London SE1 community website

1970s garden shed and tools wanted by museum

London SE1 website team

The Museum of Garden History is appealing for a range of 1970s garden tools to complete a new display about the recent history of gardening.

Last autumn the Museum of Garden History and The National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG) appealed to the public to donate or lend the museum any garden or gardening related items from the 1970s. The items will be housed in a 1970s shed and act as a time capsule that tells the story of gardening in the late 1970s and explore how it differed from gardening today.

The museum received many offers of donations, that have included handwritten plans for vegetable plots from 1978, gardening books and magazines from the 1970s, leaflets about creating water-conservation gardens, a 1970s hand-held cultivator and some 1970s garden tools.

In order to complete the shed the museum is appealing specifically for the following items:
• A Flymo and other electrical garden tools.
• Photographs and memories of 1970s gardens and gardening.
• More 1970s garden tools – especially tools that were innovative at the time.
• 1970s garden toys, for example a space hopper or swing ball set.
• A sprinkler.
• 1970s garden furniture.
• 1970s packaging from gardening related items.
• 1970s seed packets.
• A shed from the 1970s.

The first opportunity to see the collection will be in the NCCPG Plant Heritage Marquee at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in July. Following the show, the shed will be exhibited at the Museum of Garden History in Lambeth.

"This project celebrates a shared 30th birthday for the museum and the NCCPG, and recognises the fact that our garden collection and the NCCPG plant collection both depend on the personal passion and interest of individuals to grow, evolve and ultimately, to survive," explains museum director Christopher Woodward.

If you have any items that are on the above list which you would like to donate or lend to the project please contact the Museum of Garden History at [email protected] with a description of the item and a picture, if possible.

See www.museumgardenhistory.org/shed to find out more.

The SE1 website is supported by people like you
We are part of
Independent Community News Network
Email newsletter

For the latest local news and events direct to your inbox every Monday, you need our weekly email newsletter SE1 Direct.

Archive
News archive from February 1999 to January 2001
Got a story for us?
Contact us with your tip-offs and story ideas.