After our review of what has happened in the 2015 visitor season, when we had about 42,000 through the gates, we have decided to change the layout of our shop and ice cream parlour. Here is an image of Andy Rollins, Andy Thornber and Bob Hayter from our Works Department at the slightly easier demolition stage of the project. They are fitting the work in around the refurbishment of the old Post Office, an attractive building with a thatched roof, at the main entrance to the Castle and Grounds. The new floors went in earlier this week, so there is no access while they are setting.
Buying ice creams and souvenirs is an essential part of the visitor experience, and it now makes sense to combine them by knocking down the temporary partition wall between the two areas. The aim will be to encourage a flow of visitors between the two outlets and streamline the operation while making it easier for visitors to access.
Ice creams sell in almost any weather, but the right sort of sun certainly helps. The parlour is conveniently situated on the way to the playground and to the tea room. We staff it with young people keen for seasonal work. Our shop, which is run by Rachel, who otherwise helps with our in-house catering, is a more complicated business, but not weather dependent. We stock some Eastnor Castle branded souvenirs, post cards and other gifts. At one time we also included remaindered books, which sold rather well, but I think Amazon may have taken that market.
We re-open at Easter when these adjustments will be put to the test. I am confident there will be an improvement, and it will not just be attributable to the weather.
James Hervey-Bathurst
December 2015
Eastnor Castle, near Ledbury, is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland over the Bank Holiday weekend with a specially designed family treasure hunt in the fairytale castle and grounds. The event will take place on Sunday 30th and Monday 31st August.
Visitors will follow in Alice’s footsteps and use a Wonderland map to navigate around the March Hare’s House, The Queen’s Croquet Ground, The Duchess’s House and the Rabbit Hole to find a number of curiosities, solve the riddles and win a prize. There will also be a Mad Hatter’s tea tent with entertainment throughout the day, including garden games for children of all ages.
All the other usual attractions will be available on the day including the maze, adventure playground, Little Off-Roaders and entry to the castle.
Gates open from 11.00 am to 5.00 pm and admission prices for the Castle & Grounds are Adults: £10.00, Children: £6.50 and a Family Ticket (2+3) is priced at £26.50. Discounted tickets are available online.
Further details are available on the Eastnor Castle website: www.eastnorcastle.com or call 01531 633160.
20th August 2015
Sarah Roberts started with us as Sarah Bullock 10 1/2 years ago and will leave us on Friday 17th July. We are very sorry to see her go as she has been in the Eastnor team over an exciting period of change and positive development and has contributed much to our progress at that time.
When Sarah joined us from Challenge Business, the office was still squeezed into one side of the Portcullis, which was not ideal, though in a good position physically to intercept callers and visitors as portcullises traditionally should be. In those days, when we were only just getting our website started, we used to rely heavily on advertising in local newspapers, and so Sarah had a busy time mostly saying ‘no’ to a number of very persistent sales teams, who wanted us to use them every week during the season. Overall this time, she was responsible for producing our print run of annual leaflets for distribution around the area into campsites, hotels, pubs, shops, other attractions and Tourist Information Centres. Sarah gradually formed an excellent working relationship with our designers and printers at Ad-lib Design Partnership in Worcester and our leaflets are clear and appealing, it seems, standing out well against a lot of competition in the outlets we are able to use.
As we have moved firmly into digital era, Sarah has worked closely with our web site designers and managers, extracting all the information needed from her colleagues in the office and getting it uploaded, including my blogs, which she always tactfully reminds me are due, though the subject of this one is not her choice. Using the internet and a website requires great patience as what is done today is likely to be superseded by some new technology tomorrow, making the old look positively steam age. Mostly, those who have visited our website have liked it and some have enquired who produced it-, and we have had every confidence in Sarah’s ability to distil complaints or ‘suggestions’, so that we only hear about the more important ones. But she has to keep all involved on their toes as the website is now the place where visitors have their first impression of Eastnor and so it is vitally important.
Throughout all this time, Sarah has maintained a heavy pace of work, under even greater pressure after she returned to work part-time from maternity leave. She has been a cheerful and valued member of the Castle Office team, and we will miss her. We are very grateful for all her hard work.
JH-B
12th July 2015
We are lucky enough to have a lot of weddings at Eastnor. They are usually very happy occasions, though making all the arrangements can sometimes be quite demanding as every ceremony and reception is different. Proposals and engagements are inevitably more private affairs, and if any couples get engaged at Eastnor, we rarely hear about it.
So it was wonderful to learn of the engagement of Gareth Roberts & Rachel White at the recent Midland Rovers Owners Club rally in the Park. The MROC have been coming to Eastnor for over 40 years, but this part of the programme was a first. Gareth persuaded Rachel to drive to part of the park where there is a good view of the Castle and where Land Rover Experience drivers often take a coffee break. He said they were to collect a piece of equipment left there earlier in the Rally, and when they could not find it, he suggested they should wait there for a while and take in the view. Shortly afterwards, the convoy shown in the image appeared and the answer to his question was “Yes”, although the words read from right to left. He gave Rachel a conventional engagement ring supplemented by a special ring in the form of a hexagon nut as Rachel is a Land Rover enthusiast too.
