Henry Lytton Cobbold

The turn of another year and we are busy finalising an exciting programme of special events for 2010.  Many old favourites return, like the Hertfordshire Garden Show on the first May Bank Holiday, and the Royal Knights of England Jousting Tournament at the beginning and the end of the summer season.  Also at the beginning and the end of the season are two new shows for 2010 – in April, we will be hosting the East of England Food Festival, and in September the Lilliput Lane Collectibles Annual Fair.  Our Rock Concert exhibit in the House this August will feature memorabilia of the band Queen, who played their last ever concert with Freddie Mercury in Knebworth Park in 1986.  And we are excited that the Sonisphere Festival is planning to return on the weekend of 31^st July.  Our full programme should be up on the website later this month.

Our summer season offers a number of employment opportunities to local people.  There’s something for all ages – from 16+ to 65+.  For details, see our ad on the back of the magazine.  As highlighted in last month’s column, our staff are highly valued by our visitors, and I am happy to boast you’ll be joining a fantastic team.

Happy New Year!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

“If I’m honest, I thought it would be really boring.  However I really enjoyed looking around!!”  It is always a pleasure at the end of the year to look back through the public visitor’s book that’s kept in the entrance hall of Knebworth House.  For 2009 there are 12 pages of lovely comments from visitors of all ages and all nationalities.  Most are about how good our guides are – “the warmth and enthusiasm of our guide made it the best tour we’ve ever done!”   I notice the ones praising Matt Allison are mostly female!  There are two negative comments in the 12 pages – one about plastic pots in the garden and the other about signs to the entrance – and we are content to have constructive criticism along with the positive reviews.  Perhaps most rewarding, are the ones in large erratic joined-up letters – for instance, Jemma, aged 8, from Cheshunt writes, “Wonderful house (I WOULD LOVE TO LIVE HERE.)”; and unsigned, “fabtastic day I loved it so much I don’t want to go” (or maybe that was one of the guides!).  We wonder how many historic houses the Knight family from Ipswich have visited when they say Knebworth House is “the best preserved historical building we’ve seen”, but we’ll take praise where we get it!

Also pleasing is the number of comments from foreign visitors.  We seem to have almost every American state represented, and I see Thailand, Hungary, Norway, Brazil… of course, for all I know, some of these comments could be damning – or obscene! – but “Muchas gracia” and “Es ist wunderbar” sound promising.  Recognising the interest we receive from abroad, this month we’ve put our first foreign guide on our website – Jasmine from Lille shows you our key pages in French at http://www.knebworthhouse.com/index_fr.html.  Goodness, there’s even somebody in the visitor’s book from “Park Lane, Knebworth”!  And there it is, my favourite comment of 2009:  “Fanks!”

Martha joins me in wishing all our neighbours a very happy Christmas.

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

We’re proud to be associated with the spectacular Maharaja Exhibition at the V&A, which runs until 17^th January.  They have two pieces from our Indian Collection – and album of photographs of Maharajas from the 1870s and the extraordinary silver model of the throne of the Maharaja of Mysore.  Both pieces are given prominent position towards the end of the exhibit, in a room dominated by a giant painting of Robert Lytton, as Viceroy, presiding over the Delhi Durbar of 1877.  How they moved this extraordinary painting from St James Palace to the V&A is as much a marvel to contemplate as the painting itself!  After the V&A our throne and photographs go on tour with the Exhibition around the world.

I have similar advice to last year if you are hoping to join us for our perennial Charles Dickens Christmas Carol readings just before Christmas (18-20^th December) – book now – since even as I write, half way through October, all three evening are approaching being sold out (the number to call is 810931).  By heavens, Mr Greenslade is a hit!  Perhaps we should take him on tour around the world!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

A Secondary School in Knebworth?  No, you weren’t dreaming.  If you walked past Knebworth House in August and saw this flag flying… or Colin Firth being chased by a gang of schoolgirls in boaters… or a Head Mistress walking her dog, who looked strangely like Rupert Everett dressed as the Duchess of Cornwall… I can confirm that your lunch at the Lytton Arms wasn’t necessarily merrier than you thought!  The sequel to the movie “St Trinian’s” was one of three recent film bookings at the house – and with two hundred extras dressed as rebellious schoolgirls up to mischief and mayhem in our front courtyard, certainly the most distracting!   The other two bookings were “Poirot”, with David Suchet, and the return of “Miss Marple”, with Julia McKenzie (unless that was Rupert Everett as well!).  All in all, a good end to the summer for the House – which we needed, since the promised good weather didn’t materialise sufficiently to banish the gloomy results of the last two summers.

