Last month, we hosted Land Rover employees who had been involved in the design, development and manufacture of Range Rovers at Eastnor to celebrate the birth of the car, 40 years ago. Much has changed in the design and specification over the period, but the unique off-road qualities of the Range Rover have remained ahead of the field.

We were lucky to have had much of the original testing take place on our land, often under the watchful eye of Spen King, its famous designer.The coil-sprung suspension was tried out over ruts and ant hills, the gear boxes tested to destruction on a special steep track in one of the woods, subsequently known as Gear Box Hill, and paint work was brushed up against thorn trees to see how badly it would scratch.

At other times, traction and braking were proved on wet grass and ignition systems exposed to deep water wading trials. Some early prototypes were more like Land Rovers in disguise, with V8 engines to take the unsuspecting by surprise when pulling away from traffic lights.

It was an exciting time, and the finished product justified all the effort involved. Range Rovers are still the best 4 x 4s in the world, we think, now with very sophisticated control and management systems and very smart interiors. The days of engaging the red or yellow knob for four-wheel drive are definitely over, although the Land Rover heritage fleet is never far away if you want to be reminded of the old days.

We had a happy day. The Land Rover team enjoyed themselves, drove off road, experienced first-hand the sort of driving conditions their vehicles are designed to tackle and had a good lunch. Anyone else wanting to try should apply through Land Rover Experience.

Note: Spen King sadly died on 26th June, three days before the event: see Telegraph article.

JH-B 30th June 2010

My mother used to allow a local supplier to photograph his outdoor products on the lawns in the castle grounds, our first business of this kind. Then we progressed to fashion shoots for Kutchinsky, with Norman Parkinson taking the photographs, and Tatler magazine, where one of the models was Sienna Miller.

Now, we have just had a fashion shoot for ladies’ underwear, which was booked at short notice at a time when we are not yet open most of the week for visitors, although some might perhaps have enjoyed watching. We cannot give a preview of the products, which have yet to be launched, so the photograph just shows the design and photography team, with one of the models (for the avoidance of doubt, in the middle of the group!).

The crew have enjoyed working here as they are generally free to use our furniture if they want, and to move it about as necessary. It is an advantage not being a museum and having more flexible guidelines as to what we do with the contents. The models seemed to be happy too, and one said she would like to come back and be married here. The house was warm, which seemed to help in the circumstances. We also enjoyed having the shoot here and hope they will return. JH-B 11th June 2010.

Last weekend we held our first BIG Challenge weekend, a family event organised jointly by D3, who are based nearby, and our office. The aim was to attract family teams to participate and compete in various activities around the castle grounds. Luckily, the weather was quite good, if a bit cool, and we had almost 3,000 visitors over two days.

Teams had the chance to face an orienteering challenge, try a mountain bike course, climb high ladders, participate in archery and riding and descend the 250 metre zip wire from the top of one of the towers across the lake. The last activity, on a wire rope with a 20 ton breaking strain (we are told) was quickly sold out as it is great fun and only requires the participant to climb up a ladder to reach the top of the tower, with a narrow hatch acting as a tactful selector for those the right size to go on the wire.

My 4 year-old daughter loved the riding and the climbing ladder, which was a home-made affair made out of tree trunks and branches roped onto them to form the rungs. They looked like medieval assault ladders, to lead an attack from the Lower to Upper Terrace, and worked well, even if climbers had to wear hard hats and be attached to safety ropes. But that may be why there were no injuries during the event, and everyone seemed to have a good time. I hope we can do it again next year. JH-B 3/06/10