Petersham Trust Newsletters

September 2002

Message from the Chairman, Chris Brasher

The Trust has been very busy since our sending the Spring Newsletter. Many of you will have enjoyed seeing the herd grazing on the Meadows looking healthy and well cared for. They will return to their winter quarters later in the year once the nutrients in the grass can no longer sustain grazing. Substantial work has been carried out on the land to clear the accumulated clutter and to carry out essential fencing repairs. Through the summer, the Meadows were looking better than for some time. The unrelenting struggle with thistles and other weeds has taken a significant effort. I was encouraged by the excellent turn out from volunteers on our June thistle-cutting day. Trustees hope to apply a more permanent solution for the next season.
Our objectives remain to replace the dilapidated buildings to accommodate an all year round Petersham Meadow herd and to restore the 1880s milking parlour. The funds needed to meet these objectives are considerable. The number of donors and the extent of their generosity have heartened Trustees. However, more is needed to enable Trustees to establish the endowment that will totally secure the future and allow future generations to enjoy this haven of rural tranquillity in an urban setting.
The high level of support in the project reassures Trustees that their efforts continue to gain widespread support. The Trustees are having to concentrate upon planning and preparation work meaning that the fruits of these efforts are not immediately obvious. Much of this preparation is related to the Heritage Lottery Bid, discussed in detail below.
Again, many thanks for generous support and hope that this support will continue to enable us to meet our objectives.

Heritage Lottery Bid

The Thames Landscape Strategy project has submitted a Heritage Lottery Bid under the title "Arcadia in the City" to cover improvement schemes along the Thames from Kew to Hampton. The Petersham Trust is preparing its own bid in parallel to the Arcadia bid. The bid preparation and submission process is protracted. Happily, the Trust is now just about to submit its bid. The bid will cover the fulfilment of the Trust's aims to ensure Petersham Meadows retains its atmosphere of rural tranquillity as the cornerstone of the Richmond Hill view and to rebuild and restore the farm buildings to capitalise upon their heritage and educational potential. The total project cost is over £1,000,000 and the Trust needs to have matching funds available to secure the bid. The costs reflect the Trust's desire to have buildings and a project of a standard in keeping with the matchless surroundings and the high donor expectation.
The Trustees have to bear in mind that any expenditure carried out before the Heritage Lottery Bid has been approved cannot be counted towards matching funds. The Trustees are loath to incur expenditure that could reasonably by financed by the money from the Lottery Bid. This prudent approach has meant that repair work, such as kissing gate replacement. has been delayed much longer than the Trustees would have wished.

Re-Building and Restoration

The Trust' plans are being finalised after a far-reaching and detailed evaluation. The Trust plans to demolish the dilapidated barn and ancillary outbuildings and replace them by an enlarged barn that remains within the confines of the existing footprint. The barn would be constructed from high quality traditional materials to be in keeping with the importance and sensitivity of the site. The barn would be multi functional, being a flexible educational and heritage resource as well as being the winter quarters for the herd. The milking parlour retains the ambience of its original setting. So it would be cleaned, renovated but not re-built and used to illustrate dairy farming principles by means of static and inter-active displays. Economic realities dictate that we cannot sustain a dairy herd on the farm so the herd would consist of beef cattle.

Fund Raising

The Trustees will benefit from some high profile events such as next spring's art auction of views from Richmond Hill by modern painters. A generous patron of the Thames Landscape Strategy has made this possible.
Other events are being discussed and full details will be given when available. In the meantime, we appeal to all those interested in securing the future of this priceless asset to help us by sending a donation. Please send any new donations to:

The Petersham Trust,
18 Breamwater Gardens,
Ham TW10 7SQ

Communications

The foundations of the Trust's website are now in place. We invite you to visit it to keep abreast news of the Trust's activities. Building work is ongoing on the site and it is updated regularly with relevant data. The web address is:

www.petershammeadows.org

The Trust continues to attract both national and regional as well as local media attention underlining the wide interest that the future of Petersham Meadows generates. Our e-mail address is:

info@petershammeadows.org

Volunteers

The Trust works with the Ham & Petersham Association and the Thames Landscape Strategy team on regular weekend towpath and Meadows weekend clean up mornings. There is always a good turn out and many hands do make light work. If you are interested in helping us to ensure that we retain an environment that does justice to the surroundings, please get in touch.

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:-

The Petersham Trust, 18 Breamwater Gardens, Ham, TW10 7SQ
Telephone/Fax: 0208 255 6628
E-mail address:- info@petershammeadows.org

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