This is a series of articles by Paul Wade about Monkton Folk with a tale to tell.

Adrian 'Gunner' Mardon

Interviewing a real life, actual Ripon Hornblower, a resident of Bishop Monkton moreover, seemed like a great place to kick off a series of articles about Monktoners who do interesting things. And so it proved. I had prepared my opening question (of which more later), but as it turned out, my interviewee was in red hot form. Adrian Mardon aka ‘Gunner’ (only his Mum apparently calls him Adrian) has been a Hornblower since March 2024, could not have been more enthusiastic, helpful and knowledgeable on his subject. Unsurprisingly, after nearly 24 years in the Household Cavalry, his main themes turned out to be ‘Teamwork’ and ‘Tradition’.

‘In the army, looking out for your mates is everything. On and off duty,’ was just about the first thing he said.

Teamwork, it later transpires, is fairly fundamental to the subject we were about to discuss. 

‘Upholding tradition is also important to me,’ he added. ’Tradition is history and the importance of history is about acting on lessons learnt from the past’.

And the Hornblower tradition in Ripon does indeed have plenty of past. Gunner reminds me that King Alfred started the whole show in 886. Having briefly enjoyed the hospitality of the masons and glaziers of the area (building monasteries was their thing), Alfred was apparently so grateful that he granted a Royal Charter to the settlement of Ripon. This was a pretty big deal in those days as, amongst other things, it allowed the Charter holder to raise their own taxes and crucially Alfred marked the occasion with the presentation of a horn.

‘The horn was put to good use,’ Gunner assures me. ’The role of Wakeman was created and the horn blown by him every night to signal to early Riponians that the watch had been set and that they could count on the Wakeman’s policing team to keep them safe during the hours of darkness.’

’Ripon was way ahead of the game in terms of policing and what was effectively insurance and Council Tax-the policing service wasn’t for free even in the Dark Ages!’ (Astonishingly the original 886 horn still exists)

722 years later King James 1st-, apparently spurred on by jealous wealthy Riponians, sought to curb the powers of the Wakeman and had him report to a Mayor and this arrangement has been in place ever since.

‘I was advised by a friend of mine that there was a horn blowing vacancy’ says Gunner, when I ask him how he got a share in probably the oldest job in the UK .‘  I filled out the application form and was invited to an interview. They took me on as one of a team of four who share the duties.’ 

He is paid a nominal amount, but he gives the impression he would do it for free. The duty rota is set out three months in advance according to the availability of the various team members. When he is on duty, he arrives at the Obelisk in the Market Square at 9 p.m., dressed in full made to measure regalia and blows his horn at each corner of the 80ft high monument. 

‘You get training on how to blow the horn from the Bandmaster of Ripon. I have been allocated my own horn (the ‘QE11’ version), although it has taken me the best part of a year to master it. It is not really a musical instrument. There is also a lot of reading to do to make sure that the short history talk we do is accurate’, he says, although Hornblowers don’t have to stick to a script and can put their own personality into the proceedings. He gets the odd drunk or recalcitrant teenager to deal with, but people are ‘generally very respectful’ of the tradition and how it plays out. ‘The other Hornblowers turned out en masse for my debut’ he beams. ’Teamwork! They were really supportive and only picked me up on one or two small inaccuracies in my presentation!’

After the Obelisk talk is complete, the Hornblower then continues the ancient tradition by finding the Mayor, wherever they are in Ripon, to let them know that the ‘watch over the City has been set’. He has to blow his horn three times in their presence and the Mayor then signals acknowledgement. The ritual is complete for another day.

The reality is that there can be few if any other traditions that have been constant for what is now 1139 years and Gunner is proud to be part of a very long line of participants. Although we both feel that Ripon could maybe make even more capital out of probably one of the longest continuous traditions in the world, he is clear that the ceremony is not just something that is done for the sake of our forefathers.

’Judging by the numbers of people that show up every night to see us, it certainly helps bring in the tourist pounds which is good for the City and it forms part of Ripon’s pitch at tourism trade shows,’ he enthuses.

And so our conversation ends, although as Gunner thanks me for the coffee, I am reminded of where I thought it might have started, so I dig out the question I had prepared. I clear my throat.

’So, as I understand it, the Hornblower shows up at the Mayor’s house practically every night  and starts blowing a horn at 9.30pm. Don’t  you get loads of stick from the neighbours? What happens if they have just got the kids off to sleep?’

’‘Well’ said Gunner gently, ‘Sometimes the neighbours come out and support, but if truth be told I just blow as softly as I can get away with!’

At the end of our hugely enjoyable hour, I think my conclusion was that modern day Riponians can sleep as safely at night as their forbears did. Thanks to Gunner and his team mates the ancient and valuable tradition of the Ripon Hornblower is in very safe hands indeed.

