Latitude Festival

Hektor Rous at Henham

Do Aldeburgh fish and chips really taste as good when not eaten beside the slate grey sea and gourmand gulls?

Would Pall Mall look quite so grand without the beautiful backdrop of Buckingham Palace?

Well that's how true fans of Latitude feel about the glorious Henham Estate near Southwold.

With its stately broad leaf lime trees, green pastures rolling down to a sparkling lake and secret azure quilts of bluebells underneath a pergola of horse chestnut trees, it's a satyr's playground and deserves our respect.      

And estate manager Hektor Rous shares this enthusiasm for the landscape. He sees the estate as an integral part of the festival's success and he hopes the organisers and festival-goers never take its magic for granted.

The 31-year-old was born and raised near Melbourne, but he now views the family estate of 4000 acres as his home and pastoral paramour.

Hektor Rous at Henham Park

"Just look at these bluebell glades! They're stunning and festival-goers won't even see them because when they're here this area is covered by the Sunrise Arena.

"I would like to think that people thought this was a pretty magical place. I certainly do.

"The English countryside is so beautiful and lush and frankly I can't see myself ever going back to Australia. The festival and the estate seem kind of interwoven now and I can't really imagine Latitude happening anywhere else."

Every year 65,000 people visit Henham Park for various events and Hektor's no scrimshanker when it comes to keeping the star of the show in tip top condition.

He likes a bit of dirt under his fingernails although cutting the grass can be a chore.

"I've got this old 1970s Zeta tractor built in the Czech Republic. We've put a mower on it but it's a real boneshaker. I'm just getting my hearing back from last year!"

While he relishes the hard work of preparing the estate for Latitude, there's one job he never minds doing and that's brewing his own beer. 

Nearly 30,000 pints of Hektor's Brew are needed for the festival.

"I have to get up at six in the morning during the festival and deliver my ale to the bars and there's always a real thirst for real ale. Per person the festival sells seven times more real ale than Glastonbury.

"The next big thing to sort out is getting the labels for my bottled beer which is coming out in the shops soon.

"What I should perhaps not do quite so much is to stay up 'til two in the morning, but I just love Guilty Pleasures and Rodrigo y Gabriela was one of the best nights I've ever had.

"Last year seeing Blondie in the Uncut was also fantastic. And local band The Kabeedies were just great too, but I always finish the festival regretting having missed a couple of things."

Crossing the lake during the festival is a breeze: a special pontoon bridge is built by the organisers but Hektor would love to see a permanent bridge in place.

The lake minus bridge and festival-goers

"It would be very handy. There used to be a road going through here but my father built the lake in 1991 and it disappeared under the water. It would be fantastic to have a permanent crossing and the bridge they put in for the festival takes a really long time to put together."

Hektor's father Keith Rous, or the Sixth Earl of Stradbroke better known as the Aussie Earl, left Britain for Australia at the age of 19.

He wanted to rid himself of the estate which he saw as a "black hole, cash-wise and energywise". But Hektor's passionate relationship with the landscape helped him to persuade his father not to sell up.

It was a worthy and brave decision so let's hear it for the most important act to be signed up by the organisers of Latitude - the beguiling and beautiful Henham Park.

It deserves to be seen by all as one of the biggest stars of the festival.