This posting is a brief recapture of my first visit with Pines Garden which took place last May:
When I first arrived, I was immediately struck by its layout. Pines Garden is more or less surrounded by privately owned houses and most of them seem to have a view onto the garden. This particular structure comes obviously out of its history being bought in the 70s to stop further building development in the area. At the same time, when walking around I noticed that you can overlook the garden from almost any point and you can clearly notice its borders. I had the opportunity to talk to the founder’s grandson Alistair about the history of the garden and how the garden has been received by the community. It appears that the closer people live to the garden the least they appreciate it, to the extend that most of the direct neighbours seem to find it hard to see its benefits. According to Alistair, some seem even to think it is a tax avoiding scheme or feel that it is like one person’s gigantic private garden. This seems somewhat at odds as Pines Garden has always been there for the benefit of the village and its activities not only concern the garden but also the community itself. For instance, the gardens are run on the principle of sustainability and the trust is currently working with the community on the possibility of making St. Margaret’s Bay a sustainable village. When reflecting on this discrepancy between views, one thought struck me that is that Pines Garden is not a village green. By this I mean that even though the garden is meant for the community, it feels and looks very much like a private garden, enclosed and with definite borders.
Even though the funding situation is still somewhat unclear, the Olympics have proven to have an effect here as well, I decided to take up the invitation and do some further research. I will be in St. Margaret’s Bay next week and am curious what I will find out.
