The Viscountess Downe
The Viscountess Downe likes to keep herself busy. She finds time to be Deputy Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire and was last years High Sheriff of the county. Always keen to support a local cause, Lady Downe was delighted to be invited to become a Trustee of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, in Scarborough. She took up the post in 2005 and now chairs the development committee.
Lady Downe is very much following in her late husband footsteps. He was instrumental in helping to secure the old Odeon cinema as a permanent home for the theatre in 1996. Stephen Joseph Theatre has an international reputation and has hosted the premieres of almost all of Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s plays.
Matthew Noble & David Edwards
Matthew Noble (Assistant Estate Manager) and David Edwards (Farm Manager) are both volunteers for the Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue team. They have recently completed one and a half years training and passed their final assessment.
Training involved two evening and one day long exercise each month and they have been on call 24/7 for most of the last year. They are called on by members of the public or the Police in the event of missing persons or suspected suicide attempts, stranded or injured walkers or forestry workers. The Ambulance service also call them out if someone is injured in an inaccessible location. They can expect 25 to 30 call outs each year. One busy week recently saw call outs involving helicopters belonging to the Police, Air Ambulance and RAF Leconfield.
The team covers a region stretching from Whitby down to the Humber and inland towards Helmsley. David and Matthew both enjoy this worthwhile work, but seem to derive most pleasure from being team drivers with the chance to switch those blue flashing lights on!
Robert Sword
Estate Director, Robert Sword, is pictured here as the Forestry Steward at the Great Yorkshire Show. He has been involved with the show since 1988 and for many years was a member of the Showground Committee (responsible for the development and maintenance of the Showground).
The Forestry Area used to be known as a quiet corner of the Showground, but in recent years it has become a hive of activity and one of the main attractions for the visiting public. Pure Forestry is a thing of the past and the Forestry Area now has its own arena with events taking place around the Pole Climbing Championship (11 seconds from start to finish up a vertical 80ft pole!), the Forestry Information Centre, Tradestands and Woodturning, Woodcarving, Marquetry and Stickmaking Competitions.
Next year is the 125 anniversary of the Great Yorkshire Show, and if nothing else the Forestry area is an excellent meeting place to enjoy some refreshment!
David Crossley
David Crossley can usually be found in the Abbey Walled Garden as he is one of the sales team for Wykeham Mature Plants. What you may not know is that David is a dog lover, Chairman of the Humberside Cavalier Club and an international show dog judge. David has judged companion or toy dogs at championship level for 24 years, specialising in King Charles and Cavalier King Charles spaniels.
Judging shows has taken David to many countries in Europe, twice to America and once each to New Zealand and Australia. Judges can only judge each class of dog once every 18 months to ensure impartiality. In March 2012 David will have the ultimate accolade of being a judge at Crufts; clearly his judgement is greatly valued.
Steve Dees
Steve Dees is a familiar face to all Dawnay Estate residents as he has worked as Head of the Estate Maintenance department. A keen sportsman Steve played for Wykeham Football Club for many years, and was later their secretary. Wykeham, Brompton and Snainton Football clubs merged in the 1990s due to falling player numbers. For the past five years Steve has been the Chairman of Snainton FC. Last season saw Snainton’s first team promoted to division one, of the Scarborough and District League while the reserves play in division three. Steve sees his role as being a dedicated supporter, and he is rarely far from the touchline when there is a game being played. His favourite job though is organizing coach trips in the event of an away cup match – he excels at organizing a good day out!
Maureen Symonds
Maureen Symonds directs proceedings at Wykeham Mature Plants administrative office by day; but once the Walled Garden has closed for business she is a theatre producer, actress and youth theatre manager.
One of Maureen’s best known productions is the annual wartime review at Pickering’s Kirk Theatre, held to complement the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s war weekend. Pickering Musical Society started the review in 2000 and Maureen has produced and starred in every year. The show includes traditional songs and sketches and Maureen does a hugely popular Gracie Fields spot.
Maureen also finds time to be part of a singing group called Reflections, who for seven years have performed concerts in aid of a variety of charities, village halls, churches and the Marie Curie charity. They also perform in nursing and residential homes spreading a little bit of cheer amongst the elderly. All of this is done on a voluntary basis for no more than petrol money and the occasional supper. They scour charity shops for costumes and props, and are currently looking for five large feather fans!
Carolyn Jackson
Carolyn Jackson is the Wykeham Business Centre Manager, but her initial profession was nursing, and it is this field she continues her volunteer work.
10 years ago she and friends set up the Scarborough Wellbeing committee. Known nationally as WOW, Wellbeing of Women funds research into all aspects of obstetrics and gynaecology, and is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities.
The committee’s aim is to raise funds locally and help support the valuable work of the Charity. Together they continue to organise two or three events a year always trying to do something different that will not only be supported by women but sometimes the men come along too!
Carolyn says: 'There is not one woman who will not have benefited from the fantastic work of Wellbeing whether it’s during pregnancy or in the form of health support later on and that’s why I am passionate about the cause.'
Carolyn with a few members of their committee at their recent Wellbeing event. A Pampered Chef evening which raised £500 held in the home of their Secretary Mrs Clare Simpson.
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There is a well known phrase 'garbage in garbage out', this is as true to farming as it is to anything else. Wise housewives have long known that just because a vegetable looks nice on the outside there is no guarantee that it is healthy on the inside. In these days of advanced GM crops this has never been more true and as such the best retailers are spending more time and energy in tracing the food that they sell. Wykeham Farms is proud we have passed the quality threshold set by Co-operative retail arm.
nay Estates were delighted that Scarborough Scouts chose Bedale Farm as the venue for their 'Wykoree' scout camp earlier this year. The Scouts, Cubs, Beavers and Explorers were celebrating 100 years of Scouting in this district and the world. Lady Downe was invited to visit the camp during the course of the weekend and enjoyed spending time with the campers and their leaders.