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Click Here To Download The Annual Report BROUGHAM HALL ANNUAL REPORT December 2007 ANNIVERSARIES This year, Brougham Hall celebrates two significant anniversaries. Firstly, 2007 was the seven hundredth anniversary of our being granted our licence to crenellate. Secondly, 2007 was the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, in which Henry Peter Brougham played an absolutely indispensable role. It could truthfully be claimed that, without Brougham, there would have been no abolition in 1807 or in 1833. During the year, Michael Apted released a film, entitled “Amazing Grace”, telling the story of Wilberforce’s campaign against slavery. Adam Dickinson was heavily involved, throughout the year, with the 100th anniversary of Scouting. The Cumbria Scout Development Office is based at Brougham. GENERAL This was the wettest year since records began in 1914, and followed hot on the heels of last year’s warmest summer ever. In a county which is weather dependant, the difference in the two extremes resulted in a £6,000 dip in our income and an increase in our maintenance costs both to the fabric of the building and to the grounds (viz the grass never stopped growing all summer). Despite this damp backcloth, we managed a full season of events – even if we had to run for shelter from time to time. By the end of year, Brougham Hall was fully tenanted and, if we had had the space, we could doubtless have filled it twice over. Such is the local demand for small units at reasonable rents. CONGRATULATIONS to Piers Merry on his winning the first ever “Duke of Gloucester’s Award for Carved Stone” – see “Events” 5th October. RESTORATION This was one of the most active years we’ve had for a very long time and yet there is virtually nothing to show for it. We did extensive repairs to many of the temporary flat roofs which are coming to the end of their lives. We also did a huge amount of cleaning, repair and stabilisation, simply to maintain the existing structures. Towards the end of the year, Les Harrison started to clean up the abandoned brewery to make a centre from which to display his wares. The cellars, beneath Les, are beginning to dry out and to be cleaned out. Ian Clayton stripped out the old teashop to make better use of the space available; and the Trust cleaned up and recommissioned the tack room, adjacent to the carriage house, as a woodworking shop. Next year we intend to do a similar cleaning, de-vegetating and stabilisation exercise in what remains of our Pele Tower – which will otherwise collapse for want of attention. We did 50% of it a few years ago and urgently need to get on with the other 50%. We would also like to make Les’s bridge safer and more attractive by replacing the temporary hand-rail with a properly supported stone parapet wall, exactly as per the original, parts of which still survive. THIS YEAR’S CALENDAR On Tuesday 23rd January, Living TV’s “Most Haunted”, filmed at Brougham Hall, was broadcast to an estimated audience of 400 million in 37 languages. On Friday, 9th February, the film crews were back at Brougham Hall, this time for ITV, to film Fiona Armstrong’s two part series on the “Abolition of the Slave Trade”. In real life, Fiona is Lady Macgregor of Macgregor having married Malcolm Macgregor of Macgregor, the 24th clan chief... Her programme was broadcast on 29th March. At 5pm, on 10th February, John Harte MBE, one of Brougham’s greatest champions, died peacefully in hospital. His funeral was held in Watford on 1st March. See Obituary. Between 5th – 10th April, some of us revisited Gibraltar, where members of the Brougham Hall team worked, on the restoration of Parsons Lodge Battery, Rosia Bay, between 1993 and 1996, on behalf of the Gibraltar Heritage Trust. This project won a coveted Europa Nostra Diploma. The battery has survived quite well in the last 11 years but needs a little TLC, for which the Brougham team has volunteered its services. On Easter Sunday, 8th April, we hosted our annual fundraising “Eggstravaganza” to raise money for Eden Animal Rescue. As always, this event was very well attended by dogs, their owners and the general public. On 13th April, we heard from Tony Brown of Flackwell Heath, notified us that he is restoring a 1904 Phoenix motor car. This was only the sixth car to be registered in Westmorland. This car belonged to the Reverend Arthur John Heelis MA, who was rector of Brougham from 1900 until he resigned in 1922. The reverend Heelis was the third member of his family to be a rector at Brougham. He was also Beatrix Potter’s brother-in-law. Beatrix Potter was a regular visitor to Brougham. On one such visit, she gave Eileen Brougham a copy of “A Tale of Peter Rabbit” for her birthday and signed the flyleaf. On 16th November 2004, this signed copy sold at auction for £47,800.00. “A Tale of Peter Rabbit” was first published in 1902. Brig. Heelis, one of our benefactors, wrote a book about Beatrix Potter in which he says how much Beatrix disliked pushing her brother-in -laws car. That was the self-same Phoenix which Tony Brown is now restoring. During the year, a very attractive film was released entitled “Miss Potter”, directed by Chris Noonan, covering the story of Beatrix Potter’s life up to the point where she married William Heelis in 1913 at the age of 47. From 15th to 18th April, our new neighbours Yvonne and Roderick Hartley started a voluntary season of clearing the southern end of the terrace most beautifully. On May 8th, an extensive programme of flat roof and electric light maintenance commenced. On 17th May, the Old Smokehouse, our first ever tenant, celebrated its 20th anniversary of opening at Brougham. 