Although our Summer Season is now officially ended, don’t forget that the Country Show is now an October event – on Saturday 3^rd and Sunday 4^th – and for Half Term we have a new Halloween event for children, our “Pumpkin Trail and Treats” – see the website for details of all the fun activities planned, including the “Best Fancy Dress Competition”, which, just in case there are any Dads who fancy themselves as Miss Marple or the Duchess of Cornwall… is really meant for the kids!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

We have been asked about the forestry work in Park Wood.  The work is overdue management and harvesting (to pay for it) scheduled at the advice of our forestry consultant in consultation with the Forestry Commission.  With replanting, and sunlight, the wood will regenerate quickly and in a much healthier state.  The Forestry Commission has determined that the subcontractor took a little more than he should have done in the area fronting Park Lane and has adjusted the re-planting schedule accordingly, which we support.

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“Knebworth Estates… at a public open meeting in October 2006, offered that, if residential development was required at Knebworth’s village-edge by the LDF, it would look to donate the proceeds to Parish Charities as long as the Knebworth House Education and Preservation Trust was a priority”  Knebworth Sites Appraisal Report – December 2007 (www.knebworthoptionsreport.org)

North Herts District Council has put forward two sites that are owned by Knebworth Estates as part of its consultation – “Land Allocations – Additional Suggested Sites” – for the Local Development Framework.  Although they are not the sites that Knebworth Estates would have chosen, I confirm that the offer made in 2006 stands.  Should Knebworth Estates land be chosen 100% of the proceeds will go to Parish Charities. Any money raised from residential development on LDF sites in Knebworth Estates ownership would be split between the Knebworth House Education and Preservation Trust and other Parish Charities. The Estate would also make sure community issues and concerns drive the design of any development.  (See our full statement at www.knebworthgreen.net)

It’s a tough one to support, I know – but we have some tough issues facing us as a community.  We stand to lose our Doctors’ Surgery, we stand to lose the heart of our High Street when Chas Lowe eventually relocates, we are already losing families from the village because of our Secondary School provision…  Endowing ourselves beyond local authority budgets may be our best chance of survival as a vibrant rural community, and this may be our last chance of endowing ourselves. The LDF seeks to solve national housing issues, if we can solve local issues at the same time, we could make a positive out of a negative.

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

Those who’ve lived in the village since the early 1970s may remember that, for Knebworth Park, the first Saturday in August was always “Air Display Day”… the Barnstormers Aerobatics Team, the fly-bys by Spitfires, Mosquitos, Lancaster Bombers, and – most vivid in my memory – the waving girl standing on the wings of the bi-plane.  But the planes that won the Battle of Britain were finally defeated at Knebworth… by the weather.  The “Air Display Days” came to an end because it always rains on the first Saturday in August.  Always.

But a little rain’s not going to worry Knebworth Park’s new event for the first Saturday in August.  Rolling in for the final date of its successful tour of Europe, the Sonisphere Festival, marks a welcome return of live music to Knebworth Park.  A much smaller event than the traditional Knebworth concert – a fourth of the size – Sonisphere is a weekend music festival with camping (you have to go back almost to the 1970s again for the last time we did that – Cliff Richard, in 1983).  The campsite is open Friday through Monday, for staggered arrival and departure – with all public access planned for the A1 entrance only – so the effect on local traffic should be minimal.

