Friends of Hardwick
The Friends of Hardwick are a voluntary group with the objective of restoring the historic 18th century landscape, parkland and built structures within Hardwick Park to the original state, in association with the main landowners and the local community, whilst improving the visitor asset and accessibility.
Contact: Honorary Secretary, Mr John H Fitzpatrick, 7 Melgrove Way, Sedgefield, TS21 2JN
Telephone: 01740 621431
E-mail:
johnfitzpatrick@melgrove.freeserve.co.uk
The Friends of Hardwick have their own website.
www.friendsofhardwick.org.uk
For news and views of the Park, see the
Hardwick Hall Country Park page
and Photos of this popular location.
EVENTS AND REPORTS
Filling The Lake
from Ian Hunter
A series of panoramic photographs created by Ian to show the progess of filling the lake.
(Note that by mid March 2006 the water level had been lowered to allow remedial work to be carried out.)
The AGM was held on Tuesday 14th Feb 2006
The Chairman, Jack Glendinning, and the Treasurer, John Hannon, were re-elected for another three year period together with the five retiring Committee members.
At the end of the meeting a video was shown which highlighted the tremendous progress made with the restoration of Hardwick Park.
A recent letter, sent to residents whose properties border the East Park, which outlined Durham County Council's proposals for the land management and boundaries, had prompted several favourable reactions but a few householders had reservations. It is intended that after 5 years, when the fertility of the soil has declined, stock will graze one area at a time out of the three areas planned. House boundaries will be protected by stock proof fencing.
Concerns were expressed at the meeting about the graffiti which currently adorns the underpass. This is a difficult problem as the road engineers will not allow the concrete surface to be painted.
NEPTUNE IS SIGNED-UP
The Friends of Hardwick passed a significant milestone recently when they signed the contract for a new Statue of Neptune to stand in the Serpentine River in Hardwick Park.
Keith Maddison, who lives in Elsdon, Northumberland, came down to Hardwick Hall Hotel and signed on the dotted line. He will firstly make a clay model which will be approved by the Friends before it is fired and transported to the Black Isle Foundry at Nairn in Scotland. The foundry will carry out the rest of the processes, making the mould from a wax impression before the statue is cast in bronze.
It is expected that the statue will be finished by late summer and ready to install on its refurbished plinth in the Serpentine. The Serpentine will be restored to its original format with grass banks down to the water's edge and an upgraded path. Various schemes are being considered to lower the statue on its plinth including the use of a large crane or a helicopter!
From a later date than the photograph below, this image shows Neptune without his trident.
(From a postcard, courtesy of John Bell and Ron Suddes.)
A Step Forward for Neptune
The Friends of Hardwick have been successful in their search for funding for a new Statue of Neptune. The Northern Rock Foundation have generously provided a grant of more than £26,000 towards the cost of the project, the remainder will come from monies already raised by the Friends.
The Friends have commissioned Keith Maddison to make a new interpretation of Neptune, cast in bronze, as a replacement for the original statue on the island in the Serpentine River in Hardwick Park. The original was lost in the early 1950s and, despite extensive enquiries by the Friends, no trace of it has been discovered.
Our sculptor, Keith Maddison, lives in Northumberland and is the son of a Second World War RAF rear gunner and is, himself, a member of the Royal Auxiliary Airforce. His notable local achievements include the statue of George Hardwick at the Riverside Stadium, the Memorial to Durham Miners on Fishburn Village Green and, most recently, the statue celebrating the bravery of the Canadian Airman Andrew Mynarski which is at located at Teesside Airport (sorry, Durham Tees Valley Airport). He is also a talented artist with many aviation pictures to his credit.
It is hoped to have the new statue in place on its plinth in the Serpentine by the autumn of next year.
Filling the Lake Begins
Sedgefield Firefighters and children from Walworth School assisted Ken Manton (Leader of Durham County Council) to start the process of refilling the 14 acre lake.
The weather too seemed to be playing its part as the level of the lake began to rise.
Photographs courtesy of John Fitzpatrick.
TIME CAPSULE COMPETITION
Rapid progress in the restoration of Hardwick Park has directed the Friends of Hardwick's thoughts towards the formal opening in 2006. As part of the ceremonies we have decided it would be a good idea to bury a Time Capsule at the Temple of Minerva. We have found suitable capsule (like the one pictured), its dimensions are 460 x 150 x 120 mm and we are now wondering what to put in it.
We have decided to hold a competition for Sedgefield News readers. A prize of a £20 voucher from W H Smiths will be given to the best idea put forward and the winner will also be invited to the opening ceremony. We would especially welcome entries from the young people of the village.
Entries should be sent to Sedgefield News at 58 Front Street, Sedgefield, or e-mailed to snews@sedgefieldweb.co.uk. The closing date for entries is Monday 31st October 2005. Entries will be judged by a panel drawn from Sedgefield News and the Friends of Hardwick.
Further investigation into the Roman site
In the last few weeks (Summer 2005) there has been a lot of archaeological activity in the East Park. A Partnership between Durham County Council's County Archaeology Section and Archaeological Services University Durham (ASUD) has been running an excavation on part of the Romano-British site in the East Park. The Time Team first excavated parts of the site in 2002 but they only scratched the surface. Subsequent investigation has revealed that it is one of the largest Romano-British sites in the north-east, with the exception of Hadrian's Wall. So far nothing military has been discovered and the description of it as a Roman industrial estate still seems to be accurate.
