Comments from our speakers

Freezing Cold Outside, But Warm About The Heart

By Oliver Maurice, the former head of the National Trust

Would I be prepared to go to Bratislava and speak at the SBBC conference on the National Trust in the UK? It all started with this question. Having worked for the National Trust for 32 years, until I retired 4 years ago and set myself up as an international heritage consultant to National Trusts overseas, I felt reasonably well qualified to deliver.

I will leave others to write about the conference as much of it was in Slovak, which went over my head. I will focus on the wonderfully warm hospitality that was extended to me by my hosts. In the circumstances, ‘warm’ was the operative word since Bratislava was experiencing such cold weather at the time that even the Danube was frozen over.

On the morning of the conference, our hosts took us to the village of Svaty Jur where we were shown a number of historic buildings including an interesting puppet theatre.

Perhaps the highlight was a visit to the cellars of the Palfy Palace for a wine tasting session where a number of the local vintages were on offer.

Dinner on the night of the conference was held at the same venue, the Incheba in Bratislava. This was the equivalent of the Oscars awards for the best of those traders who were represented at the trade fair.

There were musical and dancing interludes and a fantastic buffet dinner where I tasted a number of Slovakian dishes for the first time.

The following day, in seriously sub zero temperatures we visited the Cerveny Kamen Castle, a magnificent fortress with the largest cellars in Europe. As we went inside we were told by our attractive guide that the tour would last 2 hours.

She also informed us that the temperature inside the castle was –5 degrees! I could understand why nearly every room in the castle had a massive wood-burning stove and was not surprised to discover that there were 50 servants involved with keeping them alight in the winter months when the family was in residence.

Back in Bratislava, I visited the Slovak National Trust offices to discuss the draft business plan which I had helped produce; with an hour or so to kill after that, which spent window shopping and drinking delicious hot chocolate, it was time for a wonderful performance of ‘The Masked Ball’ by the National Opera Company of Slovakia.

A visit to a cellar wine bar for dinner and more Slovakian specialities was capped by dancing and singing to a gypsy band until the wee small hours. The reputation for English reserve suddenly evaporated in an aura of champagne and red wine!! I can’t wait to return!