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.

Our Works Department has been restoring Golden Gates Lodge, a listed building in the middle of our deer park on the Ridgeway drive that used to bring carriages down from the British Camp on the Malvern Hills to the Castle gates in the village. Lucy, my wife, has been in charge of the decorations and furnishings. The Lodge has long been by-passed with the inevitable cattle grid speeding vehicular traffic on its way to the woods for off-road Land Rover driving or to a nearby farm, but the Lodge has been let and kept in good order.

Recently, with the Big Chill and other busy Park events, it has not been as peaceful a place to rent as it should be, so we decided to make it our second furnished holiday cottage. It joins another Park property, Peacock Villa which we have been letting successfully from this spring and has one double bedroom, sitting room, kitchen and bathroom on the larger, west side, and a double bedroom and bathroom on the east side. We have rebuilt the supporting wall for the lower garden, which has a wonderful view over the Park, and made a patio there for warm weather use.

The Lodge lies close to the footpath which crosses the Park and takes walkers up onto the ridge of the Malvern Hills and the Worcestershire Way. (See the cottage gallery for views of the surrounding area) The Ridgeway Wood, just behind the Lodge, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and visitors can follow the drive up to the gates at the top of the Ridgeway or join another footpath that crosses it and leads up to Clutters Cave, also on the Hills. It will be a great place to stay. JH-B 3rd June 2010