NEWS FROM THE GASCOYNE GROUP N O. 1 3 5 A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
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We believe that being a responsible business goes beyond the buildings and land we maintain, the funds we raise for charities or the conservation work we routinely undertake.
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G A S COY N E AU T U M N 2 0 2 0 • CO N T E N TS
CONTENTS Gascoyne Estates GROUP NEWSLETTER AUTUMN 2020
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Events
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Archives & Collections
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Hatfield Park & Gardens
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London Estate
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Building and Maintenance
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Cranborne Garden
Page 8 HATFIELD PROPERTY & RURAL • Page 10 HATFIELD LEISURE • Page 12 EVENTS Page 14 COLLECTION & ARCHIVES • Page 16 HATFIELD PARK & GARDENS Page 18 LONDON • Page 20 CRANBORNE ESTATE • Page 22 CRANBORNE PROPERTY Page 24 CRANBORNE GARDENS • Page 26 CRANBORNE FORESTRY • Page 27 CRANBORNE SHOOT Page 28 CRANBORNE FARM • Page 30 FINANCE • Page 31 PEOPLE
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WELCOME TO GASCOYNE David Horton-Fawkes CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
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elcome to the new newsletter which, for the first time, includes an update from the London estate. I hope readers will enjoy the new design because in many ways this small step symbolises the much bigger moves we have taken towards professionalisation, consistency and raising standards. By bringing the estates together we are proud to show that we are one organisation, working for one family, with shared principles and a genuine commitment to the people and communities in which we live and work. When we talk to our tenants and contractors we do so in the name of the individual estate but when we talk to each other, we do so as one Gascoyne team. We are proud to be visible and accountable and together we are stronger. Never before has it been more important for the Estates to support each other than it is today as we confront the impact of Covid. It is sometimes easy to think the landlord is immune from economic pressures but when our tenants suffer we suffer and when rents are not collected this puts a real strain our business. Thankfully, over many years we have built strong relationships with our tenants and by working together and will come through this but it’s tough and it‘s going to get more difficult before it gets easier.
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Each estate brings something unique and essential to the Group; The London properties are centred on Leicester Square and sit at the heart of the UK’s tourism and hospitality industry. Until Covid took hold London was the commercial core of the Group and funded all of the investment and renovation projects across all the estates but now London needs the support of the rural estates. In London we are unusually exposed to Covid and many of our tenants are suffering acutely but we are 100% committed to our small corner of the West End and have not forgotten our ambitious plans for the future. Cranborne is the Group’s centre of innovation, where we are trialling exciting projects and initiatives which have brought prosperity to the local community, creating jobs and supporting schools. The great insight at Cranborne is the understating that we can’t do everything ourselves and often our tenants are much better than us at running small businesses like
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shops and Garden centres. Our role is to help our tenants to thrive by providing modern first class facilities and setting up working relationships where everyone’s skills and contribution is recognised and rewarded. Hatfield is the cultural core of the Group where our commitment to conservation, heritage and doing the right thing for the community is embodied. This commitment was perfectly demonstrated by Lord Salisbury’s decision to keep the park open for pass-holders during lockdown when most others closed. But the visitor-related activities have been very hard-hit by the pandemic and we have taken difficult decisions to close down some businesses but we remain positive about the future and the long-term housing development projects are slowly coming to fruition. In November, I will hand over my responsibilities as CEO to Jorge Mendonça and move to a nonexecutive role. I know Jorge a
G A S COY N E AU T U M N 2 0 2 0 • W E LCO M E TO G A S COY N E
Jorge Mendonça CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Hatfield is the cultural core to the Group where our commitment to conservation stewardship and doing the right thing for our community is embodied’
little and am delighted he has accepted the role. It’s not often one is succeeded by someone with such a distinguished CV. I am pleased to be staying in touch but sorry to be moving at such a difficult time. I am grateful to Lord Salisbury, Lord Cranborne, the Trustees and my colleagues for supporting for my efforts to set up the estates for the future.
David Horton-Fawkes
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t the time of writing there are three weeks before I start my new role with the Gascoyne Estates.