                                                                                         ***************

Dr Chris Higgins.

It only occurred to me after our hour long chat that there were any number of subjects I could have covered with Dr Chris Higgins (‘Bishop Monkton’s Resident Astronomer’) that would have made a very interesting read.

Maybe his BSc and PhD in Pharmacology from Manchester University would have provided many of Bishop Monkton’s pill poppers (including me) with some comfort about where their medication comes from. 

Maybe tales from the croquet lawns where Chris is both groundsman and a player in national competitions, having only first picked up a croquet mallet in 2018.

Possibly even his career as a top level hockey player.

In the end after a brief detour around the late Bishop Monkton Entertainments Group, it is his astronomy work that gets the vote.

But first a little background.

Chris’s understated, but highly successful, career in the pharmaceuticals industry meant that he and his family would move to Bishop Monkton in 1998. ‘My job meant travelling a great deal, so Bishop Monkton was an ideal family base. It gave the convenience of being within walking distance of the school, plus the village has great facilities. Like many people it allowed us to make friends, and put down some roots in a lovely environment’

‘I hope Bishop Monkton doesn’t change too much. Villages need to evolve, but I do hope that it retains the essence of the village that we loved when we moved here’. Nicely put.

‘I loved working with BMEG’ (he was in charge of sounds and lights for plays and pantomimes)) ‘I was very sad when it folded, particularly disappointed for the younger members of the cast. It had been a quintessential part of the life of this village for the best part of 40 years and now there is a whole generation of children who don’t know what they are missing. It required a hard core of enthusiastic adults to make it work, but the pantomimes especially were enormous fun.’ 

Many will agree with him, but currently not enough it seems, to get the show on the road again.

These days his time is split between his croquet activities in the summer and volunteering at the Lime Tree Observatory and Planetarium at Grewelthorpe in the winter. It sounds like his version of those sportsmen of the 1930’s who played professional football or County Cricket depending on the time of year. Either way, he is busy.

’Croquet is enormous fun, a competitive battle of wits, and I would recommend anyone to try it if they can - the version we play at Bishop Monkton is a really sociable and fun thing to do’.

But it is the Lime Tree Observatory and Planetarium in Grewelthorpe that is currently grabbing the headlines. The momentum around it has been growing since the early 2010’s and a profile of Chris in January’s 'Yorkshire Life' would suggest it is rightly taking its place as one of North Yorkshire’s most interesting leisure activities.

‘Astronomy as a pastime is really only a goer in the winter months’ says Chris, ‘So we are busy at Grewelthorpe from September through to May.

‘It was set up as a Community Interest Company, so is non-profit making and was started by a land owner, who wanted to diversify away from farming. He started with a campsite and then invited one of his friends to set up an observatory, installing a telescope that had been rescued from a site in Kent‘ he explains.

’I have been involved since 2018. In the winter it takes up 4 nights a week and in the summer a couple of days. Like everyone else, we all work there on an entirely voluntary basis. It is a real team effort now run by 4 of us.’ They do everything themselves from laying floors and painting walls to running high quality presentations. ‘We built a planetarium, where we host events ’, he throws in casually. (Hands up any other BMT readers who have taught themselves how to build a planetarium recently!).

Then we get to the numbers.

‘This season (winter 24/25) we will host around 1,650 people, in groups of 25, for talks and specially created shows. Our audiences are split between school groups and private hire by organisations such as the WI or just groups of friends who are interested in astronomy’ says Chris. ‘The shows go from a ‘Guide to the Heavens’ session for Primary School children, a ‘Halloween Special’, through to the ‘Star of Bethlehem’  which investigates the astronomy behind the Nativity story. Once you have seen the show we then take you outside and look at the night sky through telescopes. You realise the scale of what we are part of. The Universe is truly awesome’

I confess to having been 3 times and I have been blown away every time. I ask Chris what he thinks  makes it so special.

‘The groups are relatively small, so unlike other Planetariums, who will show a pre-set film, we get to engage with the audience and make sure that we are answering their questions. We listen as well as talk. There is the personal touch too -for example, we have someone stationed in the car park welcoming people, encouraging them to look through telescopes pre presentation and getting them in the mood ’ 

He adds that often when event tickets go on sale, ‘they often sell out in minutes’. In case you are wondering all events are sold out until November this year. The fantastic TripAdvisor reviews are clearly an accurate reflection of how popular it is.

’But the very best thing is that the subject is so vast that literally every day is a school day for us and our audiences’.

One of Chris’s colleagues at Grewelthorpe has described The Observatory and Planetarium  as ‘a hobby that got out of hand’ I close by asking Chris where his interest in astronomy originally came from.

