An alternative use for ‘green and pleasant land’
As part of its Veterans' Initiative, the CLA is pleased to be able to once again shine a spotlight on a member who has a good working relationship with the armed forces
In this Q&A, CLA South East regional surveyor Rosie Salt-Crockford speaks with Edward Barham of Hole Park in Kent, who has a unique way of showing his support for the military.
What made you want to support the CLA’s Veterans' Initiative?
Being a former soldier myself, I am very keen on the Armed Forces Covenant [which the CLA has signed] and as such, I would always welcome interest in employment opportunities from those who have served in the forces.
As I know from my own time in the army, the wide skillset that veterans possess is unique and so helpful on estates such as Hole Park where you need staff who are willing and able to turn their hand to anything as and when the need arises.
What goes on at Hole Park?
Hole Park has hosted a series of army exercises providing realistic training grounds for soldiers. This came about because the official training grounds are increasingly required for Ukrainians, plus the opportunities to use the official grounds are both very limited and strictly regulated.
Although there are many activities that they cannot perform on private land, we as landowners can offer much greater leniency and this provides options for a wide range of military activities.
What can (and can’t) soldiers do on your land? Is this compatible with your farming/forestry operations?
The military exercises we host have to fit around the estate activities and not the other way around, particularly farming and forestry operations. We cannot be unnecessarily disturbing livestock nor damaging crops which frequently belong to tenants.
However, in the right season and on the right ground, we can undertake a wide range of activities, although we haven't yet had digging trenches nor extensive use of armoured vehicles off road. On one occasion, a local military vehicle enthusiast bought his armoured vehicles to join the soldiers and give them a ride.
We are happy to permit the use of pyrotechnics and blank ammunition, though recent exercises have been without weapons to keep them low-key, so more focused on adventure training and low-level field skills.
Does being out on the estate spark some wider conversations on rural matters among the soldiers?
Yes, of course, and it introduces them to the concept of land management and ownership. Excursions with the gamekeeper on vermin control always seem to be particularly popular among the cadets!
For many of the soldiers, the only countryside they have seen is military training grounds and they are surprised to find themselves in a beautiful landscape that is also productive and full of activity.
Which regiments are using Hole Park and what has the feedback been?
A squadron of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards exercised at Hole Park in 2023. They also returned this year and we are expecting them in 2025 with a much bigger exercise. Kent cadets are also due here to use the ground, and it’s a pleasure to be able to offer them an alternative. The fact that they keep coming back speaks for itself.
How did this arrangement come about, and how could other CLA members offer their land for training exercises?
We have hosted military exercises at Hole Park for centuries, literally. We dig up Victorian military accoutrements with metal detectors. Throughout WW2 the house and park was requisitioned. My father was in the Home Guard (briefly resurrected in the 1950s) and I served during the Cold War.
The more recent flurry of activity comes from my son who, like me, also served in the Queen’s Dragoon Guards. He was able to bring his squadron here. They liked it so much that they keep coming back. If we have a larger exercise in 2025, as anticipated, I will be speaking to adjacent landowners to see whether we can spill over into their grounds.
I fear that these exercises are only really come about through personal knowledge and contact. If members were keen and live near to barracks, then they could always contact the unit based there and offer to share their land.
What sort of things did you have to do/consider before hosting such training – insurance, risk assessments?
We have many activities in our parkland from concerts to caravanning and retail shows up with up to 10,000 people present. A few soldiers is therefore quite easy to take in our stride and they tend to be self-contained.
They receive a copy of our risk assessment and standard terms of business, although no contract is in place. We sign off the military documentation for Training On Private Land TOPL (the army is full of acronyms). We have not had any problems. As far as I am concerned, this is just another camping holiday activity within our insurable activities.
Why is supporting the armed forces, and the people leaving them, so important?
At this time of annual remembrance it is easy to count how many times in the last century Britain's green and pleasant land has only remained as it is due to the sacrifices made by many in the armed forces.
Although that threat may have moved from our shores to the far-away lands of eastern Europe and the Middle East, the threats remain very real. We all need to do our bit to support the nation and in particular our armed forces to make sure they are as ready as can be.