It was all recorded on video and can be seen on You Tube. We wish the couple every happiness, and many more rallies in Eastnor Park. The MROC should be back for the annual Memorial Trial in memory of my father next autumn. I wonder if others will follow Gareth’s romantic lead?
Many thanks to gareth and Rachel for agreeing to this blog and to Russ Brown, Clubs Editor, of Land Rover Owner International for the background information!
JH-B
23rd June 2015
Our annual vintage weekend, which this year included a celebration of the 100th birthday of our Ransomes traction engine, went well, attracting about 4000 visitors over 2 days. It was a different crowd from the Chilli festival, with many local families turning up whose grandparents and even parents could remember seeing some of the exhibits in their earlier working lives. As we had a nice gathering of original Minis, you did not have to be very old to have seen them running about in their original condition.
There were 2 steam wagons and quite a few steam rollers. We had a hand-driven juvenile carousel – the owner and wheel turner were an impressive 70 years old, but the ride was older. I also exhibited my showman’s van, and it attracted a lot of attention as I allowed the visitors to look around inside and the stove was alight. The tug-of-war proved popular, though the engine at the end of the rope seemed more resistant to slipping on the courtyard gravel and so did rather better than the human team in the end.
A more permanent attraction is our Land Rover Little Off Roaders circuit in the old Kitchen Garden near the visitor entrance. The Land Rovers are battery powered and can be turned off remotely in case of need. They are one or two-wheel drive and useful for steering and braking training, if not speed management. The circuit does not have the usual challenges of mud and ruts but is proving popular nevertheless, and we are lucky that Land Rover itself has sponsored the facility and the vehicles. One day, perhaps, they will be vintage too, but in the meantime, they are available to ride most weekends at a small extra cost.
JHB 22nd June 2015
This brand new Land Rover Drive-in Heritage Day event is taking place on Sunday 31st May and is a must for all Land Rover enthusiasts.
Eastnor Castle is known as the ‘Spiritual Home of Land Rover’ who has been testing vehicles here for over 50 years. It was the current owner, James Hervey-Bathurst’s father that established the relationship with Land Rover back in the 1960s and since then the partnership has gone from strength to strength.
To celebrate this, we are holding the Drive-In Day in the castle courtyard which will see an impressive display of unique and classic Land Rovers. There will be a complete line-up of Range Rovers from the very first Velar Badged prototypes through to the latest models plus other vehicles like ‘Monty’ a rare, dark green Tickford station wagon (pictured).
Inside the castle will be a display of images showing Land Rover’s connection with Eastnor Castle over the years and the whole day will be compared by Les Clayton. Les will be interviewing the owners of the display vehicle and sharing the history of the unique models on display.
As a celebration of Land Rover, anyone arriving in a Land Rover, of any age will receive half-price entry on the day.
David Littlewood, General Manager says ‘Having Land Rover at Eastnor for all these years is fantastic, not only for us as a business but also for local people who are employed by them or supply goods to them. Land Rover really is something very positive to shout about, for us at Eastnor but also the whole country as they continue to thrive as a company. The Drive-In day will showcase many unique models which most people will not get to see very often, set in the backdrop of Eastnor Castle, Land Rover’s spiritual home, this should be a very special day.
All the other usual attractions will be available on the day including the maze, adventure playground, Little Off-Roaders and entry to the castle.
Gates open from 11.00 am to 5.00 pm and admission prices for grounds are Adults: £6.50, Children: £4.50 and a Family Ticket (2+3) is priced at £17.50. Upgraded tickets for entrance to the castle are available to purchase and discounted tickets are available online.
Further details are available on the Eastnor Castle website: www.eastnorcastle.com or call 01531 633160.
The Ransomes 6 Nominal horse power general purpose agricultural engine came into our collection in 1974 after a life working in an agricultural and equine feed mill in Dublin. It had lost its original livery and received a coat of blue paint, though the Ransomes transfer with the company crest is still visible at the front end of the boiler barrel. But it was in remarkably good condition and complete with all its fittings, so we were able to steam it almost as soon as it came home. We transferred the number DCJ 15 to it from a Fordson tractor in the collection of the late William (“Bill”) Thomas Jones, who part owned the engine and recovered it from Ireland with his low loader.
As the images show, the Ransomes, which left the works in 1915 with the number 26839, has not been restored much in the last 40 years. It retains its steel wheels and so looks very much as it did in its earlier life. As a result, it is much appreciated at steam rallies, where other engines are often glistening with new paint and shiny brass.
