Yorkshire Arboretum Newsletter - Issue 1 - May 2013

MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
Inside this issue:
WELCOME!
Our members are the very roots of the
Yorkshire Arboretum and we want to
ensure that you’re kept up to date with all
that goes on here. To that end, welcome to
our very first newsletter as “The Yorkshire
Arboretum”.
I know that previously, for various reasons,
the newsletter was issued only once a year.
We now plan to bring you an assortment of
updates, news, views, pictures, and What’s
On information regularly throughout the
year. The content will vary with the seasons
and in response to your feedback so do
please let me know what you’d like to see
more (and possibly less!) of in these pages.
If I may start our first issue with an appeal,
please can I ask you to ensure we have your
email address? With postal costs
becoming ever more prohibitive we hope
to conserve funds by communicating with
our members exclusively via email
May 2013
wherever possible. Please contact us at
members@yorkshirearboretum.org or on
01653 648598 to notify us of your email
address or any changes to it.
I’d also like to particularly draw your
attention to the Members Afternoon on
June 6th when Alastair Fitter, our Chair,
and I hope to meet as many of you as
possible for a discussion on our plans for
the arboretum’s development. More
details are on p.3, where you will also find
information on other forthcoming events.
If you’re unable to attend the Members’
Afternoon then I hope to see you on your
next visit to the arboretum or at one of our
events. In the meantime, thank you for
continuing to support the arboretum via
your membership.
John Grimshaw
director@yorkshirearboretum.org
A new approach... 2
...and a new path 2
Seasonal highlights: The
Director’s perspective
Members’ Afternoon
Thursday 6th June
Members’ Coffee
Mornings
2
3
3
What’s On 3
Membership Renewal 3
News from Ray Wood 4
Prunings from the
arboretum
4
NEIL BATTY S LONG SERVICE AWARD
A presentation was made recently to
Arboretum Operations Manager Neil Batty
by Mr Simon Howard, to recognise his
thirty years of service, first to Castle
Howard and then to the arboretum.
We are very grateful for Neil’s continued
service, loyalty and hard work. We’re
especially delighted to see him returned to
work and well on the way to recovery after
breaking his ankle in March.
ND A NEW MEMBER OF THE TEAM
We are delighted to welcome Susan Casey
as our Visitor Services Coordinator four
days per week (Fri – Mon), helping visitors
with tickets and membership purchases,
dealing with group and event bookings,
looking after the Visitor Centre and being
the welcoming face of the arboretum.

Yorkshire Arboretum Members’ Newsletter
Page 2
A NEW APPROACH...
We’ve been working to improve the
approach to the Visitor Centre, previously
rather unwelcoming and hardly visible
through dense conifers. Felling took place
in December and since then the area has
looked rather desolate. No longer!
Matthews Ltd. of Tenbury Wells, Worcs.
New grass has been sown to cover the
ground so very soon the transformation will
be complete.
Mike Hainsworth
in action in the
car park
WEEKEND
OPENING TIMES
The arboretum
and café are now
open until 6pm
every Saturday
and Sunday until
31 October—an
ideal opportunity
for an afternoon
stroll.
As well as being a
delicious treat
during your visit, a
selection of the
café’s renowned
home-made cakes
are also available
to take away—
enjoy our cake in
your home!
Last week, with incredible skill, precision
and delicacy, our contractor Mike
Hainsworth extracted the tree roots and
graded the ground with his digger. He then
proceeded, with rather more vigour, to
create a few extra car parking spaces.
Next day, Nicola Hall and the Tree Team
volunteers planted a selection of attractive
new trees, some from our partner, RBG
Kew, others generously provided by FP
We’ve also been busy improving access into
the arboretum for those visitors with
limited mobility, those with pushchairs and
AND A NEW PATH
buggies, and indeed all visitors during wet
periods when the grass paths become
quagmires.
Our splendid new path, which wends its
way from the Visitor Centre to the track by
the lake, via the Katsura Grove, is being
completed as we go to press. As with all
new construction it looks a little stark
against the landscape at the moment but
will soon soften in and become a welcome
addition to the arboretum.
SEASONAL HIGHLIGHTS: THE DIRECTOR S PERSPECTIVE
This is my first spring here and after the
miserably long winter it is lovely to see the
arboretum coming back to life.
I find the subtle shades of green seen in
breaking foliage more attractive than
gaudier autumn colours —and more
optimistic, promising a future, not an end.
These are the forerunners of the bulbs we
plan to plant annually from now on, as part
of the Trust’s plans to enhance the beauty
of the arboretum with more flowering
plants through the year.
As I write, the pheasants-eye daffodils and
camassias we planted last autumn are
coming into full flower and promise a
splendid show.

