Browsing the Bookshelves

Earlier this year I embarked on a programme of study with the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT), which will, hopefully, eventually result in a fellowship.  The purpose of the programme is to provides Members of Parliament and Parliamentary Officers (that's me) with experience of the workplace outside Westminster and a greater understanding of the challenges and successes of both the wealth creating and supporting services sector.  Sound a little escoteric?  Well, perhaps it does. But the experience is very practical indeed, as my first placement at Muncaster Castle demonstrated.

Muncastle Castle, nestled on the edge of Muncastle Fell in Cumbria, has been home to the Pennington Family for the last 800, although the site has probably been continuously inhabited since Roman times - over 2000 years.  Wedged between Hardknott Pass and the Irish Sea, surrounded by soaring mountains and ancient woodland, the castle stands in the one of the most romantic and wildest landscapes that England has to offer. Much of what can be seen of the castle today is dominated by its victorian frontage, but step inside and one can side treasures from earlier times.  The gardens are also superb, a leafly retreat full of interest and the unexpected.  Its collection of rhodendrums alone attracts vistors from around the world.

With a colleague from work, I was lucky enough to stay in the castle itself. We were made extremely welcome and really enjoyed the castle and its grounds. But the purpose of the visit was learn from those who have turned this historic family home into an viable business, dependent now on visitors and well-wishers for its survival, and we spent much time discussing the challenges, difficulties and successes of running a business within the castle's specific rural environment with the Lake District National Park as a neighbour.  It was an eye-opening experience. The first thing that struck me was how happy so many of the staff seemed to be with their jobs, how passionate and committed they were to mission.  But it is also clear that the particular challenges associated with running a major business in a rural environment, especially one so remote as Copeland, are not insignificant. Communications, transport and fuel prices seemed to be the top of everyone's agenda. They are perhaps the obvious issues. There are others - such as recruitment, emergency service performance, local co-ordination and planning - which can become seemingly impassable barriers to development and diversification.

I was also delighted to be able to spend some time visiting The World Owl Centre, also to be found in the grounds of the castle.  Handling a barn owl was an experience I shall never forget.