17th – 19th May brought a visit from Sue Terry, of Perth WA, the widow of Tony Terry, our late lamented Founder Trustee. Sue spent Christmas in Antarctica and was on the point of crossing Russia by railway. Imagine the clerk at Penrith Station….."one single to Vladivostok please". On 9th June, Geoff Bowerbank (1929-2007), another great supporter of Brougham Hall, died after suffering many years of indifferent health. See Obituary. On June 14th, the Cumbria Voluntary Service chose Brougham Hall as the venue for their valedictory AGM, which was held in a new marquee, specially pitched for the occasion, replete with masses of flowers and balloons. On 16th June, an important season of cleaning, clearance, de-vegetation and stabilisation commenced. This work continued well into November. This day also saw the publication of Jon Boston’s latest Brougham leaflet, resplendent in MCC (some might say Spanish) colours, intended to “stand out” from the leaflets of other attractions, on the shelves of the Tourist Information Centres. On 18th June, Alex Dewhurst (1929-2007) another staunch supporter died. See Obituary. So ended the wettest and most miserable June ever recorded. On 3rd July, the last batch of Brougham Ale was brewed in our original 1823 brewery. Since 2002, hundreds of thousands of gallons of award winning real ale has been brewed here by Tirril Brewery. Unfortunately for us, they are the victim of their own success and have had to move down the road to Long Marton, to a new brewery with six times our capacity. On 21st July, the roof was stripped off the brewery and the vats were lifted out by crane and taken to Cockermouth. On 9th July, M&P Direct, who had occupied Unit 10 for a year, relocated to Inverness. On 10th – 11th July our old friends Kerry, Devin and Viorica Brougham re-visited us; this time with their father, Robert and Devin’s son, Timothy. John is a retired US diplomat; Kerry is Consul in the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Devin has retired as a director of Vodafone and has gone to live in Thailand. It was very good to see them all again. On 14th July, Brougham Hall was the venue for Judy Kelly’s wedding reception. The Kelly family have been good friends for many years. Judy’s sister, Sarah, a dress designer, has held fashion shoots at Brougham and their father, Alan, is Peter Oliphant’s business partner. This wedding could best be described as classic and traditional, with all the trimmings that make such an event so memorable. From 16th to 31st July we enjoyed a visit from another of our old friends, George Schofield MBA, from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. On 20th July, John and Jan Merrett came up from Kendal, with some Brougham photographs that they’d taken on a recent visit to Cannes. On 29th July, we had the pleasure of welcoming Syd Walker, now retired and looking very smart. Syd will always be a VIP at Brougham, since he built more of it than any other person living. So ended a month of very pleasant and unexpected visits. In August, the weather improved slightly and, on the 10th, the Say Tous Touring Company staged “The Taming of the Shrew”, in lovely weather to the largest audience we’ve ever had. Everything changed, a week later, when continuous rain threatened the staging of Oscar Wilde’s “Ideal Husband”. We were saved by the new Rector, the Parochial Church Council and the Church Wardens who, at very short notice, allowed us to use St Wilfrid’s Chapel. In return, we were happy to make a donation to the upkeep of the fabric and to talk about the possibility of future joint ventures. On 31st August, the Eden District Council and four supervisors staged a picnic lunch at Brougham for a very large number of neglected and disadvantaged children. This was a splendid initiative. On 9th September, a beautiful day complimented an excellent annual turnout, at Brougham, of the Cumbria Classic Car Club. The Stars and Stripes flew, on 28th September, to greet the new American surge in Penrith. For sometime the northern suburbs have been successfully subjugated by Maj. “Big Mac” Donald. Enter Col. “finger licking” Saunders and his KFC men to take control of the areas to the south of the town. The coup de grace came in the form of Christine Wong Yap, flown into Brougham Hall, from California, irrespective of cost, by the Lottery Fund, in what was billed as the largest invasion of artists in Europe – all 72 of them. In Tate Modern style, Mrs Yap brought a number of black polythene garbage sacks, which the public were invited to inflate, with the aid of bicycle pumps to create interactive sculpture. Meanwhile another artist, Sally Barker, was exhibiting Easter Island figures, the size of chess men, half way up Stickle Ghyll, Great Langdale, in the unusual medium of sheep excrement and Steve Messam set himself the ambitious task of building 18,000 sandcastles, each topped with a red paper