JOHN WHITTOW is the last survivor of the founder committee that met in 1964 at the National Trust’s Westminster headquarters to plan Enterprise Neptune. He has now published his memoirs, The Edge of The Land, to explain how that groundbreaking effort to save the British shoreline from development and neglect came about.
The book is also the story of a man who has dedicated his life to the study of landforms, with a special focus on what he calls ‘the edge of the land, the zone where the three elements of earth, air and ocean truly conflate’. As he’s now 91, that amounts to a considerable span of time, underlined by his memory of seeing George V and Queen Mary on holiday near Sandringham in 1935. ‘I remember them waving to us as they swept past in a limousine and I also remember being told how important that was, because the King died the next year,’ he says.
To paraphrase Noël Coward, however, Norfolk is very flat, and it was the rockier undulations of the north Wales coast that prompted an interest in geology and coastal matters. ‘My father was born in Pembrokeshire and, as we lived in Staffordshire, he would take us to the north coast. Llandudno, a planned Victorian town with the huge limestone headland of the Great Orme rising up behind it made a great impression. Those places where the mountains meet the sea have always appealed most to me.’
Denne historien er fra October 13, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 13, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
