Stella Exley
Barnsley-born Stella Exley is a plant expert based in Alne, North Yorkshire. She runs her own business, Hare Spring Cottage Plants, and does nursery workshops. Stella is married to Malcolm and they have two daughters.
What’s your first Yorkshire memory? Not surprisingly, it has to do with gardening, and this, I think, is where my passion for plants and planting all started. I’d have been about five years old and every Sunday morning my dad would push me in his wheelbarrow all the way from our home in Barnsley down to my Grandpa George’s allotment. I can remember that squeaky wheel to this day.
What’s your favourite part of the county – and why? RHS Harlow Carr, near Harrogate, because it embodies everything that is wonderful about horticulture. As you wander around through those lovely grounds, you realise that you are being taught things in a very subtle way. That’s the very best way of learning – gentle education. And that goes for every subject, not just the one that I love.
What’s your idea of a perfect day, or a perfect weekend, out in Yorkshire? Doing the job that I do, it would have to be in late autumn or the wintertime because that is when the plants are “sleeping”. So Malcolm and I would take our dogs – Mary and Martha – down to the beach at Filey and just let them run as we took a stroll.
Do you have a favourite walk, or view? It’s in the Howardian Hills, and it’s a place called Yearsley Woods. We love walking up there, the dogs enjoy galloping around in the undergrowth and, every now and then you get to a little clearing and get glimpses of Ampleforth Abbey. It is magical.
Which Yorkshire sportsman, past or present, would you like to take for lunch? Dickie Bird. I met him once – very briefly – and he was such a charming, funny man. A good lunch with him would be delightful and you can bet there would be a never-ending flow of good stories.
Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, past or present, would you like to take for dinner? The gardener Alan Titchmarsh, who I’ve run into a few times at Chelsea and a few other garden shows. Now Alan is a very, very busy man, but he is unfailingly courteous and he always stops, remembers, and gives you the time of day. He’s incredibly knowledgeable about his subject, but never ever “stand-offish” or pushing his celebrity in your face. He worked his way up, he loves a good natter, and he’s very warm and open.
If you had to name your Yorkshire ‘hidden gem’, what would it be? Runswick Bay, because it is like stepping into a time capsule and entering a completely different world. You are going back several decades – a little cafe selling all sorts of old-fashioned seaside things, a pub (if you can find it) and it all feels a safer, more secure way of life.
If you could choose somewhere, or some object, from or in Yorkshire to own for a day, what would it be? Filey. A lovely little town which has escaped the commercialism of its neighbours. It has a wonderful promenade on the clifftop, not to mention the sands and the views.
What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity? The people and their openness, integrity and honesty.
Do you follow sport in the county, and if so, what? Malcolm and I have the name of Barnsley FC running through us and we both have season tickets.
When I (briefly) moved to London, I used to drive back every weekend they were playing at home in my little Morris Minor convertible. I think that I must have been all of seven years old when I was taken to a match by my dad, and my support has been unwavering ever since.
Do you have a favourite restaurant,
or pub? The Durham Ox at Crayke is our “special” place. Lovely food, great people, warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Do you have a favourite food shop? There are two. If I’m going over to Harlow Carr or the Great Yorkshire Showground, I always stop off at Fodder, in Harrogate. But if it’s closer to home, then it’s the village shop just down the road in Tollerton.
How do you think that Yorkshire has changed, for better or for worse, in the time that you’ve known it? There are some things that have disappeared – like the coal and steel industries, and when they went they took so many livelihoods with them. The closure of the pits destroyed so many places. But the county is much cleaner and we have adapted and we still have our unique landscape and our culture.
Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire? My husband Malcolm. He has an unbelievable work ethic, he is unstinting in his support to me and to our two daughters, and he is thoughtful and caring. We first met at school in Barnsley and we’ve been (pretty much) together ever since. He’s my rock.
Has Yorkshire influenced your work? Absolutely and completely – we have, for example – the perfect climate for my business. I rather like the fact that the local government district here is Hambleton and their motto, on all their road signs and their publicity material, is “a place to grow”. They definitely got that right.
Name your favourite Yorkshire book/author/artist/CD/ performer.? The Beautiful South, for their perceptive and very down to earth lyrics – they make music about what they feel and see. And the film Kes, which I love – shot in Barnsley of course, and such a mirror of the town, warts and all. It’s sad, funny, and inspirational.
If a stranger to Yorkshire only had time to visit one place, it would be? Castle Howard. A stunning interior, of course, and equally beautiful grounds, but the bit that I like best is driving along one of the approach roads, where it dips up and down, and you get tantalising glimpses of what there is in store.
When Vulcan bomber XH558 took to the skies for the first time from Woodford Aerodrome, Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister, Yuri Gagarin had yet to become the first man in space and no one had heard of the Beatles. It was May 25, 1960 and the world was once again ill at ease. The Cuban Missile Crisis was less than a year away and against this tremulous backdrop another symbol of the Cold War passed almost unnoticed.
Yet this British-designed, jet-powered and deltawinged strategic nuclear bomber was one of the most technically advanced aircraft of its time and would become synonymous with the RAF during the uneasy peace.
Though it hasn’t flown in nearly five years, and is unlikely to do so again, XH558 is now the last surviving airworthy Vulcan bomber and is based at Doncaster Sheffield Airport which has become a memorial to its era.
The aircraft is looked after by the Vulcan to the Sky Trust and to mark its 60th anniversary, the charity launched a campaign inviting people to immortalise themselves under its wings. For a donation of £30, their name, or that of a loved one, could be etched in vinyl and added to a plaque on the underside of the craft.
It has proved hugely popular. There were more than 300 takers in the first six days and Dr Robert Pleming, who leads the trust, says the number now stands at around 30,000 and counting.
The money will contribute to funding for a planned new £4m centre – the Vulcan Experience – at the airport, which would house the aircraft as well as a green technology hub. “We not only want to tell her story and that of the Cold War, we also want to show what the airline and aerospace industry are doing to tackle the problem of climate change,” says Dr Pleming.
“No one is really telling the story of how the industry is tackling this very significant issue. It is an engineering problem and the solutions lie with engineers and new technologies. We’ve