We have used the engine to drive a circular saw and a threshing machine as it is very well governed with a Gardner governor.( According to Wikipedia, the Gardner Governor Company, founded by Robert Gardner, introduced the first effective speed controls for steam engines in 1859 with an innovation, known as the flyball governor). It makes a great noise when at work, but is slow on the road due to the lack of rubber tyres and springs.
At our steam events, it is a popular other half of a tug of war, though the visitors’ team find the courtyard gravel quite a disadvantage, but we will see how they get on this Sunday & Monday when the Ransomes will be out and on display in steam.
James Hervey-Bathurst
22nd May 2015
Nostalgia returns to Eastnor Castle, near Ledbury for the May Bank Holiday, on Sunday 24th and Bank Holiday Monday 25th May with a Vintage Day of family fun.
An interesting line-up of working Steam-Engines will be on display in the courtyard in front of the castle, with a 100th birthday celebration for our Ransomes Sims & Jefferies agricultural engine and we will mark 40 years at Eastnor for our Foden tractor. Alongside will be a vintage carousel and chair swing, punch & judy, tea tent, garden games and live music.
James Hervey-Bathurst, Owner of Eastnor Castle said ” Our Ransomes is a very popular and solid half of the family tug of war, but it will also be running a threshing machine as it was designed to do in 1915. It is one of the few traction engines that has not been repainted since it’s preservation, and so it has a very authentic look. Other vintage vehicles, including a Stanley steam car, will be on display, and our showman’s living van will also be open to visitors. We look forward to a fun event”.
The usual castle attractions will also be open, including the new Land Rover Little Off Roaders and Rota Swing, Knight’s Maze, Burma Bridge Tree Top Walkway and Adventure Playground, Tearoom, Gift shop and Ice Cream Parlour.
Vintage Family Fun will be open from 11 am to 5.30 pm on both days and please click here to buy discounted tickets on-line.
Official opening by Elizabeth Hurley on Sunday at 12 noon in the Castle Courtyard
Now in it’s 4th year, the Chilli Festival at Eastnor Castle is back on Sunday 3rd and Bank Holiday Monday 4th May. This year, there will be over 50 stalls and entertainment, showcasing all things HOT!
The castle courtyard will be transformed into a Chilli Market and visitors will be able to try and buy delicious products such as chocolate, bread, cake, vodka, cocktails and chutney as well as grow-your-own chilli plants. There will also be a number of specialist hot food suppliers selling authentic Asian curries and other spicy foods.
Sarah Littlewood, Event Co-ordinator at the Castle (pictured) said:
“This year we are delighted to have local resident, actress and model Elizabeth Hurley opening our event on Sunday morning at 12pm.
One of our big Chillies has just arrived from an off-road journey across the Eastnor Estate into the castle courtyard and is hotting up for the big event. We are really thrilled with the success of our Chilli Festival as it has gained a huge following“.
There is a huge amount going on over the weekend with something for all chilli fans. Back by popular demand is the Clifton Chilli Club with their chilli shenanigans which includes our legendary chilli eating competition. Join local chefs Felice Tocchini, Rayeesa, Tom Court, Rob Swift and vegetarian specialist Lizzy in the cookery demonstrations marquee and children can join in Easy Peasy cookery school.
To create a real carnival atmosphere, there will be live musical entertainment from local Mexican band – Los Squideros from Hereford, joining them will be Andalus an authentic Gypsy Kings sounding band to entertain the crowds.
Plus all our usual attractions including the maze, new swing and Land Rover Little Off Roaders.
For further information and book discounted tickets click here.
The much-loved family treasure hunt here at Eastnor Castle, will be taking place over the Easter weekend every day from Good Friday 3rd April to Bank Holiday Monday 6th April between 11am and 5.30pm.
This years hunt is about work EGGsperience, the Easter chickens and bunnies will be dressed in their work wear and you will need to guess their chosen career!
The castle General Manager David Littlewood says “This is our favourite weekend of the year where local families come to Eastnor Castle to enjoy the annual treasure hunt and this year it’s all about our Easter Chickens and bunnies hard at work! We have lots of new and fun events planned for this summer as well as some new attractions including audio tours, a new swing and our Land Rover Little Off-Roaders. As part of our on-going relationship with Land Rover Experience, they have supplied us with 4 Little Off-Roaders and we have built them their own off-road track within the grounds. We hope this will be very popular with the children where they can practice their driving skills around a fun track”.
Ollie Lancett from Eastnor (pictured) in the Land Rover Off-Roader with an Easter Chicken as passenger ready for Easter opening!
Every child taking part in the EGGsperience Easter Hunt will win a chocolate treat and there will be a draw at the end of each day when one lucky family will win a giant chocolate egg in a basket! In addition, the Knight’s maze, Burma Bridge tree top walkway, junior assault course, mini zip wire, castle shop and tearoom will also be open throughout the weekend.
