15 minutes with...Roger Tempest

What does it take to keep a thousand-year-old rural estate alive in the 21st century?

In this episode, CLA Communications Manager Henk Geertsema visits Broughton Sanctuary in North Yorkshire to speak with Roger Tempest — 32nd-generation custodian of the estate and one of the most compelling voices in the rural resilience conversation.

Roger shares the remarkable journey of transforming Broughton Hall Estate into Broughton Sanctuary: from a single job in 1974 to a thriving community of 52 businesses and 700 jobs. He talks candidly about the alchemy behind that change — moving from industrial farming to nature-friendly practices, from fossil fuels to renewables, and from a traditional landed estate to a hub for personal transformation retreats.

We also discuss the growing headwinds facing rural landowners, why Roger believes the government needs to treat the countryside as an ally rather than a target, and how places like Broughton produce millions in tax revenue that politicians are at risk of destroying through short-sighted policy.

Plus: the difference between rewilding and nature-friendly farming, why there's room for all approaches, and Roger's top three tips for building a resilient rural business — whatever its size.

Topics covered:

• The 40-year transformation of Broughton Sanctuary
• Building community through jobs, culture and managed access
• Personal transformation retreats and the concept of inner rewilding
• Land ownership, government policy and rural headwinds
• Nature-friendly farming vs rewilding
• Top tips for landowner resilience

Transcript

Introduction: Broughton Sanctuary's S

SPEAKER_00 0:02

This is fifteen minutes with from the Country Land and Business Association. In this edition, CLA Communications Manager Hank Gertsimer meets Roger Tempest from the Broughton estate in North Yorkshire to discuss his rural identity, the difference between rewilding and nature-friendly farming, and his top tips for building a resilient business.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

It's lovely to have you here for a chat. First up, tell me about Broughton Sanctuary and since the day you took it over and the challenges you've encountered to embark on a new journey to create Broughton Sanctuary. What's the thinking behind that?

From Estate to Sanctuary: 40 Years of Transformation

Community, Jobs & Rural Identity

Personal Transformation Retreats & Inner Nature

Land Ownership, Government Policy & Rural Headwinds

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Um, well, good morning. Well, we have been here as a family for in this area for about a thousand years. So I'm the 32nd generation of Tempest here. And so our job really is to survive, number one, and then number two, to have a really strong sense of purpose and the passion behind what we do. And and so what we've done, we're a place where it's two and a half thousand acres now. We used to have substantially more, but times and taxes changed that. Two and a half thousand acres, and we are trying to set a really sort of futuristic solution and equation for our survival and making sure we have this really positive sense of purpose. And so, what we've been doing is number one, we had a range of old buildings at the last 40 years. We've been reusing each building, giving it a new purpose with a good use within it, well looked after architecturally, and making sure it's commercially successful. And we ended up from having sort of at 1974, after Dennis Healy's budget, we had about one job here and a lot more land. And there was no real economic life or purpose behind the whole place. And we we basically spent the last 40 years redefining that. And so now we have 52 companies based here, about 700 jobs, and then we have a series of different things going on here, which all contribute to the whole. So, and everything's been sort of like an alchemy, it's all changed. So we were Broughton Hall Estate, and we changed our name to Broughton Sanctuary for good reason, really. The main reason was, you know, because I think the world has changed, hierarchies changed, class systems changed, the way we contribute in within a community has changed, and so we we this alchemy is taken a while to undergo, but it's sort of sped up quite recently. And I suppose the main points behind us is everything's changed a bit. So we look through things through a different window. So we were industrial farming, we're now nature-friendly farming, we were fossil fuels, and now we're renewables, and it goes on this sort of alchemy, everything we do. But the core to any community, this rural community in the back of Yorkshire, three miles from the nearest town, and a really beautiful bit of England is how are we looking after, how does it work? And it's got to work on every level. So you've got the economic level, loads of jobs of a variety, so jobs for everybody type thing. The second one is the land, how it's looked after, the food production, the redefinition of it. Then the whole community side of it, is the church busy, is the school busy, is the pub busy? All the secondary effects spiral upwards through all that we do. So that that's really worked really well. So we've got as a community got a really strong sense of purpose. And one day, I don't know whether you've seen the television, we've been on House of Guinness recently, all creatures great and small, woman of substance, we're the main set for that. But we do all this sort of from filming to actually events. But the big thing that we've been really getting into recently is the last few years, we've sort of built up this. We do 50 retreats a year of personal transformation. So people, at the moment, they're 98 people staying here on a retreat for the week, studying a philosopher, in essence, spiritual philosopher. And then we do the path of love and the Hoffman process, all these sort of different types of retreats. And that's my wife and I, that's our particular love. Humanity's going through amazing changes at the moment, and I suppose the very essence of civilization, too, is being re-looked at. And we believe that the individual needs places where they can undergo transformation and change and hope for the future and things like this. So we do a lot of work based on that. So here, in summary, we've really got the outer nature, this big rewilding nature and a different way of doing food production happening on the outer nature, and on the in the inside, our inner nature, people looking after themselves and this reformation of the individual and how communities work. So the bottom line is here, we're trying to be as a sanctuary and uh this area of land, is to be a sort of new form of custodianship, really, and how we do it. It's being redefined in a different way. But but we're all in we're in the countryside, we're all in the same boat and doing it in slightly different ways, and we're doing it in our way. And I suppose the times are very rough for land ownership at the moment. It's very tough. We're not liked by the government at all. And I think they've got to wake up to realise we are a very positive force in terms of tax revenues, in terms of how we can contribute to society. And at the moment, they I would argue that they're in a very ideologically old place where they've got to modernize. So some of the issues like the right to roam and things like this, managed access, we get a thousand people a day here in one shape or form. Actually, this is all happening already under managed access. So the current some of the policies which are being put forward by primarily an urban elite are not working successfully for the government. And as you know, this month is another 2% tax. The rates they've just put up to astronomical levels, the assured short hold tenants, which was a beautiful thing for social housing and it worked really well, has been changed. That's going to put people off. So the current headwinds against us are very high. And if you're a highly prejudiced person, like some of the ideological politicians, which I'd argue they are, in essence at the moment, they're working against the countryside. And I think that's very sad for the economy, for the rural economy, for people, for farmers, for everybody. They're bleeding the soul of something really beautiful. So I would like to say that Broughton is a really good net contributor to the community, to the tax revenues, to everything. And it has a beautiful equation there. But we need our help, we need help from everybody in terms of that.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

