Issue 22 2014: BUILDING A September 2014 SUMMER OF...

Reviewing my prede-

cessor’s newsletter in

January I note that she

expressed cautious

hope that Arundells

would be reopened in

2014. Her optimism

proved well founded

since the house indeed

reopened this Spring,

thanks to tireless ef-

forts on behalf of both

the Friends of Arun-

dells, under the Chair-

manship of Bob

Hayes, and also the

Trustees. The key part

played by Sir Ed-

ward’s former private

secretary, Mr Peter

Batey, now a business

consultant, meant that

immediate financial

concerns were amelio

rated through his gen-

erous support.

Following this promis-

ing beginning to the

season it was possible

to work on future pro-

jects for the house and

to celebrate encourag-

ing visitor numbers at

the President’s Garden

Party on 19th June.

Fittingly, this took

place on a day of per-

fect Summer weather

and a full report of pro-

ceedings is enclosed

beneath. In the house,

sterling volunteers

have continued to work

both in the garden and

indoors, especially up-

stairs, in the areas of

the newly opened study

and first floor landing.

Both areas have been

of great interest to all

visiting the house. The

study especially, sup-

plies a unique insight

into Sir Edward’s

working environment

and artistic interests,

not to mention a glori-

ous view of the garden.

During the height of

the season two impor-

tant social visits took

place: one by the Chi-

nese ambassador, Liu

Xiao Ming, and one by

Lord Douglas Hurd.

Reports and photo-

graphs are featured in

this issue. Both visits

were picked up by

both national and local

media augmenting

Arundells’ public pro-

file.

Following steady pro-

gress this Summer we

are all hoping that mo-

mentum will be main-

tained and that new

ventures will further

build on a promising

renewal.

With best wishes to

you all,

Sally Butcher

Editor

2014: BUILDING A SUMMER OF SUCCESS

Supported by among others Notes from the outgoing Chairman Bob 2

Ambassador pays visit 2

Room stewarding at Arundells 3

Young Ambassadors 4

President’s Garden Party 5

Presentation of Memento to Yacht Club 6

Arundells Study official opening 7

Sir Edward’s favorite recipe 7

Membership Subscription proposal Back page

Inside this issue:

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Issue 22

September 2014

Lord Richard Balfe

Sir Alan Beith MP

Hilary Benn MP

Peter Bottomley MP

Baroness Virginia Bot-

tomley

Annette Brooke MP

Robert Buckland MP

Conor Burns MP

Neil Carmichael MP

Lord Tristan Garel-Jones

Lord Debden (John Sel-

wyn Gummer)

Richard Harrington MP

Dame Elisabeth Hoodless

Lord Geoffrey Howe

Lord David Hunt

Lord Douglas Hurd

Charles Kennedy MP

Peter Luff MP

Katharine, Viscountess

Macmillan

Lord Peter Mandelson

Lord John MacGregor

Lord Philip Norton

Alexander, Earl of

Stockton

Keith Vaz MP

Dame Helen Wallace

Sally Butcher Editor

During this

year we

have seen

some sig-

nificant

changes,

both in the

running of

the house

and in the way the Friends are

operational.

Firstly we have changed from a

campaigning group fighting to

keep the house open and Sir

Edward’s wishes alive to one of

a supporting group and contrib-

uting to a variety of tasks such

as maintenance, sorting and

compiling the many books used

in the study upstairs which

opened to the public this sea-

son. The job of guiding upstairs

has fallen to the Friends and we

take this role on daily with usu-

ally two volunteers giving the

visitors a tour of the study and

corridor followed by the car-

toon area downstairs.

The change from our activity of

stewarding on free flow days to

one of guiding throughout the

week and at weekends has

sadly had an effect on the num-

ber of volunteers due to the

many reasons for individuals

not being able to be there. We

are therefore continually look-

ing for extra people to come

forward and give their time for

four hours per day. If you read

this and feel able to give your

time please contact the mem-

bership secretary, Ron Carter,

details can be found at: www.thefriendsofarundells.org.uk

On Saturday 5th July we were

extremely lucky to have had a

private visit from Lord Hurd of

Westwell , who generously

gave his time to officially open

the study. This was followed

the following week by a grand

visit from the Chinese Ambas-

sador to the UK, Liu Xiao

Ming, who donated a number

of photographs all featuring Sir

Edward both in his premiership

capacity and the various private

visits he made to China. The

exhibition was dedicated to 40

years of Sino-British relation-

ships . Myself and a group of

Friends were invited to this

event by Peter Batey and had

the opportunity of spending

time with Lord David Hunt ,

Chairman of the Trustees.

