In conversation with Daniel Johnson at Houghton Hall
On the evening of Friday 15th July Restore Trust held its first talk in the beautiful setting of Houghton Hall in Norfolk. The discussion featured Daniel Johnson, founding editor of online publication TheArticle, in conversation with Restore Trust director Zewditu Gebreyohanes on a plethora of National Trust-related issues.
Daniel reminded the audience that our nation’s heritage belongs to all of us and that we should be interested in preserving it “whatever our political views may be”, and that the Restore Trust cause is completely non-partisan.
Discussing the slavery report and the recent re-writing of history by National Trust management, Daniel pointed out that “how our children and the next generation are taught about our history is enormously important, and the National Trust has more influence on that than any other organisation apart from our schools and universities”.
He went on to add that any historical exploration “must be done in a proper, scholarly, balanced way where we do justice to the good as well as the bad in our past, because actually British history is something mostly to be proud of: of course there are shameful episodes; of course there are things we wish hadn’t happened, but I do not believe that Britain should be ashamed of its past, let alone the beautiful things that have been bequeathed to us by our ancestors.”
Daniel also said that some of what the National Trust has been doing recently—such as getting involved in controversial campaigns—lies outside its charitable objects.
Daniel said that the National Trust should not take positions on contentious political issues, and said that such campaigns are not only divisive but have nothing to do with preserving heritage.
The discussion was followed by a Q&A session during which attendees shared their thoughts and discussed local case studies of how the National Trust has been going astray. Local issues and causes of frustration, from the long-closed Lake Walk at Blickling to the re-wilded and “messy” gardens at Oxburgh House were raised and discussed.
Ways in which pressure might be brought to bear on the National Trust to return it to its founding ethos and aims were discussed with attendees. There was a consensus that the biggest way for people to make a difference was to renew their memberships and vote at the AGM later this year.
Zewditu questioned the rationale behind the National Trust’s retention of the Chairman’s discretionary proxy vote for members’ resolutions when that for Council candidates was abolished several years ago. Read more about Restore Trust’s members’ resolutions here.