The headline acts are Linkin Park (Saturday) and Metallica (Sunday) and the style of music is “heavy metal” (similar to Deep Purple in 1985 and Led Zeppelin in 1979) so there will be some noise over the weekend – but, as per the licence, it will be closely monitored, and entertainment in the campsite is not open air.   If neighbours do experience any disturbance over the two days, we thank you in advance for your patience – this is important business for the Park and a happy continuation of our tradition of live music that has bought so much pleasure to so many people since 1974…

…and if the trivia of this article has interested you, you may want to visit our “Knebworth Rocks!” retrospective of 35 years of Knebworth Concerts that will be on display in the Banqueting Hall during the month of August.  You’ll discover, for instance, that the last time we had significant rain at a Knebworth concert was… the last time we hosted “heavy metal” (1985)!  But that was 24 years ago, and it was June – so I’m thinking positive for this year’s “Air Display Day”… like the waving girl, as she was strapped to wings of the bi-plane!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

If you have broadband and speakers attached to your computer, you may enjoy a smile at my expense on the “welcome” page of the recently redesigned Knebworth House website – http://www.knebworthhouse.com/welcome/introduction.html.  Technology marches on, and instead of text to welcome you to our smart new site, there is now… me.  A little cutout figure of me appears in the corner of your screen and reads the text, so you don’t have to!

Few non-professionals like seeing themselves on film, and I am no exception – however I am excited by this technology.  It will allow us, in the coming weeks, to overlay foreign-speaking guides over key sections of the Knebworth House website.  Foreign visitors will be shown around the new site by these little cutout guides – without the need for us to take the time-consuming and expensive step of creating complete foreign versions of the website.  La magie de la technologie!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

Martha and I were very pleased that so many joined us for our Parish Open Day in March.  We welcomed a record 675 parishioners – that’s over 15% of the Parish.  The daffodils were at their peak and it was a joy to see lots of Mums enjoying time with their families on Mothers’ Day.

Easter weather, although overcast, was an improvement on the snow of last year, and Easter Monday saw large crowds for our perennial Joust.  My father rode again – scoring a direct hit at the tilt – which, at approaching 72-year-old, must be a record.  Numbers for the whole weekend were not as good as that lovely sunny Easter weekend in 2007 – but then, as I remember it, that was almost the last time we saw a lovely sunny summer weekend!  This year, we’re boldly optimistic that we’re due lots of lovely sunny Saturdays and Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

A dilemma facing us in the lead up to opening this season has been the fate of the beautiful Cedar tree at the entrance to the Gardens.  Entering the Gardens through the Sunset Gate alongside the Garden Terrace Room, the visitor is greeted by this remarkable tree, one of four of the finest trees in the main part of the formal Gardens.  The tree suffered badly during the unusual snowfalls of the winter, and our tree surgeon’s opinion was that we should consider taking it down, as it was nearing the end of its natural life.  The alternative, he said – if we wanted to maintain access beneath it – was £5,000/£6,000 worth of surgery, which would include removing its spectacular crown and severely reducing the weight on its broad majestic branches.

A second expert opinion confirmed this diagnosis, and took us further – as a consequence of the Gardens’ Conservation Area status – by removing the first option.  It was mutilate or quarantine.  Cost aside, no one in the team here could conscience the miserable prospect of mutilating this magnificent ancient tree, and so the decision was made to quarantine.  With three weeks to go before our opening weekend, we began digging up the existing entrance path, blocking access to all areas beneath the tree, and creating a new entrance path that makes a sharp right from the Sunset Gate into the Gardens.

As so – from a distance – this lovely Cedar of Lebanon is still there for visitors to the Gardens to admire, proud and presentable, in its grand old age.

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

The perfect Mother’s Day outing – bring Mum to Knebworth House on Sunday 22^nd March as we celebrate the opening of our 2009 Summer Season with our Parish Open Day.  The Knebworth House Education and Preservation Trust, Martha and I invite everyone who lives in Knebworth Parish to bring the family on a free Mother’s Day visit to the House, the Gardens, the Dinosaur Trail, the Park, and the Adventure Playground.

Please enter via the white gate ticketing point by St Mary’s Church (not Junction 7) – pedestrians too please – and, to be given your free ticket, bring something that proves you live in the parish (a bill with your address at the top – or, even easier, a copy of this magazine).  I’ll be in the Banqueting Hall all day and very much look forward to welcoming you.

You may have spotted us on the News a few weeks ago, talking about the announcement of a music event in the Park on the weekend of August 1^st & 2^nd.  The event is called Sonisphere and it is a welcome return of live music to Knebworth Park.  It’s been six years since Robbie Williams, and although this event is considerably smaller – the promoter expects 50,000 rather than 375,000 – it’s especially good news in the current economic climate.  We anticipate minimal disturbance to Knebworth residents, and hope a number of local businesses will share in the benefits.  We’ll keep you posted.

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com