One visit stands out as being different.  It was 20 years ago today, on 21 March 2002, and was the swansong of landscape architect Paul Walshe, who was retiring as the agency’s head of special areas.  The event, which he organised, was a celebration of the arts in the south west.

After a walk around the National Trust’s Sherborne estate in Gloucestershire on 20 March, we crossed the A40 to the trust’s Lodge Park. This is a fascinating doll’s house-like building, erected in the 1630s as a place of entertainment for John Dutton. 

We had dinner here, noisily entertained by the Oxford Waits, with guests from the artworld.  I was sitting next to Nancy Sinclair of Aunehead Arts, whom I had not met.  Reading her label I immediately thought of that wilderness in central southern Dartmoor. Nancy was surprised that I knew she came from Dartmoor since…