I’ve read the most recent Board papers, I’m thinking about all the things I need to learn, and I can see my new Outlook account filling up with meetings, as David HortonFawkes prepares to handover from 9th November. And I have been reading the excellent, positive updates on Staff Connect. It is all very exciting. I am delighted and thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead the Estates. My career thus far has been mostly about leading teams, occasionally in challenging circumstances, and trying to achieve great things. I have worked in three organisations in my adult life: the British Army, Network Rail and Grosvenor Estates. In total I’ve had 18 different jobs, as varied as training Mozambican soldiers in Zimbabwe, building railway infrastructure for Crossrail and managing a property portfolio in Mayfair and Belgravia. I hope that some of the things I’ve learned along the way will help me work effectively with you all and be a positive influence at Gascoyne.
Supposedly there’s a traditional Chinese curse ‘may you live in interesting times…’ and Covid 19 has certainly brought us ‘interesting times’. But in adversity people can be at their most creative; I think we will all need to be creative, imaginative and flexible in times ahead. Keeping people safe as we learn ways of living with the virus (until a vaccine is delivered) and finding ways of working within the restrictions, will be very important to us. In the end a distressed economy may prove to be more damaging than the virus itself and so we must play our part in doing our best for the communities we serve.
SER
I know that David has made changes to the organisation that, along with all your efforts, have set Gascoyne up for great success and I am lucky to be following such an obviously accomplished leader. I am very grateful to David that I am inheriting a fantastic team and a very sound organisation.
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6th Marqu
I am looking forward to meeting you, working with you and getting to know you.
Jorge Mendonça
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G A S C OY N E A U T U M N 2 0 2 0 • H AT F I E L D E S TAT E
HATFIELD ESTATE Anthony Downs HATFIELD ESTATE DIRECTOR
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he fresh new appearance of this newsletter reflects the wider changes and initiatives that are underway throughout Hatfield and indeed Gascoyne as a whole. Sadly, the months since Spring have been dominated by our response to the ongoing pandemic.
Inevitably, some difficult decisions have had to be taken including closure of certain businesses including Hatfield Park Farm and Lawn House. We have said farewell to certain members of staff due to enforced redundancies whilst others have had to endure the uncertainty of furlough. Despite this difficult backdrop I have been impressed by the way in which remaining members of the Hatfield team have risen magnificently to the challenges we have all collectively faced. Whilst it has proved impossible to open Hatfield House to visitors during 2020, the leisure team made the best of the Park and Gardens launching a new series of Woodland Walks and a series of initiatives to highlight the best of our Park, Gardens and wonderful outdoor spaces. Andrew Turvey and his team have not only managed to undertake their usual routines necessary to keep everywhere looking at their best but have, in addition, engaged in food production which has helped
to keep local food banks supplied throughout the pandemic. If this were not enough Andrew has also excelled with his Blooming Bubbles Garden Tours. Such commitment and teamwork are essential if Hatfield is to reach its potential. Whilst history, and at times adversity, has shaped the very character and sense of place at Hatfield much of our daily work is dealing with the present and most importantly of all, planning for the future. Expectation and demands from our tenants and visitors, as well as fresh challenges posed by the natural world dictate that we must adapt. Evolution and change are essential if Hatfield is to become the embodiment of quality and best practice that our customers expect and our history dictates.
been delighted to welcome some new faces - notably Philip Brimley, as Head of Property and Oliver Hauxwell in the role of Rural Estates Manager. I hope everybody will join me in welcoming them both to their increasingly exciting roles at Hatfield. Whilst recent months have been difficult for everyone, both at work and at home, we must look positively to the future. Better times will return and whether you are interested in Hatfield House and its collections, the gardens or park, or conservation projects I hope that you enjoy learning more about the valuable work and planning which is being undertaken by the team.
The success of any organisation depends to a very large degree upon the people who work for it. This past year has seen some familiar faces leaving roles in the Property and Finance teams. Critically, I have also GASCOYNE.ORG
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HATFIELD PROPERTY Philip Brimley HEAD OF PROPERTY
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t has been a challenging yet rewarding six months for the Hatfield Property team.
