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Things to do at Elvaston Castle?

Image courtesy of Stephen Anthony O’Donnell

Elvaston Castle is a stately home in Elvaston, Derbyshire, England. The Gothic Revival castle and surrounding parkland is run and owned by Derbyshire County Council as a country park known as Elvaston Castle Country Park.

The country park has 200 acres (0.81 km2) of woodlands, parkland and formal gardens.

Things to do at Elvaston…

List devised and published by Derbyshire CC. See more activities and content here…

Development Board, Elvaston Castle, Elvaston Country Park, Volunteers

Board members now needed at Elvaston.
Could it be you?

Image courtesy of Sandra Hull
The Wise Owl at Elvaston?                                       Our image courtesy of Sandra Hull

 

The new board to facilitate the growth and development of Elvaston Castle is now being recruited.  Derbyshire County Council, in partnership with the National Trust and the local community, are the lead body for the development process…

‘…we’ve recently appointed a Chair of an advisory ‘Development Board’ for Elvaston Castle, and are now looking to recruit other Board members who can bring a range of expertise to bear including business planning and finance, fundraising, built and cultural heritage, and partnership working.

The Development Board will work in partnership with Derbyshire County Council and others to champion the formation of the new managing body for the Estate that will ultimately take on responsibility for the Estate and make the Vision a reality. Future Elvaston 10 Year Vision Plan.‘

internetIconMini  Source: http://www.futureelvaston.co.uk/development-board/

These historic gardens and buildings of this wonderful estate, situated between Derby and Nottingham, are in need of investment, sound strategic management of a new future, all combined with a sensitivity and acknowledgement to the work of preservation and community engagement that has gone before.

You can view, print and download a copy of the Role Profile and Terms of Engagement for the Board posts here.

For an informal discussion about the role and what it entails, you can contact contact Nick Sellwood, Elvaston Castle Project Development Manager, National Trust on 07876 591932

Closing date for applications: 5pm on Friday 10th April 2015

Interview Date: It is planned to conduct interviews on Thursday 7th May 2015

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Consultation, Development Board, Elvaston Castle, Elvaston Country Park, Volunteers

Development Board
Chair needed…

Elvaston Castle Estate is a much loved community asset owned by Derbyshire County Council. It is situated between Derby and Nottingham and attracts over 350,000 people every year, who enjoy its nationally important gardens and historic buildings.

It should be a real gem, but needs investment and a new approach to secure its future – one that protects its value for conservation, heritage and access whilst developing financial sustainability – and that’s where you come in.

The Castle and its current partners have worked closely with the local community and others to develop an exciting Vision for the future of Elvaston which we believe can be best delivered by a new managing body for the Estate such as a Charitable Trust.

Elvaston Castle is therefore looking for a strong Chair with the drive to recruit and lead an advisory ‘Development Board’ for Elvaston Castle.

The Development Board will work in partnership with Derbyshire County Council and others to champion the formation of the new managing body for the Estate that will ultimately take on responsibility for the Estate and make the Vision a reality

The Development Board will also bring commercial and business acumen, innovation, creative flair and enterprise to help shape initiation of the Vision.

The core of the Chair’s role will involve:

• Providing strong leadership of the Development Board and its input and advice to Derbyshire County Council during the early initiation, delivery and implementation of the 10-year Vision and Plan for the Elvaston Castle Estate – this will include informing business planning, funding bids and other investment, as well as partnership development

• Leading the work of the Development Board as an advocate for the proposed new managing body for Elvaston Castle and Estate and to work towards the creation of that body – this will include developing the potential governance and management model for the new body

Role requirements:
The Chair will need to demonstrate:

• A desire to break new ground, a pioneer not a settler

• Strong leadership – able to work in partnership and build consensus but also challenge when necessary

• Sound, independent judgement, have the ability to think creatively and be an effective problem solver

• Strategic thinking – able to set direction and see the big picture. Output orientated

• A thorough understanding and knowledge of business and/or commercial management, including financial management

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including communication across a range of media, tact and diplomacy – passionate about the work you are leading and able to communicate this powerfully and in a way that inspires others.

Key documents for this recruitment process:

 

pdfRole and profile of the Chair – view, print or download here.

pdfTerms of Reference for the Development Board – view, print or download here.

pdfOriginal text of advertisement for the Chair- view, print or download here.

