just before christmas two of our elves disappeared.  there is a poetic explanation for this.  and there is the sad reality.  they were stolen.  i say “stolen”, but one was actually ripped from his boots – without which he can’t have been much good for anything – so “vandalised” is more apt.  what the thief/vandal gained from this crime is hard to fathom.  but it has meant that snow white has only had an escort of five kobolds for the first half of this year – and that is confusing if you are a visiting child learning to count.

presumably the perpetrator of this senseless act did not realise that most of the carvings in knebworth house gardens are done in situ, on pre-existing trees that have either died or become a health and safety concern.  they are not removable because there are decades, sometimes centuries, of roots anchoring them to the ground.  as many of you will know, these wonderful creations are the work of brilliantly talented local chainsaw carvers, dennis heath and dave flemons.

my good news for you is that dennis and dave will be back in the gardens this july and august to rebuild snow white’s entourage – and to exhibit over 100 of their most recent sculptures, also made from local wood, that you can legitimately take home for a very reasonable price.  so if you see santa out and about this summer, recruiting elves, let him know that if he brings cash he can pick up some with their boots on!

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

a brochure for knebworth garden village that i have not seen before surfaced in the archive last week.  it must date from between 1910 and 1914, and has two pretty girls standing on a hill saying “welcome to knebworth” on the front cover.  i wish i could quote it all, but here are a couple of its many gems:

“one after another is asking himself why he should go on renting a brick box in a sordid street when for the same annual cost he can live in a house built to suit his own tastes and requirements and standing in a pleasant garden where not only he himself but his wife and children may enjoy abundance of fresh air and sunshine with all the zest to life that comes from sharing the interests of his neighbours.”

“the altitude is between 300 and 400 feet above sea level, the subsoil is chalk and gravel, and the air is dry and bracing.  there is a plentiful and constant supply of water, and a scheme of drainage has been carried out, so that all the pleasures of country life can be enjoyed without any attendant discomforts.”

among the accompanying photos are a couple of a rural stockens green.  a treasured conservation area now it has houses on it!

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

we’ve just filled another visitor’s book at knebworth house.  before i deposit and catalogue it in our archive for a future generation to discover (i know how much fun that is), i am browsing through it, reading the immediate reactions of people touring knebworth house between the spring of 2012 and the spring of 2015.  it’s a heart-warming document, packed with praise – “amazing house”, “truly beautiful”, “really interesting”, “wonderful tour”, “friendly staff”, “magical place”, “real experience”, “beautiful gardens”, “good value”, “well cool!”, “one of the best houses we have visited” – i  probably ought to keep it on my bedside table to read every night!

of course, in the same way that people only tend to write on trip advisor if they have had a bad time, people only tend to write in a visitor’s book if they’ve had a good time.  we don’t currently keep trip advisor comments in the archive, so maybe we are skewing history?  i don’t think so.  we take all comments seriously and welcome constructive criticism.  the way we do things is better for it.  and there are always going to be people whose expectations we cannot match – “please ban children under 7” – but they are the grumpy few.  overwhelmingly, the majority of our 100,000+ visitors a year enjoy a good day out at knebworth house.

so if the general truth is not always obvious on trip advisor or in the visitor’s book, where is it best found?  as we know, in the mouth of babes:  lucy from st albans, “i wish i could live in this house (and be a princess too)”; zoe from dunstable, “i lick all of the rooms”; niklas from stotfold, “i fink the chinese bed is the best”; sophie from banstead, “i really liked the seacreat dors!”  sam from birchanger, “i liked the interesting stuff!”; simran from stevenage, “:)”…

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

it was a great pleasure and privilege to speak in st mary’s church on international women’s day about my great-great-aunt constance, whose ashes rest in the mausoleum in knebworth park.  the mayor of stevenage, sherma batson, had invited guests from around the county to honour the important role constance played in the battle for women’s rights.  constance was a militant suffragette who, on hunger strike in liverpool prison, suffered forced feeding that led to a stroke and her early death in 1923, five years before the fight was won and women were given the vote.

