By Stacey-Lee Davies

WAITING in a coffee shop for a person who you will not recognise is a tricky game. I am expecting a high flying city banker who is also sixth generation farmer. I have no idea who to look out for.

I know however, when James Fenwick arrives. The mud-spattered 4x4 he pulls up in suggests he has driven through the dale, and his immaculately pressed navy suit tells me he is a businessman.

I am greeted with a warming smile and an array of friendly questions about journalism in the North-East. Mr Fenwick has arranged to meet me early on his way to work in Leeds city centre.

He will soon be the 291st person to hold the historic post of High Sheriff in County Durham, a position Mr Fenwick intends to use to bring people together.

Mr Fenwick comes from a family that has lived in Weardale for at least the last six generations.

His family farms sheep and cattle on a farm just past Wolsingham, where Mr Fenwick grew up. He tells me fond memories of going to agricultural shows as a boy with his siblings.

For someone who has lived a busy life in central London for 15 years, Mr Fenwick’s adoration of County Durham radiates from him.

“I was always going to come back up North, without a doubt I am a Durham lad through and through.

"I met my wife in London as she lived there too. After we had been married for a few years we moved back to Weardale to have a family.” He said.

The father of three studied theology at Exeter University after he returned from Australia where he had been travelling for a year.

“I went by myself and made my way around the country, doing odd jobs for anybody who would employ me. I had no idea at that point that I would get into investment banking,” he added.

Mr Fenwick started his career as an investment banker at Rothschild when he was just 21. Now, aged 50, he is still working full time at the firm, and intends to continue to do so as he takes on the role of County Durham's High Sheriff.

“I can work mostly from home now. Some days, I need to go into Leeds but that’s not a problem. My wife, Kate, does most of the farming now while I do the Rothschild stuff.”

Mr Fenwick spent ten years commuting daily to Leeds. I ask him about his work ethic and he passionately explains that it is something he hopes his children will have too.

He has three children – the eldest, Isabella, 19, is studying French and Spanish at Durham University, while Edward, 17, and Tom, 15 are both still in college and school.

“Edward is planning on going to Australia after college and doing a similar trip to what I did. It was a great experience for me and I know he will enjoy it as well. Family is very important to me.”

Mr Fenwick has with him one of the first official information cards from The Office of High Sheriff, printed with his name on in gold lettering.

He was installed in an official ceremony that takes place every year at Durham Crown Court.

He will take over from Gerry Osbourne, a businessman from Newton Aycliffe who has met Mr Fenwick on several occasions to discuss the role.

“Every High Sheriff can make the role what they want because it’s a particularly flexible one. I see it as an opportunity to bring people together who would not usually come across one another.

“I am looking forward to spending time with judges at all levels and helping the emergency services in any way I can.”

Mr Fenwick has been involved with Durham University’s development office and is a member of the Durham committee for the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. He is also a member of his local parish church council.

He added: “I really like people, and I am a great believer in teamwork. If you have the right people in the right place, you can achieve anything together.”