Oliver Wicksteed has been a Trustee of the Wicksteed Charitable Trust since 2001. He became Chairman in 2006 and has a tremendous amount to give to the Trust and Wicksteed Park.

Oliver has been involved with the park since his childhood and is enormously proud of his heritage. In addition to his familial links, Oliver has a great deal to offer the Trust from a commercial perspective.
Oliver is the Managing Director of his own organisation which he formed 18 years ago. His companies include a successful leading kitchen design company, an online retail business and a marketing business. Using his expertise and entrepreneurial skills, Oliver has grown the business from its humble beginnings in his “back bedroom” to a multi million pound turnover business.

The business won the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce award for “Innovation through Technology” in 2014. Oliver has written software to automate his business wherever possible so it offers the most cost effective and efficent service possible to his customer base. The award recognises the cutting edge technology that is the basis of his businesses – an accolade of which he is very proud.

Oliver’s business acumen and commercial expertise, together with his desire to embrace new technology drives the Trust forward to continue the legacy left by his Great Grandfather. The man management skills employed by Oliver in his own business have assisted greatly in forming a Trust which shares his own commitment and passion for the park.

As Chair of the Trust Oliver is committed to ensuring the park continues to be enjoyed by thousands of children and adults alike and to help maintain a balanced lifestyle for children struggling to cope with the challenges 21st Century life brings. At the same time he passionately believes in preserving the charm of the park whilst carefully modernising its facilities whilst ensuring the park is sustainable for future generation to enjoy.

Aside from the many business meetings he attends in Kettering, Oliver can often be seen enjoying the facilities of the Park as he is a frequent weekend visitor together with his wife, children, grandchildren and friends.

Graham is an archaeologist, having graduated in the subject from Leicester University in 1980. He has been in professional practice ever since, and formed his own consultancy service in 1999. Though based in Oxfordshire, he has worked extensively in Northamptonshire. In 1990 he directed the excavation of a previously unknown Roman villa at Redlands Farm, just down the road from the Stanwick site dug by English Heritage.

Graham’s work takes him all over the country, from Cumbria to Kent, and from Somerset to North Yorkshire. He is the Cathedral Archaeological Consultant to the Deans and Chapters of Blackburn, thus being responsible for heritage matters at one of England most recent as well as its second most ancient cathedrals. He also carries out a lot of work for Historic Royal Palaces, for whom he has provided archaeological advice at the Tower of London since 1993. Graham has written seven substantial books describing the fruits of his research and excavations, especially in the areas of medieval palaces and monastic archaeology.

Graham first became involved with the Wicksteed Trust in his professional capacity, when managing the Master Plan process for Barton Seagrave Hall. In doing so he got steadily more involved in providing advice on matters relating to the Trust’s historic estate. This includes several listed buildings, a Scheduled Monument – the Castle Field – of national importance, and Wicksteed Park itself which is on the national Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. Graham was therefore delighted to be asked to become a Trustee. His special interest in archaeology, history and architecture is very valuable to the Trust at a time when it faces many challenges in managing its historic assets. He sometimes wishes that his fellow Trustees would not refer to him as Indiana, though … especially when talking to the local press!

Apart from a short spell in the late ‘90s due to other business commitments, Robert has been a member of the Trust since 1986, having been introduced to the Park and its then Chairman, Robert Wicksteed in the mid-1980s.

For Robert, the Trust represents the continuation of a set of values that he feels should be nurtured and promoted within today’s society. Whilst Wicksteed Park is the most outward and visible manifestation of these, he shares with the other Trustees the wish to maintain the founder’s dream and the modern interpretation of the original Trust’s objectives.

Away from the Trust, Robert has a portfolio of business interests. He spent his early career as a Research Scientist before gaining a commission at Sandhurst and serving as an Infantry Platoon Commander in Berlin and on a two year operational tour in Northern Ireland. He subsequently developed a career in international sales and marketing, culminating in his appointment as Country Manager with a multi-billion Euro industrial conglomerate.

In his spare time, such as it is, Robert has restored and competes in an historic Alvis racing car.

Linden Groves

Linden Groves has worked for over a decade as a mainstream landscape
historian, starting out as Assistant Editor on the magazine
Historic Gardens Review (www.historicgardens.org), which celebrates historic gardens across the world. In 2010 she co-authored the book, The Gardens of English Heritage, which won the Inspirational Garden Book of the Year Award! She is heavily involved with The Garden History Society (www.gardenhistorysociety.org) and the Association of Gardens Trusts (www.gardenstrusts.org.uk), working on the Historic Landscape Project to empower County Gardens Trusts volunteers to play an active conservation role.

