Charity Lantern Walk to be held at Ragley

Warwickshire based bereavement support Charity Guy’s Gift will be holding its Christmas Lantern Walk once again on 12^th December at Ragley Hall.   The charity hopes to build on the success of last year’s event when around 30 families took part in the walk.  
The object is to allow children, young people and their families to take time to reflect on the life of someone special to them who has died at a time of year which can be difficult for bereaved families.

Stuart Potter, Service Manager at Guy’s Gift, said:  “Many of the people we support can find Christmas without a loved one a very daunting and isolating experience.  Christmas is a family orientated time of year and for children it should be a time of anticipation and fun.  For some children, when someone special has died, it can be a very lonely and sad time.

The Lantern Walk is a way for children and families to share their memories of that special person in a positive way, and an opportunity to meet others who may experience similar feelings.

Ragley Hall provides a fantastic setting for a very meaningful Lantern Walk that is part of the integrated support for bereaved children provided by the charity.”

The Walk will be taking place from 4pm-6pm through the Gardens at Ragley and local youngsters who have been affected by the death of someone close to then are welcome to take part providing they register with the organisers in advance.  
Guy’s Gift is a registered charity providing support for bereaved children, young people and their families in South Warwickshire following the death of a parent, sibling or other significant person in their life. 
For more information or to register for the Lantern Walk please contact Guy’s Gift on 0845 4673035 or visit www.guysgift.co.uk .

2010 Christmas Market set to be bigger and better than ever!

Ragley’s 2010 Christmas Market and Fayre is bigger and better than ever with over forty stalls taking over the ground floor of the House and a great selection of handmade and unusual products .  It will be the perfect place to pick up a special Christmas gift with stalls including jewellery and accessories, childrenswear, quilts and beauty products.  Plus there will be plenty of festive treats to stock up on with cakes, sweets, fudge and liqueurs.

 If you need a break from shopping, there will be carol singers and musicians performing on the South Staircase and Red Saloon at various times throughout the day, creating a great atmosphere.

For the younger ones, Father Christmas will be waiting in the Great Hall with a present for every child and there will be craft activities to keep them busy.  Our storyteller will also be gathering the children around the fire in the library with a traditional Christmas tale which will entertain all ages.

A warm Chritsmas welcome awaits

Hot food will be provided by Ragley Estate Meats in a covered marquee on the terrace along with hot drinks, traditional mince pies and mulled wine flowing.

According to event organiser Lisa Cope; “Following the success of last year’s event, we have been inundated with craftspeople and local retailers wanting to come along to the market, so we decided to increase the number of stalls in the House.  We are really looking forward to welcoming people to enjoy the shopping and the festive atmosphere.”

The Christmas Market and Fayre is taking place on 27^th & 28^th November from 10am-4pm each day and admission is £6 for Adults and £5 for Children.

For more information and a full list of stallholders visit www.ragleyhall.com or call 01789 762090.

Visitors Flock to Fireworks

Visitors flocked to Ragley Hall’s Bonfire & Fireworks event, which took place on Saturday 6^th December in the grounds of the stately home.

Nearly twice the number of people attended this year’s display as in 2009, bringing the total for the event to over 5,000.

Visitors enjoyed a display by Dragonfire Professional Fireworks and the reflection of the bonfire in the Lake proved to be an impressive spectacle.

Other attractions included a fire show, music provided by Touch FM, fairground rides and a range of food and drink stalls.

This is only the second year that Ragley has held a Bonfire Night event and the overwhelming number of visitors did cause local traffic problems.

According to Rebecca Smith, Marketing Executive at Ragley;

“We anticipated and prepared for a modest increase in visitors for this year, but the attendance exceeded our expectations and regrettably a number of cars were unable to gain entry.

As with any event where tickets are not sold in advance, it is very difficult to predict how many people will attend, but we felt that we were well prepared.  However, it seems that the poor weather on Friday night, when many other displays were taking place and the dry conditions on Saturday led to a much larger number of visitors than we had imagined.

We have received some excellent comments from visitors and we will look at all of our customer feedback when planning for next year’s event.”

Ragley Puts Popular New Burgers into Production

Warwickshire based butchers Ragley Estate Meats has been helping another well known local company bring their burgers into supermarkets by taking over the production side of the process.

Muddy Boots, which has enjoyed a large amount of success since it featured earlier in the year on the television show High Street Dreams, decided to outsource production of its popular burgers to Ragley’s state of the art processing plant on the Estate after they were unable to cope with demand.

The ethos of the company is to create quality burgers by using more of the beef than just the cheap cuts that are traditionally used to make this type of product.  All burgers have high beef content and are gluten and wheat free, with the delicious range including Stilton and Herefordshire Cider and Leek and Mushroom burgers.

Miranda Ballard, who co-founded Muddy Boots with her husband Roland in 2008, recalls how they were looking to outsource production but were struggling to find a suitable partner;

 “Having started making burgers here at the farm myself only last year, we were really nervous about making the step to outsource production and hand the reins over to anyone else. After four disheartening attempts to find somewhere, the heavens seem to open when the Heart of England Fine Food network recommended Ragley Estate Meats .

