Harewood has regularly been used as a backdrop for filming; this winter is no different! During December and on into spring, Harewood will be used as a location for new ITV drama, Victoria, which will air on ITV. The ambitious 8-part drama follows the early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of 18, through to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert. Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, Death Comes to Pemberley, Dancing on the Edge) will star as a young Queen Victoria.

Jenna Coleman said: “I am delighted to be cast as Queen Victoria in this ambitious drama of her life. She is a vivid, strong, inspirational and utterly fascinating woman in British history and I can’t wait to tell her story.”

BAFTA-nominated actor Rufus Sewell (The Man in the High Castle, Parade’s End, The Pillars of the Earth) has been cast alongside Jenna Coleman in the series.

Rufus Sewell stars as Lord Melbourne, Victoria’s first prime minister. The two immediately connected and their intimate friendship became a popular source of gossip that threatened to destabilise the Government – angering both Tory and Whigs alike.

Jenna and Rufus are joined by a stellar ensemble cast including Paul Rhys (The Assets, Borgia, Being Human) as Sir John Conroy, the ambitious controller of the Duchess of Kent’s household, who controlled Victoria’s upbringing, hoping to rule through her, when she came to the throne. Peter Firth (Spooks, Undeniable, World Without End) is the Queen’s conniving uncle the Duke of Cumberland and Catherine Flemming (Simones Labyrinth, No Place to Go) plays the Duchess of Kent, Queen Victoria’s mother.

Eve Myles (You, Me & Them, Broadchurch, Torchwood) plays Mrs Jenkins, the Queen’s senior dresser and Adrian Schiller (Suffragette, Residue, Endeavour) is Penge, the Household Steward. Nichola McAuliffe (Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death, Coronation Street) is the ruthless Duchess of Cumberland, Daniela Holtz (Phoenix, Der Verdacht) is Victoria’s governess and confidante Baroness Lehzen, and Nell Hudson (Outlander, Call the Midwife, Les Bohemes) plays the mysterious new member of the household, Miss Skerrett. Tommy-Lawrence Knight (The Sarah Jane Adventures) also joins the royal household as the hall boy, Brodie.

Nigel Lindsay (You, Me and the Apocalypse, The Tunnel, The Fear) is Sir Robert Peel, the leader of the Tory party. Alice Orr-Ewing (The Theory of Everything, Pramface) is cast as Lady Flora Hastings, lady-in-waiting to Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent.

Mammoth Screen, producers of Poldark (BBC One) and Endeavour (ITV), and the series is created and written by acclaimed novelist Daisy Goodwin, in her screenwriting debut.

The series will open with a 90-minute episode, followed by 7 one-hour episodes. Tom Vaughan (Doctor Foster, He Knew He Was Right, Starter For Ten) opens the series as director and Paul Frift (Doctor Who, That Day We Sang, Room at the Top) will produce the landmark series.

See ITV Press for more details.

Men on roof of Harewood House. Centre front is Joe Pattison. Joe was from Newcastle and worked for a Newcastle firm on the electrics in the house in 1929. The workers lived in huts in the park whilst the work was done.

Records for over 1000 people who were once employed at Harewood House can now be researched online at servants.harewood.org. The site, which is free to use, is a resource for history enthusiasts, school groups, local people and anyone interested in knowing more about the staff who ran Harewood House. The digitised database, which stretches between 1749 and 1980, includes fascinating insights into the people who kept Harewood House operational.

Where information exists, records of past staff include dates of employment, lists of job roles held, salaries, images and any notes which may have been gathered. Visitors to the website can search through professions including Butlers, Housekeepers, Farm Workers and Lady’s Maids. More unusual roles which can be found include Oddman, Postillions and even a Rabbit Catcher.

“Harewood has many stories, many histories. This database gives access to the lives of the wide range of people who have lived and worked here – it’s fascinating stuff, chronicling the changing face of Harewood from generation to generation through personal memories and reminiscences.” Said David Lascelles, Earl of Harewood.

Research has been carried out within Harewood’s archives and from collated information submitted by members of the public.

“We’re thrilled to see the Servants’ Database online. It’s taken several years to pull the information together and we look forward to seeing it grow in the future. ” Said Anna Dewsnap, Head of Collections.

The database also enables users to share records via social media, submit updates and include their own information should they wish to.

To celebrate the launch of the Servants’ Database, Harewood is holding Summer Discovery Days throughout August Bank Holiday. The event, which runs between Saturday 29^th August and Monday 31^st August, explores the quirky histories behind Harewood House. Visitors will be able to speak to Harewood’s House Stewards about the Servants’ Database, meet Harewood’s first Housekeeper Elizabeth Burrows, and draw like Turner on the North Front.

With blue skin, these are an unusual bird available to view in the Bird Garden

A penguin that brays like a donkey, a vulture that can reach heights of over 20,000 feet and a parrot that is one of the best mimics of the human voice. These are just three of the species staving off extinction thanks to the help of zoos and aquariums.

The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) has compiled a report detailing the top ten birds most reliant on zoos and aquariums for their survival.

The African penguin, the Ecuador Amazon parrot and the Oriental white-backed vulture have all made it on to the list, which highlights some of the best examples of how zoos and aquariums are safeguarding the future of our planet’s wildlife and their habitats.

Dr Andrew Marshall, of BIAZA’s Field Programmes Committee, coordinated the compilation of the list with input from conservation experts based at BIAZA collections. He commented:

“More than one in ten species of bird is globally threatened; and the work zoos and aquariums do in protecting these wonderful animals is integral to the survival of many bird species.