May 2013 Page 3
MEMBERS
FTERNOON - THURSDAY JUNE 6TH, 4PM
All members are cordially invited to join
Alastair Fitter, Chair of Trustees, and John
Grimshaw, Director, to hear about the
Trust’s plans to protect and develop the
long-term future of the Yorkshire
Arboretum.
There will be a couple of short
presentations on our investment strategy,
landscape management plan and financial
ambitions followed by an open discussion
so do please bring along any questions
you’d like to ask.
Please join us at 4pm for a cup of tea and a
slice of home-made cake from the
Arboretum Café. The meeting will then
start at 4.30 pm, with talks lasting no more
than 30 minutes. The floor will then be
open to members to raise any topics or
questions they may have.
Afterwards Alastair and John will be leading
a walk through the arboretum, which
members are welcome to join.
For catering purposes, we’d be grateful if
you could let us know if you plan to attend
this event on 01653 648598 or by email at
members@yorkshirearboretum.org
MEMBERS
OFFEE MORNINGS
WHAT S ON
Starting on the 5th
June, we are inviting
members to come to
the arboretum on the
first Wednesday of
each month for a cup
of coffee and an
informal presentation
from one of the team,
including a short walk into the arboretum
to see what projects they’re working on.
Presentations start at 11.30, so get your
coffee in good time! Details for each coffee
morning will be on the website.
June 2
June 3
Watercolour class
Members’ Preview of an Exhibition by
Susan Neale, Artist-in-Residence
June 4 Impressions of the Yorkshire
- 16 Arboretum—Exhibition by our
Artist-in-Residence
June 5
June 6
Members’ Coffee Morning
(presentation by Nicola Hall, Plant
Records & Tree Team Manager, 11.30am)
Members’ Afternoon, 4pm
June 13 Horticultural Lecture Series
Paul Evans, A wildflower meadow
walk, 7.30pm
June 21 Volunteers’ Garden Party, 6.30pm
July 3
Members’ Coffee Morning
More details for all
events can be
found on the
website and in the
Visitor Centre.
Updates will be
sent by email, or
please check the
What’s On board in
the Visitor Centre
on your next visit.
Don’t forget Wild
About Wood on the
14th/15th
September!
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
If you have not yet renewed your
membership for 2013, please do so soon to
continue receiving your membership
benefits.
Membership now runs for 12 months, not
over a calendar year, so a renewal now will
run until May or June 2014
“members only” entry during February
Free entry to the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew, Westonbirt, the Bedgebury
Pinetum, Kent and HDRA Ryton Organic
Gardens, Coventry
Free spring and autumn tours of Ray
Wood
Don’t forget that, in addition to supporting
the work of the arboretum your
membership includes:
Unlimited entry to the arboretum for 10
months per year including exclusive
Discounted or free entry to a range of
arboretum events
Membership Application Forms can be
downloaded from the website (click on the Get
Involved tab, then Membership) or picked up at
the Visitor Centre.

Brochure design: www.marketingbyignite.com
May 2013 Page 4
NEWS FROM RAY WOOD
The restoration work in Ray Wood that has
taken place over the past three years,
funded by The Monument Trust and
Foundation Arboretum Wespelaar, has
been spectacularly justified this spring by
the magnificent flowering of the
rhododendrons. They are enjoying the
increased light levels and freedom from
competing vegetation.
New trails have been devised to guide
visitors to interesting plants, and a new
informational booklet about the garden has
been produced by Castle Howard.
An exhibit of rhododendrons from Ray
Wood staged at RHS Harlow Carr last
month won several prizes, and drew the
collection to the notice of the public.
Members’ guided tours of Ray Wood will be
on the 28th May, 1st June, 27th & 29th
October. Please book at the Visitor Centre.
We hope this newsletter
is useful, informative and
helps you gain the most
from your membership
of the Yorkshire
Arboretum.
Kathryn Hardaker, our Education Officer,
recently spent some time at Hackfall Wood,
running pond-dipping sessions. Here are
excerpts from two of the thank you letters
received from the children, aged 9:
Elise: “I loved the pond dipping! I caught a
few tadpoles, a newt and a big frog!”
Alex: “We caught 3 tadpoles, a newt and
that big frog that Elise stole from us!”
Did you know that the Arboretum Café was
awarded a 5* Food Hygiene Rating (the
best possible) after a recent inspection? A
resounding endorsement of the work of
PRUNINGS FROM THE ARBORETUM
Diane King and all the café team and yet
another reason to indulge in their delicious
home-made fare!
We warmly welcome Jackie Ray and
Christine Pietrowski as our new voluntary
Volunteer Coordinators. They are busy
bringing our volunteer database up to date
and have produced new role descriptions
for areas where we’re looking for volunteer
assistance. These are available on the
volunteering page of our website, or by
request from the Visitor Centre desk. You
can contact Jackie and Chris on
volunteer@yorkshirearboretum.org
Please send your
feedback, together with
your photos, stories and
suggestions for topics
you’d like to see covered
in the next issue to
news@yorkshirearboretum.org
Castle Howard
York
YO60 7BY
p: 01653 648598
e: members@yorkshirearboretum.org
w: www.yorkshirearboretum.org
The Yorkshire Arboretum is indebted to the many talented photographers whose work illustrates these pages. These include, amongst others, Harry & Joyce Kingman,
John Grimshaw, Ron Cooke and Roy Howell. All photos & illustrations remain © of their respective copyright owners and are used with permission.