Alive and kicking – the annual Hardwick
Live Festival may have been cancelled this
year, but Hardwick Hall has still hosted live
events on their magnificent grounds.
M People star and Gabrielle
lined up as Ramside Estates
bounces back
MOVING
ON UP
Colin Young hears how one
of the region’s leading leisure
businesses is fighting back from
the summer’s setbacks
With their music and food
festivals, weddings, dinners and
hundreds of functions cancelled
or postponed throughout the summer,
one leading County Durham business has
constantly adapted to lead the battle for
survival.
Ramside Estates, with four major
establishments across the region, has been at
the forefront of the 2020 Covid-19 fightback
even before lockdown was lifted.
The Impeccable Pig in Sedgefield, the
nearby Hardwick Hall Hotel, the smaller
Bowburn Hall Hotel near Durham, and the
group’s flagship Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf
and Spa have all been hit by the pandemic
this year.
But throughout the crisis, Ramside
Estates owner John Adamson has remained
determined to pull through on behalf of
the 700-plus employees across the group,
Ramside’s numerous locally-sourced
suppliers and local charities who benefit
from his company’s generosity.
John said: “These have obviously been
very difficult and challenging times for all
of us and for businesses across the world,
never mind County Durham, and we have
certainly faced a number of setbacks with
cancellations and postponement of some of
our major events and functions.
“And as a company which always uses
local companies for our produce, obviously
that has had a massive knock-on effect on
our suppliers and the local economy.
“We were all determined that Ramside
Estates had to survive this because it has
32
Tremendous – the new
Treehouses at the Ramside
Hall have been a huge hit
since reopening.
always been an integral part of the region
and reinvested in the local community.
“Over the years we have supported local
charities and organisations and helped raise
hundreds of thousands of pounds at various
events, so there is a real responsibility on us
to come through this and thrive.
“It has obviously not been easy but it
has not been easy for anybody. We have
all had to adapt and change, listen to the
advice, follow the guidelines and any new
regulations, and simply make sure we come
out the other side of this.
“And I do think it is important for the
whole of Durham, not just ourselves, that we
can do that.”
One of the biggest blows for Ramside
Estates was the postponement of the annual
Hardwick Festival, the two-day extravaganza
in the grounds of the Sedgefield country
home and hotel which has become one of
the highlights of the North-East’s music
calendar.
This year’s line-up would have included
US legend Nile Rodgers and his band Chic,
as well as Travis, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, The
Charlatans and former Smiths guitarist
Johnny Marr. The good news is that Rodgers,
David Bowie’s former producer, has agreed
to return to the event next summer.
As an alternative, in the meantime,
Hardwick Hall will now host a number of
music and entertainment events, until the
(very different) 17th annual North-East
Oyster Festival on Friday, September 11.
Singers Heather Small and Gabrielle will be
among the acts appearing before audiences
who will be seated in their individual sixman,
socially-distanced booths Jewel in the
crown – Ramside Hall Hotel, pictured from
the Prince Bishops golf course. another sign
of the times of Hardwick’s versatility.
And that adaptability has brought rewards
across the company which is proving
popular with regulars and newcomers.
Rooms with hot-tubs at The Impeccable
Pig have proved popular, along with its
outstanding restaurant, with guests seeking
the solitude which is an integral part of an
overnight stay now, while the new lodges
at Bowburn Hall provide similar necessary
reassurance.