Views

Communities

Issue 48 Autumn 2011

Views 7

is worksheets or nature trails that form thisProvision (it has to have a capital letter, toprove that it is O!cial, and that childrenhave been taken into Consideration), butmost likely it will be a playground.

Playgrounds are great. There were earlyexamples in the "rst, mid-Victorian publicparks, and they gradually captured thenation’s heart until by the mid-twentiethcentury they were very much de rigeur inpublic open spaces, with park managersbeing able to choose from a dazzling arrayof tempting equipment on offer in catalogueafter catalogue. They’re easy to choose andinstall, and children love them almost asmuch as they love chocolate and computergames.

But in historically private gardens, asopposed to municipal urban parks,playgrounds can be rather less successful.Yes, children will still dash to them in a #urry

of excitement, but this comes at a cost totheir garden visiting experience. A child willrespond enthusiastically to the thought of agarden visit, but once it sees that climbingframe considerately located in a derelicteighteenth-century wilderness, it can behard to get them to venture into the rest ofthe garden, let alone to embrace it. It’shardly the joined-up engagement that weare aiming for, and makes a farce of any childvisitor numbers we may wave around. And,of course, the garden itself will suffer too asthe play equipment is likely to be ugly(often bright), visually intrusive and createsa noisy bustling honeypot of children, tosay nothing of the impact its constructionmay have on any garden structure orarchaeology! Even if it is a trendy ‘natural’playground, or a bespoke masterpiece basedon the garden’s history, it cannot entirelyavoid these problems.

Children’s play: past, present, futureLinden Groves, Conservation Officer, Garden History Society

Engaging places

The mention of children to thoseworking with historic gardens opento the public tends to raise three

questions, generally along the lines of: howcan I prevent them from rampaging throughthe Victorian #ower borders; how can Iengage them in the delights of theeighteenth-century landscape park; andwhere shall I put their playground so that itwon’t detract from the seventeenth-centurygrotto? All in all, it can be a bit of a noisy,sticky, over-excited mine"eld!

But why? Not only have children beenaround for even longer than gardens, butboth seem to have co-existed pretty welltogether for hundreds of years already.

More often than not, we tend to feel thatwhat is needed is Provision for Children,something that will distract them from thesensitive #ower-beds and ensure they enjoytheir time at a historic garden. Sometimes it

One vast playground. © NTPL/David Levenson

Engaging places

8 Views

When is a garden not a playground?

After years of commenting on planningapplications1 for such playgrounds, in 2010the Garden History Society published Beyondthe Playground,2 which is a call to arms toencourage more holistic, imaginativeapproaches to children’s play in historicgardens. Eagerly received, it argues that byhaving the courage to offer the child visitorless, in material terms, whilst at the same timegiving a more genuine and understandingwelcome, we may "nd that gardens inherentlyhave enough to entertain – tree climbing,bank rolling, fruit picking and much more.It also suggested encouraging ‘traditional’garden pursuits such as kite #ying, "shingand sailing model boats. Recently, I havebeen fortunate to be commissioned3 byMike Calnan, Head of the National Trust’sGardens and Parks, to research the ways inwhich children have played, historically, inthe Trust’s gardens.

Some fabulous gems were uncovered,giving ideas which could truly bring thegardens to life, much in the way the GardenHistory Society hopes for, and banish theperceived need for entertaining children withplaygrounds.

Diaries of ten-year-old Constance Agar-Robartes at Lanhydrock, Cornwall, revealedan inspiring love of outdoor play, showingthat her life revolved around the gardens(most entries concentrated on what theweather was like and its implications forwhether or not she was allowed outdoors).After a day spent trawling through thediaries and accompanying family photo

albums in an upstairs o!ce at the property,it seemed strange to step outside into thegardens and see modern children only ontheir ‘best behaviour for looking round astately home’; a century ago little Constanceand her siblings would have been joyfullywalking their dog, Scamp, grooming theirponies, riding their bikes, racing go-carts,getting in some cricket practice andmaintaining their own garden plots. TheAgar-Robartes gang would, I think, have goton well with Simon and Philip Yorke atErddig, Wrexham, where the boys enjoyedtheir garden with their huge dog, Prince, andtiny ponies, whilst using the formal canal forpunting and ice skating, and its lawn as the

location for a see-saw! Their father, Philip,wrote of the importance of welcomingchildren in a poem: ‘This is well framed asyou may see/ A children’s paradise to be/. . .Here may they have their freedom blest/Trusting they will respect the nest.’

Elsewhere, lucky children enjoyed kites(Petworth), hoops (Kingston Lacy), go-carts(Standen and Glendurgan), foraging(Killerton, Standen), paperchases (KingstonLacy), make-believe (Vita Sackville-West wasa bully whilst re-enacting the Boer War atKnole), traps (often these were pulled byminiature ponies, but at Petworth andMount Stewart, goats were employed),outdoor swimming (Chartwell, Lanhydrock,Glendurgan), and games such as tag(Glendurgan) and hide-and-seek (Lanhydrock).At Chartwell, they leant perilously over aparapet, at Kingston Lacy they jumped onand off the granite Cleopatra’s Needle, andat Sissinghurst, Vita Sackville West’s RoseGarden was valued as a bike track by hergreat-grandson Adam.

