but never mention improvement. They spin about the need for
sport in the community yet close down open spaces with
aggressive and hostile fences. They wax lyrical about
opportunity yet ignore the fact that social mobility has never
been so poor. They speak of social harmony but never
mention the crackpot policy of open borders and
overcrowding. The ghost of John Ruskin haunts the
landscape, repelled by the relentless cram and spread of urban
ugliness and appalled by furtive plans to steal the Green Belt
from under the noses of the people.
THE MAP BECOMES THE TERRITORY
On those 13 Totley acres, on those green and pleasant slopes,
in summer meadows redolent of paradise, or when a pale
winter moon rises above the distant moor, perhaps a crazy
and glorious remnant of the vision of utopia can still be
found. Overlooking those fields, it is almost possible to
believe that the dream of heaven on earth is still alive and that
the spirit of communality can be dug out of the stony ground
of contemporary existence. As Oscar Wilde said ‘A map of
the world that does not include Utopia is not even worth
glancing at’. Perhaps, a New Jerusalem of mutual
cooperation, beauty and social justice can still be achieved.
Then, perhaps, nowhere will become somewhere.
Jill F. Solomon PhD Cardiff Business School, Cardiff
University
Andrew Hassall BSc (Econ)
writer of ‘Snakebreath’, ‘Bleak Edge’ (screenplay) and
‘Talking With Angels’
UTOPIA – MORE FOR ALL
In 1516, Thomas More wrote Utopia and the world was
turned upside down. Attempts to create paradise on earth
abounded. It was followed by visions of a New Jerusalem and
other revelations. The Diggers, the Quakers, the Shakers
amongst others became fired up by prophecy and the hot
breath of the charismatic. Crazy sun-baked schemes were
hatched, crazy half-baked schemes were carried out Moravian, Muggletonian, the Camisards, Behmenist and
Swedenborgian - eccentric and bizarre, often futile, but never
dull.
THE TOTLEY COLONY AND JOHN RUSKIN
In 1871, the visionary John Ruskin established the Guild of
St. George as a means of transforming a declining and
corrupt Britain into a place of beauty and justice. For Ruskin,
art and life were to merge as one. His utopian vision involved
working the land and encouraging traditional crafts. Ruskin
was a hater of rapacious capitalism, modern technology and
saved special invective for the railways.
An area of 13 acres was bought in Totley in 1877 by the
Guild of St. George. The land was first used as allotments for
a group of Sheffield workmen. Then, it was run as a land
colony with around 12 members. Edward Carpenter describes
the men as Communists and great talkers. The installation of
William Harrison Riley as custodian or Master of the Totley
communitarian experiment was not a popular move and
signalled the beginning of the end. Numerous arguments and
disagreements finally sank the colony, though the severe
weather, poor soil, the lack of mechanisation and the
labourers lack of agricultural expertise must have contributed
to the failure of the scheme.
St George’s farm was taken over by Ruskin’s own head
gardener at Brantwood (David Downs) who set up ‘Mickley
Botanical Gardens’ to try and show the best methods of
cultivating fruit-trees including strawberries, currants and
gooseberries. When this venture failed even John Ruskin lost
faith and could not wait to unload his 13 acres of poor land at
Totley.
EDWARD CARPENTER AND THE TOTLEY COLONY
Edward Carpenter, who stayed at St. Georges farm for a few
months in 1880, was philosophical about the failure of the
Totley colony though appreciated the efforts of those
involved. ‘They have kept the sacred fire alight through a
long and dark night.’ Through the influence of Carpenter,
George Pearson, a quarryman and a miner, was allowed to
lease the land. In 1882, Carpenter moved to Millthorpe to set
up a market gardening business of his own.
FROM KROPOTKIN BACK TO CRACKPOT
According to Marx, history repeats itself, the first time as
tragedy, the second as farce. Only this time, the policy is not
driven by the hot breath of the charismatic, but by the hot and
greedy breath of the developer. Politicians speak of change,
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