Walter McFarlane and the Cast-Iron Park

In the Victorian era cast iron became ubiquitous in our parks, our streets and our architecture more generally. It was impossible to avoid and made up a large part of park and street furniture,  from  bandstands to drinking fountains, railings to lamp-posts and sewer ventilation to public toilets,  and everything in between, and not just in Britain but around the world.

You might be surprised, however, to discover that many of the  leading design and manufacturing companies for cast iron goods were based in Scotland, largely  because there were good sources of both coal and iron ore.  The largest of them was Walter MacFarlane and Son.

Established in 1850  in Glasgow, then the British Empire’s second city,  MacFarlane’s led the way in not only  design and manufacturing quality but aesthetics as well.  Walter himself was a consummate salesman and made his  fortune “by the beauty of his designs and the excellence of the workmanship, coupled with admirable organization.”

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Garden Rubbish

Many of you will remember I’m sure the best-selling comic history book 1066 And All That by Sellar and Yeatman, published first in 1930 but reprinted almost endlessly ever since. What you might not know is that they followed it up with several others, including,  in 1936,  a guide to  gardening.

They did so because  they said their earlier success” amply qualified them to compile the History of British Agriculture (post-Saxon) which they left out of that book. They cover the whole subject of Gardening (including Golf, but omitting chestnuts), Country Life and Scouting.  …  Everyone who loves (or hates) a garden will wallow in the rich loam of their wisdom.”

As you can probably tell even from that brief extract from the intro Garden Rubbish and other Country Bumps is very much a piece of its time. Its  humour is often  dated and laboured but parts of it can still raise a smile and as a recent critic noted  when it “hits its stride, it nails the British infatuation with competitive gardening with great gusto.

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Nostell Priory

If you’ve been following the Gardens Trusts on-line lectures you’ll know that Yorkshire has a lot of unforgettable gardens, but there’s one that we haven’t yet covered: Nostell Priory near Wakefield.

Nostell is a Palladian mansion with stunning Robert Adam interiors and a world famous collection of furniture by Thomas Chippendale. It’s set in a 300 acre park, with formal gardens, a series of linked lakes, woodland groves and even has the remains of a menagerie.

In front of the mansion is what  Country Life on 31 Oct 1914 described as a  “magnificent avenue, over three hundred feet in width, [which] indicates the great scale of Nostell as originally laid out. As a great grass way, bordered by ancient trees and peopled with a herd of deer, it impresses the imagination dulled by the encroaching disamenities of manufacturing Yorkshire.”  That sounds pretty unkind to the surrounding area and community but what’s Nostell and its park like today?

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Cats!

The Perfect Cat by Louis Wain

Apologies if you’ve already seen this post.  I’ve had several messages saying that either the blog hadn’t arrived or that it wouldn’t open properly so I’m reposting it in the hope that we have better luck second time around.

Humans have a love-hate relationship with cats. Personally I find it hard to understand why some people don’t like them. They’re very independent, clean and tidy, generally quiet and  pretty low maintenance,  and of course so instinctively clever that, unlike another favourite four legged friend they don’t need  lots of training.

Of course it’s true, as my cat Rupert often reminds me that while dogs have owners cats have servants but I can forgive that.   Yet as a gardener, like gardeners for centuries,  I recognise that cats in gardens can be a problem if not a nightmare.  Today’s post is going to look at the joys and tribulations of cats and their place in the garden…

Rupert

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Cats!

The Perfect Cat by Louis Wain

Humans have a love-hate relationship with cats. Personally I find it hard to understand why some people don’t like them. They’re very independent, clean and tidy, generally quiet and  pretty low maintenance,  and of course so instinctively clever that, unlike another favourite four legged friend they don’t need  lots of training.

Of course it’s true, as my cat Rupert often reminds me that while dogs have owners cats have servants but I can forgive that.   Yet as a gardener, like gardeners for centuries,  I recognise that cats in gardens can be a problem if not a nightmare.  Today’s post is going to look at the joys and tribulations of cats and their place in the garden…

Rupert

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