Just stuff...

Wow, what an August we have had! OK, the weather was frustrating at times but we grew visitors by 50% in the month. One of the great things about Blenheim Palace is that we can, on the whole, grow visitor numbers without feeling particularly crowded so our visitors still get a great experience.

But it's back to school time now and that means the grown ups can come out to play. September is one of the best months to visit Blenheim Palace, with a glorious Indian Summer lighting the Palace and park landscape. I cannot let the moment pass without pointing out that if you have an Annual Pass (and why wouldn't you?) then you can come in and enjoy a briefer visit at no cost! I would particularly recommend a walk with a friend around Queen's Pool after the kids have gone to school....

Despite the busy Summer, our staff have grabbed the chance for holidays far and wide and have come back revitalised, just in time to relieve our wonderful seasonal staff who drive us through the Summer. Many of those are university students who come back to help us year after year - these are now heading back in waves to university. Well, except Emily File in our retail team whose term does not start until 8 OCTOBER. As her dad pointed out, more time for her to earn money.

One person sadly is going further and wider - we also say goodbye to popular retail assistant manager Lucy Tarrant who for some reason has decided to flee to Canada for a year. Was it something we said? Good luck Lucy, you'll be missed... hope you come back to us soon (with a Mountie in tow as discussed).

For myself, I did not go far (or indeed anywhere) but I did take a week to experience Oxford, with walks around the colleges, punting, Shakespeare on the roof of the Said Business School and, yes, a trip on an open-roofed double decker tourist bus! All great fun and very refreshing.

While we are generally staffing down, it is not a one-way process and we are looking to welcome two key members of new staff. Hopefully today we will confirm the appointment of a new retail supervisor to help replace Lucy. We are also about to start interviewing for a new role - Head of Membership. Yes, there are so many Annual Pass members out there (73,000 and counting) that we have decided to appoint someone very special to look after you all properly. We have had a great response to the advert and hope to make an announcement soon. This important role underlines our commitment to the Annual Pass scheme for the future.

Have a great weekend.

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