this time last year

when the long term

future of the house

was still under con-

sideration. We can

now be justifiably

optimistic.

During the past win-

ter a number of the

volunteers have de-

votedly contributed

to the ongoing refur-

bishment of areas of

the house and gar-

dens. This is part of

a rolling programme

of maintenance and

improvement under-

taken by the Friends

and a report on their

valuable activities is

enclosed beneath.

At the same time

there are exciting

plans for the coming

summer season and

beyond. Our new

Chairman of the

Friends, Andrew

Cutler, has been ex-

tremely active in our

interests and also

discusses these pro-

jects beneath, in his customary letter to

the membership.

I do hope you will

enjoy reading about

our plans.

With best wishes to

you all,

Sally Butcher

Editor

SPRINGING INTO THE FUTURE!

Chairman’s letter. 2

Volunteers Information and training 3

Moving forward 3

If a jobs worth doing…... 4

Morning Cloud 3 5

The AGM 6

Behind the scenes at the Office 6

Inside this issue:

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Issue 23

March 2015

Ne

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lett

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TH

E F

RIE

ND

S O

F A

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EL

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up

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Issue 23

March 2015

Lord Richard Balfe

Sir Alan Beith MP

Hilary Benn MP

Peter Bottomley MP

Baroness Virginia Bot-

tomley

Annette Brooke MP

Robert Buckland MP

Conor Burns MP

Neil Carmichael MP

Lord Tristan Garel-Jones

Lord Debden (John Sel-

wyn Gummer)

Richard Harrington MP

Dame Elisabeth Hoodless

Lord Peter Hennessy

Lord Geoffrey Howe

Lord David Hunt

Lord Douglas Hurd

Charles Kennedy MP

Peter Luff MP

Katharine, Viscountess

Macmillan

Lord Peter Mandelson

Lord John MacGregor

Lord Philip Norton

Alexander, Earl of

Stockton

Keith Vaz MP

Dame Helen Wallace

Lord William Wallace

Robert Walter MP

Supported by among others

Sallly Butcher. Editor

There are many rea-

sons to be cheerful at

Arundells this

Spring! Today the

annual volunteer

training day took

place at the house in

perfect Spring

weather, an excellent

omen for the forth-

coming season.

Bookings to tour the

house and garden are

significantly up on

EDITORIAL CONTACT DETAILS

Editor: Sally Butcher

Email:butchersally2002@hotmail.com

Arundells is

open on the

23rd March

Dear Friends,

Both I and my fellow commit-

tee members are looking for-

ward to more of what is already

proving to be an exciting and

challenging year for both Arun-

dells and The Friends. Much

has already been achieved since

I had the honour of being

elected as Chairman of The

Friends at the AGM last Octo-

ber. Perhaps most importantly,

we have effectively completed

the transformation of The

Friends from being a successful

campaigning organisation to

one that is now solely dedicated

to achieving the aims of The Sir

Edward Heath Charitable Foun-

dation ( " EHCF" ).

As you know, the first step be-

ing taken in achieving those

aims is the preservation of

Arundells and much work and

planning has already been un-

dertaken in that regard. For ex-

ample, we have created sensible

working arrangements with

both the Trustees and the House

Management team, enthusiasti-

cally thrown ourselves into

what have been known as the

winter projects ( more on that

elsewhere in this newsletter )

and are playing our part in pro-

moting Arundells and what

needs to be done to ensure that

it is run in the best possible

way.

I have to say that I had no idea

this time last year of all that is

involved in the EHCF / Arun-

dells project but, now that I do,

I hasten to extend a genuine

" Well Done! " to both the

Trustees and the House Man-

agement team. And the same,

of course, to all members of

The Friends

who give

their time,

money and

support. I

particularly

highlight the

wide range of

work under-

taken by Ron

and Jean

Carter ( they

seem to be

involved in just about every-

thing! ); the far from straight-

forward work undertaken by

Bob Hayes and Giles Ball on

the various aspects of the MC3

project; and the useful input on

many issues provided by Ge-

rald Gibson.

