chemical inputs, increasing the rotation from four to six courses and introducing more livestock to the arable rotation. Fertility has soared with one field of sugarbeet’s yield leaping from 68 tonnes a hectare to 102 tonnes. If we look after the soil, the soil will look after us. We plough less (we still have to plough prior to sugarbeet and potato crops) but when we plough, the seagulls are returning in greater numbers. Why? Because there are more worms and grubs to eat because the soil is healthier. My next book to read on holiday, Dirt to Soil, recounts the experience of an American farmer who ‘grew his soil’. Now there’s an ambition! Whereas nature reserves only account for 5% of the country’s land mass, agriculture takes up 70%. Natural England recognises that it is across farmland that we could have the greatest successes and improvements in bio-diversity. Insect numbers have been declining dramatically. Who remembers regularly having to wash their windscreens of dead insects every summer? These last five to ten years there has barely been a requirement to do that. Insects are an essential component in the food chain for small birds and mammals. We need to reverse their decline. To that end, and I hasten to add we are not organic farmers, I have charged the farms to see if they can farm without ‘-cides’ (insecticide, pesticide and fungicide) by 2030. It may be a tall order, but if we set it as our goal and we all adjust our mind sets, we may just achieve it. As humans the three basic things we want for our families is habitat (a house), food and protection, the same is true for wildlife. On all non-farmed parts of the farms, such as field margins, corners and ‘scoots’, we aim to plant a variety of seed rich plants, wild flowers and pollen and nectar mixes to provide that habitat and food source for insects and small birds and mammals. These areas should provide One animal I would like an element of protection (cover from predators) but it is that third element of to see the back of protection where we as humans can also help. Our six gamekeepers and reserve rangers spend their working days managing and monitoring our more vulnerable completely in Norfolk is species which are threatened by predators. These include increasingly rare waders the Grey Squirrel... such as Avocets and Lapwings and other ground-nesting birds. They will never Wouldn’t it be marvellous exterminate all foxes, stoats, crows or rats and nor would we want them to, but by keeping on top of them, and always working within the law, we can give rarer if we could re-establish species a chance. I am much heartened by the fact that the largest nature the Red Squirrel? conservation organisation, the RSPB, is now beginning to take the control of predators more seriously and is addressing the problem on more and more of its 6 • Holkham Gazette reserves. In February we were honoured to have six Council members including its chair, Kevin Cox, and two officers from the RSPB come and spend a day with us on the reserve. We all concluded there is more that links us than separates us. We all strive for greater biodiversity and richer natural capital on this planet of ours. One animal I would like to see the back of completely in Norfolk is the Grey Squirrel, a non-native species from North America that has out-competed our native smaller Red Squirrel. The Red has also been devastated by a virulent pox passed onto it by the Grey. The last Red Squirrel to be seen in the Pinewoods was a very sick one spotted in 1985 and the last one in Holkham Park was seen in 1989. We hear of many successful re-introductions like the Red Kite. Wouldn’t it be marvellous if we could re-establish the Red Squirrel? Science has proven that it would, by necessity, mean the eradication of the Grey. This may upset some people but surely saving a rarer iconic native species is more important. No one could fail to have been moved by images of fish, whales and turtles becoming trapped, suffocating and dying in Sir David Attenborough’s most recent television series, Blue Planet II. The amount of plastic in our oceans is a disgrace. So when we designed and built The Lookout, our new interpretation centre containing much needed loos and a small café on Lady Anne’s Drive, much thought was given to the environment. What food and drink and, more importantly, packaging should we sell? Here I want to congratulate the Holkham enterprises team and particularly Alan Miller for his sustainable initiative, for example sourcing compostable plant-based starch cups, not selling individual packs of crisps, sourcing ice lollies with no wrapping paper, only a bio-degradable wooden lollypop stick. We could have made a lot of money selling bottled water… but discarded bottles would only have exacerbated the plastics problem. Instead we are very proud to provide free water, dispensed from a sculptural water fountain designed and made by our friends at Holkham Forge. It is a joy to watch small children following our recycling guidelines and telling their parents which bins to put rubbish, recyclables and compostables in. I hope this article has given you a flavour of the estate’s environmental credentials and aspirations as we strive to set a benchmark which others may hopefully follow. Spring 2019 • 7 So many opportunities to work at Holkham

Alex Triplow, Holkham’s head of HR, explains why Holkham is ‘one to watch’ as an employer