I joined the Estate at the beginning of March to a very warm welcome having worked at Welwyn Hatfield Council for nearly fifteen years. The early days of lockdown required Jo Smith and I to have several sensitive conversations with tenants who were sadly facing genuine cases of hardship because of the financial impact of the Coronavirus. However, the difficult times were balanced to a degree. Hatfield Park’s proximity to London, the broad range of property on offer and targeted marketing has resulted in growing levels of interest from prospective tenants wishing to relocate to Hatfield. Jo has successfully let various residential properties, most notably Hill End House has now been let to a local family. I am pleased to report I have agreed several new commercial lettings to a range of businesses. A florist, an architect’s practice, a local osteopath, and a tailor will all soon open to the public and will complement the existing community of businesses based in Hatfield. Nick Baynes retired from his role at the end of May and Chris Eden now provides administration suppor t to the team. Despite the current uncertainty the team remain upbeat for the future. New tenants will be joining us in Carters Row soon
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G A S C OY N E A U T U M N 2 0 2 0 • H AT F I E L D P R O P E RT Y & R U R A L
HATFIELD RUR AL Oliver Hauxwell RURAL ESTATE MANAGER
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hilst most will remember 2020 for one reason above all others, farmers and land managers will further grimace at the memory of a year which inflicted an incredibly dry spring hard on the heels of an awfully wet winter. Harvest was never going to break records, but credit must go to Daniel and Angus Mackay for the results that were achieved.
Peter Oakenfull leading a survey of our feathered friends. Here he is ringing Barn Owls to help grow our knowledge on these species in the park.
The whole team have been busy with routine tasks but, as ever, change is the only real constant. Changing economic, environmental, and social conditions will mean that in the future, the UK land management sector will become more efficient and will deliver better environmental outcomes. The National Farmers’ Union’s commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the whole of agriculture by 2040 is just one of many examples of this. Both rural estates are already delivering fantastic environmental outcomes, but there will always be work to do as we strive to become an embodiment of quality and best practice. Finally, I would like to thank Daniel, Angus, Dale, Patrick and Glen for their hard work and support as I have settled into my new role.
A busy period on Hill End Farm.
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HATFIELD LEISURE Helen Landau VISITOR OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
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e opened Hatfield Park gates this season to over 16,000 people visiting the park, garden, woodland walk and Old Palace. We were given the unique opportunity to also open the park and walks over October weekends and the school holidays. We have sold 6,300 tickets for the upcoming pumpkin trail due to take place in the woods for Halloween. We received daily emails and calls from visitor over the season to say how memorable their visit had been, and how passionate and professional the team were in welcoming them. Sharing this feedback with the people working on the ground has been so uplifting for them to hear under the circumstances. The return of filming has brought back four original productions this year to date. The operations team and I continue to work closely with the location directors and crew to ensure we uphold our great reputation in the industry, of Hatfield House being a ‘friendly filming space’. With the tragic effect Covid-19 has caused the events and hospitality industry, we have seen 95% of bookings for weddings and meetings and events postponing to 2021. Next year’s events calendar is packed, we live in hope that the first quarter of next year does not become tarnished with further changes in government guidelines. Due to business constraints with relation to Covid-19, we unfortunately had to consolidate parts of our business and make redundancies over the last eight months. You will see that Lawn House has converted from being a guest
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house, to a residential property. The farm land and play area has become an additional event space for the estate to develop and market in the future. We appreciate the dedication each individual put in to making these spaces such a great attractions for our visitors. Behind the scenes, teams also worked tirelessly in securing and preserving the house and its treasures. A sincere thank you goes out to all of whom we had to unfortunately say goodbye to. I would like to recognise in particular our frontline managers and the team. The commitment and discipline I have seen from all have been critical at this time to maintain business continuity over the last eight months. It is in times of crisis that heroes are born, which each and every one of the team have truly shown they are.
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EVENTS Vicky Nelson EVENTS MANAGER
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his year has been a challenging one for all, the Government has had a difficult job to support various industries and businesses during this period yet the events industry is yet to receive a helping hand. At the beginning of the year we originally had 31 events planned both private and public in all shapes and sizes (and usually more crop up as the year progresses) but only one of these managed to go ahead following COVID19 Secure Guidelines. This being Luna Cinema which took place 22nd – 27th Sept with popular favourites from Dirty Dancing and Grease to recent releases including Joker and Rocketman with attendance ranging from 300 – 500 persons sat in either groups of 2 or 4. However not all was lost this season, we were very pleased to host The Screen Space which was a new venture with locally based company Vortex Events Ltd. Hosting any event always has its challenges which include balancing the experience received from those visiting the grounds of Hatfield House, however while not only a brand new event to the Park, it is also has been the longest running event the Park has seen. Activities ran throughout the day, every day for 7 weeks and included fitness and wellness being sessions with the likes of Fight Klub Takeover and The Kicking Yogi, children sessions with The Flying Seagull Project and an array of picnic and drive-in movie entertainment with blockbuster hits from Toy Story, Frozen and Frozen 2, Aladdin (2019) to The Greatest Showman, The Avengers: Endgame and A Star is Born. In August the Screen Space teamed up with The Comedy Store London every Saturday evening which saw popular attendance, the largest being 340.
