Lucy Worsley chatting to Sir Roy Strong....

That's good news Merlot

I've just read in September's edition of the RHS magazine The Garden, that Sir Roy Strong is now going to bequeath The Laskett to the horticultural charity Perennial - the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society.

perennial.org.uk/

Good for him! Far more worthy than the sniffy National Trust.

I really enjoyed the interview. Take back what I said about him being a prickly old snob....Quite the reverse, I think.

The National Trust needs a good shake. The Laskett is now top of my 'Must See' list.

The garden was a labour of love by him and his wife - a joint project that has great emotional significance for him; I guess he "lost it" when the NT turned it down. There must be some other way of preserving it.

It's trying really hard to rain here but can't quite get there; my lawn in desperate! Still, I've finished what I needed to do and had the thrill of seeing one of the local buzzards land on the tree next to my house, plus a large flock of geese flew over the house [trouble is, that usually means winter is coming ]. I'd be really interested in your take on the interview, merlot . ...oh; it's getting heavier and the squirrel across the road is running for cover....

I'll watch this on iPlayer because it's pouring with rain so no chance of gardening here.

I agree with janea that he should consider another organisation because many many people prefer to visit places that were lovingly created as private gardens rather than large National Trust properties that just happen to have a stunning garden attached.

What a pity he's such a prickly old snob.

Been doing some gardening and pondering on the programme [and trying hard to remember what was said; it was very late as I watched it on catchup!]. First of all he'd said that Diana was 'common'; in the interview he said that the V&A was an awful place. As he ran it it was up to him to make it a nice place but, from what some of the staff said he didn't sound like a very nice person to work for. Said he was a Royalist and yet was quite sneering about various members of the Royal family [including the Queen]. In fact, seemed quite sneering about everyone and came across as an awful narcissistic snob. I'd love to know what Peter Blake thinks of him . Mind you, I've always said that we have a problem in this country with expecting people who achieve things to be nice people, whereas the results of their endeavours are more important than making people like them [and it wasn't a good interview]. Right; back to the gardening.

It said in the article that the garden would be open to the public for a year after his death and then the house & garden sold.
There must be other organisations besides the NT that he could leave it to - it would have included a generous enough endowment for the whole thing to be viable financially.

The problem is that I WANTED to like him but couldn't. The fact that he intends to destroy the garden seems to be a 'spitting dummy out of the pram' response to me and sums him up. To be honest, I'd never heard of him before the programme but even Lucy said at the end that he was critiscising the very things that he'd created [art wise not garden wise that is].I wish he'd been interviewed by Mark Lawrence instead as I felt it would have been a more balanced interview and I would have understood him better.

www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/11157154/Sir-Roy-Strong-to-destroy-his-famous-gardens-after-snub-from-National-Trust.html

I think I've gone off the National Trust.

Good gardening writer as well. I have his book, The Laskett. His garden is stunning but I think he's thrown a wobbly over whether or not he should leave it to the National Trust (or something like that)

I warmed to him once. He was saying that a cat he'd spotted was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He now has several. I know that's not exactly profound but he didn't seem to mind how uncool he was.

He lives up the road from me. Strange bod, but to be commended for trying to encourage galleries and museums to appeal to all without becoming tacky.

I didn,'t watch it for that reason teg Strong is someone I can't take to at all.

..it was called 'When Lucy Met Roy' by the way....