i read from a eulogy by her cousin adela smith: “all that can be written or said of con will always fall short of what those intimate with her knew her to be.  how can one describe her presence, the grace of her figure, the charm of her manner, her laughter, or her intense feeling?  above all, it is beyond power to show the fullness of that noble golden heart, which could rise in defence of another’s wrong, but could never retaliate by anger or vituperation.”

constance was further honoured that day by the premiere of a very fine play commissioned by the mayor and stevenage arts guild.  the play was written by ros connelly who wrote the similar piece about constance’s fellow suffragette, emily wilding davidson, performed as part of our village festival in june 2013.  at knebworth house, throughout our summer season, we will continue the tribute with a special exhibit about constance, her life and her struggle for the vote – work from which we will all benefit on 7^th may, and into which she threw herself “with all the ardour of her great soul”.

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

we receive wonderful comments about how lovely knebworth park is, and how much enjoyment it gives our neighbours to walk its footpaths.  we are always pleased to see the park being enjoyed.  we work hard to care for the park and manage it so that it can be enjoyed.  we ask only that you spare a thought to how the park keeps itself.

knebworth park is not a public park, so there is no contribution from the tax payer to pay for its upkeep.  it has to find its own ways to stay looking lovely and stay a safe environment for us all to enjoy.  its summer season, which begins on 21^st march, is one of these ways.  we thank you for your support of our summer events.  we thank you for buying a ticket if you want to use the added facilities we provide, adventure playground, dinosaur trail, toilets, etc.  we thank you for not using the car park by st mary’s except to visit the church.  we thank you for keeping your dog on a lead so as not to distress the deer.  we thank you for considering how difficult the management of our footpaths is when the park is trying to earn its keep – and not everyone stops to appreciate the custodial realities.

most of all, however, we thank you for loving knebworth park!  if you live in this parish, please accept an invitation to visit us on sunday march 22^nd, our parish open day.  all our added park facilities – and knebworth house itself – will be open without charge to our neighbours in knebworth parish.  come spend the day with us – enter by the white gate at st mary’s, bring something that says you live in the parish (e.g. a copy of this magazine) – and help us celebrate our new season and this beautiful country park that, with your support, survives as a very special and unique asset to our village.

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

christmas seems a long time ago, but this is my first opportunity to say how wonderful the knebworth community chorus was at our christmas evenings in december.  we were thrilled to host three magical concerts by kim wilde in the banqueting hall beneath a magnificent ceiling-high christmas tree – and beneath the angelic voices of the knebworth community chorus filling the ancient rafters from the minstrels gallery.  particularly moving were the songs that the chorus performed with kim.

with her brother ricky, kim had rehearsed a selection of songs with the 30-strong chorus from their recent christmas album.  she had never performed these songs live with a full choir, and was moved to tears by the magical accompaniment of the knebworth choir.  it was really very special.  a huge thank you to derek harrison and everyone involved.

if anyone was moved to tears when kim asked me to join in singing with her on the concert’s finale of “kids in america”, it was probably for different reasons!

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

lots of response to the image of the tawny owl in the t-rex’s mouth featured in our article last month – it got picked up by national newspapers including the daily telegraph and the daily express – so hooray to patti razey who first spotted the nest.  patti is our “dinosaur painter” – a crucial role at knebworth house during the winter months when we scramble to get as much repairs and maintenance as possible done before we open again in march.  not a great call for dinosaur painters nationally – i don’t know whether patti lists it on her business cards.  i remember we once went to the yellow pages to find a “coffin restorer” when we were renovating the mausoleum in the park.  a dying trade, you might say – not so many people being buried above ground nowadays!