flag, on a lonely beach, west of St Bee’s. On 14th October, our remarkable garbage bags vanished and we were left uncertain as to whether they had been scooped up by Lord Saatchi or by Kentucky Fried Chicken. The timing of such an exhibition, when the tourists have stopped coming and the children have gone back to school, is possibly something that needs to be addressed if public money is to be spent in this way in future years. On 28th September, Magdalena Longdon left CycleActive to have her baby. It is due in November and we wish her every success. From 2nd – 4th October Wing Cmdr J W Marshall OBE paid his annual CO’s visit and found “all aspects satisfactory”, despite the fact that we gave him tasks unbecoming a senior officer. On 5th October Piers Merry attended a luncheon in the Mansion House, in the City of London, and received the first ever “Duke of Gloucester’s Award for Carved Stone”. Piers last met HRH, at Brougham Hall, on 24th July 2002, when the Duke unveiled Piers’ and Paul Grundy’s memorial to the last battle on English soil. 6th to 13th October, we revisited Evvia where some members of the Brougham team have worked, from time to time, over the last twenty years. On 17th October one of the Trust’s cars was stolen, driven across the Earl of Lonsdale’s plantations and parked in a culvert underneath the M6 . While this escapade had its funny side, it was also rather tiresome, since it took over four weeks to extract the car unharmed. On 19th October Muriel Austwick left the Teashop after five seasons of devoted service. She was succeeded immediately by Anne Clayton. On this day we also had a visit from a family called Mavis, who now live in Perth, Western Australia. Their great grandfather was the gamekeeper, on the Brougham estate and the 1871 census shows James and his wife and three children living at Park Cottage, which still exists and is now known as Keepers’ Cottage. On 20th October CycleActive staged a cycling proficiency course at Brougham Hall in lovely weather. Once again, this is a commendable initiative which it is hoped will be repeated, even more often, next year. 14th November saw the inauguration of the National Lottery funded Brougham and Eamont Bridge Walk. The route of the walk is identified by six Oak posts with inlaid bronze and enamel motifs. Ours is based on our sanctuary door knocker, complimented by a well written, well illustrated booklet with map. 0n 24th November Adam Dickinson attended a huge event, in what used to be known as the London Dome, to celebrate the centenary of Lord Baden -Powell’s founding the international Scout movement. THANK YOU Starting, as usual, with those people who have made cash donations, we would like to thank the following:-
If you would like to make a donation, cheques should be made payable to the Brougham Hall Charitable Trust, Brougham Hall, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 2DE. If you are a UK Tax payer, and would be kind enough to include a note to that effect, we can reclaim 28% of the tax from the Inland Revenue, under the Government’s Gift Aid scheme. For those giving through their Self Assessment returns, our unique code is UAD20QG. All donations are always acknowledged by return. We would also like to encourage people to consider remembering us in their Wills. Most bequests of this nature are free of Inheritance Tax. Turning to those who have given in kind, we would like to thank;-
RESEARCH During the year, Alistair Aynsclough and one of our Founder Trustees researched the Rectors of Brougham from 1310 to the present day. There are inevitable gaps, which we hope to fill in due course but, we have the majority of the story (although the whole of the 15th century is missing and there must be some reason for that, such as records being destroyed during the Reformation) and our thanks go to Alistair, in particular, for this remarkable piece of detective work, gleaned from various sources. If you would like to look at the list, or help us fill in the gaps, please visit our website and click on “Rectors of Brougham”. COMINGS AND GOINGS We were very sorry to say goodbye to Muriel Austwick after five seasons of running the Brougham Teashop; to Veronica Walton and her Reiki Therapy; to M & P Direct Ltd who have relocated to Inverness, to the Tirril Brewery who have outgrown our brewery and moved to a new one in Long Marton and to Jill Fawcett, our very talented ceramicist, who leaves us in December. Their places have been taken by Anne Clayton, who has taken over the Teashop and plans a fundamental change in décor, hours and menu. We welcome Brookfield Products who have assumed control of the Old Smokehouse, while leaving Neil Harrison in situ and freeing Richard Muirhead up to run his own Brougham Hall Foods Ltd. Les Harrison has realised a long-standing dream of taking over the brewery as a showroom and office for Carol. We were also very pleased to welcome back Lisa Gardiner, who was last at Brougham in 1996. Lisa is making wine racks out of solid wood. OBITUARY John Harte MBE John was a man who found it hard to retire, but not for want of trying. He came to Cumbria, from Harrow, with his wife Jane, to a lovely house called the Grotto, in Yanwath, hoping to abandon the law in favour of running an up-market bed and breakfast. Things didn’t work out