Eastnor Castle has won one of the prestigious 2015 Hudson’s Heritage Awards which were announced on Tuesday 3rd March. Eastnor Castle scooped the award in the Best Accommodation category. Established in 2011, the awards are an independently judged annual national scheme open to historic houses, gardens, museums and heritage sites and celebrate the very best visitor experience.
Dan Snow, historian and broadcaster, presented the awards at Goldsmiths Hall in London with around 100 guests including owners and managers of the winning entries.
Eastnor has 12 magnificent bedrooms which are available for groups who are hosting private parties, corporate events and weddings in the castle.
The judges were particularly impressed with the attention to detail and the fact that Eastnor has risen to the challenge of refurbishing a listed building by squeezing bathrooms into obsolete linen cupboards and disguised the lift. The addition of such lavish bedrooms has significantly increased the appeal of the house, particularly for weddings.
David Littlewood, General Manager said “We are delighted to have won a 2015 Hudson’s Heritage Award. Winning one of these awards demonstrates the high standards and commitment we offer our visitors to ensure their experience is the very best. Receiving this award is acknowledgement and recognition that Eastnor Castle is amongst the elite of heritage attractions in the UK”.
This is not a newly discovered adventure of the fictional schoolboy at Linbury Court preparatory school, as might have been written by the late Anthony Buckeridge, but a reference to one of our two surviving Victorian water closets supplied by George Jennings. In the first image Mick Woolley, our versatile contract plumber, and Bob Hayter, our also versatile joiner who is a member of our Works Department, stand over the WC after replacing a leaking valve and replacing perforated lead piping, which was allowing wastewater to leak through the ceiling of the Red Hall below.
George Jennings is best known for supplying the WC’s for the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace in Kensington Gardens in 1851, where they were the first public conveniences. Over 800,000 people paid a penny to use them and started the expression “spend a penny”. He was a successful sanitary engineer, and his family firm lasted until 1967.
In the second image, a more detailed view of the WC is shown, with the patent valve on the left.
This one had a leather diaphragm, which had hardened over the years, cracked and started leaking water into the pan. After the valve was removed, I sent the valve for restoration to Phil Jefferies of Heritage Foot Pumps, Stafford, a business which has now sadly closed. In the meantime, Mick & Bob managed to find the leaking waste pipe, removed it after some difficulty and replace it with a modern plastic one. I was surprised that an original lead pipe would have leaked, but the final image shows the holes, which Mick blames on the use of modern cleaning agents.
The Jennings with its fine mahogany surround is now back in working order, a tribute to a fine Victorian sanitary engineer and to the skill and persistence of Mick & Bob. It remains an attractive-and convenient-feature of the castle.
We have been dealing with Mintons for some time as they are a relatively local firm who supply us
with soft drinks etc.. In this image, Russell Grimmer is seen as he delivers a few cases of Belvoir Fruit Farms ‘Elderflower Pressé for consumption at weddings and other events, where it is a very popular alternative to Coca Cola and mineral water.
Belvoir Elderflower Pressé was developed by my late father-in-law about 30 years ago when we successfully tried to reproduce an elderflower drink he had been given as a child. Somehow, the old recipe had survived and after the family had been drafted into harvesting elderflower from the hedges and woods around Belvoir, the cordial was produced. He and my mother-in-law then brewed up enough to allow them to take it to numerous country fairs so it could be tested on members of the public, who were encouraged to comment on the taste so that it could be refined to satisfy the palate of the majority before production began in earnest in redundant farm buildings.
My brother-in-law now runs the business and he has expanded it considerably, adding new products and markets. We make a very modest contribution to his sales efforts by supplying Belvoir Fruit Farms’ products at Eastnor, and my younger daughters are looking forward to selling some at our Chilli Festival on 3rd & 4th May this year.
Celebrating 20 years of Castle weddings
Discount on Exclusive Hire Fee
In 2015, Eastnor Castle is celebrating 20 years as a licensed wedding venue and is keen to hear from as many couples as possible who have tied the knot at Eastnor since 1995.
Changes to the Marriage Act in 1994 allowed marriages to be solemnized in certain ‘approved premises’. Prior to the act, marriage ceremonies could only be conducted in churches and register offices. Eastnor Castle was one of the first approved premises in Herefordshire and was granted a license to host wedding ceremonies and partnerships in November 1995. Since then Eastnor has gained a reputation as one of the UK’s most impressive and sought after venues.
To mark this important anniversary, the Castle team is asking couples to make contact through the Eastnor Castle Weddings Facebook page (facebook.com/eastnorcastleweddings) and to post images and favourite memories of their special day. An online photo album will be compiled so that past brides and grooms can share their memories with other couples, their friends and their families. A new website blog will also be created in 2015, with regular posts and interviews with brides, suppliers and staff who have been involved with Eastnor weddings since 1995.
In addition and as part of this very special twenty years celebration, Eastnor is appropriately reducing its venue fee by 20% for all new weddings booked and held at the castle in 2015.
