Mr. I. J. Pitman's desire for a decent name for
the Festival of Britain site on the south bank of the Thames is laudable, but I am not greatly impressed by any of the suggestions advanced so far. For that matter I don't expect anyone to be greatly impressed by mine, which is that a long-forgotten name—Cuper's Gardens— should be revived. As far as I can gather, this not very reputable pleasure-resort occupied in the eighteenth century almost exactly the site of the Festival of Britain buildings, and there is something to be said for rescuing these old associations from oblivion. And if Cuper's Gardens is not mtich better than any other style and title, it is not so very much worse. I have no extensive knowledge of Mr. Cuper, beyond the fact that he secured some damaged statues for his garden from the Lord Arundel of the day (whose gardener he had been), and that he was famous for his fireworks, but if sufficiently provoked I could no doubt unearth•more particulars. * * * *
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