Description

This delightful book chronicles the history of the Benslow Music Trust, in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, with the building of the house now known as Little Benslow Hills. Drawing upon archive documents and the personal recollections of many people associated with Benslow over the years, the author has compiled a book rich in human interest. It tells of the quiet determiniation of the founder, Mary Ibberson, a Quaker whose vision in the 1920s of bringing joy of music within reach of all, seemed finally to have been realized after the Second World War. Then came the turmoil of the 1970s, when the Rural Music Schools Association decided to sell Little Benslow Hills. The dramatic events of the 'Save Benslow' campaign are recounted in the words of some of those who were involved at the time. Then follows an account of the struggle to reform and rebuild, culminating in the magnificent lottery-funded complex with which the Benslow Music Trust is greeting the new Millennium. Illustrated throughout with photographs, and with some charming line-drawings by Sarah Graham, this book encapsulates the spirit of music at Benslow.