Common Ground (charity)
Encyclopedia
Common Ground is a United Kingdom
charity and lobby group. Founded in 1982 by Susan Clifford
and Angela King , Common Ground aims to promote "local distinctiveness
" (a phrase which Common Ground coined during the 1980s) .
, they have now settled in Shaftesbury
, Dorset
. There are five honorary directors who provide guidance and assessment, including until his death in 2006 founder member Roger Deakin
, author of the book Waterlog, a tribute to 'wild swimming'.
, King and Clifford felt the commonplace was being overlooked at the expense of the special and rare. Common Ground was formed to address that. Throughout its existence, the organisation has introduced social and environmental ideas through a series of notable initiatives, often involving the connection of communities with artists. They have worked extensively with artists Andy Goldsworthy
and Peter Randall-Page
. New Milestones, in the late 1980s, brought sculptors into communities in South West England
to make works sympathetic to the different landscapes there. Confluence (1998–2001) saw musicians (including animateur Helen Porter and composer Karen Wimhurst) working with community groups along the entire catchment of a river, the Stour
in Southern England
. Parish Maps encouraged people to make maps of their own places, signalling what was important to the people who lived there rather than dry cartography.
not wholesale destruction, but an opportunity for nature to reassert itself. They printed and distributed 56,000 postcards, featuring illustrations by David Nash
encouraging people to let nature take its course, not to clean up too hastily, as a fallen tree is not necessarily a dead tree.
acting in some ways as a symbol for local foods and their impact on community and landscape: "The apple you eat is the landscape you create" reads one of their colourful posters. In 1990 they founded Apple Day
as a focus for celebration of the hundreds of apple varieties which are ignored in favour of a handful of supermarket-friendly strains. It has since become well established as an annual event, on October 21 each year. Related to this is their campaign for Community Orchards. In October 2007 Hodder & Stoughton
published a fully revised & expanded edition of Common Ground's Apple Source Book which contains a list of the 2,300 apple varieties grown in the British isles.
In 2005 they launched the new project Producing the Goods, exploring distinctive local produce and its marketing. Part of this project included encouraging the production and retail of locally-distinctive souvenir
s.
's Flora Britannica. They have released a number of books, both with national publishers and self-printed, including Holding Your Ground, Second Nature, Apple Games and Customs, In A Nutshell, The Apple Source Book, From Place to PLACE, New Milestones, Leaves (from an exhibition by Andy Goldsworthy) and three poetry anthologies, Trees Be Company, Field Days and The River's Voice. Their latest major work is England in Particular, an encyclopaedic overview of local distinctiveness that was published by Hodder & Stoughton
in May 2006 ,, and the new edition of The Apple Source Book, issued by Hodder in October 2007.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
charity and lobby group. Founded in 1982 by Susan Clifford
Sue Clifford
Sue Clifford co-founded Common Ground, an organisation which campaigns to link nature with culture and the positive investment people can make in their own localities, with Angela King in 1983....
and Angela King , Common Ground aims to promote "local distinctiveness
Spirit of place
Spirit of place refers to the unique, distinctive and cherished aspects of a place; often those celebrated by artists and writers, but also those cherished in folk tales, festivals and celebrations...
" (a phrase which Common Ground coined during the 1980s) .
Organisation and structure
Common Ground has always been a non-membership organisation (grant and donation-funded) with King and Clifford as co-ordinating directors and a small core staff, usually a team assembled for a specific project. Over the years these have included Darren Giddings, Daniel Keech, Jane Kendall, Beatrice Mayfield, Joanna Morland, John Newton, Kate O'Farrell, Helen Porter, Stephen Turner and Karen Wimhurst. Originally based in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, they have now settled in Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. There are five honorary directors who provide guidance and assessment, including until his death in 2006 founder member Roger Deakin
Roger Deakin
Roger Stuart Deakin was an English writer, documentary-maker and environmentalist.Deakin was born in Watford, Hertfordshire. Educated at Haberdashers' Aske's and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read English, Deakin first worked in advertising as a copywriter and creative director...
, author of the book Waterlog, a tribute to 'wild swimming'.
