Wednesday 28 September 2022

Peter Osborne MBE 1921-2022 - Life President of Walled Towns Friendship Circle (later European Walled Towns).

No comments:



A Quaker service of celebration was held in Tenby on 1st August 2022 for Peter who recently died in Tenby aged 100 had had two or more successful careers before I came across his new Walled Towns Friendship Circle by the happy co-incidence that I had a student working in the near-to-Bristol walled town of Chepstow.

A year earlier (1989) the Circle had emerged from Peter's fertile imagination and with his enthusiasm tempered by his friends John Beynon, John Tipton and Bob Storey it gained support from the Wales Tourist Board and the European Commission as part of the European Year of Tourism’. This Appreciation is also available as a .pdf

Thursday 7 July 2022

No comments:

 Sadly but not unexpectedly, Peter Osborne MBE died today. A lovely man.

Further details and news of arrangements will follow

Saturday 27 November 2021

Peter Osborne 100 today - Congratulations from all walled towns!

No comments:




Walled Towns Heritage

Peter Osborne Grants for Young People and Education in Walled Towns.

Peter Osborne, MBE founded the Walled Towns Friendship Circle in 1989 in Tenby and was its President until the year 2000 and continues as Honorary President for Life of European Walled Towns. In 2016, he provided a fund to create Grants for Young People and Education in Walled Towns. Walled Towns Heritage has been created to administer the grants and with

Peter’s 100th Birthday on 27th November 2021,


 we can announce that grants have been made for the education of young people in five walled towns in Great Britain and Ireland: Berwick-upon-Tweed, Caernarfon, Conwy, Chester and the City of Derry/Londonderry. In all, over 80 percent of the funds have been disbursed. The Friends York walls has self-funded a parallel initiative and provided invaluable technical educational support. The North Wales Walled Towns Friendship Link is coordinating the projects in their area, a Bristol old walled city project is in prospect and a Symposium and continuing network to sustain the initiative is planned for 2022.

In Berwick-upon-Tweed, West Street Junior School is being funded to implement an historical diary project (adapted from one designed for York schools) for level 3 learners centred on the fortress town for the Summer term 2022.

For Bristol Old City, a scheme to explain the significance of 2023 as a 650 year anniversary of the independent County status of the town and city is projected (no grant committed as yet).


In Caernarfon the Humanities department of the Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen, will create a full unit of work over the summer term for all year 7 learners. With 90% Welsh speakers the medium will be Welsh and the project will culminate in a visit to the walled town by coach and boat with an excursion to Conwy as well. The School e-magazine will report the events.

In Conwy,a similar project will involve pupils from the Ysgol Aberconwy.

For Chester and potentially other walled towns,

the Chester Museum has commissioned a virtual reality exploration and tour of towers in the city walls for the use of schools with ‘Hi-Impact’.

In City of Derry/Londonderry the Friends of the Derry Walls has initiated the design of a souvenir guide to the full and varied history of the City of Derry and its ‘London’ walls for the use of its local schools. The grant will also act as a catalyst for further fundraising for urban archaeology.

In York, the Friends of the Walls is implementing the diary project designed by former Ofsted Inspector, Bill Hill.

 

 

 


So Happy Birthday and unbounded thanks, Peter.

With love and best wishes

Margaret Shaw Berwick-upon-Tweed

David Bruce, Bristol

Vicky Macdonald, Conwy

Jane Hebblewhite, Chester

Mark Lusby, Derry City

Bill Hill, York

Tuesday 29 October 2019

"Opening Minds and Overcoming Barriers" Berwick-upon Tweed 16th-17th Oct 2019

No comments:
The Walled Towns Heritage group - David Bruce (Bristol), Jane Hebblewhite (Chester), Mark Lusby(Derry/Londonderry), Vicky Macdonald (Conwy), Margaret Shaw (Berwick) met up with additional distinguished speakers - Dennis Rodwell, Brian Wilkinson, Stephen Scott and bill Hill, in the fine Berwick-upon-Tweed Town Hall.
They were hosted by Berwick's Conservation Area Action Group (CAAG), with other participants from Berwick and York.
Synopses, Profiles and Presentations are available here
The children and head teacher Ann Robertson from Tweedmouth West First School

Monday 14 October 2019

Facebook link for Walled Towns Heritage and Berwick Booklet

No comments:
Updates on current progress are usually first posted on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/walledtowns/ but this is the text of the participants booklet

 

Opening Minds – Overcoming Barriers

Tuesday 22 January 2019

Walled Towns Heritage update

No comments:
We were pleased to announce a new initiative launched in Berwick-upon-Tweed 19th October 2017 See more detail
FOLLOW UP MEETING 22ND JANUARY 2019  IN CHESTER.
The Outcomes of this meeting are being discussed among the participants and absentees. Our Patron Peter Osborne has been briefed and welcomes our initiatives:
We visited him on 21st February: 


















Keeping Peter Osborne updated and delighted to see Peter going about Tenby on his mobility scooter.

Sunday 6 January 2019

Walled Towns Heritage

No comments:

Meeting to develop this initiative is to be held on 22nd January 2019. Watch this space!
We were pleased to announce a new initiative launched in Berwick-upon-Tweed 19th October 2017.

a proposal to develop local Walled Town

‘Advocates’.

In July 2017, Peter Osborne MBE, Life President of Walled Towns Friendship Circle, founded in 1989 in Tenby (now European Walled Towns) proposed funding what he has called a ‘Walled Town Heritage Commission’. Contact point is David Bruce. Progress to date and more detail is on the dedicated 'Page' on this website 

Wednesday 11 October 2017

Italian Walled Towns and Walled Towns in Italy

No comments:

On Tuesday 10th October in Bristol at 7.30pm 
I delivered the illustrated presentation (48 slides) which can be found in .pdf form here. A written version is in preparation from a transcript of the talk and Q&A session:
Not only in Italy can 'Italian Walled Towns' or at least Italian styled fortified towns be found. - see the website of the Bristol Anglo-Italian Circle for rest of their programme
Where on eaarth?


Monday 18 September 2017

"Pedestrian Priority Shopping Streets"

No comments:
UWE, Bristol's successful conference and website launch on celebrated past success in removing traffic from town centre streets. Such experience can be of benefit to many walled towns, which in turn can provide experience of successful traffic removal and resultant prosperity in smaller towns and cities than most discussed today.
The website is
Friday  15th 

Incidentally you may like to note that note "Pedestrian Priority Shopping Streets" was an MPhil thesis title at Edinburgh University 1975. These issues continue to inspire controversy and gradual improvement to town centres. Among examples in that thesis were some former fortified towns - almost all were historic towns with clearly defined town centres. How does town centre definition, even walls affect how people vehicles and facilities like shops interact?