Monday, 12th January

On the 12th January, 1895...

"The National Trust was founded in Britain"

from wikipedia:

The Trust was founded on 12 January 1895 by Octavia Hill (1838–1912), Robert Hunter (1844–1913) and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley (1851–1920), prompted in part by the earlier success of Charles Eliot and the Kyrle Society. A fourth individual, the Duke of Westminster (1825–1899), is also referred to in many texts as being a principal contributor to the formation of the Trust.

The National Trust of the UK protects, according to its website, "215 houses and gardens, 40 castles, 76 nature reserves, 6 World Heritage Sites, 12 lighthouses, and 43 pubs and inns." As well as this, there is the small matter of 707 miles of the British coastline.

Although there are 7723 miles of coastline in total for the whole of the UK, this is still a staggering amount of land. The Trust's policy states that "Valued habitats and species of the coastal zone will be conserved and enhanced as far as practicable, accepting that they will develop or adapt in response to coastal, oceanic and climate change. The Trust accepts that some habitats and species will be lost or replaced through natural processes and we will attempt substitution of losses elsewhere". The National Trust puts up the fences and the nice-looking footpath signs but has little effect with global factors, it seems. In it's 114-year history, however, the Trust has done great good in preserving areas of outstanding natural beauty. Like this one.

The Lizard peninsula, Cornwall, by flickr user fidothe*

For most poeple, though, The National Trust is "that organisation that looks after stately homes". This is where they make their money, from places like Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, Kew Gardens, and my most local-est, Sutton House. That reminds me - I really, really need to visit it when it reopens in February.

Why not visit the website and find out what's local to you?

The Quote:

"Today's problems are tomorrow's memories" - an anonymous quite, and one that will not be matched for glibness, I suspect, all week.