At the Spring Arts and Heritage Centre in Havant on Saturday, 4 November, Dr Geoffrey Mead ran an excellent Day School, organized by Havant WEA, on the subject, “What is Landscape?” In the course of the day members of the large audience were taken on a journey through different types of landscape, ranging from countryside to seascapes, urban landscapes to wildscapes and in Dr Mead’s own words it soon became apparent that, “There is more to landscape than meets the eye.” Landscapes are an integral part of our life; however, they can change over the years, not just through nature but also by man’s cultivation or development of the land.
As well as seeing stunning images of the South Downs, the coast and wildscapes, the audience was given references to landscapes in the Arts, with images from artists such as Turner and Richard Wilson, writers Defoe, Edward Thomas and the lesser known William Cobbett whose book “Rural Ride”, published in 1830, is still in print today. An interesting observation was the number of TV and Radio programmes such as Country-file that presently feature landscape, encouraging all generations to appreciate and enjoy our varied and beautiful country.