I am proud to have been the

instrument of resurrecting the

relationship between Arundells

and Sir Edward’s favourite

yacht club at Hamble le Rice,

Hampshire, the Royal Southern

Yacht Club. Gordon MacDou-

gall, a Trustee, and I presented

their Commodore, David

Mead , with a model of Morn-

ing Cloud at a presentation

ceremony on Friday 25th July.

My term as Chairman has come

to an end and so I would ask

that you all give due considera-

tion for nominating my succes-

sor. I am unable to continue for

another year due to needs for

my time in other areas and

whilst on this subject we will

need a new Treasurer due to

Alan Chater wishing to stand

down.

I would like to finish by thank-

ing the hard core of volunteers

who give many hours of their

time at the house, my col-

leagues on the committee who

also give a great deal of their

time and energy and lastly to

Gerald Gibson who has been a

powerful source of energy and

commitment to Arundells and

overall to the Trust.

Bob Hayes

NOTES FROM THE OUTGOING CHAIRMAN, BOB HAYES….

We are therefore continually

looking for extra people to

come forward and give their

time for four hours per day.

NEWS LET TER

AMBASSADOR PAYS VISIT

The Chinese ambassador paid a

visit to Arundells in July in or-

der to open a new photographic

exhibition. The pictures on dis-

play celebrated Chinese-British

relations over the last forty

years. Sir Edward Heath’s role

in reconnecting China with the

West in 1972, following the

cultural revolution. Sir Edward

visited China in May 1974 as

leader of the Opposition where

he held talks with Chairman

Mao Zedong and Premier Chou

En Lai.

I S S UE 2 2

Chairman Mao presented him

with a pair of Qianlong vases,

which are displayed at Arun-

dells,

and

two

pan-

das,

Qing

Qing

and Jia Jia, which Sir Edward

gave to London Zoo. Sir Ed-

ward gave Chairman Mao a

first edition of Darwin’s The

Origin of Species. Deng Xiaop-

ing went on to lead China after

the death of Chairman Mao and

Premier Zhou in 1976 and had

many meetings with Sir Ed-

ward over the next decade.

These included discussions

over the return of Hong Kong

to China, which eventually took

place in

1997.

The Chi-

nese am-

bassador,

Liu Xiao

Ming,

together

with

Lord

Hunt of

Wirral,

who is a

trustee of the Sir Edward Heath

Charitable Foundation, offi-

cially opened the photographic

exhibition and enjoyed a tour of

Arundells. They also met

members of

the Friends

and Mr Peter

Batey.

The photo-

graphs were

on display

until July

26th.

Article cour-

tesy of Salis-

bury Journal’s

Charity News,

periods, you can have several

tours in the house at one time.

You have to be careful that you

don’t overlap and cause confu-

sion on the

stairs or in

the corri-

dors. When

the house

is not so

busy you

can spend a

little more

time and

have more

interaction

with visi-

tors. This can prove useful as

you can receive information

about personal meetings with

Sir Edward and get a lot of ad-

ditional information about him.

One such instance was on

pointing out a particular cartoon

in the gallery about Sir Ed-

ward’s confrontation with Sad-

dam Hussein, when attempting

to rescue the child hostages that

After some months working as

a room steward in the newly

opened study at Arundells I

have come to know some of the

paid guides a

little better.

Each one has

personal ways

of imparting

information to

our visitors,

some serious,

and some with

the occasional

humorous

story about Sir

Edward. You

have to tailor your talk accord-

ing to the audience at the time.

An initial assumption of the

character of our visitors can

sometimes lead you astray and

even a mild reference to some

subjects can be received with

an icy stare.

