This May bank holiday (28^th May – 30^th May) sees the return of the Great British Food Festival to Harewood House. Along with wonderful food and drink producers, there will be headline chef demos, foodie talks, and terrific live music to enjoy from the North Front.

The Chef Demo stage once again welcomes great names from the world of cookery including Howard Middleton, Luis Troyano and Sandy Docherty, finalists and contestants from the Great British Bake Off. Be inspired by the wonderful treats our experts create!

Luis, Sandy and Howard will also be judging the popular Great British Cake Off, where amateur bakers compete head-to-head in three baking categories (see www.greatbritishfoodfestival.com for details and to enter). Best of all, you get to try the entries! Luis Troyano said,

‘I love doing the demos and the cake off is great fun, it’s brilliant to see what the public can do!’

The Bake Off stars will also be heading to the new ‘Cake & Bake’ stage, introduced for the 2016 event. Hear from our celebrity chefs and discover their culinary secrets in a more interactive and intimate arena. Get your own foodie questions answered and finally avoid the dreaded soggy bottom or get the perfect biscuit snap!

Dan Maycock, Festival Director, said,

“We’re thrilled to announce the great chefs at this year’s event. The new addition of the “Cake & Bake” stage is something we’re excited to see come to life. We hope that people will head over to Harewood and lap up the wonderful atmosphere this event brings.”

Alongside the celeb chefs, some of the best regional talent will be showcasing their skills; from baking tips to fine dining know-how, the Demo Theatre is the place to be for any budding chef!

Lots of local producers will also be showcasing the best in seasonal, and specialty food and drink. Pulled pork, prime steak and local sausages are just a few of the flavours you can enjoy. For those with less traditional tastes, why not sample an ostrich burger or enjoy tasty Thai and Caribbean flavours? Sample, enjoy and buy!

Enjoy a quintessential English day out at the Great British Food Festival. The perfect recipe for a fun, foodie day out for the whole family.

Visit the Great British Food Festival’s listing for more details.

The Himalayan Garden at Harewood is a marvelous place to explore during spring. The bright colours of the rhododendrons, the fresh green leaves in the trees create a wonderful atmosphere which is a complete contrast to the formal Terraces which Harewood is best known for. It’s a place which includes a massive variety of naturalised planting which has matured since it’s creation in 2007. Here are a few highlights visitors to the garden can enjoy now.

Over the winter months, Harewood House was used as a location for the new ITV period drama, Victoria. The programme chronicles the life of Queen Victoria and has been filmed in locations throughout Yorkshire. Both the State Floor and Below Stairs at Harewood have been used for what promises to be a fascinating series.

As they continue to film, Harewood has once again been chosen as a location for this production. In order to facilitate the external shots required, Harewood will close completely on Wednesday 11^th May. There will be no access to Harewood for members or visitors. This will allow the production company to introduce a large green screen to the front of the House transforming Harewood digitally from the country house to a palace!

Thank you in advance for your understanding and patience.

Once the programme airs, we will update you with lots of behind the scenes pictures and news.

Best wishes,

Harewood House Trust
0113 218 1001
info@harewood.org

I took on my role as Bird Garden and Farm Experience Manager in December 2015, joining Harewood from Edinburgh Zoo. As manager, it’s my responsibility to oversee the daily running of the Bird Garden and the newly created Farm Experience. It’s an exciting, busy part of Harewood which is at the start of a three year development plan to enhance this much loved part of the grounds.

My day begins at 8am when I arrive at the Bird Garden kitchen with the rest of the team. The Bird Garden is home to 37 different bird species which all have specific dietary needs. From the tall, elegant cranes to the critically endangered Bali starling, we make sure each bird has the right food. We also prepare buckets of chopped carrots, apples, pears and leafy greens for our rabbits, guinea pigs and farm animals.