‘The Apollo 11 moon landing,’ he says. ‘That day in 1969 I got home from school in Nottinghamshire and built my version of a space rocket with furniture and blankets.’

 I’m sure Messrs Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins would be very pleased if they could see what they inspired.

If you are interested in visiting or getting involved with The Lime Tree Observatory and Planetarium please contact email Chris click 

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Stancey Coughlan 

I ask Stancey Coughlan, in relation to one of her projects, MonktonFest, where on earth she got the idea for a mini music Festival in of all places, Bishop Monkton.

 After all, when the demographics of our lovely village are discussed, the (completely untrue, obviously) received wisdom is that Monktoners  are generally tucked up in bed by 8pm every night, dreaming of that crisp autumn day when Strictly starts up again.

Surely the idea of a music festival was counter-intuitive?

‘Actually MonktonFest started in Renton Close a number of years ago, when one of our friends decided he wanted live music to help with his birthday celebrations. This was quickly followed up by another neighbour offering their back garden as the venue. All it needed was a band to be sorted and that’s when Stancey stepped in to help, things then went from there and Monkton Fest was born!”

“Then after a few years, when it clearly became impractical to continue to run it in someone’s back garden, we moved it to the Mason’s. The latest iteration took place last year on the Village Hall Playing Fields, when we sold 350 tickets and could have sold a lot more.’

I asked her how many of the 350 tickets were bought by people who live in the village. ’About 90%,’ is the answer.’ There are plenty of people in Bishop Monkton who are interested in music and one of the aims of the day is to attract as wide an age range as possible. Loads of people attended, from babes in arms through to people in their 80’s. It worked really well’

Stancey is a ‘doer’. Her name has appeared as the organiser/key contact/ticket seller for many events in the village in the 14 years since she and her husband Ollie moved here from West Yorkshire. Bishop Monkton was well-known to them both, as Ollie’s parents already lived here and it was conveniently placed  between West Yorkshire and Stancey’s hometown of Blyth in Northumberland. ‘Because we already knew people it was both an easy choice to live here and to get involved early on’, she adds.

‘I imagine that sometimes people get sick of seeing my name, but I have realised over the years that if the  village ‘doers’ don’t ‘do’, then nothing gets done.’ I describe it as the ‘Oh Gawd! Not her again syndrome’ and she smiles knowingly, but continues, ’this village has shown it loves a good celebration or party and I love to see people happy and enjoying themselves.’

This year, maybe due to the pressure of her career as a General Manager for a dental company, where she is responsible for business in Northern Europe and South Africa, she is concentrating on two events. This year’s MonktonFest , but first the Annual Hog Roast and Duck Race on the last Monday in May.

I ask her how she feels about taking over such an established event as the Hog Roast? It is a fundraiser too - does that add pressure?

‘There are a number of people who have run this event very successfully over the years and whoever runs it can be grateful to be part of a very hard working team. I also have to mention my husband Ollie and son Fin, who could not be more supportive behind the scenes. This year we have formed a new committee, which is looking to evolve the event rather than change it’, she explains. ‘Last year for example, amongst other things, we introduced a gin bar, served the food earlier and played music through the day. This year we will be introducing more new ideas, which we will announce nearer the time. In the end these events are judged by the number of people who attend.’

This brings me to the North Yorkshire weather in May. Does she wake on Hog Roast Day and peek through the curtains, to see if it is being kind?

‘Something we can’t control is the weather, but what we can control is what we do about mitigating its impact on the day.’ Clearly the rain risk has been considered carefully. ‘So this year, one way or another before the event we would like to raise enough money to buy a gazebo to run the width of Main Street and as far down it as we can afford. It could also be used as a village resource for other events too. Watch out for details’.

So, like Wimbledon, Bishop Monkton gets a roof to protect it from the rain. You can only hope on behalf of the organisers that it goes unused.

Given that it never rains in Bishop Monkton in August (sic), we confidently return to this year’s Monkton Fest which, unlike the Hog Roast, is a break-even event with tickets last year priced at £11.

‘We are currently aiming for the last Saturday in August depending on how the cricket fixtures fall-but assuming we finalise a date fairly soon, then we are planning a similar format to last year. Live music starting late afternoon going on into the early and late evening, with several bands and probably a DJ. Marcus Swainston, a village resident who worked as a DJ in Ibiza, stepped up into the latter role last year, but we haven’t finalised the line up yet. The Mason’s will be serving food and drinks too.’

‘We might be able to sell even more tickets this year, which will make the aim of breaking even a little easier, but of course we have to respect the capacity of the facilities’.

Finally I ask her what her hopes are for Bishop Monkton over the next few years.

‘That we continue to be kind to each other. That we let the children play without complaint. And maybe like the Hog Roast, that MonktonFest becomes an event people put in their diaries months in advance’.

