REMEMBERING DR. ALEX MOULTON
Dr Alex Moulton would have been one hundred years old in April this year (2020). Today we remember Dr Moulton on the anniversary of his passing – December 9th, 2012. It is hard to believe that it is eight years since he passed away, but his legacy lives on here at The Hall and at the Moulton Bicycle Company.
A commemorative wreath, created using greenery and foliage from the diverse range of tall conifer trees, ivy, holly, teasel, fir and pine cones from the grounds of The Hall, has been placed on the family grave at Christ Church, Bradford on Avon.
As staff working here at the Hall with Mr Moulton – and we always called him thus – we would always make sure that a vase of cut flowers and foliage would be present on Mr Moulton’s desk in the study. He would often remark upon how splendid these arrangements were and would take pride in how they came from his garden. As the seasons changed, so did the contents of the vase, moving from fresh blooms to festive branches and berries. Mr. Moulton was deeply inspired by the natural world and its ways and methods, and would often fall back on analogies within nature when creating his innovative designs.
He would, much to the surprise of former Head Gardener and Estate Manager Richard Cook, go out into the garden and could be seen dead-heading the roses. Although he had always had staff to do what he required, he was not afraid of taking matters into his own hands if he saw something that needed to be done. This, we think, stemmed from his life-long will to ‘do what is right for The Hall’, despite the many challenges and difficulties in doing so.
Mr Moulton would regularly observe The Hall’s natural surroundings from one of three Summer houses, with his notepad and pencil to hand. In each of these stone shelters he would have a small gas stove and a kettle to prepare tea. He was a great believer in creative space, and used the space he had to great effect.
To commemorate Dr Moulton’s 100th Birthday and his legacy, an online literary project began in April entitled: ‘100 words on Alex Moulton’. People who knew Dr Moulton have been invited to share their memories and stories in short literary sketches – our latest is from former Rolls=Royce engineer Rae Marshman. If you have not yet contributed, please do so via the link on the web page here.
Alex Moulton’s memorial at Christ Church, Bradford on Avon.
Photographs and Wreath by Kate Berry.