I am confident that both the

EHCF and Arundells have a

good future when I look at the

enthusiasm and talents of all

those involved. It is, however,

clearly vital that Arundells is

run as efficiently as possible

and that no opportunities are

missed to promote Arundells in

the best possible way. With re-

gard to the first point, one mat-

ter we are currently considering

with the Trustees is the whole

question of how The Friends

can best operate as an essential

part of the EHCF and I may be

seeking your views on this in

the next month or two. With

regard to the second point, each

and everyone of you can assist

( and I ask you to do so! ) in

promoting Arundells. That can

be done easily and effectively

by telling those people you

know about Arundells and rec-

ommending them to make a

visit. More tips on what can be

done to promote Arundells in-

volving little time and no cost

will follow either in our next

newsletter or future editions of

the new Arundells newsletter.

Finally, I would like to express

my thanks to all of you who

have sent cheques for the vol-

untary subscription requested in

the letter I sent you all early last

month and for the supportive

letters also received. Hopefully

the free garden entry vouchers

sent to those of you who have

paid the voluntary subscription

will be made use of - and the

opportunity taken to visit the

House at the same time! Have a

good Spring.

Andrew Cutler

Chairman

Page 2

Chairman’s letter

NEWS LET TER

The Trustees of the house meet at the house to review progress. Ron &

Jean feature in the foreground. Bob Hayes, the outgoing chairman is

on the far right.

Andrew Cutler

I SS UE 2 3

Around 15 volunteers were able

to attend this session, organised

to represent all parties inter-

ested in making Arundells a

success. Genie Turton, Trustee,

opened the meeting with a brief

resume of Arundells’ recent

history, and the challenges fac-

ing the future of the house as a

visitor attraction.

Stuart Craven (Curator) gave us

information regarding bookings

for this year and the numbers of

volunteers who would be re-

quired to ‘staff’ the house. He

invited volunteers who might

be interested in becoming house

guides to speak with him about

further training. Peter Cracknell

( Security Officer) addressed

security issues, answering que-

ries raised by volunteers.

Janice Deane spoke about the

role of the volunteer and issued

Volunteer Agreements to all

who attended. This agreement

has been produced through con-

sultation with Trustees’ and

The Friends’ representatives so

as to comply with charitable

good practice. Genie then gave

an outline of the key role vol-

unteers will play in engaging

visitors during the 2015 season.

The Trustees will be seeking

ways of diversifying the reve-

nue stream, much depending on

the permission for use of the

garden. Volunteers may be

asked to assist on such occa-

sions: being good ambassa-

dors; seeking to encourage

more visitors to come, and

inviting friends and family to

volunteer.

There may also be specialist

tours out of season. Genie

also touched upon finances

and the target figure we need

to raise above revenue from

visitor numbers. New mer-

chandise will be sold in a re-

furbished reception area and,

for the first time this season,

we have a combined entrance

ticket with the Cathedral.

Janice Deane Recruitment

glass doors which will allow

the garage doors to be fully

opened to give a more inviting

look to the entrance. Suzie is

also working on producing a

range of merchandise to be on

sale to visitors, all of which will

be properly displayed in the

revamped entrance area.

Links are being established

with local schools to develop

the use of the house for educa-

tional purposes – clearly a dif-

ferent offer has to be available

to an entirely different genera-

tion and guidance is being

sought to put together an offer-

ing relevant to local students

and their current curriculum.

This is an exciting development

and a great opportunity to intro-

duce Arundells to new genera-

tions of visitors.

“2015” promises to be an excit-

ing year for Arundells as plans

for permanent sustainable open-

ing of the house continue to

progress. Lined up for this year

to promote the house and add to

the visitor experience, a number

of exhibitions will take place,

including a small one on Sir

Edward’s military career and a

major one celebrating the 50th

anniversary of Sir Edward’s

election as leader of the Con-

servative party. Other events

are planned but remain under

wraps for the time being.

A new logo for the house has

been produced by Suzie Mar, a

member of the management

committee, and it will now be

used on all Arundells materials.