“In the 21st century it is easy to keep in contact with our customers” explained General Manager, David Littlewood. “However, before the days of social media, email and other digital communication, it was much harder and we have therefore lost contact with many couples who had their wedding day at Eastnor. We hope that our Facebook campaign will encourage people from all over the world to get back in touch and share their wedding day memories”
See our wedding rates page for more information or get in touch to book a showround.
Accommodation for Cheltenham Festival
10th – 13th March 2015
Eastnor Castle near Ledbury, an exclusive hire castle with 12 beautiful guest bedrooms and dramatically situated in a 5000-acre estate on the border of Gloucestershire, is available for private groups to hire during the Cheltenham Festival Race Week.
Our exclusive package includes:
Dinner, Bed & Breakfast (minimum of 10 guests – 3-night minimum stay)
Exclusive use of Eastnor Castle
3-course dinner in the State Dining Room
Overnight accommodation
Full English breakfast
£320.00 per person per night (excluding VAT)
Private transfers by road (40 minutes) or by helicopter (15 minutes) can also be arranged at an additional cost.
Please see our website for more details of our stunning castle.
Contact Nicky Cullity for details:
Telephone: +44 1531 633160
Email: nicky@eastnorcastle.com
It is tempting not to throw things away, whatever the size of your house, and the problem is worse if your house is big and has extensive cellars. Earlier this week, I was thinking about a bit of clearing out in the cellars when I came across the floor polisher shown in the image – I refer to the wooden device, not my daughter, who is seen trying to make it work.
It consists of a wooden box filled with lead and cloaked in material, which on investigation proved to be two layers of felt and then a roughly applied piece of old blanked, which perhaps experience in use had shown either to be easier to push and pull or more effective in doing the job. The device had survived quite well despite attention from woodworm and moth, though the moth had clearly given up at an early stage after finding the material too dirty.
I have cleaned and polished the lead-filled box and put the polisher for others to try in the Gothic Drawing Room, where there is a bit of exposed oak flooring. I have also made a Risk Assessment, as you must, and concluded that the risk of anyone injuring him or herself or damaging any pieces of furniture is low, but anyone who manages to move it more than twice will appreciate how hard the physical labour of cleaning used to be. At the same time, there is a chance that we will get our floor polished, in a small area, rather in the same way as those with safari parks have some of their animals fed by selling packets of feed to visitors to give out.
James H-B 29th August
Jools Holland returned to play in the Park last Saturday. His guest stars included Marc Almond, Mel C and Ruby Turner. Ticket sales accelerated as the date approached, and the weather kept fine. We now have a Public Entertainment Licence for events for up to 10,000 people, so the process of arranging it all was made much easier.
The evening started well as everyone arrived well in advance and the access and parking arrangements worked better than in the past. Jools himself was certainly on time and played with great brilliance, energy and enthusiasm. The ominous black cloud that appeared over the site deposited some rain, but luckily not too much. By the time I had gone back to the house to collect umbrellas, it had stopped. If I had not gone, no doubt it would have continued.
A gap was left in front of the stage, and once the music started, it quickly filled up. Grass is not the ideal dancing surface, though better than mud, but that did not stop the evening developing into a happy giant disco. As the acts warmed up, so the crush increased, and everyone seemed to have a great time.
Jools commented afterwards that Eastnor had provided a great audience, which must be what the performers want. They certainly gave their best, and we look forward to having them back before too long.
JH-B 1 August 2014
Illyria’s outdoor theatre returns to Eastnor Castle on Sunday 10th August with yet another Roald Dahl classic ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’. Following their enormous success and sell-out tour, Illyria return with a show full of larger-than-life characters, plenty to join in with and just a twist of malicious fun!
It is the first day of half-term, Grandma is coming to stay, and George is going to have to give
up his bedroom for her. It wouldn’t be so bad if Grandma were a nice Grandma. But George’s Grandma is horrible. “George do this! George do that!” “George, is it time for my medicine?” What’s the point of taking medicine, George wonders, when it’s not doing her any good, and it certainly isn’t making her any nicer? So he decides to concoct his own medicine for Grandma which he gives Grandma on a spoon – with hilarious results! The performance is guaranteed to send you through the roof!
The performance will be on the lower terrace overlooking the lake at 3 pm, gates open at 2 pm. Approximately 1hr 35mins (including a 20 mins interval). Please bring your own seating/rug, warm clothes and a picnic. Soft drinks and ice cream will be available.
Please click here to book tickets.
Only just a few weeks ago we received a filming enquiry with the following brief:
Blinkbox wanted a castle for a marketing campaign for Season 4 of Game of Thrones. They would like to hold a genuine wedding in the style of the hugely popular TV show, Game of Thrones. The event will consist of a one day photography shoot at the location followed by a genuine wedding ceremony for one lucky couple inside the location.
