Glastonbury gets Pride of Place on national brochure

The cover of a brochure titled “Pride of Place: Looking to the Future”. Its background is two tones of blue: navy on the left, and denim on the right. The title is written upwards vertically in the right section, in white text. Below this is a small grey square reading in black text, “The David Knightly Charitable Trust”. In the left section are some photographs: one of people with yellow hats sitting, one of an illistration of a river and tree, one of some people standing underneath a shelter structure, and one showing some houses at the far side of a lake. — The front cover of the brochure, with Jan Morland’s photo of Glastonbury’s old railway canopy relocated to St John’s carpark.

Our society’s 1984 project features in a special colour brochure marking 21 years of Pride of Place awards from the David Knightly Charitable Trust. Photos by Jan Morland appear on the cover and inside.

A paragraph reads:

Glastonbury Civic Society [which should read Glastonbury Conservation Society, although we are affiliated to the national Civic Society] decided to rescue one of the platform canopies from the old station disused since the 1960s. It was dismantled and re-erected in the public carpark behind the fine mediaeval church in the town centre where the Tuesday market is held. The society rightly foresaw that the canopy would provide welcome shelter, particularly on wet days. And so it does!

In the foreword, Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage, writes to commend the work of the David Knightly Charitable Trust:

For 21 years the trust has been a pioneer in promoting community involvement in the historic environment and in recognizing the importance of creating attractive, well designed places for people to live in.

We know that most people place a high value on the historic environment. A recent MORI poll established that 76 percent of the population believe that it enriches their lives, that 88 percent think it is important in creating jobs and boosting the economy and that an overwhelming 98 percent believe that schoolchildren should have the opportunity to study it. The trust’s Pride of Place Awards have tapped this enthusiasm. They have encouraged people to work together to make their environment more attractive, more accessible and more interesting. Properly presented, the historic environment is the most immediate of historical documents, capable of giving a depth and dimension to life from which no one need be excluded.

Perhaps the Trust’s most important contribution has been to show the way for others to follow. The Pride of Place Awards have had an effect far wider than the individual schemes themselves. They have helped to develop a whole new attitude to community involvement in environmental improvement. It is an approach whose time has come.

The Trust deserves our thanks and congratulations for its work over the last 21 years, and our best wishes for the future.

Gordon Michell is handing over the administration of the David Knightly Charitable Trust to Gillian Binks, after 21 years of the awards section.