Pencil in August 30th. It is well before Strictly starts.

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​NEIL HARVEY

I thought my new editor had gone all Mystic Meg when she suggested I interview a professional football coach who was about to leave on a mission to Sub-Saharan Africa. How did she know it was the perfect assignment for a West African born football addict? Turns out she didn’t know - we just both got lucky! 

So with H2 pencil and anticipation both keenly sharpened and reporter’s notebook in hand, I press the magic button and the coffee machine gurgles into life….

Neil Harvey is a professional football coach who is about to exchange the delights of tropical Bishop Monkton for a summer of football as a volunteer coach in rural Zambia. The trip is not about unearthing the next generation of star footballers, it is much more interesting than that. 

I think everyone knows that sport often talks of hope-hoping to win, hoping to do your best-but  what I am about to fully realise is that the sporting language of hope can be much more subtle and important. 

For a football coach, Neil’s back story surprises me. ‘Basketball was my first serious sport and as a Worthing lad I was offered a contract with the Brighton Bears but even English professional basketball is dominated by the Americans and I thought that securing a place at University was a better long term bet’.

‘I was offered a place at St Mary’s Twickenham for a course called ‘Human Movement Studies’’. He then laughs because he knows that I will never have heard of ‘Human Movement Studies’ and I did begin to wonder what this course might actually involve. 

‘Basically it gave me the basis of being a sports coach and once I added a PGCE qualification later, it meant I could be a sports teacher’. 

Amongst other ruses to pay his way through University, he sold programmes pre-match at a number of London football clubs, including Chelsea. Straight forward enough, unless Leeds Utd. were in town. ‘If you sell programmes at Chelsea, selling spots are allocated on a first come first served basis. The earlier you got there the better the spot. The last ones to arrive had to sell programmes to the visiting fans. When Leeds were playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, all the programme sellers arrived at the stadium at the crack of dawn, because absolutely no one wanted to be in the away end. You needed a West Yorkshire accent to say anything, even ‘that will be 20p please’.  It was pretty scary stuff’. He still looks slightly haunted by the experience, so I assure him that Leeds fans are much more genteel these days. Or so I hear.

In his first year at University Neil also completed the FA Preliminary Coaching Course and learnt the basic language of football. This meant he could coach at grass roots level and in his first long summer holiday embarked on the first of what were to be seven tours of the US to do just that. ‘Every week the organisation I worked for used to send us to a different part of the US to run skills and coaching courses for youngsters. My first assignment was in Atlanta and the following week was a 12 hour drive away in Pennsylvania! We drove those long distances every week, but it was a great way of seeing the States, especially if you are in your early 20’s’.

What did he learn? ‘Boys and girls of that age just enjoy the basic processes of football. Warm up, skills practice and a game. So I learnt about communication, improvisation and organisation, but most importantly that if you can get the students to engage, they love it’. This, I imagine is a universal truth for all teachers.

After University and post PGCE, Neil and his wife Liz, (herself an artist and art tutor who now runs a successful studio in Grewelthorpe) then worked in international schools all around the world including spells in Cairo and Kuala Lumpur.

But it was the community football programmes, often sponsored by major clubs as part of their outreach programmes, that really grabbed his imagination. By now a freelance football coach, in 2007 he was asked to open a soccer school in Toulouse, South West France on behalf of Arsenal, who then suggested further opportunities, abroad in Bahrain and in the UK in Berkshire.

It is this conversation that leads us into talking about his upcoming Zambia trip. The charity he will be working with is called ‘Play it Forward’ where Neil will be building on previous assignments he undertook for other organisations in Ethiopia and Uganda. ’’Football’ has done some terrible things in Africa. So called agents have recruited young boys to Europe for ‘trials’ with major clubs, so they get on a plane to a strange country and frequently end up with no trial and a very dubious future. Many have been trapped and some finish up sleeping on the streets of cities like Paris.’ 

So what is the aim of the trip?

 ‘Half of the population of Zambia is aged 15 or under and the gap between the rich and poor is huge. If the country is to have a viable future, those young people need to be empowered. The great thing about running a community football programme is that it is less about improving skills and more about teaching the language of sport. Players learn the practicalities of teamwork, organisation and application - all are key life skills. For many, acquiring them represents a way forward in a very tough world. This is what makes running these programmes so worthwhile. Sport really does talk to them in a language they understand.

’It is giving both students and future coaches the tools so that they can generate their own confidence and self- belief, giving them real hope in life.’

Neatly put and as someone with both roots in Africa and a lifelong love of football, I wish him well.

For more on the organisation Neil is working with click

Neil’s trip is entirely self- funded and voluntary. If you would like to support the charity he will be working with please click