With the guided tours you have

to watch the time you spend

with people as, when in busy

he was holding. A voice from

the back of the crowd said, ‘I

remember that very well, one of

those hostages was my son.’

We went on to discuss some of

the more interesting details of

the event.

On most occasions I get to go

to my favourite spot in the

house, the political cartoons. I

enjoy watching the smiles on

the faces of the older generation

as they remember the characters

and occasions that they depict. I

also like to explain to the

younger generation and to some

of our foreign visitors what the

cartoons are about. You can get

caught out! I was trying to ex-

plain to a Chinese gentleman

and his wife about the cartoons

when he answered me in very

good unaccented English. I

congratulated him on his very

good command of our lan-

guage. He then said, ‘I should

think so, I have lived in South-

ampton for the last thirty years’.

ROOM STEWARDING AT ARUNDELLS

Chairman Mao presented him

with a pair of Qianlong vases,

which are displayed at

Arundells,

The Chinese Ambasador Liu Xiao Ming signing the

visitors book at Arundells. ( Picture courtesy of

Salisbury Newspapers)

Ron in the study at Arundells

Continued on page 4

From page 2

the nations of Europe was – for

them – the precondition of en-

during peace.

Heath later commented, ‘My

generation did not have the op-

tion of living in the past: we

had to work for the future…

Only by working together right

across our continent had we any

hope of creating a society

which would uphold the true

values of European civilisa-

tion.’

Ambassadors for

Peace and Civilisa-

tion

The Friends of

Arundells (FoA)

have devised a pro-

ject that will, hopefully, honour

and promote Heath’s commit-

ment to peace and civilisation

across and beyond Europe. Our

proposal is that we should iden-

tify and support a group of

young people (aged 14-25)

across and beyond Europe who

by their actions have shown an

active concern for these values.

There are many ways to build

peace and mutual understand-

ing between nations. In addition

to politics, they include the arts,

music, sport and sailing – all

activities that were close to the

heart of Sir Edward as evi-

denced by the contents of Arun-

dells.

Financial Challenge

We (FoA ) have spoken with

the two Trustees who have been

deputed to engage with us on

such developments. They have

expressed interest in and sym-

pathy with our proposal. They

have also made it clear that the

Edward Heath

Foundation’s fi-

nancial priority has

– for the moment -

to be the survival

and support of the

House. This we

fully accept, and thanks to the

support of our Chair, Robert,

we have already arranged to

meet with senior staff at the

European Commission in Lon-

don to explore ways in which

we can attract the necessary

financial and related support.

International Symposium

We have also teamed up with

William Lasser, the Professor

of Politics at Clemson Univer-

sity in South Carolina, to plan

for an international symposium

Arundells is more than a visitor

attraction in a fine setting and

boasting a unique collection of

fascinating memorabilia. Arun-

dells, particularly for its

Friends, is a meeting point for

those many people across the

world who share Sir Edward’s

lively and wide ranging inter-

ests and concerns. These, of

course, include music, the vis-

ual arts, and competitive sail-

ing. Above all, however, it was

Sir Edward’s commitment to

peace and international under-

standing that distinguishes his

legacy in ways that transcend

party political boundaries.

War and Peace

Heath served in the last war as

an artillery officer. He experi-

enced the horrors of the bom-

bardment of Caen and the battle

of the Falaise Gap in the sum-

mer of 1944. Maurice Schu-

man, who later became the

French Foreign Minister who

forged the foundations for the

European Economic Commu-

nity (EEC) also took part in the

fighting at Caen. Both men

were determined such a cata-

clysm should never be repeated.

A binding partnership between

I am looking forward to the

2015 season which I hope will

be more successful for the

house with the prospect of the

fruition of the ‘Morning Cloud

III project, and the possibility

of more rooms open to the pub-

lic. I quite often get asked by

the ladies if they can see the

kitchen or the bedrooms.

(Perhaps we could have ladies

only tours which would include

these rooms.) The opening of

the study has produced a lot of

repeat visitors who have re-

turned just to see the new room

and to get upstairs and enjoy

the views of the garden and Ca-

thedral from the upstairs win-

dows.