Taylor Herring, the company behind the campaign for Game of Thrones season 3 had 35’000’000 million hits on Twitter within 48hrs of it going live!
I googled Game of Thrones and I was still none the wiser, I am not a fan, but have since found out it has a real cult following for this fantasy bloodthirsty show.
Eastnor Castle fitted the brief and the crew arrived last Thursday. The wedding ceremony took place on Friday with a local couple from Hereford. It was all about make-up, costumes, wolves and a white horse! All quite surreal in a strange way, Nick our groundsman had a bit of a surprise when he came up the drive on his tractor to be confronted by 2 wolves guarding the courtyard. (The ‘wolves’ were only 25% wolf, but certainly looked the part and could not bark). He managed to take these pictures on his phone.
The Eastnor Castle Game of Thrones wedding.
Articles
by Sarah Roberts
The much loved CBeebies character ‘Tree Fu Tom’ will be taking a break from his adventures in Treetopolis to come to Eastnor Castle on Sunday 29th June.
Come along and meet and greet ‘Tree Fu Tom’ who will be making personal appearances at intervals throughout the day in the castle courtyard. Bring your cameras for a photo opportunity with your little ones.
“This should be a really exciting day for any young Tree Fu Tom fans as they will get to see this magical superhero in person in the castle courtyard” said David Littlewood, General Manager.
All the usual castle attractions will be open, including the Knight’s Maze, full-size-play Land Rover Defender, mini Zip Wire, Burma Bridge Tree Top Walk Way and Adventure Playground, Tearoom, Gift Shop and Ice Cream Parlour.
Open from 11am to 4.30pm and admission is Castle & Grounds – to buy tickets click here.
We held our vintage day over the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend and attracted over 3000 visitors over 2 days. Although we do not aspire to compete with the great vintage weekend at Goodwood, The Goodwood Revival; we invite a reasonable range of historic vehicles along and the variety appeals to our public. We received a generous review afterwards on Trip Advisor, which was very nice.
It is certainly not a festival of speed either, rather the opposite, with steam and diesel rollers (max speed perhaps 5mph), a Foden 5 ton wagon (max speed not much more) and a large traction engine, a re-import from Tasmania, and my Ransomes Sims & Jefferies 1915 8 3/4 ton agricultural traction engine, which was spontaneously pressed into work shown in the image. The tug of war is always popular as it is, at least on one side, a team game, with simple rules and little need for fitness and training, in fact, being slightly overweight may help. There are 3 pulls, and this time the engine was beaten 2:1. In an earlier competition, one or two visitors slipped on the gravel, not a ‘fair’ surface on which to compete, though it is a level playing field in the strict sense, and there were some grazed knees, but luckily not this time.
Other exhibits included the estate Morris 28hp petrol lorry, an Austin 7, a Stanley steam car, two living and one showman’s vans and hand-driven carousel. There was a guest appearance from a Mini club, with some fine traditional Minis and a few spun-off designs. My own Foden 6 to the steam tractor was not available as it is still away recovering from the fitting of a majorly repaired boiler, the first since new in 1928. I hope it will be the star of the show next year.
J H-B 14 June ’14
I would like to think that Eastnor Castle, our grounds and children’s playground were enough to keep our visitors happy and generally, they are, but on the more popular days at Bank Holidays, we feel we should do more and so we hire the services of Jem Maynard Watts and his colleagues Thomas Trilby.
As the visitors arrive in the car park, Jem appears on stilts and inappropriate clothing to greet them. He may briefly convince children that he is a giant resident in the Castle, but mostly he chats to everyone and makes them laugh, important if there is a queue. As the day progresses, he comes down a peg and bicycles around on a penny-farthing, of modern manufacture, unfortunately, but nevertheless impressive.
At the end of the day, when there has been a competition, Jem draws the prize, but not before he has had a good juggle with one of his colleagues, an unexpected bonus for the audience and some compensation for the competitors who did not win ie. all but one. He always gets a great round of applause, partly, of course, because he is a great entertainer. He has a great sense of humour and is keenly interested to know how he is being received by the crowd. He also tells us what the visitors tell him about their visit, where they have come from etc… Jem helps create a party atmosphere around the castle, and we love having him.
Now in its 3rd year, the Chilli Festival at Eastnor Castle, is back on Sunday 4th and Bank Holiday Monday 5th May. This year, there will be over 50 stalls and entertainment, showcasing all things Hot!
The Castle Courtyard will be transformed into a Chilli Market and visitors will be able to try and buy delicious products such as chocolate, bread, cake, vodka, cocktails and chutney as well as grow-your-own chilli plants. There will also be a number of specialist hot food suppliers selling authentic Asian curries and other spicy foods.
David Littlewood, General Manager at Eastnor Castle said “We are really thrilled with the success of our Chilli Festival and it has gained a huge following. The Clifton Chilli Club are back by popular demand this year, hosting the Chilli eating competition for anyone brave enough to join in.