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The Screen Space was a fantastic opportunity for people to start the return journey back to enjoying spare leisure time while ensuring social distancing was carried out. Moving towards the future, things are still extremely uncertain however the vast majority of the events that were planned to be present with us in 2020 are planning to be with us still in 2021 and are eager to return to us, which if all can go ahead, will make it a very busy year indeed. Despite most of the events taking place within the summer months conversations and planning is already happening with some of the events in regards to social distancing measures and what this could likely look like.
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Hosting any event always has its challenges...
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The Lord Burghley Exhibition which was planned to commemorate the 500th anniversary of William Cecil, Lord Burghley will now take place next year.’
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G A S COY N E AU T U M N 2 0 2 0 • A RC H I V E S & CO L L E C T I O N S
ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS Sarah Whale ARCHIVES ASSISTANT
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e were very sad to have to say goodbye to Vicki Perry and Charlotte Dickerson who left at the end of July. Vicki joined the staff in June 2006 as Assistant Archivist and was promoted to become Head of Archives and Collections in November 2011. During her time at Hatfield she was responsible for a number of projects, including the renovation of the Victorian Kitchen, on which she collaborated with Elaine Bailey. She introduced a modern records management system and organised the digitisation of the Cecil Papers. She also carried out much work on data protection, arranged the cleaning of all the books in the Main Library and mounted a number of exhibitions, including one on the Women of Hatfield House. “Burghley 500”, an exhibition commemorating the anniversary of Lord Burghley’s birth, has been postponed from this year until next season. Vicki was outstandingly committed to the care of our historic collections and we wish her well with the next chapter in her career.
Gill Clements, Jo Brear and Anne Harper busily brushing books in the Billiard Room
We also bade farewell to Katie Cranston, a qualified librarian, who had recently joined the department and had catalogued the books in the Billiard Room. Since August the department has reopened to researchers under the supervision of Sarah Whale and Robin Harcourt Williams.
Charlotte joined the department in October 2016 as Assistant Archivist and Modern Records Manager. She worked hard to improve the modern records system, diligently sifting through boxes and boxes of records, moving them out of damp farm buildings into our archive stores. She also provided invaluable support in the department, always happy to help with enquiries. Robin will particularly miss Charlotte’s patience when it came to the many IT problems he encountered. We wish her well with her new job and her move to Norfolk.
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HATFIELD PARK & GARDEN Andrew Turvey HEAD OF PARK AND GARDENS
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020 was a year for consolidation and to build on the good foundations that we had made in merging the park and garden team. The team had made great progress in enhancing the presentation of the estate, sharing resources, knowledge and team work. This was following what had been a very busy 2019. As we started to see the effects of the pandemic, our thoughts turned to protecting the team whilst also ensuring we able to continue to maintain our standards. Unfortunately, we had to ask our volunteer to stop for four months before allowing them to come back in smaller groups and spread the team out across the garden. In early March we started to look at opportunities to grow more vegetables across the gardens in an attempt to help support the pensioners on the estate and local food banks. The idea was to utilising the space in the gardens where we would normally create annual displays and grow vegetables in their place. A few weeks later we were tasked with the thought of making this a much bigger offering. On 31 March we lifted the turf from the croquet lawn situated in the East garden and created just under ¼ of an acre of growing space. Eight weeks later we were harvesting our first produce which continued to grow and grow supplying three local food banks, Countess Anne School, and St Audrey’s Care Home.
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Bill keeping an eye on the crops!