Practically gone are the free

flow days, when the old cama-

raderie of the volunteers was a

feature of the days spent in the

house. It now only occurs on bank

holiday weekends. Only then does

the atmosphere of volunteering

seem to persist. Maybe more free

flow days will be available in the

new season, who knows?

Ron Carter

YOUNG AMBASSADORS

There are many ways to build

peace and mutual

understanding between

nations.

NEWS LET TER

From Page 3

I S S UE 2 2

Our visitors received ‘White

Star’ service from our hard

working catering team of Ron,

Jean,

Pauline, Jan,

Janice and

Sarah.

Added at-

tractions in-

cluded: a

well

stocked

book stall

run by Bob

and Jan; a large variety of

collectables including an

interesting selection of

cricketing memorabilia, run

by Pam and husband Rich-

ard (on the occasion of their

49th Wedding Anniver-

sary) and Stevie and Alan

offered a wide range of qual-

ity plants for sale - which

proved a great temptation to

our guests.

During the afternoon, funds

were boosted by an auction,

which took place by the lily

pond, and auctioneer Tony –

ably assisted by Michael and

Viv – kept the crowd amused,

especially the last few items,

where bidding was conducted

in old money with even a sealed

bucket of fresh horse manure of

known provenance which

fetched 5 Guineas! The event

raised an amazing £700 which

will go towards the Morning

Cloud III Bow project.

Michael Williams

This occasion proved to be a

quintessential English Garden

Party with bunting, balloons

and a vari-

ety of deli-

cious cakes

and tea or

coffee.

Visitors

basked in

the sun and

Friends

came from

as far as Weymouth and Wol-

verhampton to attend or help.

in Salisbury in the autumn of

2015. Our hope is that such a

symposium will offer a way of

bringing together our Young

Ambassadors, tasked with ac-

tively promoting a shared com-

mitment to peace, prosperity

and cultural exchange. We are

seeking further advice and

guidance from the team who

pioneered the international

youth work of Kennedy House

at Coventry Cathedral.

It is early days and an ambi-

tious programme such as this

will take time to build. We aim

to foster a flourishing, youth-

led movement focussed on the

values and aspirations that in-

spired Sir Edward’s determina-

tion to open the doors of Arun-

dells to visitors from across the

world. John Potter

Readers who are interested in

helping with this project should

please get in touch with John

Potter at

[email protected]

PRESIDENT’S GARDEN PARTY

From Page 4

Tony and Michael, Auctioneers

The Catering team

Bob and Jan at the bookstall

Editorial Contact Details

Editor...... Sally Butcher

Email: [email protected]

Tel. 01722 333480

WE ARE ON THE WEB

www.friends of arundells.org.uk

mailto:[email protected]

The Trustees of the Sir Ed-

ward Heath Foundation pre-

sented a half model of Sir Ed-

ward's yacht, Morning Cloud

2, to the Royal Southern

Yacht Club in Hamble-le-

Rice, Hampshire.

It is intended as a memento of

Britain's most celebrated sail-

ing Prime Minister

and of the central

role the Club

played in his sail-

ing career. The

Royal Southern

was where Sir Ed-

ward and his crews

put together their sailing

strategies which led to his

success in winning, inter alia,

the Admiral's Cup in 1971.

The presentation was made to

Commodore David Mead by

Colonel Gordon MacDougall,

a Trustee of the Foundation,

in fulfilment of a pledge made

by Sir Edward at a dinner

given by the

Club in his

honour in

2004.

The presen-

tation was

made in the

presence of

Deputy Lord

Lieutenant

Geoff Holt,

MBE, Dep-

uty Lord

Lieutenant of

Hampshire.

Gordon Mac-

Dougall was supported by

Bob Hayes, Chairman of the

Friends of Arundells which

works with the Foundation to

ensure that Sir Edward's

home, Arundells in Salisbury,

is able to remain open to the

public in line with the inten-

tions of his will.

In making the presentation,

Gordon MacDougall said:

'Sailing was one of the central

pleasures and pastimes of Sir

Edward's life. Coming late to

the sport, his lead-

ership qualities,

strong competitive

instincts and sense

of strategy came to

the fore. The

Southern was cen-

tral to his success

and the Trustees and the

Friends of Arundells are de-

lighted to have worked to-

gether in restoring the rela-

tionship with the Club.