as planned and, very fortunately for the Trust, John returned to law in a local practice. Up to that time, the Trust had been advised by a leading firm of lawyers, with impeccable credentials, from the City of London. Unfortunately, one of this firms’ senior tax and trust partners, with 24 years seniority, started to steal from his clients on a massive scale. At the time (1985-88), this individual was the biggest known fraudulent lawyer in the English speaking world. For twelve years, the Trust was firmly in his sights and in those of his powerful henchmen. Sensing gross injustice, from within the ranks of his own profession, this very Christian man fought day and night, very often without proper remuneration, to redress the balance. On 16th October 2000, he scored a knock-out blow against some formidable adversaries – thereby leaving the Trust free to flourish. He took himself off to Spain for a second retirement but was immediately cut down by a massive heart attack and passed the rest of his days, as an invalid, in the Wheathampstead area. When he finally died, his widow paid the Trust the huge compliment of inviting one of its founder Trustees to deliver the Funeral eulogy at Garston Crematorium, on 1st March, where a huge number of John’s friends, of all nationalities, had gathered to witness a retirement that John could delay no longer. May this very good man rest in peace and lets hope that he didn’t mind too much being seen off by one of his most troublesome clients! Geoff Bowerbank (1929-2007). Many individuals claim to be master craftsmen. Geoff was far too modest to make any such claims. He didn’t need to. His peer group were in no doubt that he was the finest of craftsmen when it came to anything made from wood. Furthermore, even when his machinery was fully written off, twenty one years after it was purchased; it still looked as if it had just been delivered by the manufacturers. Accordingly, when Geoff’s employers removed to a newly equipped location in 1987, they gave Geoff his cherished machinery, as an outright gift, arranged a facility from the Clydesdale Bank and allowed Geoff to set up his own business, G Bowerbank Ltd, at Brougham Hall, where it was intended that he would pass on his remarkable skills to the younger generation and, in particular , to a promising youth called Andrew Barclay. Geoff and Andrew built their own workshop (now Country Furnishings) and took in quality work from a local firm of Receivers who ultimately reneged on their promise to pay Geoff for the work that he had done. Indeed, to add insult to injury, when all their work was finished, said Receivers removed, without any authority whatsoever, all Geoff’s machinery, on a slender pretext, and left it to rust in a car park in High Carleton – an inexcusable act of vindictiveness. Geoff, who had suffered from angina for several years, and who could have been excused if he had reacted to being treated so disgracefully, rose above it all and behaved with the utmost dignity, never once apportioning any blame to anyone for his misfortune. Philosophically, he took himself off to work out the rest of days with fellow craftsmen, the family Holden, at Laithes. Geoff was an extremely intelligent man, with very straight old-fashioned standards of behaviour. He maintained cordial relations with Brougham Hall and right up until shortly before his death, he was still working on the total restoration of our 1520 Postern Gate to ensure that it lasts for another 500 years. Geoff was a keen sea fisherman (with Bob McAdam) and an active fell walker (with his wife, Jean and Ray and Beryl Chappels). Alex Dewhurst (1929-2007) Alex was another very supportive individual. Alex spent most of his life working for the Cumbrian Newspaper Group, as a technician. He had a life long passion for historic buildings and old cars and, when he retired, he turned from technician to reporter and wrote a number of articles for the Cumbria News, on architectural matters. We were lucky both with Alex and his newspaper that we always seemed to enjoy a very good press. FORTHCOMING EVENTS 2008
BOOKS Mark Thomas’s scholarly hardback “A History of Brougham Hall and Highhead Castle” (£30 + £2.90 p&p) and Ben Furnival’s “Windsor of the North” (£9 + £2.50 p&p) are both still available from the Brougham Hall Charitable Trust, Brougham Hall, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 2DE or can be ordered on-line by visiting www.broughamhall.co.uk and clicking on “Books”. WEBSITE Our overseas friends and anyone wanting extra copies of this report, can access it by visiting our updated website at www.broughamhall.co.uk and clicking on “Annual Report December 2007”. Labels, to that effect, have been inserted in all our overseas Christmas cards. Please tell your friends what we are doing and encourage them to support Brougham Hall. CARS The Trust’s two vehicles, are still going strong and now have a cumulative mileage of almost 440,000 and continue to remain in the peak of condition…and attractive to thieves! NON PAYING TENANTS Scruffy the cat is still doing well and working hard to keep down the rabbit population….a task that he would embrace more enthusiastically if he weren’t quite so well fed by the proprietors of the Smokehouse! |
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