Forty fab years at the Open Spaces Society

On 2 April I celebrated 40 years as general secretary of the Open Spaces Society. They have been very happy ones.

The job specification said ‘Despite its long and productive history the society’s membership and public image are not all that the executive committee would wish. We need to develop our role as a significant part of the environmental movement—by winning more members and creating greater public and political understanding of the importance of open spaces in country and town.’ The list of functions did not include the word ‘campaigning’ but that was what was needed.

My predecessors, Ian Campbell and Paul Clayden, who led the society with distinction, were lawyers rather than campaigners, giving expert advice on the detail of commons, greens, open spaces, and public paths but not seeking publicity for the organisation. So the way was clear for me to raise our profile. I issued 24 press releases in my first year and the number increased thereafter. Over 40 years I have done 2,420 press releases—for many years I had to address all envelopes by hand, copy and staple the releases, and then post them, often timed to arrive for use on Monday when there was less news.

General secretary job spec 1984.

My first press release for the society.

Whereas when I started, and for some time after, the general secretary and deputy secretary (Duncan Mackay) were providing all the professional expertise, with three part-time support staff, today it is different. I am fortunate to have four case officers a commons re-registration officer, office manager, office and membership assistant, finance officer, and digital consultant. This has been made possible largely by the legacies left to us by generous members and other supporters who believe in our work.

View of newly-registered common land (170 hectares) from just north of Porthtowan in Cornwall, registered in March following an application by the society’s commons re-registration officer, Frances Kerner. Photo: Landman LLP.

What I value most about the Open Spaces Society are its courage and speed. We are prepared to jump in where others fear to tread, often a lone voice, going to court where necessary. We do not have layers of committees and complex processes for decision-making, the trustees have established procedures for approving expenditure and are willing to meet at short notice to deal with urgent issues. I have always dealt with publicity so we never have to wait for approval from a communications department, we can respond at once. This is crucial for an effective campaigning organisation.

Altercation at Henley Regatta when hospitality marquee was erected over a public footpath, July 1990. Photo: Bucks Free Press.

Much of what the society has achieved over the last 40 years can’t be seen. Our successes are the places we have saved and the bad things we have prevented. So I take great joy in walking through the unspoilt hamlet of Sydmonton in Hampshire where, because of us, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s estate has not pushed the path around the back of the properties, or along the River Nene at Oundle, Northamptonshire, where the path still runs because we stopped Oundle School from diverting it behind the boat houses (both cases fought and won in 1996).

The path through Sydmonton, saved by the OSS and Dave Ramm (who took the photo).

Plumstone Mountain Common in Pembrokeshire was freed of unlawful fences when Dyfed County Council ordered their removal, thanks to our lobbying, in 1986. (And today the common is in good hands with one of its trustees Jim Henry taking the lead in securing its management, for nature and people.)

Dyfed County Councillors meet at Plumstone Rock to consider the unlawful fencing (note all men!), 1986.

Ten years ago I wrote about my 30 years at the society here. In the last ten years we have taken many more legal cases and had some useful victories, helping prevent Blackbushe Airport Ltd from deregistering a vast stretch of Yateley Common in Hampshire, rescuing part of Richmond High and Low Commons in North Yorkshire from deregistration, intervening in the Dartmoor backpack camping case in support of the Dartmoor National Park Authority, for instance. We have embarked on a commons re-registration project to rescue lost commons, and saved the paths across Harrow School grounds from being diverted to the edges of the playing fields with loss of views. And much more.

Footpath 58 across Harrow School playing fields: saved.

I have been with the society for one quarter of its existence; I am not the longest serving general secretary though—one of my predecessors, Lawrence Chubb, was there for 52 years. But it is a good long time, and I feel proud and fortunate to have worked for such a light-footed, heavyweight organisation for so long.

On my 40th anniversary we had a joyful celebration, organised by my ever-efficient staff. We met at the Bull and Butcher in Turville and walked straight up Cobstone Hill to ‘my’ gate where suddenly a bottle of bubbly was produced.

Champers at the gate.

We walked round the hill and returned to the pub where we were joined by two trustees and my partner Chris, for lunch, speeches and wonderful gifts. I feel overwhelmed, and deeply grateful to have such a brilliant team with whom to work.

So here’s to the next 40 years!

We have listed some of the society’s achievements over the last 40 years, and made a video here.