“Zoo conservation work includes research, education, management of habitats and protected areas, improving human livelihoods in developing countries, breeding, reintroduction, environmental sustainability, and engagement with policymakers.

“As we continue to produce these lists, it is becoming more and more evident that the world’s zoos and aquariums are an essential source of funds and expertise for conservation of the natural world.”

The top ten list demonstrates the importance of zoos and aquariums not only for conservation breeding of safety-net populations, but also for their contribution to funding and management of conservation projects in the field, including research, education and support for local communities, as well as protection of crucial wildlife habitats.

Strict criteria were used to select the top ten. All the birds proposed had to be associated with current field initiatives by zoos and/or essential conservation breeding in zoos. Particular importance was given to initiatives which included a management role in the species’ conservation, rather than just providing funds.  Priority was also given to species listed as threatened on the international IUCN Red List of threatened species.

BIAZA’s top ten birds benefitting from zoos and aquariums are:

African penguin: Numbers are plummeting in the wild due to oil spills, overfishing, shifts in food availability and human disturbance.

Bali starling: These are seen as very desirable cage birds, and illegal trapping has brought them to virtual extinction in the wild.

Blue-crowned laughing thrush: The zoo population of this Chinese bird equates to 50% of the total global population.

Ecuador Amazon parrot: With fewer than 600 individuals left, its survival relies on the protection of remaining wild populations and their habitats.

Edwards’s pheasant: There is a small captive population, but it has never been seen or studied by a scientist in the wild.

Madagascar pochard: Just 20-25 Madagascar pochard now survive in the wild.

Northern bald ibis: Pesticide poisoning has had a devastating effect on their numbers but BIAZA members have contributed birds to a successful release programme and populations are slowly increasing.

Oriental white-backed Vulture: Traces of a toxic veterinary drug in farm animal carcases across Asia has decimated populations, but species restoration has been made possible by zoo-based expertise and funding.

Socorro dove: A classic island species, numbers have been devastated by man-introduced pests like rats, cats and goats. Captive breeding has saved it from total extinction.

Visayan tarictic hornbill: Two BIAZA zoos are actively supporting in-situ work to save and restore the wild habitat of this species.

(This list is in alphabetical order)

Harewood is pleased to announce two exciting exhibitions celebrating sculptural works by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Thomas J Price.  The elegant, contemporary sculptures reflect the artist’s fascination with the human form; dynamic movement in Gaudier and subtle facial and body expression in Price. Working 100 years apart, both artists have taken inspiration from the cultural trends of their day to create powerful bronze works which can be enjoyed throughout the summer in the historic setting of Harewood House.

4^th July – 1^st November, Watercolour Rooms, State Floor
Thomas J Price: Recent Works

Thomas J Prices’ works all share a preoccupation with the body, particularly the face. Price is fascinated in the minute detail of body language and facial expression, the ability to suggest a state of mind without words, with just a flicker of an eye or the clenching of fists. The cast bronze sculptures are presented in a seemingly traditional manner, on reclaimed plinths in the historic, Georgian setting of Harewood.

11^th July – 1^st November, Terrace Gallery
New Rhythms: Henri Gaudier-Brzeska: Art, Dance and Movement in London 1911 – 1915

Harewood will be the only venue to receive a major new exhibition from Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, featuring work by renowned French-born sculptor and draughtsman, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. It is the first time Brzeska’s fascination with dance and movement has been fully explored. New Rhythms brings together sculpture, drawing, photography, film, and archive material in a display which marks the centenary of his untimely death, killed in action at the age of 23 near Arras at Neuville-Saint-Vaast in WW1. Harewood’s own Brzeska sculpture Firebird will be on display in the exhibition.

Owen Williams, a renowned wildlife watercolour artist based in west Wales, has won the CLA Game Fair’s third annual Official Show Guide cover competition. His work will now feature on the cover of the 2015 show guide as well as on the contents page which will display Owen’s name, stand number at the show and website address.

The competition was open to all artists that exhibited at last year’s CLA Game Fair and also to those submitting an application for this year’s event, to be held at Harewood House in Yorkshire from Friday 31 July until Sunday 2 August.

Entrants were asked to submit a piece of art in colour that followed a British countryside theme, was influenced by fieldsports or game and which depicted the essence of CLA Game Fair. Judging of the competition was by CLA Director-General Helen Woolley, CLA Game Fair Director Tony Wall, and PR & Marketing Manager, Charlie Thomas.

Owen’s striking watercolour image of a red grouse in flight, which is a detail from a larger work, was picked as the winner thanks to its drama, movement and its unique ‘splash’ style that differs from his traditional sporting landscapes. It was also chosen thanks to its relevance to the 2015 CLA Game Fair’s location in Yorkshire, which has large populations of red grouse on its heather moorlands.

Owen is highly regarded for his fine and atmospheric watercolours portraying animals and birds such as stags, woodcock, grouse and snipe. He is also director of the Woodcock Network and is well known for his work ringing and tagging woodcock on his site in Wales.

Charlie Thomas, PR & Marketing Manager of the CLA Game Fair, commented: “Owen’s superb image of a flying grouse is a very worthy winner of our cover competition. As well as being absolutely stunning it will also give our show guide immense local relevance.”

Owen Williams added: “Having exhibited my work at the CLA Game Fair for the past 30 years it is a great accolade to have been chosen as winner of the competition and I’m very excited about seeing my work in print. For anyone that wants to see the painting in its original form it will be on display on the Redspot Artists stand, along with other examples of my work and that of my fellow Redspot Artists so do come along and say hello!”

For more details, visit www.gamefair.co.uk