Petersham Trust Newsletters

March 2002

Message from the Chairman, Chris Brasher

My first very pleasant duty is to thank everyone who has responded in such a generous way to our fundraising appeal. The response has been excellent and I am very heartened to see that so many living both far and near care so passionately about the value of the Meadow and unique amenity of cattle grazing in a pastoral setting within London itself. So far, we have raised £120,000 towards our target of £500,000

You will have seen that there are no cows currently grazing on the Meadows. The land has suffered from being over grazed in recent years and the professional advice was that we should let it rest and recover over the Winter.
The good news is that the herd will return during April and stay until next Winter. The trust needs to be able to re-build the dilapidated barn and put a full scale husbandry regime in place before we can winter cattle at the farm. We have set ourselves the highest standards for all activities with the care of the cattle being a primary concern. Wintering cattle to an acceptable level will involve a level of expenditure which is beyond the Trust's immediate means. It remains our aim and intention to have a herd at the farm all year round as quickly as we can raise the funds to achieve this.
Your support and interest in our project is spurring me and my fellow Trustees on to ensure that the Meadows and its cattle herd will continue to be a joy to us and to future generations.
Although there are no cows to be seen at the moment, this does not mean that we have been idle - far from it. The trustees are pleased to take this opportunity to share our plans, our aspirations and a report on the progress to date with you. I thank you again for your support and you will be seeing the fruits of that support over the Summer

Future Plans

The principal objective remains to preserve the cornerstone of the world famous view from Richmond Hill while retaining cattle grazing on the Meadow. The Trust also intends to restore the milking parlour as an educational and heritage feature to demonstrate, to future generations and the current one, how Petersham Meadows operated as a working dairy farm.

Aspirations

We envisage Petersham Meadows as both a valued amenity for local residents and visitors alike to enjoy the magnificent view in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity engendered by the grazing cattle. We also want to give educational opportunities for children to learn about present day animal husbandry and the farm's historical context. The Meadows have a collection of flora and fauna unique to London for the interest of and the study by serious botanists.
We will ensure that the buildings on the Meadows do not receive large numbers of visitors as this would run the risk of disturbing the delicate ecological balance of the area and harm the sense of peace and tranquillity that we are pledged to conserve.

Administrator

The Trust has appointed Brian Miller to be our part time administrator. Brian has been involved in the project since 1996 and was a Trustee from the Trust's inception in 1998 to 2002.
Please note that the Trust's mailing address is now:

Progress to Date

The site had accumulated many years of clutter in the form of obsolete equipment and scrap. This has now been cleared away and matters are in hand to make the fences secure for the herd when it arrives. Work is also being carried out to remove the invasive scrub that detracts from the world famous view and the enjoyment of the Meadows.
We have commissioned a respected local architect who specialises in conservation projects to present a scheme to rebuild the barn and the nondescript associated buildings as well as to renovate and restore the milking parlour.
We have made an agreement with a local farmer to place a small herd of cows with calves on the Meadows for this season while we finalise our schemes and continue our fund raising efforts to secure the money required to realise our ambitions. The medium term objective is to establish a Petersham Meadows herd as soon as it is practicable which will be grazing all year round.

Fundraising

The Trust is working upon a Heritage Lottery Fund bid to help finance our aspirations and plans. We are being encouraged and helped by the National Trust who manage Ham House. We are also working closely with the Arcadia in the City project and the Thames Landscape Strategy which have plans to conserve and improve the Thames Landscape between Kew and Hampton Court. Petersham Meadows are the corner stone of the renowned Thames views and these organisations recognise that our work is an essential part of their overall plans. Approaches are also being made to local and national fund holders. The Trust will participate at both the Richmond May Fair and the Ham Fair to increase awareness of the project and to raise the profile of the fund raising activities. Approaches will be made to local businesses to whom the view across the Meadows is an attraction.

Communication

Besides telephone and e-mail, the Trust is building its own web site. You will receive full details once the site is opened. It is our intention to build links to the web sites of other local amenity groups and with those who share our aims and interests. The web site address will be www.petershammeadows.org The web site will be constantly kept up to date.

Raffle

The Trust is going to raffle the original of the painting by Elizabeth Morton of the view from Richmond Hill over Petersham Meadows shown on the fund raising brochure. Full details will follow in the next newsletter.

Trust Logo

The Trust plans to organise a competition for local schools to design a logo for the Trust for its letter heading and publicity. More news will be forthcoming later in the year.

Data Protection

As a matter of policy, the Trust does not share its address list with anyone nor would it divulge any data without first asking permission. Should anyone like to be removed from the mailing list, please advise us at:-

We will be writing to you on a regular basis to keep you fully informed of our progress. Should you know of others who would be interested in supporting Petersham Meadows, please give us the names and addresses so that we can forward full information.