In September 1994 Janie contracted a severe infection and septicaemia following a visit to Brazil, and needed major surgery.
Following periods of absence, she then resumed work part-time for a number of years.
‘By this time Painshill enjoyed a strong and dedicated team of trustees, staff and volunteers, a world away from the early difficult, un-staffed days, so it wasn't such a problem for the project,' she reflects.
In 1998, Janie received an MBE for ‘services to historic landscape'. In the same year, the Painshill Park Trust won a Europa Nostra medal for ‘the exemplary restoration, from a state of extreme neglect, of a most important 18th-century landscape park and its extraordinary garden buildings'.
In many ways, she finds Chiswick reminds her of Painshill. ‘I have known and loved Chiswick for a long time, and although long open to the public the gardens had become very rundown,' she says. ‘I am hopeful that a mutually beneficial dialogue between the two projects can evolve.'
With Janie to help, one feels that Chiswick is in experienced and capable hands.