Work with artists
With roots in environmental and conservation groups such as Friends of the EarthFriends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
, King and Clifford felt the commonplace was being overlooked at the expense of the special and rare. Common Ground was formed to address that. Throughout its existence, the organisation has introduced social and environmental ideas through a series of notable initiatives, often involving the connection of communities with artists. They have worked extensively with artists Andy Goldsworthy
Andy Goldsworthy
Andy Goldsworthy, OBE is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. He lives and works in Scotland.-Life and career:The son of F...
and Peter Randall-Page
Peter Randall-Page
Peter Randall-Page is a British artist. He studied sculpture at Bath Academy of Art from 1973–77.- Biography :Randall-Page has undertaken numerous large scale commissions and has exhibited widely. His work is held in numerous public and private collections throughout the world including Japan,...
. New Milestones, in the late 1980s, brought sculptors into communities in South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
to make works sympathetic to the different landscapes there. Confluence (1998–2001) saw musicians (including animateur Helen Porter and composer Karen Wimhurst) working with community groups along the entire catchment of a river, the Stour
River Stour, Dorset
The River Stour is a 60.5 mile long river which flows through Wiltshire and Dorset in southern England, and drains into the English Channel. It is sometimes called the Dorset Stour to distinguish it from rivers of the same name...
in Southern England
Southern England
Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...
. Parish Maps encouraged people to make maps of their own places, signalling what was important to the people who lived there rather than dry cartography.
The 'Great Storm' of 1987
Common Ground were one of the few organisations who saw in the Great Storm of 1987Great Storm of 1987
The Great Storm of 1987 occurred on the night of 15/16 October 1987, when an unusually strong weather system caused winds to hit much of southern England and northern France...
not wholesale destruction, but an opportunity for nature to reassert itself. They printed and distributed 56,000 postcards, featuring illustrations by David Nash
David Nash
David Charles Nash is a retired English cricketer.-Career:Nash played 257 matches for Middlesex in both first class and List A cricket as a wicket-keeper and right-handed batsman....
encouraging people to let nature take its course, not to clean up too hastily, as a fallen tree is not necessarily a dead tree.
Apple Day and promotion of local produce
Local produce has been another driving concern for the organisation, with the appleApple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
acting in some ways as a symbol for local foods and their impact on community and landscape: "The apple you eat is the landscape you create" reads one of their colourful posters. In 1990 they founded Apple Day
Apple Day
Apple Day is an annual celebration, held on October 21 each year, of apples and orchards. It is celebrated mainly in the United Kingdom.Apple Day was initiated by Common Ground in 1990 and has been celebrated in each subsequent year by people organizing hundreds of local events...
as a focus for celebration of the hundreds of apple varieties which are ignored in favour of a handful of supermarket-friendly strains. It has since become well established as an annual event, on October 21 each year. Related to this is their campaign for Community Orchards. In October 2007 Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
published a fully revised & expanded edition of Common Ground's Apple Source Book which contains a list of the 2,300 apple varieties grown in the British isles.
In 2005 they launched the new project Producing the Goods, exploring distinctive local produce and its marketing. Part of this project included encouraging the production and retail of locally-distinctive souvenir
Souvenir
A souvenir , memento, keepsake or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist traps around the world...
s.
Mapping a spirit of place
They devised Local ABCs and Parish Maps as ways of outlining the local distinctiveness of a place. These tools have been widely influential: Parish Maps have been made since the 1980s, beginning with the exhibition 'Knowing Your Place' in 1987 ; recent examples include West Sussex in the UK, Piemonte district in Italy and in California USAPublications
Other projects have been publication-based, and have included Field Days and Trees, Woods and the Green Man, and they initiated Richard MabeyRichard Mabey
Richard Mabey is a naturalist and author.He has been called by The Times 'Britain's greatest living nature writer'. Among his acclaimed publications are Food for Free, The Unofficial Countryside and The Common Ground, as well as his study of the nightingale, Whistling in the Dark...
's Flora Britannica. They have released a number of books, both with national publishers and self-printed, including Holding Your Ground, Second Nature, Apple Games and Customs, In A Nutshell, The Apple Source Book, From Place to PLACE, New Milestones, Leaves (from an exhibition by Andy Goldsworthy) and three poetry anthologies, Trees Be Company, Field Days and The River's Voice. Their latest major work is England in Particular, an encyclopaedic overview of local distinctiveness that was published by Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
in May 2006 ,, and the new edition of The Apple Source Book, issued by Hodder in October 2007.