Recently judged ‘One to Watch’ in the Best Employers Eastern Region 2018 awards, Holkham has so much to offer the 250 employees we have, and the extra 50 or so we take on during the summer season, making us the second largest employer in this region. Our aim for our staff is simple. We want them to be fully engaged and responsible for their area of work. We offer a range of training and development including induction, compliance training, coaching, mentoring, secondments, project work and attending external courses. One of the five Holkham ‘Behaviours’ is ‘Go see’. This is about getting out there, visiting other companies and competitors to evaluate what they do, see best practice in action and learn from them. Our engagement is not just internal, though. We want to engage with the people around us in our community, from school children through to offering volunteering opportunities in the hall, the walled garden and on the Holkham National Nature Reserve. Our educational horticultural project has been a great success. We recently won the Business Award for ‘Young People and Skills’ in recognition of our work with Alderman Peel High School in Wells-next-the-Sea and for our overall approach to learning. You’ll find information about the award on page 10. Over 3,500 school children visit us each year to learn about life on a big rural estate. They meet our gamekeepers, foresters and gardeners who in turn extend the connection by attending careers evenings and assemblies to promote careers available at Holkham. The estate itself offers work experience placements and apprenticeships, plus a farms graduate scheme, internships and ongoing development for employees. We also take part in Open Farm Sunday and the Holkham Country Fair to promote careers and the industries we play a part in. There is so much we can offer if you come to work for us. Job vacancies are available on our website and there are always volunteer positions available. For more information visit www.holkham.co.uk/job-vacancies Introducing Katherine Hardwick, collections co-ordinator Katherine Hardwick has recently been appointed as collections co-ordinator at Holkham. Graduating from Durham University in 2015, Katherine went on to Cambridge University, where she read for her masters in Architectural History. During her time at Cambridge, she undertook a six-month internship at Holkham. A stint as an assistant heritage consultant followed at the -based firm of Purcell, and from there, Katherine undertook another internship with the international auction house Christie’s, working with a wide variety of artworks and objects as part of their valuations team. The role of collections co-ordinator is a new one at Holkham, designed to assist in the management of the collections which encompass paintings, sculpture, furniture, porcelain, silver, carpets, tapestries and works on paper. There is a library of around 11,000 books and 550 manuscripts as well as an extensive archive of estate and family papers dating back to the 13th century. Katherine’s principal role is to liaise with the collection specialists in the implementation of a bespoke collections management system to manage the art, library and archival collections together. This will aid with the long-term preservation of the collections and ensure that key information can be easily shared across the team, the hall and the wider estate. 8 • Holkham Gazette Picture © Andy Bloomfield © Picture Spoonbill success at Holkham My interest and passion for wildlife began as a boy growing up on the Holkham Estate and finally resulted in me working as a warden on the National Nature Reserve. I have been lucky enough to witness many positive changes on the reserve since the 1980s when the creation of wetland features on the reclaimed grazing marshes really got underway. Bird populations grew and the reserve became recognised both nationally and internationally due to numbers of both breeding and wintering species that started to appear in abundance. One of the foremost changes has been the relatively recent arrival of the Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), a large white heron-like bird with, as its name suggests, a beak shaped like a spoon. This is an adaption that allows the bird to swish its bill through shallow water to filter feed on small fish and crustaceans. Through a combination of hunting and collecting, Spoonbills had disappeared as an East Anglian breeding species in the 1600s. Incredibly it took until 2010 before a Andy Bloomfield, a warden on the NNR, successful colony formed once more in England, at Holkham. Thanks to the was pleased to be invited as the sole UK ongoing wetland habitat enhancements, a network of dykes, pools and scrapes representative at a conference of beside an undisturbed fragment of wet woodland became the ideal home for international Spoonbill experts held in these bizarre looking birds. From 2010 to 2018 the colony has grown, reaching a Tunisia in November last year peak of 28 pairs from which 244 youngsters have fledged. An amazing fact given there are still only sporadic and isolated breeding attempts elsewhere in the UK. Against this background it was an honour when I was asked to attend a conference in Tunisia and lecture the International Eurasian Spoonbill Expert Group. No one else from the UK attended, so it really was a case of putting Holkham on the international map! Such a meeting with respected experts from around the world enabled me to tell the story of the UK’s population decline and subsequent reappearance alongside the work we have been doing at Holkham NNR and the ecology of our Spoonbills. This contact has allowed a greater sharing of our problems and accomplishments with like-minded conservationists and it establishes the NNR at Holkham as being a unique spot where people can learn about the benefits of having protected and undisturbed wetland sites. Spring 2019 • 9 From young shoots...

