Estate Matters Podcast

Ellen Francis of the Quy Hall Estate in Cambridgeshire explains why she has put social media at the heart of how the Estate connects with its local community, in the latest episode of the Estate Matters podcast, recorded at Groundswell.

Gascoyne Estates’ CEO Jorge Mendonça and architect Gavin Murray reveal how they and their teams turned a tired town square into a beautiful and vibrant space, in the latest episode of the Estate Matters podcast.

James Nason and his wife, Rowena Colthurst, own Pitchford Hall and Estate in Shropshire. At least, they do now.

In 1992, Rowena’s mother was forced to sell the Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house. Although the family retained the surrounding land, James and Rowena made it their mission to buy back the Hall and reunite her family home with the wider estate.

Ben Bolgar, Executive Director for Projects at The King’s Foundation, is the latest guest on the Estate Matters Podcast.

He first discussed architecture with the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, at Kensington Palace in 1988. That conversation marked a meeting of minds and a shared vision that has underpinned Ben’s work over nearly 25 years at the Foundation.

In the latest episode of Estate Matters, founder and chief executive of Longshot, Joel Cadbury, tells podcast host Anna Byles how he has spent 30 years spotting opportunities where others see challenges.

In this episode of Estate Matters, Gavin Lane explains that the social value farmers and landowners provide to rural communities often goes unrecognised, and it is through improved communication that people will gain a better understanding of the industry.

Meaningful engagement with communities will be crucial to the successful creation of new towns. So says Lord Gascoigne, chair of the House of Lords Built Environment Committee, guest on the latest episode of the Estate Matters Podcast.

In this episode of Estate Matters nothing is off-limits as James Lowsley-Williams, a former professional cyclist, discusses inheriting the Chavenage Estate, documenting everything on his YouTube channel, welcoming film crews for Poldark, and managing family expectations in a multi-generational business.

Rebekah Pierce is a farmer and solar grazier in New York state. In this episode, she explains how she got into farming by ‘accident’, but is now paving the way with ‘Agri Energy’ through solar grazing.

Eliza is the owner and managing trustee of the St Clere Estate near Sevenoaks in Kent and the Executive Chair of Trustees of the Chevening Estate, the official country residence of the Foreign Secretary.

Jake Fiennes, one of Britain’s most high profile and in-demand conservationists, tells the latest edition of KOR Communications’ Estate Matters podcast that the UK needs a natural capital ‘Domesday Book’ to accurately measure the nation’s flora and fauna.

Dealing effectively with trespassers can be a major problem for landowners who are often not equipped, practically or emotionally, with the skills to protect their property from unwanted visitors.

But a specialist business, staffed almost entirely by former police officers, is providing a service to those vulnerable to incursion, from sports pitch owners to car park operators, and caravan parks to rural estates.

When he’s working on a project, landscape architect Kim Wilkie is very happy if his proposals for change leave local people feeling a little bit uncomfortable.

He tells the latest episode of the Estate Matters podcast: “Unless people are slightly upset with what you’re proposing, you’re probably not taking things far enough.”

Landowners and farmers can help to improve the public’s understanding and appreciation of the countryside if they provide opportunities for people to engage with nature.

So says writer and columnist Patrick Galbraith, author of the book Uncommon Ground, which tackles the relationships people in Britain have with the countryside and how we can improve it.

CLA Vice President Joe Evans, with his wife Keeley, could have created a wonderful life away from the Evans’ family estate; until a visit changed their course.

In the latest episode of Estate Matters, they sit down with podcast host Anna Byles to share how they’ve navigated estate legacy.

Pursuing a career in medicine, Dr Johnny Wake says he never imagined being anything other than a doctor. In the latest episode of Estate Matters, podcast host Anna Byles talks to Johnny about the success of a people-focused approach to estate management.

Good communication with neighbours and stakeholders is essential for the sound management of a rural estate, Sir William Worsley tells the latest episode of the Estate Matters podcast.

History will judge landed estates that press ahead with ambitious renewable energy projects kindly, Blenheim Palace managing director Roy Cox tells the latest episode of KOR Communications’ Estate Matters podcast.

The Government’s revised planning policies offer opportunities for landowners and developers to create more homes more quickly – without compromising on the provision of essential infrastructure or abandoning high quality design.

Handing over control of the Escrick Park Estate in Yorkshire to his son, Beilby, was “quite a challenge,” Charlie Forbes Adam admits in the latest Estate Matters podcast from KOR Communications.

The management of the nine estates spread across England that make up the land holdings of The Ernest Cook Trust is carried out with a clear focus on the Trust’s primary purpose as an education-based charity. 

There is a good story to tell about the production of ‘green gas’ – and landowners and farmers producing the raw material at the start of the process can be proud of what they do and should be ready to talk about it, says Philipp Lukas, Chief Executive Officer of Future Biogas.

Creating affordable housing that is no different in quality to homes built for open market sale is a matter of huge pride for the Duchy of Cornwall at its two high-profile developments, Poundbury in Dorset and Nansledan in Cornwall.

Duchy Estates Director Ben Murphy tells the latest episode of KOR Communications’ Estate Matters podcast that more than a third of the homes built at Poundbury, the Duchy’s community on the edge of Dorchester where work began more than 30 years ago, are affordable.

Farmers must be valued for managing the landscape and protecting and enhancing nature as well as for producing food, if wildlife-depleted Britain is to improve its environment and continue to feed its population.

That’s the message from Molly Biddell, Head of Natural Capital at the Knepp Estate in Sussex, a trailblazing 3,500-acre rewilding project which abandoned traditional farming 20 years ago and has become one of the UK’s most biodiverse nature reserves.

CLA President and Cornish rural estate owner Victoria Vyvyan believes the new Labour Government and its Defra team are listening to voices from the countryside in essential areas of policy, including planning, farming and energy.

KOR Communications’ podcast, Estate Matters, is celebrating its first anniversary after a remarkable twelve months with guests providing insights across the rural and development sectors, from farming to journalism, politics to housing.

Minette Batters led the National Farmers’ Union during the most tumultuous times in decades for British agriculture, as the nation faced Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.