Rachael and Eliza join the Landscape Institute Gloucestershire Hub walk for charity
Rachael is the Gloucestershire Hub Representative for the South West branch of the Landscape Institute and this is just one of the events she organises through the year to build the network of landscape architects and members in the county, many of whom are working rurally or indeed, still working from home.
These gatherings are opportunities to meet like-minded professionals and students, to engage in topical debate and just generally find out more about what we are all doing in a supportive and sociable way.
Gloucestershire is the northern-most area of the region, which stretches down to the end of Cornwall, so making connections locally is really important.
This is Rachael’s account:
On Friday 3rd February we set off for a belated Christmas walk, from Brockhampton to Sevenhampton. Our walk took us along wooded lanes with moss covered walls and as we started to get to know each other a little, we climbed higher to join a prehistoric track once use as a Salt Way, where drovers transported salt from Droitwich in Worcestershire to Lechlade in Gloucestershire and the River Thames, supplying London.
At this high point our fellow LI member John Mills, Planning and Landscape Lead at Cotswold National Landscape, who manage this vast AONB gave us a talk about the latest infrastructure developments and potential issues that affect this AONB, including a new multi-lane section of the A417 providing the final high speed road link between the M4 and M5. This development has been 20 years in negotiation and will start on site this year, as John said, there is never an ideal solution, but he and his team have fought hard to make nature and the setting of the AONB count, including nature and maintaining connectivity via ecological planted bridges.
As we wandered across the rolling high wold with views out to the Cotswold escarpment we talked about the irony of walking a now defunct salt transport route and compared this with the current proposal to pipe water from the River Severn, through the Cotswold AONB to the River Thames; this time supplying fresh water to London and the Southeast. This did not sit well with everyone in the group, also the proposal of burying power lines was felt to be slightly out of step with current feelings about the state of nature - no doubt the debate around climate emergency versus the perception of beauty will become more prevalent, even between members of the same profession in the years to come.
Spring was certainly on its way as we dropped back down into the valley, passing shaggy haired sheep, known affectionately as Cotswold Lions and fields of young winter wheat.
We passed farmsteads with banks of aconites and snowdrops, and before we knew it we had arrived back at our starting point.
There was time for a delicious lunch at the nearby Frogmill Inn and discussions of ideas for our next get-together’s. Suggestions include a tour of Gloucester Services to look at the blue green infrastructure and the lessons learned as well as a tour of the National Trust Commons around Stroud, the sustainable developments of the Cotswold Water Park, all involved good pubs at the end. We will keep you posted of future developments.
