Companions Day at Bewdley, Ribbesford and Ruskin Land

A group of around 30 Companions, Guild staff and friends gathered in Bewdley on 16thJune for a delightful day. A handful of people had the opportunity to take the stairs to the top of Bewdley Museum where the Ruskin Library books are shelved. Meticulously catalogued and looked after by Companion Jeanette Lock, the more than 450 books and related items were a gift to the Guild from Companion and Director Anthony Page, and are available for study and loan to anyone who asks; Jeanette would love to see the books used more. See the online catalogue here.

After the full group had gathered at St George’s Hall, we set off, led by our Pied Piper Jenny Robbins, to see the magnificent Ruskin Land oak bridge recently built and unveiled in Bewdley’s Riverside North Park, as part of a new accessible walk around the park. The bridge’s handrail is carved with Ruskin’s name and his words ‘Beautiful, Peaceful, Fruitful’, taken from his original manifesto for the Guild’s land in the Wyre Forest:  “We will try to take some small piece of English ground, beautiful, peaceful and fruitful. We will have no steam-engines upon it, and no railroads; we will have no untended or unthought-of creatures on it; none wretched, but the sick; none idle, but the dead.”

Next, by car or on foot, we headed to the village of Ribbesford to see the fine window by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. Originally an early-Norman church, it was badly damaged in a storm in 1878, and we should be glad that Ruskin’s advice, to leave it as a picturesque ruin, was ignored and the church extensively rebuilt. The fine west window, installed only three year earlier, survived the storm; it was made by William Morris to designs by Edward Burne-Jones, and is dedicated to Burne-Jones’s mother-in-law.

Up near the top of the churchyard lies the grave of William Graham. As many readers will know, Graham was an early follower of Ruskin and he established the first smallholding at what was then known as the St George’s Guild Bewdley Estate. In 1880 he drew a plan for an orchard of 180 or so fruit trees, a mixture of varieties of plum, damson, apple, pear and cherry. We were lucky enough to see this beautiful plan later in the day, when John Iles was talking about the revived and replanted orchards at Uncllys Farm. Graham’s grave is due to be cleaned and repaired and a new commemorative plaque installed acknowledging his significance to the Guild. We were all enchanted by the sleek grey cat that came to lounge on the grave and insist on our attention. >Lunch was eaten at Uncllys in the beautiful Ruskin Studio building and offered the chance for Companions and friends to sit, talk and share what brought each of them to the Guild and to Ruskin.

After lunch, we were taken on a tour of the oak woods where both John Iles and Tim Selman, Managing Director of the Wyre Community Land Trust, spoke to us about the changing stewardship of the woods, opening up space and introducing a wider variety of species. More than 1000 tonnes of oak has been taken out and sold, and the resulting open space, and increase in light, allows for new growth from the forest floor and encourages a far greater diversity of wildlife. As if to illustrate this, we suddenly noticed, while Tim was talking, a hawk sitting surveying us from a nearby branch. It was explained how relatively valueless the oak is when first extracted (in relation to the cost of extraction), and how the value per tonne increases exponentially the more it can be worked on site, for example being dried and sawn for use as a building and making material.

We therefore headed finally to St George’s Farm, to see the investment in the sawmill and improvements to buildings, so that the harvest of the woods can generate both more income and more work, as well as making beautiful things. It was inspiring to hear about the new jobs and activities that are becoming possible, and we saw the preparations taking place to host this year’s Studio in the Woods project, where up to 60 people come to live on the Farm and work with architects and designers to realise full-scale projects using the materials around them.

Tim then explained the Masterplan for the future stages of development on the farm, for which fundraising is an on-going challenge, before we returned to Uncllys Farm through the orchard for a restorative cup of tea and excellent cake, before the group began to disperse.

The evening before, some of the Board and the Guild’s staff team met for a sumptuous dinner of local venison at Uncllys Farm, and we were delighted to be joined by local Companions and friends and from New York, American Companions R. Dyke Benjamin and his wife Marianne. After Clive Wilmer’s warm words of welcome, both made delightful informal speeches, Dyke referencing the fact that having been a keen Ruskin collector for many decades, he couldn’t help but reflect on the fact that he has gone from being a rather lonely Ruskin enthusiast with a seemingly esoteric interest, to one of a growing host of people world-wide who care very deeply about Ruskin. Having been a champion runner as a younger man, Dyke listed his three heroes as his wife, John Ruskin and Sir Roger Bannister, perhaps the first time Ruskin and Bannister have shared top billing.

Our thanks to Jenny and John for creating such a relaxed and welcoming environment, to Tim Selman for his important contribution on behalf of the Wyre Community Land Trust, and to Jeanette Lock for her tour of the Anthony Page Ruskin library in Bewdley Museum.