LAST weekend was a special one for us at the Rowntree Society. With help from our wonderful volunteers, from The Press and from Bootham School, we opened Penn House to the public.

This was the house where three generations of Rowntrees lived – where Joseph Senior worked on temperance, his son Joseph drafted his memorandum creating the Rowntree trusts, and his son Seebohm wrote up his research on unemployment in York. More than 2,000 people came to see the exhibits – BBC TV film, wonderful old photographs, contributions from local schools, and from other local organisations, such as the Friends of Rowntree Park. This was a real community effort, and we want to say thank you to everyone involved – especially York residents, who showed again that they understand the relevance for our times of the extraordinary Rowntree story.

Steven Burkeman, Chair, The Rowntree Society, Tanners Yard, Huntington, York.