Garden Museum Walk

I am walking 100 miles from Lambeth to Little Badminton to raise funds for the Garden Museum.

This journey will take me from Saint Mary's Church in Lambeth, which is home to the Garden Museum, to the burial site of Russell Page in South Gloucestershire. I will be leaving on August 21st, and plan on arriving by the 24th.

I am convinced of the importance of gardens in reminding us of our relationship with our planet. More than perhaps ever before, we have been reminded of our fragility. What has made mankind progress has been its care for nature. We have evolved by tending to plants, and gardens are a memory of this.

Russell Page was one of the foremost landscape designers of the 20th century. He made gardens all over the world, and wrote a book which is very dear to me, The Education of a Gardener. Russell Page went to the Slade School of Fine Art, and, after the War, he studied with Oscar Kokoschka in Paris. To me, his work is like painting with nature.

Until the Museum was built there was nowhere to keep Russell Page's papers and make them accessible to students.  While being a small institution, the Garden Museum is dedicated to sharing the history of gardening with all. It is visited by many schools a year, has a community and outreach programme in place, and houses an archive of Garden Design, providing access to the records of leading British garden designers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Garden Museum explores and celebrates gardens and gardening through its collections, temporary exhibitions, events, and, of course, through its garden. It was founded in 1977, rescuing the abandoned church of St Mary’s at Lambeth. Importantly, the church is also the burial place of John Tradescant (c1570 – 1638), the first great gardener and plant-hunter in British history.

This year, the Garden Museum is asking for support to save it from the impact of the coronavirus: they need to raise £370,000 to make up for lost income and to get their programme of exhibitions, events, and educational work started again. The Garden Museum is one of only a handful of fully independent museums in London, operating without public funding nor with a founder’s Endowment.


I'll be sharing my progress over the course of the four days I'll be walking,  and will be ever so grateful to you for your help. Even a small donation will make all the difference.

If you feel like sharing my walk and this message please do so: spreading the word is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your attention and contributions,

My very best wishes,

Caspar