Pilot 1 at Askham Bryan

November 17, 2023

How appropriate that our first pilot Rural Week at Askham Byan College started on Remembrance Sunday.

Thanks to generous support from the Ennismore Trust it was a huge collaborative effort which saw Chris, Pete, Anna and Jamie travel to Askham Bryan in Yorkshire where they were joined by 6 Pathfinders from the RAF Regiment and the Army to start our long-awaited rollout of the Rural Weeks programme to increase our capacity by delivering Rural Weeks in the North as well as the South West at Bicton.

Kate Rowland’s programme started on Monday with a visit to the Sawmill on the Halifax Estate to talk Forestry followed by a visit to Askham Bryan’s Equine yard, and then an excellent Arboriculture presentation by Jonathan Chambers from Trees 4 Yew.

Then it was off to Carlton Lodge to meet George Plant for a discussion about opportunities in Outdoor Education as the bitterly cold Yorkshire rain lashed down.

After a warming tea back at Askham Bryan Pete gave a Wheel of Life presentation to close our first day of Pilot 1.

An early start on Tuesday took our Pathfinders to the National Pig Centre and then on to York racecourse to meet Head Groundsman Adrian Kaye to talk sports turf management and grounds maintenance. Then off to York Arboretum at Castle Howard for some estate maintenance and tree health with Ginette Alexander.

Tom Lawson from WildTrackPro joined us after tea as our first evening speaker to close another busy day.

Wednesday started with an online presentation by our Advisory Board member Jonny Kerr from Velcourt to discuss opportunities for service leavers and veterans in Agriculture, which was followed by a tour of the College dairy and beef unit with David Cousins, Farms Director of Velcourt.

A visit to Fulford Golf Club to meet Carl the Head Greenkeeper was followed by a presentation back at the College about the motorsport industry by Ben Sykes.

Last session before tea was a visit to the College Digital VR Suite where Wolf Wright put our Pathfinders through their paces.

Rural Week Alumni Ross Hocking General Manager at PGL was our evening speaker with another inspiring presentation, and everyone appreciated the opportunity to learn from his experiences getting into the land-based sector after he left the Army.

Thursday’s programme started with a visit to an arable farm with Mathew Parkin before it was back to the College for a visit to the Wildlife Park to meet Jo Richards and Luke Patterman and learn about volunteering and Animal Management.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery provided an opportunity to learn more about Horticulture and ground maintenance and with York racecourse, wonderful opportunities to see Horticulture of the highest standard.

Final session of the day was a presentation by Joe Bonner from HSBC Commercial about Agriculture finance and careers.

Jamie our CEO rounded off the week with a session on Friday morning about next steps and future HighGround support, before it was time to thank our Pathfinders and wish them safe home.

Many lessons learned and we thank Tim, Laura and their team at Askham Bryan for making us so welcome.

Last word:

This course has reaffirmed to me that I have made the right decision to leave the military. I have also felt what you have shown us is what I would like to do in the future.

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