We hope that this model of

Morning Cloud 2 will stimu-

late many happy memories of

Sir Edward's involvement and

a closer relationship with

Arundells where sailing is an

important element of what the

house has to offer to visitors.

On behalf of the Royal South-

ern Yacht Club, Commodore

David Mead commented: 'I am

delighted to accept this won-

derful half model of Morning

Cloud 2 on behalf of all the

Members of the Royal Southern

Yacht Club. Thank you to

Gordon, Bob and Giles (Ball)

who have made this memorable

occasion happen. Colin Hall

(Commodore in 2004) was at

the dinner when Sir Edward

kindly promised a gift from

Arundells. He shared many

happy times in his company as

did many others in this room.

May I wish all success to Bob

and Giles of the Friends of

Arundells and to the Founda-

tion and hope that the house

will stay open for the enjoyment

of the public for many years to

come.'

Notes:

Morning Cloud 2 was designed by

Sparkman and Stephens. It was built

primarily of mahogany, was

constructed by Lallows (Isle of

Wight) and was launched in

1971. Edward Heath sailed the

boat in the Admiral's Cup that

year leading Britain's winning

team - making him the only serv-

ing British Prime Minister to

win a major sporting trophy

whilst in office . The Admiral's

Cup was an international yacht-

ing regatta which was estab-

lished in 1957 and for many

years was regarded as the unof-

ficial world championship of

offshore racing. It was normally

a biennial competition between

national teams. The last event was

held in 2003. The regatta was based

at Cowes on the Isle of Wight and was

organised by the Royal Ocean Racing

Club.

PRESENTATION OF MORNING CLOUD MEMENTO TO ROYAL SOUTHERN YACHT CLUB

Sailing was one of the central

pleasures and pastimes of Sir

Edward's life.

NEWS LET TER

ColonelGordon MacDougall, Commodore David Mead and Bob

Hayes, Chairman of the Friends of Arundells.

I S S UE 2 2

The man who served as Sir Ed-

ward’s political secretary in the

1970’s officially reopened the

study in Arundells in August

after a long and hard fought

campaign to keep the former

Prime Minister’s home open to

the public. Douglas Hurd was

Sir Edward’s political

secretary before becom-

ing Home secretary and

Foreign Secretary. In his

first return to Arundells

since Sir Edward died,

Lord Hurd toured the

house and admired the

newly

opened up-

stairs rooms,

which area is ac-

cessible to the

public for the first

time.

‘I came here many times over

the years to see Ted’, he re-

called, ‘it’s very rare to see a

house left exactly as its owner

intended it to be. Things have

not been moved around here –

the art, furniture and ornaments

are still where he intended them

to be. I think it’s very impor-

tant that it remains open for the

public to be able to appreciate

this wonderful house. Ted was

a good man: he would bark but

he would not bite. And

once he had finished

barking he was some-

one you could sit down

and do business with’.

Commenting on the

campaign to keep

Arundells open, Lord Hurd

said, ‘there’s been a series of

ups and downs, a lot of hard

work has gone into it and now

it is time to move forward’.

Jill Harding (Salisbury Journal)

4 -5 sticks celery, sliced

1 1/2 level tablespoons flour

Approx 1/2 pint/300ml stock

1/4 pint/150ml dry white wine

3oz/75g whole cranberries

(preferably fresh)*

2oz/50g walnut halves

Melt the oil and butter in a pan.

Cut the pheasant into quarters

and season well. Fry quickly in

the fat until browned all over

and place in a casserole. Fry the

onion and celery gently in the

same fat until soft, but not col-

oured, then stir in the flour and

cook for a minute or so.

Gradually add the stock and

wine and bring up to the boil.

Season well and pour over the

pheasant. Cover casserole and

Pheasant with Walnuts and

Cranberries.

A casserole is the best way to

cook a mature pheasant and of-

ten these birds are a little larger,

and will easily stretch to serve

four portions.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil

1oz/25g butter

1 mature pheasant, oven ready

Salt and pepper

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

cook in a moderate oven

(180C/350F, Gas Mark 4) for

45 minutes. Adjust the season-

ings, stir in the cranberries,

walnuts and a little more boil-

ing stock if necessary, replace

the lid and return to the oven

for 20-30 minutes, or until very

tender. Serve with baked jacket

potatoes.