The reception area will also be

revamped, including smart new

Tied in to the 50th anniversary

of Sir Edward’s election to the

party leadership the BBC are

planning a “Heath night” which

will go out over one evening on

the Parliament channel, hope-

fully in the second half of July

this year and Arundells will

feature in the programme in a

number of ways, including in-

terviews with politicians from

the era and links between the

programmes during the eve-

ning.

So, exciting times ahead, and

much more to be announced,

why not take a look at the

Arundells website,

www.arundells.org and our

own Friends website

www.thefriendsofarundells.org.

uk to keep up to date with

whats is happening?

Gerald Gibson Media officer

Page 3

Arundells Volunteers Information and Training

Session

Moving forward.....................

As you may be aware The

Friends have undertaken a num-

ber of projects at Arundells and

those begun this winter have

progressed very well.

The laundry room has been

cleared and decorated so that it

can now be used as a rest room

for guides and volunteers.

Excellent progress was also

made in clearing the vegetable

garden; the large and fierce

bonfire we lit disposed of a

great deal of the rubbish.

Shelving in the stables was a

further area addressed with de-

termination. We sent out details

of the archive shelving located

in the Stable. These had previ-

ously housed Sir Edward’s pa-

pers, those subsequently sold to

Balliol College. A purchaser

was found for the shelving and

a priority job was in clearing

out what remained within the

area!

Page 4

If a job’s worth doing..........

NEWS LET TER

The outside sheds Before and After

A freshly weeded

and prepared bed in the vegetable

garden

Bob and Giles undertak-

ing repairs

Ann and Gill caught in

mid brush stroke

Jan and Gill cleaning up in the laundry room

I SS UE 2 3

It is now more than two years

since we received news that

Sally Tattersall had purchased

the salvaged bow section of one

of Edward

Heath’s former

wooden hull boats

and originally of-

fered it to be

placed in the gar-

dens at Arundells

but was turned

down due to the

pending closure.

Of course that

never happened

due to serious

campaigning and

after a lot of hard

work, sheer determination and

guts we are now nearing com-

pletion of a complicated pro-

ject.

At the

moment

the sec-

tion is

sitting in

the yard

where she

was origi-

nally built awaiting the fitting

of a cradle in which it will sit.

The Managing Director of

Clare Lallow, Lawrence Boarer

( Laurie as he likes to be

called ) was an apprentice at the

yard and actually help build this

boat in 1972 so he is particu-

larly attached to the idea of this

partial renovation and display at

the former home of the man

who commissioned the build in

the first place.

A number of generous people

have been responsible for the

reno-

vation

project

ably

man-

aged

by

Giles

Ball,

himself

a man

of the

sea.

James

Dick-

ens of James Dickens Marine,

Hythe who did most of the hard

restoration of hull, deck and

internal section, David Wilson

of MDL, Hythe Marina, who

made one of his marina

sheds available to us dur-

ing the long period and of

course Laurie of Clare Lal-

low who is adding the im-

portant finishing touches

to make it possible to sit

elegantly in its new home,

The Dell, in

the garden at

Arundells.

During the

last two

months a

number of

Friends have

been prepar-

ing the site

where the

bow section will sit. Thanks

must go to Ron Carter, Gerald

Gibson, John Hallett and others

who have made this possible

and of course very grateful

thanks to Sally Tattersall who is

loaning this piece of history to

the Trust for just recognition

and acknowledgement of past

events.

We are in the process of plan-

ning an unveiling and com-

memoration day which is set

for Friday 15th May 2015 when

Sir Ben Ainslie will be guest of

honour and marking the occa-

sion with a memorial to Chris-

topher Chadd ( Edward Heath’s

godson ) and Nigel Cumming

which will be blessed by the

very Revd Nicholas Holtam,

Bishop of Salisbury. Margaret

Chadd, a dear and close friend

of the former Prime Minister

and Statesman along with her

son Jonathan will be there to

give their own blessing to this

everlasting memory of their son

and brother.