As soon as we met them, we knew we’d found what we were looking for. They totally agreed with our position on ethical farming and top quality meat and understood our determination to continue to produce handmade beef burgers. Their hygiene standards and facilities are brilliant and their experience and knowledge is so useful to us.”

Miranda and Roland Ballard from Muddy Boots with Debbie Cookes from Ragley Estate Meats

After being trialed in two Waitrose stores following the programme, the burgers are now available in ten supermarkets as well as online and in local farm shops.

According to Miranda, the relationship with Ragley Estate Meats has been an important factor in the Muddy Boots success story;

 “I did a handover for two months, working alongside them in their kitchens, and learned that the staff there are quite simply the kindest, happiest and most helpful workforce I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. The team at Ragley Meats now gets us safely onto the Waitrose shelves twice a week and we look forward to expanding and developing Muddy Boots with their help.”

Ragley Estate Meats’ processing and storage facilities are second to none and as well as producing their own award winning range of sausages, pies and other products, Ragley are happy to work with other like minded individuals and companies in the industry.

For more information visit www.ragleyestatemeats.com or contact Vanda Cookes on 01789 765371.

Don't Miss Ragley Estate Meats Tasting Day

Visitors to another Tasting Day at a Hillers Farm Shop on Oct 9th will be the first to sample our delicious new seasonal pie which brings together the best of Warwickshire's food and drink producers.

The recipe for our new Turkey and Purity Mad Goose Pie is another tasty creation developed in collaberation with local brewers Purity of Great Alne, and made with the finest turkey meat from Adlington Turkey of Balsall Common. The launch of the pie follows hot on the heels of our immensly popular Ragley Pork and Purity Pure UBU sausage which launched this Summer.

Paul Halsey, Managing Director of Purity, Malcolm Cookes and Adrian Bonsall of Ragley Estate Meats and Rod Adlington from Adlington Turkeys.

Everyone is invited to come down to the award winning Hillers Farm Shop in Dunnington and try the new pie – just a flavour of what will be on offer over the Winter months. As well as samples of the new Turkey and Purity Mad Goose Pie from Ragley Estate Meats, Hillers will be offering tasters of seasonal produce from the Farm Shop and Hillers Kitchen.

Ragley Estate Meats' Chef Adrian Bonsell, who created the new pie said; "It is truly a delight having the opportunity to make something completely different with fantastic results from amazing ingredients for an over whelming flavour."

The Tasting Day takes place on Saturday 9th October from 10am to 4pm and we hope to see you there!
For more information contact Hillers on 01789 773057 or visit the Hillers website.

Amateur Photography Exhibition

An exhibition of amateur photography is on display at Ragley Hall this month for visitors to the Stately Home to enjoy.



The summer photography competition took place throughout June and July, with visitors to the magnificent grounds and park of Ragley invited to take digital photos of the Jerwood Sculptures around Ragley and submit them to be judged by Claire Burns, Assistant Director of the Jerwood Foundation.


Winners were announced for each of the three entry categories; age 12 and under – Chloe Cookes, age 12-16 – Rachel Timms, and age 16 and over – Matt Sharpe. The winners of 1st place in each category received a season ticket to Ragley and £100 cash prize.

Cloaked Figure by Matt Sharpe

An exhibition of the nine ‘placed’ pieces is mounted within the subhall area at Ragley Hall and open for the public to view until 5th September. This has been expanded to include photography by many works deemed ‘Highly Commended’ by the judges of this popular competition.


The Jerwood Sculpture Collection at Ragley Hall is one of the largest permanent collections of sculpture on view to the public in the UK. Laid out across 400 acres of picturesque parkland landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown, it is fast becoming a major tourist attraction for the Midlands and beyond.


The growing Jerwood Sculpture Collection currently stands at 28 pieces and is set out along a 2½ mile Sculpture Trail. Alongside works by artists of international reputation such as Kenneth Armitage, Michael Ayrton, Lynn Chadwick, Dame Elisabeth Frink and Antony Gormley, the collection includes works by other important international sculptors and by emerging artists who have won the Jerwood Sculpture Prize.

CLA Game Fair Hailed a Huge Success

The CLA Game Fair, which took place at Ragley Hall at the end of July has been hailed a huge success by organisers and visitors alike. The event, which has been established for over fifty years but was held at Ragley for the first time this year, attracted more than 144,000 visitors over the three days.




The show offered the opportunity to have a go at activities such as archery, fishing and 4x4 driving, as well as a wealth of shopping opportunities from the 1,000 exhibitors on site. The main arena entertained visitors throughout the day with displays such as falconry, equine acrobatics and sheepdog demonstrations.

According to the Game Fair local committee chairman David Lodder; “Ragley Hall is a fantastic site for the Game Fair and I am sure it will become one of the event’s most popular venues. It is easily accessible, the traffic system works well and it offers a well laid out, easy to get around site.”

Although this was primarily an outdoor event, the magnificent Palladian Hall was taken advantage of by exhibitors and sponsors and hosted a number of drinks parties, networking breakfasts and dinners over the three days.

Ragley’s General Manager Tom Shepstone said; “The Game Fair was a huge success and an opportunity for us to showcase to thousands of people how Ragley is an ideal venue for these large events, as well as an excellent setting for entertaining. We look forward to working with the CLA, and the other organisations who held events at Ragley during the show, in the future.”