Val Bott is now focussing on her historical research for nurserygardeners.com and upon voluntary work which includes serving as Editor and Honorary Secretary to the Friends of Gunnersbury Park and to the Gunnersbury Museum & Park Development Trust, and Honorary Secretary to the Thames Explorer Trust. She edits the annual Brentford & Chiswick Local History Journal and is proud to have been able to continue to publish since 2020, despite the difficulties caused by Covid-19.
Work on site for the Mulberry Garden Project at Hogarth’s House began in the summer of 2018. With an HLF grant of £1.35m, £150,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation and many other small grants, the partnership of the William Hogarth Trust and Hounslow Council has created a new “exhibition garden” to provide a fine setting for the Grade I listed house, using planting and features to tell its story since the 1680s.
A new studio now offers a base for learning and an elegant space for events and functions. As the William Hogarth Trust’s project co-ordinator Val developed the concept, advised on design and interpretation and undertook much of the fund-raising.