The new woodland walks were all finished and ready for the public encouraging our visitor to spend more time in the woodlands rather than on tarmac whilst learning about eight key tree species though new interpretation. We had our first sighting of Oak Processionary Moth a problem which we knew that we would face in the coming years although had hoped would not reach the estate so quickly. The caterpillars present two challenges one the defoliation of our oak trees and the risk which it presents to humans and animals because of its hairy exterior which is shed during its life-cycle and can cause skin irritation. Unfortunately, a pest which we will have to continue to monitor and remove their nests in high traffic areas whilst
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Weir maintenance at Sawmill removing, Branches Bur Reed (Sparganium erectum) to allow flow across the entire weir.�
also aiming to slow its spread via preventative measures. This comes only three years after seeing the damage of another moth affecting our box (Buxus) plants Box moth caterpillar, this does not pose a risk to humans but is a large threat to our historic hedges. We are utilising pheromone traps to capture early moth activity and gauge the best timing to spray our hedges. This task is very time consuming we have therefore looked at other possible methods of controlling the caterpillar we have taken a lead from Ham House in London which has been badly affected by the moth. They had noticed jackdaws feeding on the caterpillars. At the start of the year we installed six penthouse jackdaw boxes with panoramic view straight out onto areas of box hedging in the hope that we are directing them to a potential food source. It is difficult to say if this is having any effect at the moment although we will
continue to monitor over the coming years. As we look forward we have many exciting projects ahead of us including working on a walk through the Warren and the red brick bridge. The development of a large orchard within the southern half of the walled garden, which along with the Beekeeping husbandry will add to the education offer. The second year of growing vegetables on the croquet lawn and the enhancements to the south front parterre. I must thank all of the team for all their hard work and dedication during this difficult time they have exceeded the challenges faced and have ensured our highest standards have been achieved and surpassed. The help and support we have received from the house staff, strimming, weeding and watering has been very much appreciated.
Beekeeping husbandry will add to the education offer.
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LONDON ESTATE Adam Wiles PROPERTY DIRECTOR
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he London estate is centred on Cecil Court and manages properties around Leicester Square, Charing Cross Road and St Martins Lane. Outside the historic core Estate, there are other individual buildings located elsewhere in the borough of Westminster. The management of the properties was taken back in-house’ in 2003 after being managed by external agents for the preceding 50 years. Since 2003 we have been on a continuous programme of reinvestment and improvement. Last year was one of the busiest on record and until Covid struck footfall and business in the West End was at record-breaking levels. In 2019, we began one of the estate’s largest ever building projects at Brock House, which is an outlying property on Great Portland Street W1. This is a major refurbishment and roof extension of a six-floor office building that is a relatively rare “island site”. Gascoyne’s work has been completed, and the tenant is now fitting out the 30,000 sq. ft. net (40,000 sq. ft. gross) space. This is one of only two major projects across the Group that was not put on hold in March and construction continued throughout the Covid lockdown. All work should be completed and the tenant in occupation by February 2021. Since the onset of Covid our corner of London has felt like a war-zone and although we saw a small recovery in the Summer, it looks as though we are in for a long and difficult winter. A significant percentage of our commercial tenants depend on the tourist and hospitality sector and when lockdown was first imposed footfall fell by over 90%. This had a disastrous impact on our tenants. Since the initial lockdown trading has improved, but is still at an historically low level. Thankfully, over the years we have
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The new look Cecil Court
got to know our tenants well and the trust that we have established is helping us get through a challenge that is of a magnitude and duration that none of us has ever experienced. Our priority today is to work with our tenants, to nurse them through the crisis in the firm belief that London will recover but sadly many businesses have already failed and we fear there are more to come. There will undoubtedly be future beyond Covid as everything that makes London a great City is still in place. Despite the relentlessly bad news, we are seeing some signs of our tenants looking beyond the pandemic and making plans for the future. Three significant commercial lettings should conclude in Oct/Nov, and the current vacancy rate for the Estate is still extremely low.
Most of our commercial tenants depend on the tourist and hospitality sector and since lockdown was first imposed footfall has fallen by over 90%.
