Capable setting for plant and animal study in Leeds

Vets, zoo keepers and horticulturists of the future have a new study hub at the Temple Newsam estate in Leeds.
Askham Bryan College and Leeds Council have announced that they are running horticulture and animal management courses at Temple Newsam from September this year.  Picture: Mike Cowling.Askham Bryan College and Leeds Council have announced that they are running horticulture and animal management courses at Temple Newsam from September this year.  Picture: Mike Cowling.
Askham Bryan College and Leeds Council have announced that they are running horticulture and animal management courses at Temple Newsam from September this year. Picture: Mike Cowling.

Some 90 Askham Bryan College students currently based at Horsforth will move into their new home in September - when new starters are expected to swell the student body to 120.

The animal management and horticulture students will use the estate’s Home Farm and walled garden designed by Capability Brown in the 1760s as centres for their studies.

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The working farm at Leeds Council-run Temple Newsam is home to a range of rare breed animals including cattle, sheep, goats and poultry.

Students will also be able to study at other Leeds Council properties, with visits to Tropical World and the Council’s parks at Roundhay, Otley Chevin, Lotherton Hall and Pudsey all on the timetable for next year.

According to the college, a growing interest in the courses from young people across the region, particularly from urban backgrounds, has led to the campus relocation - and it follows the college’s decision in April to open a new centre in Saltaire.

A new director with specific responsibility for West Yorkshire, Mike Panting, has been appointed by the college to manage the two sites.

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Mr Panting said: “Providing rurally orientated courses close to the West Yorkshire conurbations has enormous potential and with the recent re-location of the Bradford base to the fantastic Saltaire site and the pending move to Temple Newsam, we will have the facilities to match our ambition.”

The college link up also has benefits for Leeds Council.

Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, the council’s executive member for environment and sustainability, said: “As part of our partnership with Askham Bryan, parks and countryside apprentices and other council staff will also be given the chance to access a wide range of learning, training and further study courses on offer.”