Golf Bobby Shafto’s gone to sea ...
The castle was originally founded many centuries ago by the chief of the Anglo Saxon Bulmer family whose last male heir, Bertram Bulmer, had a daughter called Emma who married Gilbert De Neuville, a Norman baron who had come to England with William the Conqueror. De Neuville’s descendants were called the Nevilles and were the owners of Brancepeth Castle until the sixteenth century.
In 1569, Brancepeth was confiscated from the Nevilles by the crown following their involvement in the Rising of the North, a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. The Nevilles had been the chief instigators of this rising which had been plotted at Brancepeth and Raby Castle with the assistance of the Percys who were the most powerful family in Northumberland.
Brancepeth Castle remained in the hands of the crown for a number of years until King James I gave it to Robert Carr, Earl Of Somerset. Later, the castle was taken from Carr when he was found guilty of the murder of Sir Thomas Ovebury. From Carr it passed to the wealthy son of a Gateshead blacksmith called Ralph Cole who also bought Kepier Hospital.
The next owner was Sir Henry Bellaysyse, whose daughter Mary fell in love with Bobby Shafto, who lived at Whitworth Hall near Spennymoor, just across the River Wear from Brancepeth. Miss Bellaysyse’s love for Bobby became the subject of a very famous north country song, but alas Mr Shafto had eyes for someone else and Mary is said to have died of a broken heart.
In 1796, Brancepeth was bought by William Russell, a Sunderland banker. The Russels of Brancepeth became one of four great coal owning families in the north called the ‘Grand Allies’ and William’s son Matthew became the richest commoner in England. Later, by marriage, Brancepeth became the property of Lord Boyne who is commemorated in the name of a public house a little further to the north at Langley Moor.
The castle is now in the private ownership of the Dobson family, who bought the castle in 1978. Margaret Dobson did much to restore the fabric and interior of the building, including the lead roof, which had been stripped by an earlier tenant.
She refurbished many of the main function rooms for use as a venue for auctions and twice‐yearly craft fairs. Shakespearean plays were staged in the main courtyard and rooms were rented to post‐graduate students at Durham University.
16 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018
by legendary Harry Colt in 1924, and it is accordingly distinctive. Its bumps, paired with trees like the twenty‐five silver birches planted for Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, make a unique impression.
Colt constructed the tees and greens using push‐up soil, and they have remained largely similar for their nearly 100 years. Andy’s team have added some, however, because some of them have become too small over time, as footfall has increased. The 14th was rebuilt for size, some have been levelled, and some more are still to be done. They like to keep them in the best shape they can because of a ‘no closures’ policy the club has in place.
“When things get wet or cold, people don’t really play much anywhere anyway, so when the course is at its trickiest to manage, there’s the least amount of footfall.” “So, we can keep the regular tees and greens open, because we can do more work on them. Vice versa in summer. It pretty much works itself out.”
Mark Brown is Andy’s deputy, and helping the two of them also are Stephen Hagar, Paul Simpson, and Amy Jarrod. Paul acts as the club’s mechanic for servicing and repairs. Mark has been with the club for over twenty years, and Stephen has been there for
around fifteen, so the team is experienced with the club’s quirks.
Two of these quirks are Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam. Last year, they decided to make these a priority and followed a programme of spraying and manual removal.
Asked about everyday regimes, Andy summed them up like this: “We tend to cut about a half inch on the fairways, an inch for the semi ‐ we used to have two cuts, but now it’s just the one ‐ and the tees are usually about 10mm, aprons 7mm and the greens a good 3mm in the summer. We change those greens to about 6mm in the winter.” “The greens are fast enough, but not electric. We’re looking to buy some new kit to get those greens extra‐fast. Thankfully, the members are very happy with how they are now.”
“It’s a good course. We’re trying to use compost tees, using a Graden machine too, and every time we use the greens irons, they make a real difference.”
“The golfers love it when that goes out. It puts maybe a foot and a half on the speed straight away.”
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