Berkshire
Gardens Trust
Reg.Charity No.1201501

We are very pleased to welcome Ursula Buchan, a distinguished writer on gardening and social history, to talk to us about Valeria Finnis, renowned photographer and Waterperry plantswoman.

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Ursula read Modern History at Cambridge, before training in horticulture at Kew and at Wisley. She is the author of 18 books.  Her book, Garden People, about Valerie Finnis, won the Enthusiasts’ Book of the Year from the Garden Media Guild, and she has also won awards for her journalism.

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Valerie Finnis was a renowned photographer and avid collector of photographs. Roald Dahl and his family in their garden at Great Missenden; Nancy Lancaster, interior designer, sporting an elegant straw sombrero attending to her roses; Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst - these and many other dedicated gardeners were captured by the discerning eye of Valerie Finnis.

 

For 28 years Valerie was associated with the Waterperry Horticultural School for Women. She first went to Waterperry in 1942, aged 18, and helped make it the famous horticultural institution it is now. While teaching at Waterperry, she became noted for her expertise in alpine plants. She was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1975 by the Royal Horticultural Society. 

 

This is a highly illustrated talk accompanied by slides taken by Valerie. Ursula knew Valerie and her husband, Sir David Scott, very well and worked from time to time in the garden at Boughton. She is Chair of the Finnis Scott Foundation, set up after Valerie’s death.

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Booking: Please book online before the 15 November. The tickets are £7 each for both members and non-members.  

 

We will send you a Zoom link for the lecture a few days beforehand. The lecture will last approximately 1 hour, followed by questions. The lecture will be recorded with the link available for a week to those people who have booked for the event.  

 

Queries: Kim Hacker at BerksGTmembership@gmail.com

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Both pictures courtesy of the RHS