G A S C OY N E A U T U M N 2 0 2 0 • L O N D O N E S TAT E
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CR ANBORNE & RUR AL Gavin Fauvel ESTATE DIRECTOR, CRANBORNE
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elcome to the Cranborne section. It’s very exciting to see this new format Newsletter – it’s launch having been delayed by the lockdown. It has been an interesting, challenging and diverting few months for all the team here. When the lockdown first came into place, our tenants, partners and occupiers all rallied ‘round to make sure everyone else was looked after; could get food, medicines and access to essentials. Our businesses that open to public all had to close – save for the Stores which reverted to the general stores perhaps more common in the 1970’s – staff picked goods from the shelves and packaged them for delivery or collection. Our property team continues to work hard with occupiers, making sure that any real hardship issues are dealt with and signposting all the available help. Whilst internally, all staff have battened-down and implemented cautious budgets that seek to preserve group cash reserves. However, we have used the opportunity to press ahead with some longer-term projects. The most significant project has been the digitisation of all estate files and records, including leases and tenancy agreements. This proved essential when enforced home-working came into play meaning all staff could seamlessly access records and agreements in the “vir tual office”. Liz Boreham is to be congratulated for getting this completed – thank you.
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Beaters at work in the late summer heat, flushing for English partridge in a flower-rich cover at Cranborne Farm.
In better news, the dire drought in New South Wales, affecting our farming partnership in Australia, has broken. Three years of severe drought brought our business and that of many others, very close to the limit of being able to continue trading, but we managed to hang-in. Having done so, with the support of our bank, we are delighted that we held on to our breeding females and don’t have to re-stock from a very scarce market. We took on Ollie Hauxwell as Rural Estate Manager, covering both Hatfield and Cranborne and he had a tricky start on day one of the lockdown having then also to go into isolation for two weeks! He has made a fantastic contribution thus far and we are making some important long-term decisions on farming and land management a result of Ollie’s hard work. We have Zoomed, Teams’d and spoken to each other probably more than in normal times and there has been a real sense of camaraderie and togetherness – from the family and directors through to all staff; our tenants; partners and locals. It’s been a real pleasure to be working alongside such great teams.
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The greatest outcome so far of the disruption from the pandemic has been the strength and tenacity of our people across the Estates.
Looking directly due south over Cranborne from the boundary with Blagdon on a hot September day after harvest
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CR ANBORNE PROPERTY Clare Amey PROPERTY MANAGER This is my first article for the Newsletter and I can’t quite believe I have been working at Cranborne for over a year now. I would like to say a big thank you to colleagues for helping me get settled into the role as Property Manager. Over the last 18 months or so we’ve had 23 properties returned to us, in many cases these have been occupied by long standing residents and have been in need of partial or major works to bring them up to the modern day letting standard. Where we’ve been able to undertake such works this has allowed us to re-let 13 of these properties. Over 70 routine inspections have been carried out since July 2019 which provides a great opportunity to meet with residents in their homes and identify future repair issues. We had to delay inspections for a few months due to lockdown but have since restarted them. The ‘Tenants Survey 2020’ was carried out earlier in the year across all estates. It was well supported in Cranborne and the results provide useful information to assist with future planning of services within the property team. Other legislation updates we’ve prepared for include EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) changes which came into force in April 2020. The purpose of an EPC is to look at how we can reduce energy usage and increase efficiency in the homes we provide. This is not a one off exercise but something we need to be mindful of when carrying out major repairs or refurbishments which can be more challenging to implement with older properties. There have also been changes in Electrical Safety from June 2020 and we are currently rolling out a programme of electrical inspections across the estate where required. Overall, the demand for rural properties continues to increase, we currently have over 100 applicants looking with various budgets and the main requirement is still for family sized accommodation.
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G A S COY N E AU T U M N 2 0 2 0 • B U I L D I N G & M A I N T E N A N C E
BUILDING
& M AI NTENA NC E Lee Norton BUILDING MANAGER
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020 has certainly been a strange year. We’ve been only slightly less busy than normal but like everyone else we are having to get used to a new way of working. Whilst we haven’t been able to undertake any of the major refurbishment works we had been planning this year we have been able to make some improvements and re-let some property. Stacy and I spent a good deal of time through the summer carrying out much of the work ourselves to improve 32 & 34 Castle St, a pair of Lady Gwendolen bungalows. Much of this work was in the garden which had become completely overgrown. It was satisfying to see how much this changed conditions inside the property by letting in natural light and brightening up the whole area. Believe it or not there is a property just beyond these trees, (image1). We have also been able to move some tenants from target houses that we know are in need of modernisation into better property, this is part of a long term plan for improving stock and we’ve been busy planning works for when we can start again.
Latest refurbishments
There have been ongoing works at Cranborne Manor to repair roof leaks and carry out redecoration and minor improvements to the rooms affected by the water ingress. Storms earlier in the year caused damage to some boundary walls and only in the last few days we unfortunately had part of a wall collapse. Some of the repairs have already been carried out but the collapse will take time and effort to rebuild (image 2).
