Trustees
Patrick Newberry - CHAIR
Dr Patrick Newberry trained originally as a chartered accountant and spent 25 years with PwC where he was a member of the company’s Supervisory Board. He is a Commissioner of Historic England and Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee. He is also Chair of the Cornwall College Group (Dutchy College) and a Trustee of the Georgian Group, Chairman of The Cornish Buildings Group and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has recently published The Country Houses of Cornwall (2023). He was awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List in June 2026 for services to Heritage and Education.
Laurence Watkins - TREASURER
Laurence trained as an accountant and retired from a senior management position at Babcock Marine in Plymouth. He is a former trustee of the Rame Peninsula Trust and is involved in a number of other community activities in Millbrook where he lives. His Facebook page reveals that he is particularly drawn to photographing the natural wonders of the park.
Malcolm Cross
Dr Malcolm Cross is an economist and historian. He was Assistant Director of the Local Government Centre of Warwick University Business School and was director for ten years of a European research centre based at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, where he was professor of comparative social science. He was formerly a trustee of two local conservation charities. Most recently he was the author of A House by the River: West Indian Wealth in West Devon (2022) (‘Highly Commended’ in the Devon History Society Awards for 2023). He has written approximately 20 other books on a variety of topics.
Nicola Cull
Nicola Cull began her career in marketing and sales within financial services, later moving to communications and change management with Aon (a leading global professional services firm specializing in risk management, insurance brokerage, and human capital). She then moved to WTW (Willis Towers Watson plc) where she became a practice leader managing an international team of consultants for 15 years. Before retirement Nicola worked freelance for WTW, whilst serving as a member-nominated trustee (MNT) for the Aon Retirement Plan. She was Chairman of The Friends of Mount Edgcumbe Country Park from 2020 to 2022.
Kate Feluś
Dr Kate Feluś is a landscape historian and consultant. She is the author of The Secret Life of the Georgian Garden (2016). She was the lead author of an unpublished report on the parkland at Mount Edgcumbe (Mount Edgcumbe Parkland Plan, 3 vols, 2016) that provided a wealth of information on the history of the park, together with important recommendations for its conservation.
Dianne Long
Dr Dianne Long is a garden historian and former chair of Devon Gardens Trust. She currently chairs its Conservation Committee. Her doctoral thesis from the University of Exeter focussed on the designed landscapes of the pioneers of the industrial revolution in the period from 1700. More recently she has published research on Devon’s garden history.
Lyn Reid
Lyn Reid is biologist with ten years’ experience in environmental science and sustainable land management. She is also an experienced charity trustee, most recently working with one responsible for conserving a broad range of heritage assets similar to those in the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park.
Mike Wood
Rear Admiral Mike Wood CBE DL spent 35 years in the Royal Navy, his final appointment being the Chief Naval Engineer Officer and Director General Logistic Operations. He then had a portfolio of jobs for 8 years principally in the Defence Industry sector. He was a magistrate for 9 years and became the Deputy Chairman of the South Devon Bench. He was a Deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall and has a number of other charitable organisation interests.
Background image is a panel from the Edgcumbe Panorama, Charles Tomkins 1778-79