Meet Sally Bate new HLP officer at the Gardens Trust

Photo of Sally Bate, new HLP officer at the GT

The Gardens Trust is really pleased to announce that Sally Bate is joining us as a new part-time HLP officer. She has just joined our Historic Landscape Project team, working alongside Tamsin McMillan and the team to support CGTs and GT members in expanding their research and conservation capabilities.

Meet Sally Bate

Here’s an introduction from Sally: “I am very excited to be joining the Historic Landscapes Project team at the Gardens Trust.  I look forward to meeting as many of the CGTs as I can, as well as individual members of the GT. I am currently Vice-Chair of Norfolk Gardens Trust and have served on that committee since 2013.  My main role over this time has been the re-establishment of our Trust’s research group, made up of 12 volunteers from our membership.

The timing of the Capability Brown and Humphry Repton festivals meant a lot of research undertaken by our members and a steep learning trajectory for me. I had to fathom out how to edit, lay-out, publish and distribute our two books on those gentlemen’s work in our county.  Happily, Humphry Repton in Norfolk sold all 1000 copies printed in 11 months and was voted as a finalist in the East Anglian Book Awards. I was honoured to be the joint winner of the GT’s Gilly Drummond Award in 2018 as I know how much hard work everyone who was nominated will have put in.

My background and new role

I first trained and worked as a primary school teacher specialising in Environmental Sciences, but I have also run a local playgroup and for 5 years took on the role of an examinations officer at a Norwich secondary school.  For the past 10 years I have been self-employed as a garden designer, which has given me the time to volunteer with several Norfolk organisations.

As a part-time project officer I will be working alongside Tamsin and the team to support the CGTs and GT members with their research and conservation growth. I will be helping with planning training and applications, and ensuring that Meet Ups and other events run smoothly.  We envisage that there will be opportunities to support groups of volunteers (external to the GT) with their projects to conserve, protect and involve their communities with local historic landscapes and parks.”

Find out more about our Historic Landscapes Project

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Painswick Roccoco Gardens, the Red House, Photo © Joab Smith