Serves 4

*Note: If whole cranberries are

unavailable, add 2-3 table-

spoons cranberry sauce and 1

tablespoon lemon juice to the

sauce before pouring over the

pheasant.

Supplied by Sir Edward’s

housekeeper, Pam Finch

LORD DOUGLAS HURD OFFICIALLY OPENS ARUNDELLS

STUDY

SIR EDWARD’S FAVOURITE RECIPE

Ted was a good man: he

would bark but he would not

bite.

Ed Bickham, Gordon MacDougall, Stuart

Craven, Lord Douglas Hurd, and Peter Batey

at Sir Edward’s Desk

MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION PROPOSAL

The Friends of Arundells was

originally formed from a loose

collection of likeminded peo-

ple who wanted to prevent the

closure and sale of Arundells,

believing it to be a unique re-

source within the history of

recent prime ministerial resi-

dences. Our core objective -

the retention of the House

within the Sir Edward Heath

Charitable Foundation - has

now been achieved and strong

working relationships are now

developing between the Trus-

tees, House Managers and

Friends. Our task, as Friends,

has shifted from campaigning

to co-operation. We fully ap-

preciate that financial viability

within the next two years con-

stitutes the bottom line for the

Arundells Management Com-

mittee.

Nearly all such ‘Friends’

groups have a membership that

pay an annual subscription. We

seek to ensure that we have a

regular income which can be

used towards supporting Arun-

dells and The Sir Edward Heath

Charitable Foundation. Many

projects are in hand, or planned

which take time energy and

cost. All project leaders contrib-

ute their time and energy and

sometimes the cost. From time

to time there are major expenses

to be met such as the Morning

Cloud 3 Project, for which we

have a separate funding scheme.

Up until now, The Friends has

been running on a shoestring

budget and we are finding it dif-

ficult to continue to put forward

projects and to recruit volun-

teers without regular funds from

our members via subscriptions.

In addition, administration costs

for postal newsletters and other

communications are very high.

There are also other costs such

as stationery, printer inks, leaf-

lets, signs and badges that need

to be paid for.

The Friends are now working

on ways in which we can con-

tribute to the success of the

Arundells venture in terms of

finance, activity and out-

reach. Our role is to enlarge

the Friends base to take account

of the ways in which we can

assist with volunteers, visitor

numbers, and project develop-

ment across the range of Sir

Edward’s commitment to poli-

tics, music and the graphic arts

and yachting. We seek to bring

practical help, ideas and re-

sources to support the develop-

ment of the House and what it

stands for, not only locally, but

across and beyond the country.

It is in this wider context that

we hope to assist by drawing in

help of many different kinds

from a range of interested peo-

ple who have the insight, ex-

perience and connections to

join the Friends and support a

significant contribution to the

successful development of

Arundells as a visitor attraction

and a stimulus to the causes

that were so dear to Sir Ed-

ward’s heart.

We continue to value your sup-

port very much but hope you

will appreciate the financial

realities of maintaining a dy-

namic group. A figure in the

region of £10 per annum with a

joint membership fee of £14

will be proposed at our AGM in

October. You will have the

benefit of free entry to the gar-

dens and of course a newsletter

three times a year. We do hope

you will see this as a small but

valuable price to pay and trust

you will continue to support

Arundells and the Friends or-

ganisation.

Ron Carter

If you wish to raise any points

in relation to this proposal, do

please feel free to contact the

Membership Secretary at

[email protected]

The committee were very

pleased to hear that Arundells

had been awarded a Certificate

of Excellence for 2014 by Trip

Advisor due to the consistently

high ratings given by visitors to

the house in their reviews sub-

mitted to this website.

Our congratulations to all who

work at the house – it is a very

worthy accolade reflecting all

the hard work put in by every-

one involved in making those

visiting Arundells feel so spe-

cial and well informed.

Ron Carter

TRIP ADVISOR AWARD 2014

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