Our Head Groundsman, Nick Robinson (pictured) who grows his own chillies, will be taking part in the competition to see if he can better his 3rd place last year”.
In our cookery theatre, Thai chef Suree Coates, from Shropshire who is chef of the year semi-finalist and has her own restaurant ‘The King and Thai’ will be demonstrating her authentic cookery skills; Marina Ibrahim will be showing visitors how to make delicious Egyptian mezze and Italian chef Felice Tocchini. Younger visitors will be well catered for with the Easy Peasy Children’s Cookery Theatre.
To create a real carnival atmosphere, there will be live musical entertainment from local Mexican band – Los Squideros from Hereford, joining them will be One Island Steel Band to entertain the crowds.
Admission prices and book tickets click here.
The much-loved family treasure hunt at Eastnor Castle will take place over the Easter weekend between Good Friday 18th April and Bank Holiday Monday 21st April between 11 am and 4.30 pm.
This year the event marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War and to commemorate the heroes, we invite families to take part in our Hunt for Heroes. We need you to search for the brave bunnies and chickens around the castle and grounds, solve the clues and you may be a lucky winner of a giant chocolate egg!
David Littlewood, Castle General Manager says “This is our favourite weekend of the year where local families come to Eastnor Castle to enjoy the annual treasure hunt and this year we are going back in time to World War 1! W has lots of new and exciting events planned for this summer and we have a new full-size play Land Rover Defender and mini zip wire”.
Every child taking part in the Easter Hunt for Heroes will win a chocolate treat and there will be a draw at the end of each day when one lucky family will win a giant chocolate egg in a basket!
On Monday 24th March Eastnor Castle played host to The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award 4×4 Challenge Event.
Supporters from across the world were given the opportunity to take part in each section of the Award through an exhilarating Land Rover 4×4 Challenge which included a driving experience, extreme physical activities, team building games and inspiring community participation projects.
Hosted by Eastnor Castle and Jaguar Land Rover, the experience began in London, where guests were collected and driven to Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire. With its thirty miles of test track, Eastnor is an important tool in the research and development of new Land Rovers. Guests had the opportunity to test out the vehicles, as well as experiencing other high adrenaline activities and the breath-taking 5,000 acres of the Eastnor Castle estate, gaining an insight into how it feels to be an Award participant.
Guests were joined for the event by HRH the Earl of Wessex, Trustee of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation. To replicate the Service element of the Award, the group carried out projects for Eastnor School and Eastnor Church.
James Hervey-Bathurst, owner of Eastnor Castle commented “We were delighted to have The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award at Eastnor. The guests were an impressive group and heavily committed to the Award. They were obviously having a good time facing the challenges we were able to lay on for them. We hope they will come back”.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award (the Award) is open to all 14-24-year-olds, regardless of their background. The Award is about personal development not a competition with others. It enables young people to learn practical and social skills that are valuable to their life and career development.
We are pleased to reveal our exciting, unique addition to the children’s playground – a brand new Land Rover Defender! The full size Defender was donated to Eastnor Castle by Land Rover to celebrate over 50 years of vehicle testing on the estate. The Land Rover has been fully child proofed and it sits alongside the existing tractor and motorbike, however, it doesn’t have an engine so will not be going for any fun rides!
David Littlewood, General Manager “We are very proud of the Land Rover and are hoping it will prove to be extremely popular. It’s probably the first time a brand new Land Rover has been used in a playground and I am sure it will survive all the inquisitive children playing with it. We are grateful to Land Rover for the enormously generous gift and hope they will be on the estate for the next 50 years”.
A new zip wire also be installed in the playground as part of the upgrade and will be ready to welcome the first visitors of the season on Good Friday for the annual Easter Egg Hunt.
Recently, a few sandstone blocks on two of our towers have been spalling, which involves losing the outside layer of stone in a thin flake, which then falls dangerously to the ground without warning, a real hazard for anyone too close without a hard hat. We roped the areas off in case of any further events and called Wallwalkers to the rescue as a cherry picker would not have worked and scaffolding was not necessary, or economic for the amount of work involved. Wallwalkers, a local firm had access to the top of the two towers and were able to secure their abseiling ropes without difficulty. They then dropped over the side, as it were, and tackled each damaged stone in turn, so there were no loose pieces left. Even though the top of the tower projects from the wall, they were able to dislodge all the loose pieces quite easily. In the image, a damaged (discoloured) stone is seen to the left of the Wallwalker as he works his way down, fortunately on a sunny day.
The cause of the problem is the ingress of rain into the gaps between the blocks where the lime mortar has failed. The stone then gets wet and is damaged by frost, of which there has been plenty last year. The solution is to re-point where we need to, and the next stage is to make a photographic survey of all the stonework to see where we need to go and estimate what it will cost. As the gaps between the blocks are only about 1mm, the material we use will have to be carefully selected. We will also have to make flaunching repairs to the tops of the stones below those where the flakes have come off as they will otherwise be vulnerable to water ingress from the top edge where they are now exposed.