What would you like to see government do? How should policies be tweaked to encourage that sort of development, that community spiritedness, and create revenue at the same time?

SPEAKER_02 7:28

Well, number one, they've got to see us as allies. That's number one. At the moment, they see us as uh the envy, the hate, the single-issue approach to it, the ideological sort of delusion, the academic constructs which just don't suit. They've got to leave that behind and suddenly realise we are the we are the contribute contributors on the and and the wealth production for tax revenues. This place in the back of Yorkshire, in the back of a rural community, produces millions of pounds worth of tax per year. At the moment, they're trying to kill us off. So they will end up with nothing rather than something. And so, and it's not about the sharing of places like this. It's at a very high level, which they regard as a low level, but it's a very high level. Today, there will be people on all sorts of fronts coming in here, whether they've got a whether they're working, whether they're coming on a retreat, whether going for a walk, loads of footpaths and areas and that we have here. There's no shortage of places to go. And I think with the government, if they realized that if they kept this very delicate equilibrium in a better state throughout the country, I think we've got a really powerful equation which benefits everybody, and they're not seeing that at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

You put a higher premium on social value. So moving across to environmental value, how compatible or is there a difference in your mind between nature-friendly farming and food production as an industrial system versus rewilding? Where where does the pieces fit for you?

SPEAKER_02 9:14

It's a big issue. I think there's room for all of us. We're all in the same boat, whatever type of farming you're doing, we're all moving and there's room for us all. I think on a place like this where you've got two and a half thousand acres, as opposed to a hundred, two hundred-acre farm, we're able to do things. So we've gone up from 5% uh woodland to 35% woodland cover, and we have stopped practically all chemicals, hormones, vaccines, weed killers, and all this sort of thing. And I'm not an activist, I'm purely common sense. Would I give this food to my child type approach? And so I think there's room for all of us, and that we can all completely write about what we're doing or a different version. I think there's room for all of us, and we're doing our bit in a particular way. And if people are farming in a different way, that's that's fine. It's just that we're just doing our bit. But the impact we're seeing by farming how we are doing the food product, we have orchards, allotments, we have beef cattle, pigs, chickens, all sorts of things. But it's just done in a different way, and it's really beautiful to witness. And it does sit alongside people farming in different ways nearby. So I my my policy, you know, and my view on it is just there's room for us all, and we do it in different ways, in the same way as an individual wants to spend their weekends, they can go and watch a film or do something else or whatever. So I think I think we'd argue against the polarizations and trying to rub rise above the polarizations is our thing. There's room for us all to coexist. And so we have a thing about trees, we love them and the power of them, and that's something important to us. And then another person might love wetlands or different things, and but rewilding. I think rewilding the spirit and we're rewilding the land is a powerful force and a real thing. And to some people it might not make sense, but rewilding just getting back to nature a bit is is quite a you know, it's happened for thousands of years, and we we believe strongly that it's gotta needs to be considered in all that we do in our lives.

Top Tips for Landowner Resilience

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Fantastic. In conclusion, what top three tips would you give landowners, all shapes and sizes, to become more resilient in the face of uncertainty, i.e. in in the context of the Middle East War?

SPEAKER_02 11:32

We just have to. My tips are you need a plan. If you if everything, if you don't do anything different, everything's gonna remain the same. So so we are quietly accumulating winds every day in every area, and by the end of the year, hopefully those accumulated winds will make a difference. And suddenly we're heading in a destination where survival is highly likely, and we're being really sensible. And at times you have to really pull your belt in, you've got to be imaginative, you've got to think about about the future in a very strong way. There's no room for getting behind nowadays. Life is too complex, the taxes are too complicated, the things you have to do are too complicated. So you can't sit on your laurels, you have to keep moving.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

And is there a second one? Apart from having a plan.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

The second one, remember you need the best advisors around you. There's that there can be weak advisors around, and there can be strong advisors around. Get your best advice, make sure your strategies are right. So the best advisors, even if it's talking to people and learning and sharing the research that people are doing, watching what your neighbors are doing, everything. Just just making sure the best knowledge comes to your particular project, whether it's a small farm or a bigger farm or whatever, and people, you know, getting the right people on board. One bad one bad person in an organization can can affect things badly. You need the best people.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Thank you, Roger. And uh just if you can in ten seconds, this is a quick fire round, tell me what legacy you want to leave Aya, your daughter.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

A well-run ship.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Fantastic. Is that for her to take the helm?

SPEAKER_02 13:25

Yeah, she is. She's gonna be the 33rd generation. The first, I'm rather embarrassed to say the first female line, because it was all male eldest son for 32 generations, but she'll be in charge and she is totally capable of it. At six years old, I can see it.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Roger, it's been lovely talking to you. Always great to see you, and uh, thanks again. Thank you.