Key web reference:  www.futureelvaston.co.uk

Submitting your application:

You can email your application to nick.sellwood@nationaltrust.org.uk or send it by post to:

Nick Sellwood, National Trust, Hardwick Consultancy Office, The Croft, Doe Lea, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S44 5QJ.

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Community Development, Consultation, Development Board, Elvaston Castle, Elvaston Country Park, Volunteers

Volunteer experts sought for Castle…

Derbyshire County Council are moving towards the creation of a Development Board for Elvaston Castle and the grounds.

The body created, if approved by elected members, will act as an advisory body to the Council, helping to provide a pathway towards a  Single Management Body, which will ultimately accept devolved responsibility for the management of the estate.

The Single Management Body will be tasked with delivering the core ten year vision for the estate, including all the elements that the House and Country Park can offer, from heritage, conservation and dedicated public access.

You can see the vision for Elvaston on our Futures page here.

The role’s of the expert panel will be voluntary, with expenses and childcare costs provided.

Useful web resources:

There are a variety of models for the creation of Advisory Boards and ‘professional’ volunteers to enable input to development plans.

English Heritage Advisory Board – you can see how a full, expert advisory board functions and its remit, set against a development framework here.

World Heritage Sites– although not explicitly relevant to local projects, the UNESCO model of selection and advisory management offers smaller projects some key insights into how heritage, the natural environment and public access can be measured and monitored. See the model on the pages of Wikipedia here.

St. John Canada, Growth & Community Development – this Canadian City offers an exemplar of how a public body manages and makes available practical, operationally focussed heritage management and information support for residents. This is Canada with heritage writ large.

You can see a fuller, local report about this interesting development in the Elvaston story on the web pages of the Derby Telegraph here.

Elvaston Castle logo image

 

Community Development, Community Interest Company, Consultation, Elvaston Castle, Elvaston Country Park, Events

Consultation
re-scheduled…

We recently published a date for your diary, 26th October, for a planned consultation event at Elvaston Castle. This has now changed.

The event, at the Gothic Hall Elvaston, has now been re-arranged for Sunday 30th November from 10.00am until 3.00pm.

The Elvaston Castle team have apologised for the movement of the date, but are still looking forward to being on  hand to get your feedback and counsel on the proposed Heritage Lottery Fund bid.

See you there?

Elvaston Castle logo image

 

Community Enterprise, Community Interest Company, Consultation, Elvaston Castle, Elvaston Country Park, Environment, Social Business

The Climate Change Charter

Derbyshire County Council have published this month the County’s Climate Change Charter. This document is currently undergoing a process of consultaton.

You have until 5th November 2014 to make known a wish to be involved in the County’s Climate Change Charter processes, or to make comments on the document as it stands today.

Tackling Climate Change together...view a copy here...
Tackling Climate Change together…

You can view, print or download a copy of the Climate Change Charter here…DCC - a charter for climate change in the county...pdf file

The document and the aligned processes are set to enable the County to define actions and priorities for tackling climate change. Identifying constituent contributors to climate change and developing an Action Plan to tackle the issues are a key part of the process.

The Climate Change Charter processes are also designed to give communities and Council partners “a point of reference for climate change action“.  You can find more information about the Charter on this DCC web page. Web link icon

You can also discover how to contact Alison Wheeldon at the Council, who is co-ordinating the responses to consultation activity.

Ethical, social and community business – does climate change matter?

Yes it does. Attention to climate change by our local authority, businesses, community groups and individuals is all part of a collective effort to preserve resources, the quality of those resources and their continued availability for the foreseeable future.

Rural enterprise, or any community business which seeks to establish new employment or training for young people, whatever the setting, should be particularly attentive to the issue.

When creating jobs, which are more sustainable when linked to energy efficiency, resource consumption reduction and recycling, for example, helps create habits of prudence and conservation that individuals take with them to other organisations and also helps transfer their new found awarenesses to family and home life too.

A Community Interest Company should also have a Climate Change/Sustainability agenda and policy too. It makes the business proposition to interested partners more attractive. It enables the company to have an effective ‘triple bottom line’ approach to an ethical business proposition and, ultimately, makes project funders aware and interested in the wider delivery of both the business and the social outcome  hoping to be achieved.

