Ian Lindsay

I am one of the relatively rare breed of resident land agents directly employed by the owners the estate as opposed to working for a land agency firm. Brought up in Somerset as the son of a single handed rural GP and a nurse I did not want to follow the family medical tradition. I wanted to be a farmer, but without a family farm, or enough of a desire to start from nothing on a county council holding I decided at the age of 12, after a weeks work experience, that becoming a land agent would be the next best thing. I worked a practical farming year in Hampshire before 3 years at The Royal Agricultural College. I followed that with a varied training on a large estate before qualification as a rural practice chartered surveyor and subsequently developed my career with a county council, Oxford University and 6 years with The National Trust in Cornwall also qualifying as an agricultural valuer along the way, before moving to the Wasing estate between Newbury and Reading.
So as a land agent what do I do. Well I don’t sell houses. I am the estates’ farm manager, forestry manager, clerk of building works I am responsible for gardens, commercial residential agricultural and shoot lettings, gravel extraction, development land sales and the management of the wedding reception, conference and 11 bedroom boutique hotel business in deed overall responsibility for all of the area’s of the estate described on this website.
As part of my job I am a school governor of Aldermaston primary school, clerk to Wasing parish council, on the advisory committee that guides Newbury Young Farmers Club and a member of Wasing Parochial Church Council. In 2009/10 I was chairman of the Berkshire and Oxfordshire Rural Valuer’s Association Branch.
In the limited time left when not running everything described I am a Committee Member of The Farmers Club in London, I also enjoy gardening, dinghy sailing and cooking and wine, but the latter two perhaps a little too much for the good of my waistline. I delight in being uncle to 2 nephews and godfather to 4 godsons and 1 god daughter.