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Hampshire Gardens Trust Newsletter Winter/Spring 2019 Issue No. 6 Chairman’s Message Contents Pages This is my first newsletter as Chairman, and I would like to take the opportunity to thank 2 Our Administrator, all those volunteers who kindly give up their time to support the work of the HGT in the 1st December, AGM wide spectrum of research and study activities that are so crucial to the success of our 3 Research News organisation. Having celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2014, we are now looking 4 Research Group towards the next 30 years with a high degree of optimism. We need to embrace new Study Day – Water in challenges relating to planning and sustainability, as well as continuing work on historic Motion landscapes and gardens so that we remain a dynamic and relevant organisation that is fit Chasing down rabbit for the future. holes 5 Events I hope that you have had a productive winter in terms of planning spring and summer 6 Hutton Library News projects for your own garden, as well as finding time for the occasional visit to other 7 News from the gardens and parks within Hampshire and further afield. There is nothing quite like a Friends Groups: winter expedition to show the structure of the garden uncovered – the low winter The Gazebo Garden sunshine can reveal ancient topographical features that have been lost or concealed, Hyde Abbey Garden and it can be an excellent reminder how shrubs and trees in full summer regalia are 8 Porters Lodge Garden often a distraction from the original structure that the designer had in mind. Marlhill Copse, Southampton The Trust and its Activities 9 Public Parks – are we losing them? 10 Basing House Within the newsletter you will be able to read about forthcoming events, and a wide Landscape range of on-going projects. Key highlights include reports on the invaluable work carried 11 News Items out by the Friends Association members, and a report on the important woodland Book Review garden, Marlhill Copse, adjacent to Townhill Park and Southampton Airport where we 12 Painswick Rococo hope to encourage restoration and a better access for a wider public. The newly Garden commissioned landscape masterplan for Basing House is a case in point that will take a number of years to come to fruition as we support the Hampshire Cultural Trust and Editor: Janet Hurrell encourage the Local Authority owners to make the most of this unique site. Designer: Janice Bennetts There is more work to be done, and although we have a good number of regular Jo Bolt: Administrator members and Life Members, we would like more new members to ensure we can Email: [email protected] continue to develop existing projects as well as provide expert advice on historic gardens Telephone: 01794 367752 and parks that form such a crucial part of our heritage. If you feel that you would like to http://www.hgt.org.uk/ join one of the committees to support the HGT, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Jo Bolt, our enthusiastic Administrator. https://www.instagram.com /hampshiregardenstrust/ and finally .... Registered charity 1165985 1 It gives me great pleasure to thank my predecessors Conservation Teams as well as our Honorary Librarian Rachel Bebb, Peter Andreae and, last but certainly not on many occasions. I’m always amazed at how hard least, Gilly Drummond – I am grateful to them all for everyone works in a voluntary capacity, behind the their encouragement when persuading me to take on scenes, to keep the Hampshire Gardens Trust ticking the role. I hope to meet as many HGT members and along. The recent arrival of our new Chairman, Ted volunteers in the coming months and look forward to Wake is the icing on the cake, for want of a better doing whatever I can to help with as many HGT expression, and I’m very much looking forward to projects as I can. working alongside him in his endeavours to strengthen the position of the Hampshire Gardens Trust. Ted Wake Chairman To raise more awareness of the Trust, I have recently set up an Instagram account which, for those of you Our Administrator not familiar with it, is a social media platform using photos to generate followers of our cause. This leads me to ask you a favour and that is, if you are out and about and take photos of an interesting Hampshire garden, green space or event then please feel free to send them to me and I will share your photo with our followers. We now have almost 350 new followers, which in the big wide world is like a drop in the ocean, but these are people and organisations who may not have previously heard of the Hampshire Gardens Trust and now they do! Spreading the word Gaining support Recruiting new members - Jo Bolt All, are at the very heart of charity work and most Unbelievably almost one year on already and I can certainly at the heart of the Hampshire Gardens Trust. I certainly say I have settled into my role as the almost forgot to mention my charity mantra ... forward Administrator of the Hampshire Gardens Trust. My thinking! feet are firmly under the table and I’m enjoying my role very much. I look forward to receiving your photos and together The office at Jermyns House has always felt like home we can spread the word even more! to me, strange as this might sound! The huge office Jo Bolt window overlooks the pristine Hilliers gardens and the sun shining through it, is extremely uplifting first thing in the morning. 1st December, AGM Two new office volunteers join me for two mornings a The combining of our Christmas tea party and AGM at week, both working on various projects in an attempt Littleton Community Hall on the 1st December, with a to get all the administration of the Trust into better very good lunch and speaker, was a resounding shape. The membership database and accounting success. This was due to the excellent arrangements systems have recently been upgraded with new cloud- made by our Events Team and to Jo Bolt, our based systems which make for much safer and better Administrator. reporting of the data we hold. In the morning, our President, Gilly Drummond, I have had the pleasure of meeting some of our chaired the AGM proceedings with her usual aplomb. members at various garden visits and at the AGM in The most significant appointment was the election of a December and needless to say, I have met the Trustees new chairman, Ted Wake, who unfortunately had and members of the Events, Research and another commitment and could not attend. Rachel Registered charity 1165985 2 Bebb, the Vice Chairman, stood in for him. She the condition of each park’s physical infrastructure and thanked all the committees on their work for the Trust environment. Survey Reports are published on-line on – reports had already been tabled by the Conservation our website as they are completed. & Development, Research and Events Teams and the http://research.hgt.org.uk/ In general we have found Friends Association. Our Hon Treasurer, Richard that our parks are in fairly good heart just now but Green-Wilkinson explained the financial situation, there is no room for complacency. Quite apart from which is in reasonable health, although the Trust does budget issues, the pressure to identify land for housing need to raise funds for their charity commitment as poses an on-going threat to all our green spaces. well as every day running costs. Gifts and thanks were presented to Janet and Tony Hurrell and Colin Mattingley, for their many years of commitment to the Conservation Team, and to Rosie Yeomans after two years as a Trustee. After the AGM, mulled wine was served in the ante-room while the hall was prepared for lunch. Lunch was accompanied by music from Isabel, a saxophonist, while Jo and the Events Team members were excellent waitresses. After lunch, Keir Davidson gave us an informative talk about ‘Landscapes of the Imagination; the Art and Princes Garden, Farnborough Photo: Shelagh Bird Gardens of Humphry Repton (1752-1818)’. As the title suggests, the talk focused on how Repton, who used In another piece in this Newsletter Dee Clift describes his artistic eye to view the landscape, considered the the joy of fossicking in archives, diving down tempting contours of the hills, the lie of the land and the flow of rabbit holes and finding the jigsaw pieces that make up the rivers. He produced his famous Red Books to show a story – no apologies for the metaphor mash-up! Dee his clients how improvements could be made by is one of a small team that is reconstructing the work painting a before and after scene using flaps over the done at Herriard Park (near Basingstoke) for owner current views. George Purefoy Jervosie in the 1790s to plans by Humphry Repton, who was considered the successor This year’s AGM has already been booked at the Hall to Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. 2018 was the for the 7th December with the same caterer. bicentenary of Repton’s death and there was a national drive, led by the Gardens Trust, to research and document his legacy. There are only two authenticated Repton sites in Hampshire, Stratton Park Research News and Herriard Park and the owners of Herriard were interested in what we might discover about Repton’s This Spring will see the completion of our Urban Parks part in the estate’s history.

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