fortunately we are still able to find a “gargoyle maker” – another crucial knebworth house requirement – thanks to the craft surviving for the many cathedrals of the land.  we need one currently, because the elevation above the house’s garden front entrance goes under scaffold this month for urgent water damage repairs.  we are required to replace the victorian decoration as close to its original design and materials as possible.

we have a bit more leeway with the dinosaurs – but that doesn’t stop patti being meticulous with her colours and her scale detail.  maybe the owl was trying to tell her that, to be authentic, a real t-rex should have a nice line of des res winter double glazing between its teeth too!

happy new year to all,

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

in the world of “harry potter” messages arrive by owl.  frankly, like the post office, it’s a service that is under threat from modern technology.  i am sure nowadays you receive your messages via facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest… or, if you are really old-fashioned, email.  thus i will surprise you when i tell you that the recorded interview i gave to the st albans & district talking newspaper earlier in the summer was distributed to its listeners, individually, one by one, envelope by envelope, by mail.

talking newspapers (www.sadtn.org.uk) is a charity whose purpose is to keep local visually impaired residents in touch with what is happening in their community.  it is a much valued service that is provided totally free of charge.  its recorded articles are currently distributed on memory sticks, but it wasn’t long ago that they were distributed on audio cassette.  older readers will need to explain to younger readers what an audio cassette is.

the 30 minute interview i gave turned out to be a very comprehensive round up of all that we do here at knebworth house – including our work in education and preservation, much of our colourful history and some fun family stories – and if you are interested to listen to it, talking newspapers has kindly allowed us to make it available via the “news” page of the knebworth house website, under the heading “it was a dark and stormy night…” – but i’d be just as happy if you want to send your owl out for a copy.

martha and i, and all the team here at knebworth house, wish you a very happy christmas,

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

are you thinking about next summer already?  we are.  we’re looking for new casual staff to host visitors at knebworth house, gardens and park in 2015.  if you are over 16 and have a national insurance number, age is no barrier.

look at santa – he’s still turning up aged seventeen hundred and forty-four!  he’ll be hosting the popular christmas craft fair in the park on friday 14th, saturday 15th and sunday 16th november.  not content with our beautiful deer, he’ll be bringing his own for you to admire – along with an abundance of christmas gifts and food prepared by his (over 16 and national insurance numbered) elves.

the change of season, of course, means that visiting country houses (as opposed to country parks) becomes easiest on itv.  here, every sunday evening, amazon is hosting you at downton abbey – and we are very pleased that amazon has chosen to make its commercials at knebworth house.  in fact, as the announcer heralds “downton abbey”, a big picture of knebworth house appears!  now, you may notice the odd plotline in the show that sounds familiar – i’ll leave you to decide – but apart from the beauty and the history of these two lovely old places, i see very little otherwise to connect downton abbey in 1924 and knebworth house in 2014!

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

no history is a more important lesson for current and future generations that the history of the two world wars.  i am so pleased that knebworth house and its remarkable archive is playing an active role in interpreting the history of world war 1 for our local schools.   for three days in september, more than 1200 students from secondary schools in stevenage visited knebworth house for a ww1 experience organised by a partnership of knebworth house, stevenage educational trust and stevenage museum.

actor-interpreters from the national army museum welcomed children by assigning them to their regiments and ordering them to line up to await orders for the day.  these included listening to readings from original documents and personal letters from local soldiers, learning about the vital contribution that animals made at the front, and hearing from a voluntary aid detachment nurse about her hospital work.

in october 1914, exactly 100 years ago, my great-grandmother, pamela lytton (who i remember well as i was 9 when she died in 1971, and had been her frequent tea guest at the manor house in old knebworth) set up a hospital for soldiers in london staffed by vad nurses.  it is thought to have been the first of its kind.  i hope her story, and those of others from our area who played a vital part in the war effort, has inspired their descendants to a better understanding of the best in human nature, and how it can stand up to the worst in human nature.  may we all be the stronger for their courage and example, and the wiser for their stories and experiences.

henry lytton cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com