Public Places


“


The new owners are alert to the educational value of Leonardslee, given the immense quantity of wildlife on and above the estate


George for example, which delivers alluringly scented, creamy white blooms.


Hybridised by the Loders at Leonardslee, it perhaps more than any other variety epitomises the horticultural passion of those pioneering plantsmen who travelled to far‐ flung Himalayan mountain glades to collect exotic plants for cultivation in their monumental Victorian creations back home. The new owners are alert to the educational value of Leonardslee, given the “immense quantity” of wildlife on and above the estate. Red kites, buzzards, a resident grey heron, Canada geese, Mallard ducks, coots and moorhens all populate the slopes, gulleys, upper reaches or patrol the skies. Then there are the smooth newts, pipistrelle and long‐eared bats, lizards and adders. Fallow deer roam the more distant, wooded, stretches of Leonardslee, as do the Sika deer introduced by the Loder family in Victorian times. The eight‐foot high perimeter deer fencing is necessary though


“ 110 I PC JUNE/JULY 2018


to prevent wild ones encroaching on the estate.


“We are working closely with English Nature ecologists on the most appropriate management programme,” Adam says. Some serious replanning of Leonardslee’s existing walkways has had to be undertaken to label it a fully‐inclusive family destination. “We have ten miles of pathways on site and much of that was unsuitable for visitors in wheelchairs or those who couldn’t walk unaided.”


“Some of the tracks were mossy, steep and slippery. We laid a base of crushed concrete along some stretches to create a surface thought safe for visitors, but are now considering other options. People carriers are also available for wheelchair users when needed.”


The heavy footfall expected as word spreads of Leonardslee’s rebirth will take its toll on paths across the estate, especially those that offer the best photo


We have ten miles of pathways on site and much of that was unsuitable for visitors in wheelchairs or those who couldn’t walk unaided


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