Image 1
Image 2
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G A S COY N E AU T U M N 2 0 2 0 • C R A N B O R N E G A R D E N
CR ANBORNE GARDEN Les Dinan HEAD GARDENER
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y the time you have read this newsletter we would have already finished hedge trimming for the year. As well as pruning all of the climbing and rambling roses on all the walls and pergolas. We try and get all the roses pruned in September and October before the cold weather sets in for the winter. Our next pruning task will be the apple trees. In October we will start to divide up and move some herbaceous plants. This is done to fill any gaps that are in the borders, and to balance the planting structure around the garden. It is very noticeable in the summer when everything is in flower, if one side of a border has more of a certain colour than the other. October is a good month to balance the colours and heights of the plants, before they die back in the winter. Some tender plants will be lifted, potted on and placed in the green house for the winter. We will also take cutting of certain plants to bulk up our stock for next year. If we don’t have too much rain in October, we will scarify the main lawn and the summer house lawn. If we do, then this will be done in early spring instead.
Pumpkin crop
October is a good month to balance the colours and heights of the plants.
Most of our work in the Autumn and Winter months are cutting back the borders, leaf blowing, painting garden benches and generally getting ready for next year. We have had a good crop of pumpkin this year, as you can see by the picture.
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CR ANBORNE FORESTRY Richard Deffee HEAD FORESTER
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n 2019 East Brothers Timber bought a standing parcel of large diameter Douglas fir in Boulsbury Wood.
After a long delay they are finally harvesting this. These big logs fetch a premium price - twice the value per cubic meter of run of the mill sawlogs. The logs pictured are 12.5 metres long, only limited by the maximum length of a standard articulated lorry. This is the first standing sale of this sort – we have had to wait 50 years for the trees to get to this size. This is a selective felling - the idea being that the very best trees may stand potentially for another 50 years before harvest. In the mean-time younger trees will develop from seed under the canopy to provide the next generation. We hope to come back and take another cut in about 6 or 7 years time. We have just completed a draft management plan for the Cranborne Wild Heath Project in advance of a meeting with Natural England. We have just reacquired several parcels of land including King Barrow which was highlighted as one of the most ecologically important areas, being the only place to have recorded the very rare, Heathland specialist, Sand lizard. Glades and wide rides are very important habitats for many woodland vascular plants and invertebrates. In a survey of the southern glade, SSSI, in Boulsbury Wood 43 species of flowering plants were recorded over 5 visits between 30th March and 4th August 2020 (this does not include shrub species and grasses) the highest abundance being recorded on 6th July with 26 species in flower on this day. 12 species of butterfly were recorded on the 18th July. In previous studies an incredible 9 species of Orthoptera (Grass hoppers and Crickets) have been recorded in this glade. Management of these areas involves cutting, fairly randomly, roughly half of the area in early September. This cut area is alternated annually. This approach leaves an uncut area for insects and other invertebrates to complete their annual lifecycles, whilst stopping either grasses (by cutting too regularly) or scrub (by not cutting regularly enough) from dominating.
Logs, Boulsbury Wood
Wild flowers in Boulsbury Glade
View of the Wild Heath Project from King Barrow 26
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CR ANBORNE SHOOT Beau Witney HEAD KEEPER
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ime flies when you’re having fun! We rolled in to spring with our highest pair count of 115 pairs of English partridge, which is heading the right way on our Cranborne trajectory. Each year, with careful management and shooting a surplus, you would like to increase your pair count by 50 pairs or more, this would be nice, lots of factors can change this, vermin being a constant battle and migration being the other. Despite having what we think is the best habitat, sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Spring was kind to us, dry with the odd showers resulted us having one of the best autumn counts in the recent history: English partridge 972 French partridge 400 Coveys (name for a family group) everywhere. I hear you say what’s all the fuss about, these incredible birds have survived the winter, paired off, got their territories etc. In April time, pick a nesting location, start the laying process (an egg a day), hopefully lay a big clutch 15-20, sit and incubate for 23 days, all the time trying to avoid vermin, everything likes a nice rich egg in spring!
