The National Trust has released a 2022 programme encompassing the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, a Beatles celebration and a pledge to connect people to the “restorative power of nature”.
The trust’s director general, Hilary McGrady, promised to make it a year “for everyone to take pride in”.
“This year we’ll be exploring some of the fascinating history of places in our care, from one of the 18th century’s most flamboyant families to the incredible story of an ordinary home in Liverpool, where four working class lads transformed the world of music forever.”
To celebrate a year of Beatles anniversaries, including Sir Paul McCartney’s 80th birthday and the 60th anniversary of the Fab Four’s debut single, the trust will host musical events at Sir Paul’s childhood home in south Liverpool, 20 Forthlin Road.
They include Upton House in Warwickshire, Plas Newydd on Anglesey and Mount Stewart in Country Down.
Seventy tree-planting projects – including major new avenues and orchards – will be launched in England and Wales to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. A programme of fetes and picnics will also accompany the Jubilee.
“Octavia Hill, one of our three founders, spoke about ‘the healing gift of space’. Nature helps us to reconnect, to breathe and to escape,” Ms McGrady said.
Ms McGrady said that was why the trust was working on projects like turning the Castlefield Viaduct in central Manchester into an elevated urban park.
The charity’s membership has bounced back from a pandemic-related lull and is now almost back to 2019 levels.
