Agreement under which the Trust will be contracted to compile a comprehensive list of Historic Landscapes within the district on a parish by parish basis. The arrangement will operate in the first instance for three years and information will be recorded to agreed criteria. If this scheme proves successful it may then be possible to extend it to other local authorities within Gloucestershire.

These are examples of the ways in which the Garden Trusts are able to put together working packages with other agencies to promote practical research which can be fed back into the planning and conservation system. Indeed, enlightened authorities have been supporting and working with the Garden Trusts for some years although since PPGl5 and the changes wrought by the National Lottery there is now even more opportunity for creative networking. Hampshire County Council is well aware of this and, as part of the preparation for bids to the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Hampshire Gardens Trust is working with Land Use Consultants and the County to undertake an Urban Parks Study. The Study will identify the parks which are eligible for grants but it also provided an opportunity to include an overview of urban space within the county and to ensure that there is local and regional variety in any future conservation or restoration programme.

The trusts are registered charities and much of the work which is undertaken is on a voluntary basis. Yet, if the work is to be successful, it is

important that it should be done as professionally as possible to as high a standard as possible. To ensure this professional approach, trusts undertake practical training programmes and run seminars and study weekends for their members. Of course it is important that this knowledge and expertise is disseminated quickly and efficiently and here the Association of Garden Trusts has an important role to play. The Association of Garden Trusts is a national organisation which represents over 23 of the county trusts in England. The Association gives the trusts a national perspective and aims to provide support for the individual county organisations while promoting an understanding of parks and gardens at a national level. One of the main contributions the Association is able to make is as a ‘clearing house’ through which information and contacts can be shared and it can act as a focal point for training initiatives, publications, seminars and visits organised in conjunction with individual trusts orin partnership with trusts and organisations such as the Garden History Society or English Heritage.

Like the individual trusts, the Association sets its sights high and aims for professional and business standards in its training, research and practical projects. Recent events have included a workshop on the ‘Painted Landscape’ which looked at ways of interpreting the landscape through images and views, a conference on ‘Countryside Stewardship and the Ornamental Landscape’ undertaken at the request of the Landscape Institute, and a very

successful workshop on ‘Public Parks’ which is now to be followed by a series of regional days on public parks the first of which was held in the West Midlands in September. All of this takes money, and success depends not only on hard work and professionalism but also on good publicity. Here again, the Association is able to act as coordinating body and provides a very good booklet setting out the steps to be followed in setting up a new county trust. The Association is also undertaking a research project to investigate the various ways in which the individual county trusts are funded so that good ideas can be shared through the national network and so that new or emergent trusts can be encouraged and helped by sound and up to date advice.

County garden trusts have grown rapidly over the past few years and have achieved a great deal in terms of research work, practical projects and, not least, raising public awareness of the importance of parks and gardens in the urban and rural environment. The trusts now have a national organisation and a national voice as well as the active support of an increasing membership and they offer a valuable resource to be fostered by those authorities already working in partnership with local trusts, and encouraged and supported in those areas where they have been recently founded.

For further information contact: The AGT Secretary, Linda Cheeseman, 8 Glasshouse Lane, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2AJ. Tel: (01926) 852976.