Buildings and gardens

Today I started my seventh week as General Manager at Blickling Hall. You might think I should be feeling more confident by now. To be honest, in some ways I am, but I'm also learning the challenges and contradictions of working for the National Trust.

Blickling has a plethora of riches -- a beautiful hall, fantastic gardens, wonderful parkland and a complete country estate. When the house was bequeathed to the nation, it didn't have a financial endowment to pay for its care, but it had a working estate to generate rents and other forms of income. This continues to be the case. The downside is that it has a large number of vernacular buildings, many of which have been inhabited by the same tenants for donkeys' years. And many need urgent attention to keep them standing.

This leads me to a central conundrum of working for a conservation charity. I am a business manager, charged with developing the revenue from the estate as a whole. But I'm also answerable to conservators of various descriptions who are concerned about too much development, even if it is of the most sensitive type. It is easy to be tied up in knots: converting two ramshackle old barns into beautiful homes or workplaces in a wonderful location will change the original purpose of the buildings. But spending money on them in their current state, when they wouldn't pass muster to house cattle, really doesn't make much sense. And if no money is spent on them, they will soon fall down.

Another aspect is the speed of decision making -- or lack of it. It isn't unusual to find a particular project has been discussed, costed, planned and simply shelved for years. Finding my way through the maze will take a while. I'm only hoping I don't become part of the problem.

On a positive note, the gardens are magnificent. There is a big project being planned to recreate the walled fruit and vegetable garden. We are applying for heritage funding for this, so there are many hoops to jump through, but I'm sure it will be worth it. The picture at the top of the blog is of the east elevation of the Hall in June, taken with a bed of peonies in the foreground. The yew hedges and topiary are trimmed once a year, and all the cuttings are sent to a pharmaceutical company as they form a key ingredient for a cancer drug.

Finally, to remind myself what a fantastic place this is to work, I'm adding two pictures of the Great Wood in early May, resplendent with bluebells and wild garlic. All photos are by Paul, of course.