Four Alderman Peel High School students talk to editor Sara Phillips about their work in the walled garden

If you visit the walled garden at Holkham on a Wednesday, the ages of some of the helpers you see might surprise you – they look so young. That’s because they are! Holkham and Alderman Peel High School in Wells-next-the-Sea have forged a beneficial partnership between staff, students and the estate which has been running for more than six years, in one guise or another, and which is highly valued, not just by the estate, but by the teachers and students who visit each week. The students who go to the walled garden are in Years 10 and 11 and the tasks they undertake are part of a work-based learning scheme which leads to a practical qualification from the Royal Horticultural From left to right: Connor Bailey, Billy Society. It is not all about digging and planting either. There is classroom-based Warnes, Oliver Fuller and Nina Frary learning too, where the jobs they have done are discussed and further work is planned. The students put together a portfolio of the tasks they have accomplished which adds to their personal record. I had the privilege of meeting four students recently to talk about what they did at Holkham, how they liked it and how it was helping them make plans for the future. Nina Frary is 14 years old and comes from Walsingham. She was quietly full of praise for what the school and the estate have offered her and said that she really enjoys her time gardening, even when it’s wet and cold. Nina may pursue her interest further but her immediate ambition is to get through her GCSEs and go to college. Oliver Fuller, aged 15, comes from Heacham. He too has really enjoyed being at Holkham wins North the walled g arden and is grateful to Holkham for another reason – his father is a blacksmith and Oliver wants to join him but needs to do an apprenticeship first. Norfolk Business Award James Spedding at Holkham Forge on the estate has offered him work experience The North Norfolk Business Awards with a view to doing an apprenticeship once he has finished his GCSEs. celebrate the best of business in the Connor Bailey is 16 years old and also from Walsingham. He has plans for a career district. Holkham Estate recently won in technology but has relished his time out of school and in a more ‘grown-up’ the award in the ‘Young People and environment. He’s clearly enjoyed talking to visitors about what the students are Skills’ category, described by hosts doing and why – all of which, he says, has boosted his confidence. North Norfolk District Council as Finally, Billy Warnes, also 16 years old, is from Warham and has been helping his an award which recognises local grandfather on his allotment ever since he can remember. The garden staff have businesses that are working to raise helped expand his horticultural knowledge and Billy wants to go on to college when aspirations, provide opportunities for he leaves school to study the subject further. young people and improve the skills The staff members I talked to, Lisa Yarham, Maria Somerton and Matt Hardman, of their workforce. The award looked were also overjoyed with how well the association with Holkham has worked, and for examples of strong leadership how meaningful it has been for their students. They can clearly see personal and innovative ways to promote the development in the students that have been to the estate, not only academically but diverse range of career opportunities in improved behaviour and in their confidence. The students are treated as adults and across the district. are expected to do adult work. It’s not just an excuse to miss double maths! 10 • Holkham Gazette ...to a mature crop

