Things looked very different down the Glen some sixty years ago.
The picture below is from the tourist brochure of 1965/6 from the Sidmouth Urban District Council. The quality has been worked on by the VGS webmaster Mary Walden-Till.
The FOGG project is to some degree about ‘restoring’ the Glen – but to something nearer to the ‘natural look’ of the 1890s rather than the ‘manicured look’ of the 1960s! The picture does show ‘what can be done’ – but otherwise, it’s a fascinating piece of history.
As Mary says;
“I am not suggesting that we go back to the ‘municipal plantings’ of the 60s but it is interesting to see how much more light there was in the south end of the Glen then.”
And as said by FOGG working party member Phil Lee:
“The photo is of a moment in time and is of historical curiosity. Twenty, forty and a hundred years before the photo, it would have looked different again. Nothing stays the same. Plants cannot be asked to stop growing (or, rather, they can, but will ignore you). We are (aiming at) creating something that is evolving from a lot of the plants (mainly trees and shrubs) that we have inherited, and with the wonderful atmosphere that has developed within the Goyle.”
Thank you the SUDC, Mary and Phil.