People power
So often success depends on the power of people coming together, writes our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook. Whether they are saving Bristol’s downs from car-parking, protecting London’s commons from commercial exploitation, or winning access to Worthing’s hinterland, the campaigning clout of local people is fundamental. And it always has been—witness the mass trespasses on Bolton’s…
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Much ado about nothing
Our Coventry local correspondent John Hall, with assistance from one of our case officers, Hugh Craddock, exposes the sloppy approach to rights-of-way matters by the National Transport Casework Team (NTCT), and persuades it to put things right. In March, the NTCT proposed to make two orders under section 247 of the Town and Country Planning…
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Commercial commons
Local authorities in south London, keen on exploiting their commons and open spaces, are facing stiff opposition from local campaigners, writes our local correspondent for Lambeth and Wandsworth, Jeremy Clyne. Clapham Common has become a battleground because of Lambeth Council’s misuse of a large area, known as the ‘events site’. This is closed to the…
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Access regained
Residents of Hanwell in Ealing, west London, have returned part of their park to public access. Our member Steven Toft tells the story. A fence was erected around a piece of the Brent River Park by the Hobbayne Trust (OS summer 2020 page 9) which claimed to own the land. The fence was partly removed…
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NEW Giving Green gift book bundles
We have partnered with Saraband, the Salford based award-winning independent publisher, as part of a Christmas fundraising initiative. The company represents authors who write about UK landscapes, wildlife, culture and folk traditions. Their titles cover fiction and non-fiction and have included a Booker Prize shortlist entry, the Wainright Prize for nature writing and the Robert…
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Budget does nothing for public access
We are deeply disappointed by the government’s budget, announced on 27 October. We had hopes that it would fund more and better public access, in town and country, in recognition of the effect of the pandemic which has made everyone appreciate the value of outdoor recreation for health and well-being. The government, in its flagship…
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The Society celebrates the strength of people power
‘So often success depends on the power of people coming together.’ So writes Kate Ashbrook, the general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, in Opinion (page 1) of the society’s magazine Open Space, published today (25 October). Kate cites recent examples in which the society has been involved: saving Bristol’s downs from car-parking by the Downs…
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Placemaking Wales Charter First Year Anniversary
A year on since the Welsh government and the Design Commission for Wales collaborated with the Placemaking Wales partnership to support the development of high-quality places, there are just short of 100 signatories from the public, private and not for profit sector that share this committment for the people of Wales. As one of those…
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Our general secretary opens Nottingham’s historic town trail
On Sunday 26 September our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, will open Nottingham’s Victorian Town Trail. The five-mile route has been devised by the Friends of the Forest with Nottingham City Council to mark and celebrate the 130 acres of open space won by the people of Nottingham when land was inclosed under the Inclosure Act…
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Launch of website for lantern-slide archive
We have launched a new website for our unique collection of lantern slides. Our collection, at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), contains 19th-century legal-case papers, press cuttings and a thousand lantern transparencies of British landscapes from 1900-40. Some time ago a project was undertaken to digitise the lantern slides and instigate a 2020/2021…
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