Buildings ruining Bill’s landscape

More than 50 years ago ‘Bill’ Bowen was appointed horticultural officer at the new University of Bath. Bill had trained at Kew, worked at London University Botanic Gardens and landscaped Ghana’s Accra University ten times the area of the Claverton Down site. Using building spoil he recreated the rolling landscape of the Cotswold area of outstanding natural beauty which abuts Bath Uni, increasing the depth of the thin soil and planting ‘shelterbelts’ of trees. The national yew tree collection was planted, the site of special scientific interest (geology) preserved on Quarry Road, a lake excavated as reservoir in case of fire and the prehistoric northern boundary preserved. Bath’s horticulture degree course became respected worldwide and the history of gardens course established. Bill Bowen died soon after he was awarded an honorary MA by the university. The degree course and department were closed, the history course stopped and the last suitably qualified horticulture chief Pete Brown died recently and wasn’t replaced. He had “N.D.H” after his name; the National Diploma of Horticulture which is the most difficult qualification in the subject. Now Bill and Pete must be turning in their graves. It was inevitable that the buildings would eat away at the land. A dedicated team of gardeners and grounds persons have maintained the place to a high standard. But now there will be redundancies, no appropriately qualified skipper at the helm and a burgeoning estates management are already in charge. Without Bill’s training and experience we already have what he sought to prevent; “the all too frequent modern phenomenon of buildings seen rising from a sea of cars”. The car parks he incorporated were sunken and shielded by trees. Saddest of all is the loss of morale amongst staff who face reapplying for their jobs and hence in competition with colleagues they have worked alongside for years. The new contracts will favour management. Whoever heard of a new contract favouring the workers? Now that the unions are involved, the university faces even more bad publicity than it has received lately. Watch this space! Dave French Bath