This brings us to the middle of June when peak hatch generally occurs. The chicks are the size of bumble bees when hatched and will only eat green insects for the first 2 weeks, so it is essential to make sure that all our brood rearing habitats produce the most amount of insects. After two weeks, the chicks can start to digest small seeds and green matter, so the diet starts to vary. On average, we had 7.3 young to a hen, which is great and meant we could try and make history at Cranborne and give a serious shoot day a go! September the 14th was the day and it soon approached. Plans were in full swing, 2 beaters trailers, hand sanitisers and masks everywhere. The keepers knew their roles, we were good to go....... well apart from the extreme heat! Not to glamorous in our full tweed suits.
We might have had a few more but that’s a matter for the guns! I would just like to thank everyone for their help and support to make this day work and also to the keepers, Mark, Nathan and Jack for their hard work and dedication through the spring to produce what we produced! Who am I kidding we love our job!
The day was a success, plenty seen and plenty learned: 64 & half brace of English 14 & half brace of French
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CRANBORNE FARM Philip Rymer INTERIM FARM MANAGER Oliver Hauxwell RURAL ESTATES MANAGER
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fter almost 10 years Tim Hall moved on in mid-July leaving a sizeable gap to fill. Our thanks go to Tim for all his hard work, and to Philip Rymer who has stepped into the breach as our Interim Farm Manager. Despite a tricky growing season harvest was pleasing, and good crops of wheat, malting barley and milling oats were gathered. Thanks to some long hours from Lee and Mickey, autumn crops of Oilseed Rape and Wheat have been planted and are now establishing well in rain. This year sees the return of milling wheat to the farm and, excitingly, an experiment where two fields have been planted with a mixture of wheat varieties. By having a diversity of genetics together we hope to make it harder for diseases to spread from plant to plant. We are continuing to learn from our grazing experiments and were pleased, if a little surprised, by how ground nesting birds enjoyed our mob grazing plots this spring. Next year we will change how we set the fences so that we can provide safe nesting spaces, away from trampling hooves, integrated with insect rich grazed pastures. Thanks to Lee and Mickey, and Tom and Adele for the hard work they have put in this season.
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We are continuing to learn from our grazing experiments...
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GASCOYNE ESTATES FINANCE Malik Khalid F INANCE DIRECTOR
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hen I joined Gascoyne Estates earlier this year, I could not have envisaged how far reaching the consequences of the pandemic would be for the business and it has been encouraging to see how colleagues across all of our Estates have adapted to some truly unprecedented challenges In response to a significant and ongoing suppression of income, the Finance team have had to focus on developing strategies to preserve cash and also, to supplement sources of contingent working capital. In addition, we have had to improve the robustness of our cashflow forecasting procedures and introduce additional controls over expenditure. Although this has meant that difficult operational decisions have had to be taken, our collective efforts to work in collaboration with our tenants and preserve cash have meant that we are well positioned to mitigate the impact of the pandemic over the challenging winter months. The broader economic consensus would suggest that the business climate in early 2021 may be more conducive for longer term planning and we remain cautiously optimistic that this will prove to be the case.
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We are well positioned to mitigate the impact of the pandemic...
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GASCOYNE ESTATES PEOPLE Lianne Baker HEAD OF HUMAN RESOURCES
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t has been an interesting and busy time for me to join the company but everyone has been very welcoming so I am very happy to be here. Fiona is on maternity leave now so I am just holding the fort until she returns next September. During my time here, I will be carrying on with some of the initiatives Fiona started, whilst adding my own ideas and experience to make all the functions of Human Resources run as smoothly as possible. I want to preserve everything that has been done, whilst creating a more paperless and efficient way of working. One of my first jobs was to hold a coffee morning on 23rd September to raise money for Macmillan which was a great success. Everyone still based in the Estate Office was treated to fruit cake, a chocolate cake and a coffee & walnut cake, and some of those who were working from home joined us for a vir tual coffee and cake ‘meeting’. It was a great excuse to eat cake and make some money for a good cause. After the success of the Wellbeing Week last November and the virtual one in Spring, we are planning to host another event for employees in November this year. Wellbeing at work is a particular area of interest for me so it is something that I am keen to continue promoting. We have some great ideas about what to include this year.
Wellbeing at work is a particular interest for me so it is something I am keen to continue promoting.
I am excited to spend the next 12 months here getting to know you all.
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NEWS FROM GASCOYNE GROUP GASCOYNE.ORG