DECEMBER 2007 REPORT
In December Mrs Place came to talk about and show slides of National Trust Gardens. Unfortunately the hall was so cold, someone having inadvertently left the outside door open, that we were hardly able to give her our full attention. However the lovely series of views that accompanied her talk helped to take our minds off our miseries. The National Trust was originally envisioned by three individuals in 1895: Miss Octavia Hill, the pioneer in housing reform, Sir Robert Hunter, solicitor to the General Post Office, and Canon Rawnsley, vicar of Wray in Westmorland. Besides buildings the National Trust owns mountains and hills, moorlands and fell, woodlands and forests, and then of course there are the gardens. Over 200 open spaces and gardens are open, 36000 acres in all. We saw views of such famous places as Bodnant Court in Devon, Hidcote and Biddulph Grange. Small gardens were also in evidence such as that at Lavenham Guild Hall which features a collection of plants for dyeing, and Beatrice Potter’s garden, drawings of which can be found in her books about Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle Duck.
V E Bines
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