Leicestershire - The Little Dalby Estate

Woodman Terry 'boughs' out!

The Ernest Cook Trust has bid a fond farewell to one of its longest-serving employees - woodman Terry Darby, who has retired after 30 years at the Trust's Little Dalby estate in Leicestershire.

As well as his role tending to the estate's woodlands and hedges, Terry, aged 63, has been a general handyman, able to turn his hand to anything.

"Dripping taps, garden gates coming off, or if a farmer has a problem with a tree coming down - you name it, I can fix it," he said. "In this job you get to know all the tenant farmers and we all try to help each other as much as we can. The Trust is like a close family really."

The 5,500-acre Little Dalby Estate, near Melton Mowbray, is owned and managed by the Ernest Cook Trust, one of the UK's leading educational charities.

Terry Darby was born and bred in nearby Waltham and has deep family roots in the estate – his grandfather worked at the estate's country house, Little Dalby Hall.

He has witnessed many changes during his time working for the estate. The landscape has altered as areas that he planted with Jack Atton, his predecessor as head woodman, have now grown into mature woodland.

"It's hard work nursing them into big trees," he said. "The landscape is always changing - we keep losing trees with the wind and bad weather. Nothing lasts forever, does it?"

He has also seen big changes in the local population. "It's surprising the amount of town people who have moved into our cottages. They used to be occupied by people working on the land."

Terry is looking forward to retirement, but he won't be idle. He will still be involved with the shoot at Little Dalby. He has two grandchildren, and many hobbies to keep him busy, including building model railways and fishing. "There's a lot more to life than just working," he says.

Jonathan Stebbing, the Ernest Cook Trust's deputy agent, paid tribute to Terry's many years of hard work. "He has played a central role in caring for the woodland on the Little Dalby estate and can be proud of the environmental legacy he helped create," he said.

Terry's successor is Michael Dickinson, aged 39 (pictured left in photo) , who joins Little Dalby with a wealth of experience after 21 years in forestry on the Duke and Duchess of Rutland's Belvoir Estate.

Michael applied for the post after seeing it advertised in the Melton Times. "I'm really looking forward to getting started and getting to know the estate," he said.

He and his wife Mandy, who is office manager on the Belvoir Estate, have moved into one of the estate cottages in Little Dalby.