Hope Family & Norton
Born and brought up in South Yorkshire, I have lived in the Scottish Borders for over fifty years. I am a retired town and country planner, with an interest in all aspects of the great outdoors, and in cultural and social history, including genealogy. I have researched both the history of my family back to the 17th century when they lived in County Durham, and the village of Norton, near Doncaster where I was born.
Cultural History
My doctoral research at the University of Cumbria focused on two organisations that pioneered the provision of outdoor holidays for working people in the early-twentieth century, the Co-operative Holidays Association (CHA) and the Holiday Fellowship (HF Holidays). My book entitled ‘Thomas Arthur Leonard and the Co-operative Holidays Association’ was published in hardback by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in January 2017 and in paperback in March 2018.
Scottish Borders Planning
I have more than fifty years’ experience in town and country planning, including twenty-one years with the Borders Regional Council (1975-1996) and twenty years with the Scottish Government as a Reporter in the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division. I have a particular interest in the history of town and country planning in Scotland.
Douglas G Hope 