All change at Arley
Catherine Martin took on the role of Arley station master in May, and reflects on a busy first two months in the job, the complexities of handling the stationmaster’s role whilst also getting her new ASM up to speed, and the value of hard-working colleagues:
Where have those first two months gone? It’s been a very busy time, that’s for sure.
My first priorities have been to identify urgent tasks that needed picking up straight away and to start building my new management team to assign roles to these key leads. This has been quite an exercise with a very long list of tasks now entered into an Excel sheet. I am sure that will keep growing for a time yet!
Having done the ASM job (indeed, covering some of the SM job in the last year) I know only too well that this is way too much for one person to do.
So, I am delighted by the way the team have already stepped up, in fact I am bowled over by it to be honest! I don’t like naming lots of people, for risk of causing embarrassment, but they all know who they are. Arley has around 70 fabulous staff, be they operational; maintenance and garden; shop or catering – every area has people doing their bit and I’m proud to be their stationmaster
I must mention Ian Latimer, my predecessor, after all his years of service as SM at Arley. I personally owe him a debt of gratitude for not only his support over the years, but also his friendship. We look forward to seeing him at Arley, perhaps with time to relax, wield a paint brush or just hold a cup of tea!
Finally, I genuinely want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me as ASM and now stationmaster. Especially my husband Paul, who has to put up with me spending lots of time on calls, on the computer or at the station – without his unconditional love and support I would not have applied for this job.
I am incredibly proud to be stationmaster at Arley, a place that means so much to me and I look forward to doing my bit to look after it for the next generation.
