Saturday 18th June 2011

Mike Dilger V Mark Horton

Wildlife V Heritage by Felicia Smith

On Saturday 18th June, as Bristol celebrated its Festival of Nature and the opening of M Shed, Mark Horton and Mike Dilger came together for a public rematch at Arnos Vale Cemetery to decide which of their two passions - wildlife or heritage - is the most important to Arnos Vale today, and the in future.

As the last of the evening sunshine faded across Arnos Vale, an audience settled in for what had been billed as a "Clash of the Titans" - and the verbal fisticuff certainly did not disappoint!

Chair Darren Hall, from Bristol Green Partnership, asked for a "good clean fight", the two speakers shook hands and a coin was tossed to see who would begin.  Archaeologist Mark Horton won "heads" and opened the debate for history. 

Arnos Vale is a resting place for hundreds of thousands of people, specially designed by the Victorians to be a beautiful garden cemetery and lasting memorial to their loved ones.  It is now a rich depository of the city's social history.  But, Mark argued "rampant wildlife" was a trisk of concealing the heritage monuments and he declared that the "insidious bramble and poisonous ivy" needed to be chainsawed.  He asked Mike Dilger "Have we just gone too far to protect all this green stuff, when there is SO much heritage to save?"

In his turn, ecologist Mike Dilger rose to his feet to enthusiastically make the case for wildlife.  Opening with the retort to Professor Horton: "The only good 'history' has the word 'natural' in front of it!"  Mike argued that what makes Arnos Vale so special is that it provides a haven from the city's bustle and noise and is home to a diverse range of the city's wildlife, from migrant birds, to foxes, badgers, deer and bats.  Mike supported his argument with a colourful repertoire of bird calls and species names, describing the beauty of wildflowers embellishing graves, and the joy of seeing a robin perched on a memorial as like "the cherry on a bakewell tart".

The discussion then opened to public questions: about how the site is maintained (by two landscape staff and a team of dedicated volunteers) and whether  there was any space for more burials (the site continues to work as a cemetery today).  The speakers were then invited to step into their opponents; shoes and argue from the other side - Mike making the case for heritage, by praising the history of the mature trees; Mark acknowledging the importance of wildlife in memorial carvings and the Victorian mindset.  The debate ended with the audience casting their votes: 18 in favour of wildlife, 12 for heritage, others abstaining.  Wildlife was pronounced the winner!

Darren Hall said of the debate: "This evening was a great opportunity to get the views of the audience and pick up their concerns to preserve our heritage, both natural and historical, for the future.  Good living means different things to different people.  But at its heart is the same deep sense of feeling about protecting what we hold dear.  It doesn't matter whether its heritage or ecology - climate change will affect both badly.  This is why the Green Capital Partnership is delighted to be able to partner with Arnos Vale again next year for Good Living Week."

Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust hope to continue the public debate that Mark and Mike have started, by inviting visitors to the 45-acre site, to give their views on how to get the balance between heritage and wildlife just right.  If you have any views, do join in the discussion by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

But it isn't all over between these two Titans! At the close of play, Mark Horton and Mike Dilger challenged each other to a rematch, on an even grander scale next time.  Watch this space for further details www.arnosvale.org.uk