Protecting our beautiful countryside in an age of ‘monetisation’

DAME Fiona Reynolds, former Director-General of the National Trust, is to address a Chilterns’ audience about “The Fight for Beauty: Our Path to a Better Future”- her recent book about the evolution of protecting the beauty all around us, in an age when everything it seems, has to a monetory value.

Dame Fiona Reynolds will be at the Elgiva Theatre, Chesham, on the evening of Tuesday, September 26. she will explore an alternative vision for society and the environment – a theme that will be taken up in relation to the Chilterns and other protected areas by Sue Holden, Chief Officer of the Chilterns Conservation Board and Howard Davies, Chief Executive of the National Association of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

According to a recent review of the her book: “We live in a world where the drive for economic growth is crowding out everything that can’t be given a monetary value and it’s getting harder to find space for the things that really matter but money can’t buy, including our future. Fiona Reynolds proposes a radical but simple solution to inspire us through the beauty of the world around us. Delving into our past, examining landscapes, nature, farming and urbanisation, she shows how ideas about beauty have arisen and evolved, been shaped by public policy, been knocked back and inched forward until they arrived lost in the economically-driven spirit of today.” (LSE uncredited)

Tickets for the event are selling fast and are available to buy from the Elgiva Theatre or online at www.elgiva.com. Local producers, Auberge du Chocolat and Chiltern Icecream, will also be on hand to showcase their products before the event, with a book signing (cash sales) by Dame Fiona afterwards.