Anna Ryder Richardson | |
---|---|
Born | Anna Caroline Ryder Richardson 29 January 1964 |
Known for | Interior design, wildlife conservation and television presenting |
Spouse | Colin MacDougall (m. 2005,separated) |
Children | 2 |
Anna Caroline Ryder Richardson (born 29 January 1964) is a British interior designer and television presenter. She is known for being a designer on the BBC shows Changing Rooms and the subject of Chaos at the Zoo, which documents her ownership of Manor House Wildlife Park in Pembrokeshire. She also appeared on CBBC show Hider in the House alongside Cameron Biswas.
Anna Ryder Richardson was born in Swansea[ citation needed ] in 1964. Her father was a Malaysian student, and her mother English.[ citation needed ] At six weeks of age, she was adopted by Colin and Jill Ryder Richardson, and raised in Surrey with her adopted sister Sarah. Her adoptive father was a World War II evacuee who survived the sinking of the SS City of Benares by a German U-boat; he spent his career as a Lloyd's underwriter. [1] She was introduced to her partner, restaurateur Colin MacDougall, by Gregg Wallace at his restaurant on New Year's Eve 2000, and they married at a private ceremony in the Canadian Rockies. [2] Their first child, Bean, was born prematurely and died less than 60 minutes after birth. [3]
After an early career in modelling, Ryder Richardson became a fitness instructor. She managed children's interior shop Squidgy Things, where she started designing and decorating children's bedrooms; this work launched her career as an interior designer. She describes her own style as evolving, but "[preferring] the bolder colours". She cites Kelly Hoppen among her influences.
Her breakthrough moment was on a design segment on GMTV in 1996, after which Ainsley Harriott introduced her to the producers of short-lived documentary show Change That. [3] She was cast as one of the interior designers on Changing Rooms where she sprang to fame for her bold interior design choices. She worked on a number of smaller shows, including House Invaders, Staying Put and Trading Spaces. None of these had the same mainstream success as Changing Rooms, and in 2006, reconsidered the direction of her career.
In 2017, it was announced that she would return to interior design, appearing as a designer on Peter Andre's 60 Minute Makeover . [4]
Ryder Richardson appeared in a string of reality TV shows to fund a lifetime ambition of owning a zoo. She appeared on the BBC Sport Relief event Only Fools on Horses , and the 2007 series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! (where she was the sixth person to leave). She said she was "unprepared" for these experiences and described her experiences as "unpleasant", but that she developed a good relationship with co-star Christopher Biggins. [3] She would later team up with Biggins on a Celebrity Version of the ITV show Who wants to be a Millionaire? , where they shared a £50,000 prize for their chosen charities.
In 2008, she purchased Manor House Wildlife Park in Pembrokeshire for £1 million. [5] Her experiences at the zoo have been the subject of a number of television series, including Chaos at the Zoo, [6] Anna's Welsh Zoo [7] and Wild Welsh Zoo. [8] She was charged for health and safety violations in 2012, after a mother and son were injured by a falling tree, but acquitted after her husband admitted that work fell under his remit. [5]
In 2015, she set up a charity called 'The Nature Foundation' to transport neglected lionesses from an abandoned zoo in Gyumri to Peak Wildlife Park. She successfully raised £25,000 to transport the animals, but the high-profile nature of the campaign ensured that locals provided adequate facilities for the lionesses in their native Armenia. The funds instead went to breeding facilities for the endangered Sumatran Tiger. [9] As of 2020, she still owns the park. [10]
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a 186-mile (299 km) long-distance walking route, mostly at cliff-top level, with a total of 35,000 feet (11,000 m) of ascent and descent. At its highest point – Pen yr afr, on Cemaes Head – it reaches a height of 574 feet (175 m), and at its lowest point – Sandy Haven crossing, near Milford Haven – it is just 6 feet (2 m) above low water. Whilst most of the coastline faces west, it offers – at varying points – coastal views in every direction of the compass.
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and administrative headquarters of Pembrokeshire County Council.
Laurence Roderick Llewelyn-Bowen is an English interior designer and television personality best known for appearing on the BBC programme Changing Rooms.
Tenby is a seaside town and community in the county of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies within Carmarthen Bay.
Changing Rooms is a do-it-yourself home improvement show broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC between 1996 and 2004. The series was revived on Channel 4 in 2021.
Linda Barker is an English interior designer and television presenter.
Celtic Manor Resort is a golf, spa and leisure hotel and resort in the city of Newport, South East Wales. Owned by Sir Terry Matthews, the resort is located on the south-facing side of Christchurch Hill in eastern Newport, near Junction 24 of the M4 motorway. The golf courses run over the north-facing side of Christchurch Hill down into the Vale of Usk, overlooking the Wentwood escarpment. The resort's area is circa 2,000 acres (810 ha).
