Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 4th March 2025

Time: 7 p.m.

Venue: Theatre 2, Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA

Description: Dartmoor National Park was designated in 1951, the fourth of the first wave of designations under the second Attlee Government. This raised new expectations, particularly among national park advocates, about how developments within the park would be managed. In earlier work, I discussed how conflicts between different state agencies played out on the moor, particularly conflicts between the park authorities and the Forestry Commission, the statutory water authorities, and the Ministry of Defence. In this talk, I turn to smaller, more everyday sources of contention, including municipal developments and those that arose as residents sought to take advantage of the opportunities presented by increased mobility and tourism. This depended on roadside advertising, new buildings, and places to park; it also produced a lot of rubbish. How could this unruly entrepreneurialism be reconciled to the commitment of the park authorities and its attendant pressure groups to a particular aesthetic, a form of visual amenity, that should prevail throughout the park?

How to book: plymouth.ac.uk/arts-institute T: 01752 585050 E: theartsinstitute@plymouth.ac.uk

Price: Free for national or local members of the Historical Association, and for University of Plymouth students. Visitor tickets: £6.00, concessions £4.00.

Tel: 01752 843750

Email: a.cousins345@btinternet.com

Website: www.ha-plymouth.org.uk/

Organiser: A.H Cousins

Lecturer: Professor Matthew Kelly, Northumbria University

Comments: Matthew Kelly's recent research has been focusing on the development of environmental policy in the post-war period, the cultural history of landscape, and the history of National Parks and nature conservation.

Region: South-West England

Branch: Plymouth