After all we have spent on the roof and parapets it is annoying now to find more work, even if we do not have to re-point everywhere. At least business is picking up and bookings are better for 2014…
JH-B 23rd January 2014
After I wrote about “Smirke Revisited”, various works of art duly arrived at Eastnor on loan from the Lonsdale collection, and we had the excitement of unpacking and unwrapping the items as they were delivered. I image my ancestors had the same experience as their purchases arrived from the Grand Tour, or its mid-19th century equivalent, though I suspect they would have been more in a supervisory capacity rather than in a hands-on role as I was and I doubt that so much of high quality would ever have arrived at one time.
We then had the challenge of displaying it all. I had done some planning and bought in a number of heavy hooks and chain from Frank B Scragg of Birmingham. Our first job was to fix cast iron hooks to the backs of the frames as the Lowther picture hanging system was different from ours. We then suspended the new chains from existing rails, after moving our own pictures to one side to make room for the distinguished visitors. We then offered up the new paintings to see what they looked like. On the whole, they looked excellent.
In the first image, David Littlewood, our Business Manager, and Anthony Marriott, one of our house managers, have just finished helping me hang a painting of Lowther Castle from the park by Turner. Obviously a very good painting, it was nevertheless hard to see without a picture light, so we asked Tom Oates from Chelsea Lighting Design to produce a light that would exactly illuminate it after I had sent all the dimensions. Then the second image shows the Turner in the middle, duly lit after Tom and two colleagues came down and did the job. The effect is dramatic. The painting is now the highlight of the Dining Room, if not the whole display, and the light exactly covers all the canvas and frame, whereas to light the top of the painting-and overheat the canvas in the process. We have also had Tom fit new lights to six other paintings on his visit.
I hope our visitors will appreciate the new display when we re-open to the public at Easter in 2014. Meanwhile, I am glad the bulbs have a predicted life of 4000 hours!
JH-B 17th November 2013
We sweep our chimneys every year after the winter, but often not much soot comes out. After a chimney fire about 15 years ago, I assumed we were using drier wood and less soot was being generated, but I was wrong. The first image shows my view of the house from halfway around the lake when I saw black smoke emerging in huge volumes from the Great Hall chimney. As I was without a mobile telephone (there would probably have been no signal anyway), I ran, or more like jogged, back as fast as I could to raise the alarm in case the fire was not obvious to the people inside.
I found that the Fire Brigade was already on its way, and the firemen soon started rodding the chimney when they arrived. It is probably at least 70ft high, and so extra rods had to be summoned from another appliance, along with an electronic heat detector to check for any hot spots on the walls through which the chimney passed. There was some smoke in the adjacent areas, but, strangely, not enough to set off the smoke alarms.
The rodding worked up to a point, but the fire roared on, so we decided to pour water down the chimney. After a brief, but tense, search for the key to the door to the Keep roof, we emptied numerous buckets of water down the chimney, though most of the contents came straight back in the form of steam. Eventually, a fire hose reached us, and the fire was quenched, without doing any obvious damage to the interior decoration of the house. The second image gives an idea of the height of the chimney, though sadly the extended ladder could not get close enough to the house to be useful.
On advice from the Fire Officer in charge, we have now had the chimney inspected with a CCTV camera. We have found the ledge where the soot accumulated, away from the sweeping brushes, and will almost certainly have the chimney lined to protect the fabric of the house in case of another fire. It was all quite dramatic, but the efficiency of the Fire Brigade was re-assuring. In future, we will have to use a professional firm of chimney sweeps and have camera inspections on a regular basis.
JH-B 19th December 2013
Family fun arrives this August Bank Holiday weekend with the Eastnor Knight’s Treasure Hunt !
Families will have to follow the magical clues in a bid to find the Knight’s Treasure. The famous Eastnor Knight’s will be on hand to help families solve the clues in order for them to be in with a chance of winning the fantastic prize of a ‘Knight’s Toy Chest’ containing swords, shields, helmets and knight’s toys. The prize winners will be decided each day in a King Arthur style contest, with the drawing of swords from a stone. The child who successfully draws the sword will be crowned the overall winner, but every participating child will receive a free gift of a model knight.
Adding to the medieval themed fun will be a Knight on horseback from the ‘ Knights of the Damned ‘. Eastnor favourite Wizard Wonky will also be making an appearance along with a giant Stilt Walking Knight to keep children entertained throughout the day.
The Knight’s Treasure Hunt takes place on Sunday 28 th August and Bank Holiday Monday 29 th August between 11am and 5pm and is priced at £7 for Adults, £4 for children and £6 for senior citizens. Family tickets for 2 adults and 3 children are also available priced at £18. Prices include entry to the castle, grounds and the Knight’s Treasure Hunt.