JANE TUCKWELL’S first job interview was at the age of 18, in the hunting field, when Col Frank Weldon, the fairly imperious director of Badminton Horse Trials, ‘rode round and round me and said “Well, young lady, I hear you didn’t do a bad job helping with the Pony Club championships. You’d better come to work for me”’.
Not many people wait 45 years for another interview, but that is what happened to Mrs Tuckwell when Col Weldon’s successor, Hugh Thomas, surprised the eventing world by announcing his retirement (after 30 years), on the Monday after this year’s event in May, and she was subsequently invited into Badminton House to talk to the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort. ‘I’d never been frightened of walking in there before, but I was then,’ she confesses.
‘I definitely thought, do I really want to do this? But there aren’t many chances to go in at the bottom—I mean, I used to go puce if Col Weldon even spoke to me —and come out at the top. I’ve been bowled over by the support I’ve received.’
Directing Badminton, the world’s oldest, richest and most famous horse trials, a major sporting event in its own right with about 160,000 plus visitors, is considered the plum job in equestrianism—Mr Thomas often said ‘I’m a lucky chap’—and speculation about his successor was rife.
In truth, no one else was in the running. The announcement that Badminton was to have its first female director in 70 years, and that it was to be the modest, discreet woman who, for decades, has calmed and charmed riders, volunteers and tradestand holders behind the scenes, has been extremely popular.
Denne historien er fra September 18, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra September 18, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
