Gardens: Wish They Were Still Here ; Britain's Municipal Parks Were Once Wonders of Floral Imagination. and, Says Michael Leapman, They May Yet Bloom Again, Thanks to a Rare Collection of Picture Postcards

Leapman, Michael, The Independent (London, England)

The images are not beautiful in any conventional sense. The colours can be lurid and the reproduction poor; but they are arresting social documents, redolent of a not-too-distant age. Brent Elliott, librarian at the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library, has for 20 years been collecting picture post-cards of British municipal parks, spanning the 20th century.

It began as a personal project, but now he has donated the collection of around 5,000 cards to the Society. Shortly he will be sharing his treasures with the rest of us on the RHS website. Some of the most charming will be exhibited in the Library's expanded premises in Westminster, soon after it reopens …

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Publication information: Article title: Gardens: Wish They Were Still Here ; Britain's Municipal Parks Were Once Wonders of Floral Imagination. and, Says Michael Leapman, They May Yet Bloom Again, Thanks to a Rare Collection of Picture Postcards. Contributors: Leapman, Michael - Author. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: May 13, 2001. Page number: 34,45. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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