Landmarks

John Smith and I share a birthday, albeit his was in 1923. Rather a common name, his I mean? Certainly, but he was an uncommon man.

His family were bankers; he went to Eton where he was Captain of the Oppidans and won the Rosebery prize (that’s for history). He had a “good” war – that means it was bloody awful but he was jolly brave. After the war he went up to Oxford and read History at New College. He went on to be a Member of Parliament, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, a Companion of Honour. That’s fine but it doesn’t qualify him as even a good egg, let alone the higher ranks of this order bestowed here.

He has been created a super-good egg because he founded the Landmark Trust in the 1960s. I wrote a few days ago about Swarkestone Pavilion in Derbyshire – a spectacular, quirky building that would not have survived without intervention by the LT. I have stayed in many LT properties over the last thirty years and am so grateful that his generosity and vision has saved so many of these unique buildings.

What I did not realise is that there is an Irish equivalent. It started in 1992 and only has twenty-two properties but ambitious plans. Alas, its plans seem to outstrip its resources as their website has no updates on new projects since 2013. In the UK the National Trust and Landmark Trust complement each other. I hope that the Irish Georgian Society and the Irish Landmark Trust can do the same.

There’s no way I can gently ease you into this film, released in the same year as Doctor Zhivago, so watch the trailer, enjoy Tom Jones singing What’s New Pussycat and then see a clip from the film. Probably best not to see the whole movie which is not nearly as good as its stellar cast.