The March on Dartington
The banner made their message loud and clear.
Around 100 people gathered by the river in Totnes on Saturday afternoon (Dec 9) to march to Dartington Great Hall. It was show of solidarity that the organisers hope will influence the future of the troubled estate for the better.
As the marchers slowly walked, singing, strumming guitars, wheeling bikes, walking dogs and talking, the atmosphere was contemplative.
One marcher, Dominic Orr, who has just completed a masters degree at Dartington, said: ”It’s not about achieving anything today necessarily, it’s for people to show how dear they hold the institution and how worried they are. I see it a bit like the Tory Party – if they keep changing the leader, they’re not accountable.”
The organisers announced that they had been invited to talk to the Trust but didn’t feel they had a mandate without asking the marchers first what questions they wanted asking. One man stepped up with this question. “What is it about the Dartington Hall trust, the estate and the legacy that underpins how you are acting as trustees?”
One former Schumacher student told me that the mood is how can we help and work together.
The gathering was told that this might be the first of many marches.
Why have you denied Dartington members public highway access to Dartington Hall gardens at the top gates and church gate, padlocked on 8 December, without any prior warning?
As a local resident, I regularly (1-2 days per week) walk from Dartington church to the garden entrance at the top gate. It’s a beautiful route and I do not think the gardens were designed as a closed circuit loop, but to provide pedestrian access to the “golden triangle” (Foxhole school, Old Postern etc). Since the gates were locked, I have been unable to access this. I would suggest a coded exit lock on the top gate with members provided with the changing code for continued access.
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