Narberth is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was founded around a Welsh court and later became a Norman stronghold on the Landsker Line. It became the headquarters of the hundred of Narberth. It was once a marcher borough. George Owen described it in 1603 as one of nine Pembrokeshire "boroughs in decay".
Saundersfoot is a large village and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is near Tenby, both being holiday destinations. Saundersfoot lies in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. The village population was recorded as 2,500 in the 2021 census.
Penally is a coastal village, parish and community 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The village is known for its Celtic Cross, Penally Abbey, the neighbouring St. Deiniol's Well, WWI Practice trenches, and Penally Training Camp. In the community, though nearer to St Florence than Penally, is Carswell Medieval House, a Grade II* listed building.
Clynderwen is a rural linear village and community, historically in Carmarthenshire in Wales, but administered as part of Pembrokeshire. It lies on the A478 Tenby to Cardigan road south of the village of Llandissilio and north of the town of Narberth.
St Florence is both a village, a parish and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. St Florence sits on the River Ritec that flows 4 miles (6 km) eastwards to its estuary in Tenby. The Church of St Florence is a grade II* listed building.
Designer Superstar Challenge also known simply as Superstar Challenge is a show hosted by Karen Bertelsen on HGTV Canada that has had four seasons. Similar to the American series HGTV Design Star, the show features aspiring interior designers competing in a series of challenges, following which one contestant is named the "design superstar" at the end of the competition.
Scolton Manor is a Victorian country house and country park located in Pembrokeshire, West Wales northeast of Haverfordwest and on the borders of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Built as a home, it is now a museum and is a Grade II* listed building. The stable court, some 120 m (130 yd) to the north, is also a Grade II listed building and both are owned by Pembrokeshire County Council. The gardens and parkland are listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The house, grounds and a number of exhibits are open to the public.
The Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo, situated to the north of Saundersfoot and Tenby in Pembrokeshire, is a visitor attraction in Wales with around 500,000 visitors each year. Initially a farm attraction, the park is now also home to an indoor vintage funfair, a zoo with over 200 different species of animal and extensive indoor and outdoor adventure play areas.
Golf is a popular sport in Wales. Although the sport of golf in Great Britain is most associated with Scotland, where it was established and developed, Wales can record its first courses back to the 1880s, and today has over 200 clubs. The first amateur golf competition was held in 1895, and the first professional championship was in 1904. Wales has produced several players of note, including one player, Ian Woosnam, who has won one of the Men's major golf championships and Wales has twice won the men's World Cup, in 1987 and 2005, respectively. Wales also hosted the Ryder Cup, when it was held at Newport's Celtic Manor Resort in 2010.
Manor House Wildlife Park is a 52-acre (21 ha) zoo located in Pembrokeshire, Wales, just north of the village of St Florence. It was bought in 2008 by television presenter Anna Ryder Richardson and Colin MacDougall and is more recently known as Manor Wildlife Park.
Pembrokeshire has been called "the cottage garden of Wales", due to its good soil and the beneficial effects of the Gulf Stream, which provide a mild climate and a longer growing season than other parts of the country. The good climate and soil meant that the south of the peninsula was coveted by the Norsemen and Normans because it had "great plentie" of corn and cattle The county has prime agricultural land, much of which is located at about 70m above sea level, while to the north, the Preseli Hills rise to 500m above sea level and form uplands that are made up of heather and bracken, which are used for grazing sheep. Consequently, Pembrokeshire is classed as one of the most fertile counties in Wales, with its 392,300 agricultural acres having 14% of its land classed as of good quality, 67% being classed as medium quality and 19% being classed as poor quality. However, agricultural production is subject to market forces and in the 1890s, as a result of the Panic of 1893, a deep agricultural depression led to the area under cultivation falling by a third. Many labourers and farmers had no option but to emigrate to the New World and many of the large farming estates were sold. World War I brought prosperity again, but by the 1930s, as a result of the Great Depression, there was another agricultural depression which lasted until World War II. During the Post-war period agriculture has benefited from marketing schemes and marketing boards, which have helped in the regulation, marketing and distribution of the county's agricultural production.
Fanny Price-Gwynne was a Welsh novelist, artist, composer, poet and philanthropist. She was a prominent figure in Victorian society, born in the Pembrokeshire town of Tenby. From childhood, Fanny Price had a love of the sea, largely because her father was a Royal Navy master and a trustee of the Tenby charities. He also served the management of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and put the first tide tables in the Tenby Observer newspaper. Her mother worked as the local correspondent for the Carmarthen Journal newspaper, and therefore likely encouraged her daughter to take up writing herself.