Allowing imagination to enter

Reading these nibbles of information, it’simpossible not to feel a thrill of excitementat the thought of being able to offer today’schildren a taste of such fun. It is easy to seehow the ideas we need can be found in thepast – by opening our minds to the possibilityof an encouraging pile of hoops waiting tobe rolled down a Broad Walk, a go-cartmaking and riding workshop, or beingallowed to take a dog for a walk round the

Simon Yorke at Erddig, 1909. It is tremendous tosee the easy familiarity with which he enjoys thehistoric gardens, riding a tricycle right throughtheir heart. Not visible in this photograph is thatthe tricycle is pulling a trolley with a pet dogsitting in it! © National Trust

Above: Making the most of a fallen tree at Trelissick Garden, Cornwall. © NTPL/John MillarRight: Ball games allowed at Clandon Park, Surrey. © NTPL/Stuart Cox

Engaging places

Views 9

garden (can we think of a way to offer thisprecious experience to even those childrenwithout pets?). By daring to think thatperhaps it wouldn’t matter too much if theodd child jumped off a wall here and there, wemay truly engage children with the lives andgardens of their historic counterparts, andbanish the need to spend huge sums on ugly,irrelevant playgrounds.

But the most striking detail about theway in which children played in the gardensof the past, when they were still privatehomes, was the fabulous freedom and senseof con"dent and familiar ownership withwhich they were experienced. RoseLondonderry of Mount Stewart respondedto news of our project by emphasising theglorious freedom that she enjoyed ‘likesavages’, and it was this rather than anycareful provision that she so appreciated.They were never given any special playequipment – no swings, slides or anything;

instead, they had a great time with theestate families, borrowing a swing from thegroom’s children. They formed gangs, rodeponies and horses, spent lots of time on theshores of Strangford Lough looking for seaanemones, mussels, etc. They made do withwhat they found, making bows and arrows,climbing trees, foraging, hunting with thedogs and "shing for newts. In particular,there is a large ancient lime tree on the frontlawn at Mount Stewart, whose branchesused to come down to the ground and theyused that as their play space as it wassecretive and private. Today’s children mayarrive grumpy after a long car journey, haveto respect the statuary, and leave at dusk toprepare for school the next day, but that’s noreason why, whilst they’re with the NationalTrust, we can’t transport them to the life oftheir historic counterparts, allow them asense of freedom, and allow them a taste ofplay as it once was for the privileged few.

References1. Planning Conservation Advice Note 15: PlayFacilities (Garden History Society, August2009); advice on incorporating playgroundsinto historic landscapes available as a freedownload at www.gardenhistorysociety.org/conservation/conservation-publications/attachment/ghs-pcan-15-play-facilities/ 2. Beyond the Playground (Garden HistorySociety, 2010) is available free from LouiseCooper, Garden History Society Administrator,enquiries@gardenhistorysociety.org3. Children in the Garden report (NationalTrust, December 2010) available athttp://intranet/intranet/children_sgardenplay_"nal.pdf

About the authorLinden Groves is a conservation o!cer forthe Garden History Society and a gardenhistorian specialising in children’s play. Shecan be contacted at linden.groves@virgin.net

National Trust places become Family PlacesRuth Lewis, Family Learning Officer, Devon and Cornwall

Farm, a mixed organic farm on the Killertonestate which is committed to encouragingbiodiversity. A converted farm building wasequipped to make a base for the group, whovisited the farm or the wider estate weekly forsix weeks after school in the autumn term.

The aim of the course was to engage themen in learning with the hope that theywould then take advantage of moreopportunities being planned back at theschool. The objectives were:

! to give the men opportunities for qualityinteractive learning with their children;

! to encourage enjoyment for the adultsand children, to develop con"dence in anunfamiliar environment and so improveself-esteem; and

! for the participants to gain the John MuirAward, Discovery level(www.jmt.org/jmaward-discover.asp).

The response of the initial group and theirleaders was so good that a Wider FamilyLearning course was set up at the farm,which was so successful that another wasrun with a new group of families in 2010.More courses are planned for autumn 2011.

The farmers, Trust staff and FamilyLearning tutor devised activities to help the

‘Two children from two separate families withno out-of-town shoes now have wellies andwalking boots respectively.’ Children centremanager after a visit to the South Devoncountryside.

‘It was great to give local families the opportunityto visit a fantastic resource on their doorstep thatthey have not been to and never would have beento.’ Teacher who accompanied a FamilyLearning group visit.

Family Learning and school staff, as well asthe families involved, have had theirperceptions of the National Trust changed.Some have become members or evenvolunteers. Links with the Trust’s FamilyVolunteering project have enabled us tocreate opportunities for some families tokeep in touch with properties that they’vevisited, and help to conserve them.

Case study: Martins!eld Farm Dads andGrandads Course The participants came from a group set upby Wynstream School in Exeter, an inner cityschool in an area of need. An initial tastersession featuring environmental games wasrun for 12 family groups comprising men andtheir children in June 2009 at Martins"eld

How welcome are families to ourplaces? For the past two and a halfyears I’ve been working with the

Family Learning services in Devon, Torbayand Cornwall to bring families to our places.Family Learning is part of Adult andCommunity Learning in the counties andallows two generations to learn together.The Family Places project and my role arefunded by the Big Lottery Fund and we’veinvolved over 1,500 adults and children so far.

The main focus of the project has beenbringing Family Learning groups to ourproperties as part of the courses they’redoing. These courses are usually run througha local school or children’s centre whichmeans we’ve been able to welcome familieswho live nearby.

Over 20 sites in Devon and Cornwall,from mansions, gardens and mills to thecoast and moors, have been involved in tripsfor learners. We’ve made scarecrows, densand salads, and proved how inspirational andexciting Trust places can be to many peoplewho have never visited before:

‘We loved it and will de!nitely come back. Therewas so much to do.’ Grandparent after a visitto Knightshayes Court.

Engaging places

Views is also available as a pdf on the intranet at http://intranet/views

or by emailing views@nationaltrust.org.uk or by telephoning 01793 817791

Registered charity no. 205846