Once prepared, we head to the Bird Garden and begin the task of feeding and cleaning all the aviaries. We check all the birds to make sure that they are in good health whist we’re in the enclosures before the visitors arrive. One of my personal favourites in the Bird Garden are our family of palm cockatoos. These are unusual birds and it’s the first time I’ve worked with them. The youngest of the three birds is very inquisitive and he will often fly around the keepers, watching them closely as we clean and prepare the large aviary.

At this time of year we often find nests full of eggs which we will leave with parents to look after. On some occasions it may be necessary to take the eggs carefully to our artificial incubation room. Here we place them in specially designed incubators and hand rear any chicks that might hatch.

Once all of the birds are fed and checked, we go for a well- earned cup of coffee!

The next job is to clean out the farm animal paddocks and give them their first feed of the day. At 12pm, one of the keepers will take a bucket of eggs, veg and fruit to the pig enclosure. Here we invite visitors to take an item from the bucket and throw it over the fence for the pigs to enjoy. They are full of character and, since their arrival in March, I’ve grown very fond of them. Once the pigs have had their fill, we move onto the next paddock. Once again visitors can feed leafy greens to our hungry pygmy goats.

After lunch, I often leave the Bird Garden and Farm in the capable hands of the team and head over to the office to carry out the necessary (and inevitable!) paperwork for the day. This includes record keeping, ordering supplies, planning for upcoming events, liaising with the vet, managing new arrivals and arranging transportation of animals who may be leaving our care.

A significant role for the Bird Garden is the care and preservation of endangered species. Many of the birds we manage are in captive breeding programmes which supports their ongoing survival. These breeding programmes exist to support the genetic variation of captive populations. Computer databases help compile studbooks that record the details of each individual animal in the programme. This includes the animal’s sex, date of birth, and full family history. No money changes hands when we exchange animals with other zoos. Our aim is purely to save and protect endangered wildlife.

We have welcomed several new additions including six Humboldt penguins which arrived in early March from the Cotswold Wildlife Park in Oxfordshire. We also took on an egg which our colony have adopted. We hope that this foster-chick will hatch soon.

Other new additions include a pair of cheer pheasants which form part of our Himalayan themed enclosures overlooking the Lake, and a large group of roul roul partridge, an appealing, ground dwelling bird from Borneo.

When I’m in the office, it’s also the time that I catch up with the rest of the team who work outside the Bird Garden. The team at Harewood have a lot to juggle from school groups to TV interviews!

At 3:30pm, I will head back to the Bird Garden to carry out the Daily Penguin Talk and often find myself introducing not only the penguins, but also the wild grey herons and red kites that visit the enclosure hoping they might help themselves to a sprat or two!

Once I have answered the varied and interesting questions from visitors, I will either head back to the office, or carry out a variety of tasks around the Bird Garden until it is time to close for the evening. Every day there are new and exciting challenges arriving, so no two days are ever the same.

By Nick Dowling, Bird Garden and Farm Experience Manager

2016 sees HRH Queen Elizabeth II celebrate her 90^th birthday. In recognition of her remarkable life and historic reign, a number of objects from Harewood’s collection relating to the Queen are being displayed in the Gallery.

A Young Princess

Born on the 21^st April 1926, the young Princess Elizabeth was not expected to become Queen. Following the heavily publicised abdication of her uncle, King Edward VIII, Elizabeth’s father, George VI, took his place on the throne. At the age of 10 years old, the young Princess Elizabeth become heiress presumptive.

The coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth took place on the 12th May 1937. The ceremony was attended by both young princesses.

‘We waited in the little dressing room until it was time to go up the aisle. Then we arranged ourselves to form the procession. First of all came two Heralds, then two Gentlemen Ushers, then all in a line Margaret, Aunt Mary and myself…I thought it all very, very wonderful and I expect the Abbey did, too. The arches and beams at the top were covered with a sort of haze of wonder as Papa was crowned, at least I thought so.’

Princess Elizabeth, 1937

The 6^th Countess of Harewood, Princess Mary, was Elizabeth’s aunt. Harewood is fortunate to be custodians of some wonderful objects, images and correspondence which are being displayed in honour of Queen Elizabeth.