Farm manager James Beamish explains about the new farming graduate programme

Farming today is big business, with big budgets, big rewards, big acreage and big equipment. You are likely to find today’s farmers at the controls of very large and expensive pieces of machinery incorporating sophisticated technology. They talk knowlegably about yields, application rates, water usage, the use of cover crops and conservation policies. Holkham is striving to be at the forefront of advances in farming – after all, the four-course crop rotation was invented in Norfolk in the 18th century, revolutionising the way land was farmed. The Holkham Farming Company looks after over 3,500 hectares of land and we have a mixture of crops – winter and spring cereals, sugarbeet, oil seed rape, potatoes and we grow energy crops to feed the anaerobic digester at The view from the driving seat of one of Egmere. The farm also has livestock – a 1,000 head beef suckler herd and up to 1,500 Holkham’s tractors sheep which graze Holkham land during the year. There are also storage facilities for over 25,000 tonnes of grain. Holkham has put in place a graduate programme designed to offer recent graduates, usually from an agricultural course, a diverse and exciting opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained at university to a large and diverse cutting-edge farming environment. The graduate scheme offers a structured three-year programme with a competitive salary which allows participants to develop and apply their knowledge in a practical way and learn from farmers who have been working the land for many years. Holkham has some of the most up-to-date machinery too and the opportunity to use these formidable machines is part of the attraction which can’t be offered on many smaller farms. As farmers, it is vital that we understand the land our crops grow on and the soils they grow in. Also of paramount importance is knowing what minerals and nutrients are available to growing crops and when more needs to be added. Watering regimes must be managed carefully, especially in this dry part of the country. We must act as conservators of the land, as well as using it to grow the best crops possible. If we do not conserve what we have there will be no wildlife, no flowers, no insects – no “Holkham has had an extremely future. All of this represents practical knowlege which forms the building blocks of positive impact on my career good farming practice and it is what we impart to all our staff. progression, giving me responsibility Our first graduate success story is Tom Pearson who completed his three year and trust which has allowed me to programme with us. As a result of his time at Holkham, he has taken on the role of develop as a person. crop production manager on the neighbouring estate at Raynham and we wish him My technical knowledge has increased, well. We are looking forward to welcoming Sam Bennett who joins us in June, after thanks to the forward-thinking training he has finished his degree at Nottingham University. We currently have three other programme. I have learnt how to apply employees who are following the graduate programme – Oliver Wright, Connor correct farming practice to the Tindall-Read and David Cornwell. Henry Scholefield, also from Nottingham situation I find myself in and I have University, has joined us on work placement for 15 months before he returns to loved every minute of my time at university to complete his degree. The intention is that these young farmers will Holkham. I cannot thank the company complement the experienced workers that we currently employ so that there is a enough for its support of me.” sharing of knowledge between all of our employees. You can never know everything, Tom Pearson especially in farming! Spring 2019 • 11 Local charity launches 25th anniversary appeal

The Benjamin Foundation has beautiful plans for

The Benjamin Foundation was founded in 1994 by Richard Draper and his wife Vanessa, following the death of their son Ben. For 25 years the charity has been helping people in Norfolk, and more recently Suffolk, deal with some of life’s challenges. Whether it’s the prevention of youth homelessness, helping families to build stronger relationships or providing positive activities for young people with limited opportunities in life, their work brings hope, Above: How the hall might look under its opportunity, stability and independence to the people they support. kaleidoscope of butterflies This year is the charity’s 25th anniversary. To mark this milestone The Benjamin Foundation has announced plans for a high-profile, visually appealing, engaging and family-friendly celebration, and it is asking the public to get involved. The plan is to create a dramatic art installation this summer called ‘Flight for Youth’ which will feature up to 25,000 pottery butterflies glazed in one of the charity’s four distinct colours – pink, purple, orange or red. The charity is inviting people to buy individual butterflies but first they will be used to create two dramatic art installations, one at The Assembly House in Norwich and the other at Holkham. The charity is also inviting schools, care homes and other groups and organisations to purchase unglazed butterflies, which they can design and decorate themselves using acrylic or enamel paint. The decorated butterflies can then be loaned back to the charity for inclusion in one of the installations. Participants can visit one of the two locations to see their butterfly in situ. Visit the charity’s website at www.benjaminfoundation.co.uk/flight-for-youth for more information. Award-winning chefs to cook at Holkham Hospitality Action, the hospitality industry’s across the region. Those cooking will include fundraising charity, was established in 1837 and offers vital board member Charlie Hodson as well as a host of other assistance to all who work, or have worked award-winning regional chefs, who will champion local within hospitality in the UK and who find produce, showcasing the best has to offer. themselves in crisis. The charity supports people Charlie Hodson comments: “Mental health issues are no who are suffering from life altering illnesses, different to any other life-threatening illnesses. We’re not experiencing poverty, bereavement and domestic violence afraid of telling people if we have cancer, so why do we still and those who are retired from the industry but who may feel struggle with opening up about our inner struggles? I want to isolated and alone. talk to people in my industry: to the producers, the farmers, On Tuesday 4th June in The Lady Elizabeth Wing at the chefs and to the students and my work with Hospitality Holkham, Hospitality Action is set to mark the launch of its Action and our inaugural event this summer will help to East Anglia fundraising board with a celebratory evening. make this possible.” Guests will be treated to six delicious courses crafted by local This exclusive black tie event will include a canapé and award-winning chefs in memory of hospitality employee drinks reception prior to the six course feast. To book a place Nyall Brown, who took his own life last spring. The evening email [email protected] or call 020 3004 5503. will aim to raise awareness of Hospitality Action’s work Tickets are £75 each or £750 for a table of 10. 12 • Holkham Gazette Holkham Country Fair is back, with lots to do and see

