AS a little girl, Octavia Hill said what she wanted most was not a dolls' house but a field "so large that I could run in it forever".
Indeed, growing up with nine sisters in the countryside north of London had such a profound impact that it set her on a course destined to help secure the English landscape and its heritage in perpetuity for generations to come.
Along with Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley, Hill, then 57, founded the National Trust in 1895 to preserve the natural landscape while providing open spaces for the urban poor. Now her legacy as an advocate of public access to beauty is being commemorated with the Trust's first RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden for ten years.
As a social reformer, Hill believed in the value of what she imaginatively termed "outdoor sitting rooms" - places where everyone could go to find a strip of sky above their heads and nature all around.
She was also ardent about keeping ancient footpaths open- and opening up new ones.
In keeping with this, award-winning designer Ann-Marie Powell's Octavia Hill garden, sponsored by Blue Diamond garden centres with the Trust, features a series of beautiful open-air areas filled with flora and fauna that line sloping paths.
At its heart is a pond teeming with plants and insect life.
"My garden is designed to celebrate Octavia's contemporary nature," explains Ann-Marie. "We think footpaths are a Godgiven right but many of them only survived because of her.
Octavia came from a lot of money and was thrown into a completely different world, which gave her this unique perspective." The National Trust is not only about stately homes and gardens; more than 7,000 miles of paths provide free access to the countryside and the coast through its care.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 16, 2024 من Daily Express.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 16, 2024 من Daily Express.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
'Sir Jim has only been negative for United'
SCHOLES SAYS RATCLIFFE HAS DONE NOTHING GOOD
TIME TO TEST METTLE
Beaumont backs chances of upsetting Aussie 'aura'
Care so lucky in love with Quins
SCRUM-HALF PLANS FOR 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
DREAM TEAM START WORK DOWN UNDER
NOVAK DJOKOVIC has trained with new coach Andy Murray in public for the first time, ahead of the Australian Open.
60% dismiss signs of dementia as old age
SIX in 10 adults put early signs of dementia down to old age rather than the condition, a survey reveals.
Early coffee helps fight off fatal heart attacks
COFFEE in the morning reduces the risk of a deadly heart attack or stroke more than downing it all day, suggests research.
Raging Norrie so sorry as his racket hits spectator
FRUSTRATED tennis ace Cameron Norrie was lucky to avoid being disqualified after striking a woman with his racket which he had hurled in fury during a match.
Far-Right unifier Le Pen dead at 96
FAR-Right French politician, convicted holocaust denier and antisemite Jean-Marie Le Pen has died at 96.
Veteran's plea to reunite heroes for 80th anniversary
HERO Geoff Roberts has issued an SOS in the hope of reuniting his chums at the scene of their finest hour.
Abuse was played down by politically correct cowards
'Young white women were seen as fair game for predation’
