Cycles everywhere plus thumb update
The cycle of life continues at Blenheim Palace. As we prepare for the funeral of Tony White (our construction manager) we received joyful news today of the birth of Alison Digweed's grand-daughter (Sophie Grace) ten days early. Alison retires tomorrow as our payroll manager, both to try to keep up with her husband and to share the lives of her grand-children. Remarkable timing really - and there was me thinking she wanted to avoid a payroll year end! Remarkable is a word that fits Alison very well really; she has done a stunning job.
As I said to one group today, these events remind us that life moves relentlessly on. You can either rage against it or smile and flow with it, enjoying and making the most of the ride. Alison is most definitely doing the latter. We are very lucky to have been part of the last 15 or so years of her life, we wish her the very best in the next 15 as she and Chris bless their grandchildren's lives too.
It was also great to see so many former members of staff at our farewell celebrations for Alison, proof if ever needed of the enduring strength of the family which makes up Blenheim.
We continue to focus our efforts and investment in our year long "Buy One Day, Get 12 Months Free" promotion. We had some credit card glitches over the weekend, causing delays for our guests and stress for our staff. I was impressed and proud that our IT Manager Tim Long responded by offering to shift his working week so that he is in every weekend until the end of summer and that he will base himself in the heart of our Operations team to provide the best support possible both to our reception teams and to our guests. Ensuring that we give the best and smoothest welcome to our guests is incredibly important to us. That we are usually achieving that is clear from our performance - again this weekend we had 50% more visitors than this time last year. (No, we are not full!)
I met a lot of happy visitors on Saturday afternoon and I took some dear friends around both the State Rooms (guided tour) and Blenheim Palace: The Untold Story (guided by the ghost of the first Duchess's maid Grace Ridley). Sometimes we get so familiar with this that we take it for granted; the look on my friends faces reminded me what a special experience Blenheim Palace is.
I am glad to report that my thumb has healed. I am utterly underwhelmed by the sympathy that was not aroused. My triathlon training staggers along but I get on my bike this week to ramp up the training.
Which probably brings us back to the beginning of this missive....
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As I said to one group today, these events remind us that life moves relentlessly on. You can either rage against it or smile and flow with it, enjoying and making the most of the ride. Alison is most definitely doing the latter. We are very lucky to have been part of the last 15 or so years of her life, we wish her the very best in the next 15 as she and Chris bless their grandchildren's lives too.
It was also great to see so many former members of staff at our farewell celebrations for Alison, proof if ever needed of the enduring strength of the family which makes up Blenheim.
We continue to focus our efforts and investment in our year long "Buy One Day, Get 12 Months Free" promotion. We had some credit card glitches over the weekend, causing delays for our guests and stress for our staff. I was impressed and proud that our IT Manager Tim Long responded by offering to shift his working week so that he is in every weekend until the end of summer and that he will base himself in the heart of our Operations team to provide the best support possible both to our reception teams and to our guests. Ensuring that we give the best and smoothest welcome to our guests is incredibly important to us. That we are usually achieving that is clear from our performance - again this weekend we had 50% more visitors than this time last year. (No, we are not full!)
I met a lot of happy visitors on Saturday afternoon and I took some dear friends around both the State Rooms (guided tour) and Blenheim Palace: The Untold Story (guided by the ghost of the first Duchess's maid Grace Ridley). Sometimes we get so familiar with this that we take it for granted; the look on my friends faces reminded me what a special experience Blenheim Palace is.
I am glad to report that my thumb has healed. I am utterly underwhelmed by the sympathy that was not aroused. My triathlon training staggers along but I get on my bike this week to ramp up the training.
Which probably brings us back to the beginning of this missive....
Post a comment
posted by Dominic Hare at
Monday, March 30, 2009
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