| 18 March 2010 |
| The Lunchtime Landscape Lecture Series Comes to an End… Let us look to the future |
Last week saw the end of the landscape lecture series at St John’s Church, which brought a number of guest speakers to the venue to examine the formation and change of Peterborough’s landscape. The lectures were a great success, attracting 385 people in total.
Stuart Orme, from Peterborough Museum, kicked off the series and demonstrated to those who attended, that Peterborough has an extremely rich history, dating back to the medieval era. Following Stuart, Richard Astle from the Langdyke Countryside Trust shared his views on John Clare and the changing faces of Peterborough’s natural heritage.
Peter Lee, from the Civic Society, contributed to the series too, by discussing the work the society does to protect the city’s heritage and encourage growth and sustainable development for the future.
We were given an exciting insight into the Great Fen Project by Nick Hammond who discussed how the largest landscape-scale conservation project in lowland England will transform an area of land near to Peterborough.
The series ended on a high with James McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Nene Park Trust, discussing the history and the future of the organisation. The Trust has been functioning for 20 years and they plan to carry on providing enjoyable, accessible landscapes, McCulloch said: “We’re providing the opportunity for people to relax, and enjoy the natural landscape and wildlife on the edge of the city” He added that the Trust are constantly working to improve the area, for the benefit of Peterborough’s citizens.
Nene Park Trust has recently issued a draft of their 10 year plan which provides an informative overview of their aims for the future. The draft is available to view on their website and they welcome feedback and comments on the strategy.
www.neneparktrust.org.uk
Steve Bowyer, Head of City Vibrancy at Opportunity Peterborough, expressed equally positive aspirations for the heritage sites in Peterborough. During his lecture on utilising them as economic drivers, he said: ‘the sites should be seen as assets in their own right, they should be valued for their heritage qualities in their own right, and in some instances they have the potential to be economic assets much as any other building asset.’
Steve added: ‘Importantly, however, these can also drive the economy of Peterborough as well. If people are coming to performances at St John’s they will want somewhere to eat, perhaps extend their visit longer during the day and even over night.’
He also touched on the potential of the city’s heritage to bring communities together, particularly with projects such as the exploration of Milfield’s roots and the Heritage Festival, which he hopes will be a bigger success this year and draw in a wider audience.
Artist in Residence, John Newling, gave a very interesting talk on his Peterborough Soil Project, which saw the collection of photographs from the city’s residents printed in a one-off newspaper and then broken down and turned into soil. The soil will hopefully be used for sustaining silver birch trees in St John’s Square.
Newling’s talk and project highlighted the importance of maintaining our natural surroundings, as well as our heritage, which is increasingly important for Peterborough to consider as one of four Environment Cities and with it’s aspirations of becoming the UK’s Environment Capital.
Due to the success of the lectures there are plans for another series later in the year, the theme of which is yet to be decided. Please keep visiting the website for further details and updates.
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Nene Park Trust draft 10 year plan - more information
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