Action on climate change is a win-win proposition for a local authority, the competent and efficient social business and the individual and their family too, we think.

Trees matter – play your part here…

Elvaston Castle logo image

Elvaston Castle, Elvaston Country Park, Events, Families, History, Walks

Autumn Walks…

With the temperature getting a bit more seasonal, but with plenty of sunshine still lighting up the footpaths, then now is the time to think about dusting of the waterproof jacket and polishing those walking boots.

The National Trust have just published a new book for the leisure walker, Great British Walks, which features some of the choicest landscape and countryside walks in the UK.

greatwalksNTpic-m
Buy this book on-line here…

If the wandering bug has started to bite, you can view the details of this new title and purchase a copy on-line from the National Trust Bookshop. (…would make a great Christmas present).

See more here…

Don’t forget to join William the Tree Transplanter on Sunday 12th October 2014 at Elvaston Castle Country Park.

This is a great opportunity to stroll throughout the grounds of Elvaston Castle and enjoy the fruits of William Barron‘s efforts and to discover ‘The British Winter Garden’ he created for the 4th Earl of Harrington.

“William Barron’s work at Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire, the seat of the Earls of Harrington, became famous when the gardens were opened to the public during the 1850s. Working with his employers, Barron utilised a variety of landscape gardening techniques including the provision of topiary, rockwork, a lake and hundreds of trees, many of which were transplanted great distances, to transform the grounds into a private chivalric fantasy realm.

Subsequently, with the support of the Stanhopes, Barron utilised this knowledge and experience to develop careers as nurseryman, tree transplanter, and landscape gardener receiving multiple private and public commissions including some for major urban parks such as Peel Park, Macclesfield (1854)”.

Abstract from William Barron (1805 – 1891) & Nineteenth Century British Arboriculture: Evergreens in Victorian Industrialising Society – Paul Elliott et al, The Journal of the Garden History Society, 2007

Web link iconRead the fuller abstract on-line here…

Web link iconSee more of this tree focused Elvaston William Barron event here…

Web link iconYou can locate Elvaston Country Park here… a great place to walk anytime!

Elvaston Castle logo image

 

Consultation, Elvaston Castle, Elvaston Country Park, Events, Funding

A diary date?
26th October 2014

A gentle incline of fundraising and development consultation is starting to rise out of the wooded landscape at Elvaston Castle.

The date above, Sunday 26th October, offers you the chance to look at funding and development proposals, as well as speak to members of the project team at Elvaston.

Why not come along and have your say…the team will be in attendance from 10.30am to 3.00pm at the Gothic Hall.

“We’re planning a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to start securing the future of Elvaston.

If you’d like to find out more about what this means and view the proposals, chat to the project team and leave your comments, come along to a special event on Sunday 26 October, between 10.30am to 3pm at the Gothic Hall, Elvaston Castle, DE72 3EP.

No need to book – just drop in”.

Web link iconText courtesy of the website futureelvaston.co.uk

Elvaston Castle logo image

Carers, Children, Elvaston Castle, Elvaston Country Park, Events, Families, History, International Robin Hood Day

International
Robin Hood Day

Did you know that there will be an international celebration of Robin Hood in Nottinghamshire this month?

October 25th 2014 has been designated the day for the main event. There will be plenty to celebrate in Nottingham of course, with businesses offering Robin Hood food,  retail promotions and the landscape of the city will be awash with Sherwood Green, we have no doubt.

If you can’t get to Sherwood Forest, never fear. Why not don your green garb and visit Elvaston Country Park. There the landscape is full of trees and grassland, echoing the wild nature of the English  forest.

While you cavort with the children in the treescape, get aunties, uncles and grandparents to visit the listed formal gardens for a smoother, quieter experience.

Whatever your taste in food or drink, why not bring along a Friar Tuck picnic basket to Elvaston Castle, you can be assured of a pleasant time in the Castle setting?

Below we have listed some links to other interesting web sites and articles on International Robin Hood Day.

Make yours an Elvaston Day any day, it’s always great!

Web link iconYou can locate Elvaston Country Park here.

Web link iconRead about Robin Hood Day in the Nottingham Post here.

Web link icon  Who was Friar Tuck?

Web link icon  Who was Robin Hood?

Elvaston Castle logo image