Celebration of Hal Moggridge's career in Landscape Architecture

4. The Blenheim Park Master Plan

It is interesting to see how different speakers approach their topics. Ralph Cobham worked with Hal on Blenheim Park for 30 years. A number of landscape practices were invited to bid for a master plan to restore the heritage landscape, and Hal and Ralph each with their own practice covering sometimes the same work, were both commissioned to collaborate together on the Master Plan. Had these two separate practices worked together before? What were they doing in Benghazi and how did Ralph end up getting arrested? Who funded the Master Plan and what difference did this make? What was the condition of the park in 1981? What were Hal’s special skills? (Of course this wasn’t the right occasion for Ralph to itemise what special skills he brought to the collaboration, but this must be followed up soon.) There was only ten minutes to explain all the ideas and all work and that went into this project and how the work was obviously and carefully divided between them. What did they do and how did they do it. Why does it sound like a conveyor belt success story? Was it so easy? And what lessons can they offer from this long collaboration? And the results? It was designated in 2006 UNESCO WORLD HERTAGE SITE and this needs to be sustained in the very long term.

There is a slightly longer written version available on the Hal Special page, including some key references. Was it the beginning of conservation and heritage based masterplans fused with functional plans that accommodate working landscapes? What impact has this study - walking this landscape intensively at the beginning and then repeatedly over the years, looking, seeing, perceiving, feeling, sensing, smelling - what impact has all of this had on Hal, and how his approach and interest and knowledge in historic landscapes, and Capability Brown, and views has also changed and developed over those 30 years and more ?

Speaker: Ralph Cobham


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About this series of talks
Hal Moggridge was an obvious choice to continue FOLAR’s special series celebrating the life and works of UK’s renowned landscape architects. He has spent almost all of his working life in landscape architecture. Throughout this time, he has shared his knowledge and wisdom guiding multiple landscape focused organisations and professional bodies at international, national, and local levels. Hal has long provided a compass of wisdom, generosity, and diplomacy. He sees landscapes not only as cultural treasures, but also tools for reconciliation and embraces diversity as a strength. His courage, clarity, and humanistic vision continue to inspire. He continues working now as a consultant to his practice and as a volunteer advising on multiple committees, including FOLAR.
Through a varied programme of speakers and topics we hoped to discover more about his work, ideas, principles, and also about him. How can such a quiet and modest man achieve so much?
One of the most valuable objectives with FOLAR’s celebrations on special lives is being able to discuss, ask questions, see projects and learn and also share so much more about different aspects of peoples’ life and work, rather than guessing or making assumptions.

The archives of both Hal Moggridge and Brenda Colvin are at MERL, fully catalogued and open to all by appointment: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collection....

The Landscape Institute collection at MERL: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collection...

More information about FOLAR https://www.folar.uk/