Mrs Beverley Seward was appointed as Warden of Parcevall Hall, the Diocese of Bradford's Retreat and Conference Centre in Appletreewick near Skipton, in the autumn of 2002.
Beverley (aged 42 when she was appointed) was Cook of the Year in 1990 after a rigorous national competition and was presented with the award by the late Princess of Wales. Beverley joined Parcevall Hall as Deputy Warden in January 2002 and became Acting Warden during the summer. As Warden she is responsible for both the retreat and conference programme and the management of the house.
She says, "I hope to continue and build on the service that Parcevall Hall provides to the diocese and beyond - and that obviously includes maintaining the high standard of food for which Parcevall is renowned. It's a very rewarding job as the warm and relaxing environment, combined with the Christian ethos of Parcevall, leaves people refreshed and renewed after their time here, and we get a lot of very positive feedback".
Before coming to Parcevall Beverley was Senior Monitoring Catering Inspector for North Yorkshire County Council which included teaching food hygiene for social services. She had worked with North Yorkshire County Council for 20 years and began, at the age of 19, cooking for 300 children at Gargrave Primary School.
She says. "In my previous job I was much more removed from people and I travelled 200 miles a day, so I really enjoy the involvement with people at Parcevall".
Beverley and her husband have two sons. One of the ways she likes to relax is watching them play cricket for Skipton Church Institute on a Saturday afternoon ... but she ends up providing the tea afterwards.
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