Find out what this year’s Holkham Country Fair has to offer – there is definitely something for everyone

The theme of this year’s Holkham Country Fair, being held in Holkham park on the weekend of 20th and 21st July, is ‘Celebrating Land, Sea and Sky’ and there really will be something for everyone. There is high octane entertainment in the grand ring, trade stands to impress even the most dedicated shopper, a fine food village jam-packed with tasty treats, the cookery demonstration theatre showcasing local Norfolk talents and showground events to take part in or simply watch. Make a weekend of it and camp in the park or upgrade your tickets and enjoy the vice presidents’ enclosure. Holkham Country Fair prides itself on the quality of the grand ring entertainment and this year we welcome for the first time Atkinson Action Horses who are sure to wow with their stunt riding and tricks as well as showcasing the dedicated art of liberty training, which develops a true connection between human and horse based on how horses interact and communicate. We see the return of the Household Cavalry Musical Ride as well as Country Fair favourites CJ’s Birds of Prey, the Mounted Games of Great Britain and crowd favourite, Allcomers’ Dog Racing. The grand ring programme runs daily from 10.45am to approximately 6pm. Whether you’re looking for a new country outfit, a pair of wellies, beautiful home accessories, jewellery, gardening or fishing equipment or an eclectic and unusual gift, Holkham Country Fair is an opportunity for some real retail therapy. And if it’s food you are after, the fine food village is always a favourite. You can browse, taste and try all the delicious treats on offer from the dedicated producers of the country’s finest foods. A list of exhibitors is on our website if you’d like to plan who you want to visit. Go to www.holkhamcountryfair.co.uk If the fine food village makes you want to cook for yourself, look to the cookery theatre for inspiration. This year it’s hosted by Norfolk Restaurant Week who will bring some real flavour to the fair. A selection of chefs from some favourite Norfolk Restaurant Week establishments will be cooking up a storm on the stage and showing you how to create some of their most loved dishes. Disabled parking is available at the front of each car park and vice president parking is available with a vice president ticket. Electric scooters and manual wheelchairs are available for hire, please visit eventmobility.org.uk or contact the events team on 01386 725391 who will assist you. Carers are eligible for free entry if supporting a disabled visitor with a ticket. Finally, well behaved dogs on leads are welcome, there is plenty for them to do too. Drinking bowls are available throughout the showground. Tickets: Adult individual day tickets are £18 (£15.75 online). Children under 14 years of age are free. A two day adult ticket is £26, available online only. You may upgrade to a vice president ticket on the day if there is availability, please enquire at event headquarters.

Spring 2019 • 13 Just hangin’ around!

The new high ropes course at Holkham promises adventure for all. Sara Phillips finds out why...

The new Holkham High Ropes adventure course coming to the park this summer will add to the cycle hire and boat hire offerings provided by Norfolk Adventure, run by James Cowan and Hannah Darby. Starting in 2012, Norfolk Adventure has partnered with Holkham to provide some of the more adventurous offerings in the park. The lake and its kayaks, canoes and rowing boats have been a huge hit and in 2015 the company took over the bike hire, offering a range of bikes, tags and trailers available throughout the year on weekends, high days and holidays. Norfolk Adventure’s core customers have always been families and the sight of both young and older visitors venturing out around the park in a wonderfully safe and beautiful setting is great to see. The High Ropes adventure course creates a new way to burn off energy and is another distraction from the digital screens that seem to dominate everyone’s attention these days. This is something James and Hannah clearly see as important. The ropes course has been about three years in the planning and is currently being constructed in the woodland next to the adventure play area. It has a planned opening date of June and it all sounds amazing. The course will take approximately one hour to negotiate and participants will be around six metres in the air at the highest point. Safety is of paramount importance, so everyone will be fitted into their own safety harness and then attached to a safety line which cannot be detached from its carriage. There will be an induction by one of the team and a familiarisation course to practise on before visitors are let loose on the main course. It is not designed to be a hard-core adrenaline rush, but rather to encourage everyone to have an adventure in the trees. There is no upper age limit, but you must be over one metre tall and weigh less than 130kg. The course has been carefully designed to flow through the woodland with wobbly crossings, swinging bridges and other obstacles to get past, finishing with a choice of two zip wires to get you back to solid ground. Tickets will be £16 per person and will be available soon. Creating an adventure course in a living and growing woodland has its challenges and ensuring everyone has fun, with as little impact on the woodland as possible, is very important to Norfolk Adventure. The course and platforms are attached to the trees with a non-invasive method meaning there is no drilling into any trees and it can all be adjusted to move with the trees as they grow. Care to minimise the impact of more people walking around the woodland is also very important. Compacting the ground around the tree roots can stop water and nutrients getting to the trees so paths have been created to protect their welfare. The company is also keen to recruit full and part-time seasonal workers, who must be over 18 years of age. If you are interested, please email [email protected]

14 • Holkham Gazette Hopping mad Easter fun

Easter food, fun and a mystery to solve!