Having produced a conservation advice note on the tricky issue of incorporating playgrounds into historic landscapes, Linden was inspired to start The Garden History Society’s influential http://www.gardenhistorysociety.org/conservation/conservation-publications/ Beyond the Playground campaign to demonstrate that keeping children entertained in historic gardens can be as much about rolling down banks as it is about fancy new play equipment.

She quickly became hooked on the subject of children in historic landscapes and has now carried out much research into how children have played outdoors in the past, working for organisations such as English Heritage, the National Trust, and the Royal Parks Agency.
During this process she fell in love with Wicksteed Park!

Now Linden spends much of her working life on children’s play, particularly in the historic environment. Whether it be leading traditional games play sessions and workshops as Hahahopscotch (http://www.hahahopscotch.co.uk), advising gardens, or researching play in the past, she loves her job and brings a passion and enthusiasm for the landscape and children’s play that she hopes will be put to good use at Wicksteed Park.

(You can read more about Linden’s work at http://www.hahahopscotch.co.uk/or  www.outdoorchildren.co.uk)

After qualifying as a solicitor in Torquay and London, Christopher moved to the Kettering area in August 1971 joining a county wide firm of solicitors in which he then became a partner two years later. He retired from the same firm at the end of 2005. In the intervening years he spent approximately fifty per cent of this time in the firm’s Kettering office and the other fifty per cent in their Corby office. Almost all of his working life was spent dealing with either commercial property work or corporate activities of one sort or another, including numerous mergers, sales and acquisitions of all types of businesses.

In particular he spent a great deal of time involved in the activities of charitable organisations with constitutions similar to that found at Wicksteed Park. Having brought up two children in the area he has been fully aware of the facilities available at the Park, and hopes that by joining the Trust he will be able to assist in their continuing provision

At half the age of the average trustee in the UK Chris brings youth and experience to the trust, having recently gained a masters in Architecture. Chris’s primary motive is to ensure that the park’s built environment thrives and that its projects help to engage the community. Having taught at both Nottingham and Sheffield Universities he is interested in widening the appreciation of good design through participation.

Chris currently works in central London for a small firm of architects but has strong links with the East Midlands having grown up and lived in Lincolnshire where he is currently converting a church into a home for himself.

Except for a period of around 13 years spent in Cheshire and a short period in early life in Sussex, Paul has been based in Kettering since 1965. Being a resident of Kettering for over 40 years he has known Wicksteed Park since very early childhood. Knowing the Park and the founders wholehearted wish that the space he donated should be beneficial for all time to the people of Kettering and its surrounds, he has a passion that Charles Wicksteed’s vision be continued, reinforced and enhanced for the future.

He currently serves on the Local Governing Body of a Kettering all through Academy (4 – 18) and is a Founder Board member and Trustee of a new Free School in Northamptonshire. He is also a Trustee of the local Citizens advice service in Kettering and Corby.

Because of his interests in education over many years, he has a strong wish that the Park continues to achieve its stated aims to be a place of education and recreation for the children (and adults) of the town and its surrounds and recognises that the Park will reinvent itself as time passes to continue its path whilst not losing sight of its original purpose.

Apart from his voluntary activities Paul has spent 35 years working for the Uk based division of a Global company which manufactures, sells and provides innovative solutions to the Motor trade based in Kettering since 1965 . His career has culminated in him being the Human Resources Director of the business for over 10 years and a main UK Board Director for the last two years. Apart from his interests in Human Capital and planning his expertise also lies in the field of Insurance and general Company administration.

Paul is honoured and proud to be allowed to serve as a new member of the Trust and will do all he can within his area of expertise to ensure that the Visions and Values of the original founders wishes are maintained for the benefit of Kettering ,its people, its surrounds and further afield.

John Pegg is a Landscape Architect of 20 years standing and principal at craft:pegg landscape architects.

Born and raised in Barton Seagrave John attended Latimer School and Tresham College before gaining a degree in Geography from Nottingham University and a Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University. Subsequently John has forged an international career across a broad spectrum of professional projects across the world.

Johns design work has a strong, contemporary style evidenced by his portfolio of public realm and site specific art commissions but can regularly be found advising on the development of historically sensitive sites. In addition to professional practice John has a strong track record in design education teaching and critiquing landscape architecture, urban design and architecture at a number of Universities in the UK and US.

Outside of the profession John is principally a Dad but is intending to have a mid-life crisis that involves a return to mountains, kayaking and fencing.