Dartington is saved in cross-country deal
NewsThe Dartington International Summer School and Festival has been saved for next summer in an ingenious deal that takes it halfway across the country.
The Foundation which runs the School – as distinct from the Trust which owns the Dartington estate – has secured a hosting arrangement with Gresham’s School in Norfolk from July 27 to August 10, 2024.
Gresham’s, where Benjamin Britten went to school, has extensive grounds and glorious countryside. The north Norfolk coast is a four-mile stroll away.
It has not yet been disclosed whether Sara Mohr-Pietsch and her team will return to run the school. But the continuation of the Dartington dream is much to be welcomed after the Trusts did its best to kill it off.
I just don’t understand how Dartington estate seems to have lost everything in the 20 years since I moved to the village. Then it was thriving, full of people, with great shops, things to do with your kids…. it had a good vibe and a buzz.
All the changes made since then seem to have made it a shadow of its former self- empty and soul less. Why did this happen? Was it poor planning at the top? Bad decision making? Greed? I don’t know. I seem to have watched a golden egg turn into a paper one and for good measure they’ve killed the goose as well.
Contrary to the wording in this article I very much doubt that Dartington Trust tried to kill off its summer school thats total poppycock. The Trust as far as one can gather is in serious financial trouble most likely brought about by lack of management expertise by previous trust management plus circumstances arising from Covid which have affected many businesses running on fumes as Dartingron appears to have been. The whole enterprise at Dartingron has to be run as a business or it will simply go bust and then what ,I will tell you exactly what and that is total closure and the break up and sale of the estate Whilst some think it is some wonderful charity with a bottomless pit of money then come into the real world Either survive as a business or die the choice is there