Easter at Holkham is always egg-citing and this year will be no different! Expect activities in the hall, Field to Fork Experience and the walled garden, where there will be lots of fun for the whole family and a chance to help us solve our mystery…

Early one morning Can you help Rabbit with a rumbling tummy, get his favourite hat back? Rabbit set off to find Solve the quizzes and trails something yummy. to keep you on track. Away to the walled garden’s Is it in the walled garden, veg patch he hopped, Field to Fork or the hall? He was so very hungry With so many clues you’ll he could not be stopped. have to search them all.

Carrots he found and There are stories and whilst taking a bite, sports and real owls too. An owl swooped down Get creative and crafty, and gave him a fright. there’s so much to do. A stranger appeared who Come and join us this Easter, chased them away, there’s chocolate galore, In all the chaos Rabbit’s It’s going to be great fun, best hat went astray. you’ll leave wanting more!

Our Easter event takes place from Friday 19th to Monday 22nd April from 10am to 5pm (hall closes at 4pm). Tickets for the hall, Field to Fork Experience and walled garden are: Adult £16, Child (2-16 years), £8, Family (2+3) £44. Tickets for the Field to Fork Experience and walled garden are: Adult £7.50, Child (2-16 years), £3.75, Family (2+3) £21. Book online for a 10% discount.

Food Fair at Easter Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st April 2019

New for 2019, we will be holding a food fair in The Lady Elizabeth Wing. Our Food Fair at Easter is a perfect opportunity to spend time with your family and friends and pick up something tempting and tasty to enjoy over the bank holiday period. Local and regional artisan producers will join us showcasing their best produce for visitors to try and buy. There will be a delicious range of food and drink, from homemade jams, chutneys and cheeses to fresh bread and a mix of your favourite beers, ciders and spirits. Of course there will be chocolate and cake too to treat your sweet tooth! The Lady Elizabeth Wing bar will be open and you can expect to find a number of concession vans in the courtyard too. There’s a full list of exhibitors on our website. Free entry, but normal car parking charges apply. Visit www.holkham.co.uk Spring 2019 • 15 Last words

The Great British Cycling Festival 2019

Between Thursday 27th and Sunday 30th June the Great British And if all this activity has you reaching for your lycra and Cycling Festival is coming to Norfolk and Holkham is on the your bike you can have the opportunity to measure yourself route of both the men’s and the women’s road races. If that’s against some great riders by taking part in the British not enough of a cycling fix, then the men’s time trial and the Cycling Challenge 100 Route on Sunday 30th June. women’s and under-23 time trials are being held not far away. This 100-mile sportive will allow riders of all abilities to The start and finish will be at Sandringham but part of the challenge themselves on the elite course and get the benefit route passes through Great Bircham and Docking. of the support from the crowds as well as ride in the wheel The event as a whole will see four elite national champions tracks of the best of British cyclists in 2019. Everyone is crowned – the men’s and women’s time trial victors on welcome to spectate along the course to see the country’s Thursday 27th June and the men’s and women’s road race best riders go head-to-head to claim the national winners on Sunday 30th June. champions’ jerseys, These four champions will earn the prestigious red, white If you are nearer Norwich, where the racing starts and and blue national champions’ jerseys and join an exclusive club, ends, there will be a family ride on the city centre circuit to with previous winners including the likes of Sir , enjoy on the Sunday, which will be used by the elite riders Laura Kenny, and Lizzie Deignan. later on in the day. In 2018, gave an early glimpse of his Tour de The family ride is completely free, so not only will you France-winning form by claiming the national time trial crown have the chance to embrace the cycling events happening in the north east, while two youngsters sprung surprises in the throughout the weekend, but you’ll also be part of the most road races – Connor Swift and Jess Roberts announced amazing and exciting atmosphere. themselves on the national stage by beating illustrious For all the information you need, please visit the website opponents. www.gbcyclingfestival.co.uk 16 • Holkham Gazette