Winchester Association of National Trust Members
ABOUT US
The Winchester Association of National Trust members was established in 1970; the Hampshire Chronicle article 'Flying Start' shows the launch publicity with the Mayor and the Committee.
The Association started with a real challenge from the National Trust - to establish a National Collection of the beautiful roses, plentiful in Victorian times, which were dying out due to the popularity of modern roses like the floribundas. From this came the now-famous Rose Garden at Mottisfont which was opened in 1974. Much of the funding came from donations in memory of friends and family members, and the beautiful Remembrance book is kept at the property and was on show at our recent 50th birthday party at Mottisfont.
Since our founding we have raised over £500,000 for projects at National Trust properties (mainly The City Mill, Mottisfont, Hinton Ampner, and The Vyne) and we have also supported NT country-wide appeals. We have achieved this by arranging a programme of outings to properties and gardens (eg National Trust properties, Historic Houses, private access), places of interest such as special exhibitions, talks, social events, and ad-hoc activities. During the recent Covid-19 pandemic we introduced talks by Zoom and self-drive outings to more local properties and gardens, and expect to continue with all these ways of working with our members.
The press cutting shows the Director of the Mary Rose project, Dr Margaret Rule, one of our early speakers.
