Beauty and nature: why the National Trust’s founding ambitions matter more than ever today
Dame Fiona Reynolds, Director-General of the National Trust
Date/Time: 12th May 2011, 17:30 - 18:30
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Octavia Hill, one of the founders of the National Trust, observed in 1895 that ‘the need of quiet ... of air ... of exercise, the sight of sky and of things growing seem human needs ... common to all men’. She believed that access to beauty and nature were as important as a roof over one’s head or enough to eat and, with her fellow founders, devoted her life to protecting rural areas from the threat of growing industrialisation. What is fascinating today is the growing body of scientific research that backs up her intuition although it seems we still do not, as a nation, value enough the beauty and refreshment to be found in natural surroundings – what can we do? Dame Fiona Reynolds is Director-General of the National Trust for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. One of the world’s most successful charities, its responsibility is to ‘look after special places for ever, for everyone’ and it does this through ownership of 650,000 acres of land, over 700 miles of coastline, some 250 great houses and their gardens and parks, tens of thousands of smaller vernacular buildings, and many other sites of archaeological and historical importance.
The National Trust has enjoyed a period of unprecedented success under Dame Fiona’s leadership, with increased visitors, membership and volunteers, a trebling of commercial profit, and a turnover that has doubled, from £200m to £400m. The Trust’s portfolio has expanded too, with a mix of iconic acquisitions, including Tyntesfield Victorian country house, the Birmingham Back to Back housing, Seaton Delaval Hall and the late poet, Khadambi Asalache’s exquisite London house. There are also hundreds of smaller, especially coastal and countryside, acquisitions. The Trust has become a more open and accessible organisation, while maintaining its world-class conservation standards. Dame Fiona has a first-class Honours in geography and land economy, and an MPhil in land economy from Cambridge. Before joining the National Trust, she was director of the Women’s Unit in the Cabinet Office and was previously director of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (now Campaign to Protect Rural England) and secretary to the Council for National Parks. She was awarded a CBE in 1998 for her services to the countryside and environment, and a DBE in 2008 for services to Heritage and conservation. Married, with three daughters, she lives near Cirencester, enjoys reading, walking, landscape history, classical music and opera, and has appeared on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and Radio 3’s Private Passions.
