Interview with new CHGT Chairman

We are pleased to introduce you to Sir Derek Myers, newly appointed Chairman of the Chiswick House and Gardens Trust. Derek has taken over from Andrew Fane who served as Chairman for eight years. The Chiswick House and Gardens Trust, which is entirely separate to Chiswick House Friends, was set up in 2005 and is responsible for the running of Chiswick House and Gardens. As Chiswick House Friends, we support the Trust by raising funds for projects in the House and Gardens as well as acting as a link between our members and the Trust. We recently met Derek to talk about his new role and his plans for the future. 

On behalf of Chiswick House Friends, we would like to welcome you Derek to your new role as Chairman of the Trust. Please could you tell us about yourself? 

Thank you and I’m really looking forward to working with the Friends. I have lived in Chiswick for 20 years and, living very close to the Estate, I am a regular visitor. I currently have a variety of roles in both the public and commercial sectors. I am Deputy Chairman of Public Health England, a Director of a small communications company and a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. I was previously Chief Executive of the London Borough of Hounslow and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 

What are your immediate priorities as Chairman? 

We are starting from a position of strength: we have a good mix of events throughout the year which allow us to generate income, we have a great management team and a strong Board of Trustees. That said, there is always more to do and one of my priorities is to make sure we all have the same purpose. We need to be clear on our spending priorities and, importantly, we need a sense of ambition and vision which means thinking about how we want the Estate to look and operate in 10 years’ time. To support this, we need to put the right strategy in place. 

Could you tell us more about your longer-term vision? 

I would like us all to be proud of the Estate. This may sound rather trite but we have an incredible asset on our doorstep and, whilst it is deeply appreciated by many, we are often inclined to take it for granted. I want us to be able to spread the glories of the Estate to a wider audience and to introduce more people to this particular part of English history. I want us to continue to improve the Gardens so that we can find delight in them every day and to improve the House so that more people find it accessible, interesting and relevant to their lives. 

Will we see any immediate changes to the House and Gardens? 

I hope you don’t notice too much change, after all this is a beautifully maintained Estate, but you will hopefully see step by step improvements in both the House and the Gardens. In particular, I would like to make some improvements to the landscaping around the lake and would like to introduce more variable content into the House. Most people visit the House just once and don’t see the need to go back. I would like to change that. I want our visitors to want to come back to the House time and again, bringing family and friends with them. By introducing more variable content, it should help to draw people in on a more regular basis. 

What do you see as your biggest challenge? 

Like most organisations, money is our biggest challenge. Maintaining and improving the Estate is expensive and we cannot expect any additional funding from either the London Borough of Hounslow or English Heritage; we have to earn our keep. However, we must do this in a way that doesn’t offend our regular visitors or our local residents, for example by putting too much of a parking or noise burden on them. We need to be sensitive to all local stakeholders and listen to their views but, at the same time, we need to be entrepreneurial and learn from others about how we can run events and have other income generating opportunities.  

You recently said you wanted Chiswick House and Gardens to be recognised as the most beautiful, and most useful, Grade 1 listed House and Gardens in London. What did you mean by ‘most useful’? 

I am mindful that, as a long-term Chiswick resident and somebody who has brought up children and walked the dog here, the Estate is a resource for the every day. It’s where people come to have a picnic, read a book, walk their dog or watch the cricket. These are all parts of every day life we should celebrate and protect, particularly as we approach the centenary of the Estate being placed into public ownership and open to all.  

What excites you about your role? 

I am not an expert on old houses and historic landscapes but I love to learn and I am relishing the opportunity to learn more about the House and Gardens from people with experience and expertise. I’m also excited about working with our many stakeholders and thinking about how we can move forward in partnership with them.  

How can the Friends help you in your new role? 

I hope that the Friends share my vision of wanting the Estate to be recognised as the most beautiful and useful Grade 1 asset in London and to sharing its glories with a wider audience. I am looking forward to hearing the Friends’ views, either individually or collectively, on how we can progress and how we can work together. I would also like to harness the volunteer efforts of the Friends as part of a greater army of supporters we want to build for the Estate. 

What is your favourite part of the Estate? 

This is very difficult to answer! I risk controversy by picking out a favourite part of the Estate and indeed the politic thing would be to list many elements and claim I cannot choose between them. Inside the House, I would certainly list the Blue Velvet Room, a sumptuous, complex and mysterious room and the Upper Tribune with its impressive architectural features. Outside, I would include the Inigo Jones Gateway, which was designed in 1621 for a house in Chelsea and was donated to Chiswick House in 1738, and is somewhat underrated. But perhaps most of all I love the Classic Bridge. From 1774, the same year Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire got married, I like to think of her standing on the bridge as it opened. Seized with her new domain, her “earthly paradise”, she imagined a perfect life ahead. We know of course how her life instead was marked by addiction, betrayal and heartbreak. What romance!