When we think of Capability Brown, we probably immediately bring to mind a grand English country house estate. We think of landscape-scale design. We think of mansions sitting within a landscape that has been sculpted for the benefit of the resident Lord of the Manor. Capability Brown is the English Landscape. So widespread is his work, and so influential are his ideas, that there isn’t really a version of the English Landscape that exists outside of his vision. Capability Brown – the ultimate lesson in long term planning.

This quote from author John Phibbs gets to the heart of the Capability Brown story:

“Brown was prolific; he has had a direct influence on half a million acres of England and Wales. The astonishing scale of his work means that he did not just transform the English countryside, but also our idea of what it is to be English and what England is. His work is everywhere, but goes largely unnoticed. His was such a naturalistic style that all his best work was mistaken for untouched nature. This has made it very difficult to see and understand.”

We can draw this parallel to motor vehicles. It is very difficult for folk who have always known the convenience offered by a car to imagine life without that car. Furthermore, it is difficult for them to imagine changing their relationship to their car. Hence the first thing people mention when talk about an electric car is usually “range anxiety”.

News flash: In spring 2024, the concept of range anxiety is over. It lasted for 2-3 years, but now rapid chargers are very numerous, their numbers are growing all the time, reliability has never been higher, and live data is now available on Google, Zap Map and Electroverse to tell you the live status of most chargers.

Capability Brown – the ultimate lesson in long term planning

The other more significant lesson I want to draw out from Capability Brown is the long-term vision that he had. The extra-ordinary thing about the Capability Brown landscape is that those of us alive today are the true beneficiaries of his work. Think of a Cedar of Lebanon tree. For the first 50 -100 years, they are nothing much to look at. But today, 250 years later, they are a sight to behold.

Or the Capability Brown Serpentine Lake, placed in the middle distance, bookended by mature trees with smooth grass running down to the waters edge. Glorious. Add in a picturesque stone bridge. Tourist heaven.

But this was no instant garden. This is the very definition of long-term planning.

So how can we take long term planning philosophies into the Green Energy Transition? Decisions we take today will likely have longer term implications.

This is why we believe that we need to have a fabric-first approach. Insulation and construction techniques have a permanent benefit. If you upgrade your dwelling you actually get an immediate return plus a long term payback.

But these enhancements are perhaps the most difficult to achieve, the most difficult to implement. It is simpler and easier to put solar panels on your roof top, than to reduce the heat loss of your home. But space heating makes up by far the greatest proportion of green house gases used in your home. So if you want to have the greatest impact, you need to have a long term plan.

Electrified heating is the future. But to maximise your benefit (and minimise your running costs), you need to reduce your heating demand. So, despite the disruption, we must prioritise improving the insulation of our housing stock.

And your first step in this journey? A heat loss survey and holistic, whole of market advice provided by Brimstone Energy UK.

Brimstone Energy UK – Helping customers navigate the Green Energy Transition.