Page 5

Morning Cloud 3

A number of generous people have

been responsible for the renovation

project ably managed by Giles Ball,

himself a man of the sea.

Giles painting the fence. The first section of sand is down

ready to receive the paving

very informative and well re-

ceived address to those present.

During the meeting committee

members were elected or re-

elected including our new

Chairman, Andrew Cutler.

Your new committee is as fol-

lows:

Andrew Cutler: Chairman

Bob Hayes: Deputy Chairman

Michael Williams: Secretary

Hugh Davies: Treasurer

On October 18th the Annual

General Meeting of The Friends

was held at The Grasmere

House Hotel, Salisbury. Over

35 members attended – includ-

ing Peter Batey and Ed Bick-

ham, trustees of the Foundation

as well as Anthony Teasdale -

who addressed last year’s meet-

ing.

Following the main part of the

meeting Peter Batey gave a

Giles Ball: Morning Cloud III

Project

Valerie Beale: Committee

Member

Sally Butcher: Newsletter Edi-

tor

Jean Carter: Website Coordina-

tor

Ron Carter: Membership Secre-

tary and Newsletter Publisher

Janice Deane: Recruitment

Gerald Gibson: Publicity &

Press

John Potter: Vision Group

The Annual General Meeting of The Friends - Saturday 18th October 2014

Behind the scenes at the Friends of Arundells Office

I pride myself and my wife Jean’s

abilities on a computer. Between us

we can master many of the Microsoft

Office programmes and we are begin-

ning to learn some of the Adobe Soft-

ware, such as Dreamweaver, a pro-

gramme for creating websites and

Photoshop for editing photographs.

Newsletter Creating the newsletter is

made easy by using the Microsoft

Publisher software which is part of

their ‘Office’ suite of programmes.

There are many standard layouts to

choose from. These can be adapted to

fit your requirements. The style I have

chosen to use seems to have been

most acceptable to our readers. The

first thing I need to start off with is all

the text, articles and news and other

content that I need to put in to the

newsletter, so that I can judge where

to put articles of different lengths to

maximise use of the space available.

Our newsletters usually average six

A4 sides but of recent date have

sometimes run to 8 or 9 sides. Space

must be allowed to use photographs to

illustrate the articles and for headings.

Photographs can be adjusted for size

and inserted into the text and the text

automatically flows around it. Once

the first draft is complete it is checked

for content, spelling and grammar by

our editor, Sally Butcher, and other

members of the committee. Any al-

terations and corrections are made it is

checked once again and then we go to

print. Most of our members receive

their copies by Email which is very

easy and cheap, but we still have to

send some printed copies by post for

those members who for

various reasons do not

have the facilities to re-

ceive Email

Website Jean took over

the management of The

Friends website some

two years ago, after Mi-

chael Williams (who

initially set it up) had

found he did not have enough time to

manage it. The site is a “ready made”

BT site, and is free for small commu-

nity groups and charities, just ideal for

us. It does not require the use of

HTML to manage the site, but does

require some knowledge about web-

sites. We both attended a Dream-

weaver course in Basingstoke.

Membership I am also membership

secretary. For this I use another of the

Office suite of programmes. This one

is called Access, it is a fairly easy to

use database system on which I can

store all of our members addresses

and other contact information. This

database can be easily altered or

added to as information required is

changed. I have split the list into two

sections one that holds information on

all of our members and one that I use

for postal members. With this base I

can transfer the information into mail

merge which is part of the Word pro-

gramme, another of the Office suite,

to print out the addresses on to the

envelopes. Recently

with the new volun-

tary membership fee

I have added a new

field to the database

to record payments.

As regards to secu-

rity for personal in-

formation we sub-

scribe to the Norton

360 security system.

All the other stuff

The Word programme enables Jean

and myself to create documents, post-

ers and many other useful things, such

as the ‘visitor pack’ for the 40th year

of Britain’s entry into the EEC cele-

bration, gift vouchers for tours of the

house, letter headings and business

cards for the committee.

Ron & Jean Carter

Ron at work on the last newsletter

Jean at work on the website

Page 6