FOOTBALL


It struck me that, everywhere was lovely and green, but there was very little colour, structure or areas of interest


History


St. George’s park was originally part of the land named Needwood Forest, owned by the Byrkley family of Byrkley Castle in Gloucestershire.


Before it was purchased by the FA, it was the site of Byrkley Lodge - the family home of the Bass family.


Timeline


1754 Lord Townsend acquired lease for property known as Byrkley Lodge which was rebuilt as weekend hunting lodge


1786 Arthur Chichester the Marquis of Donegal buys lodge from Lord Townsend


1887 to 1891 Byrkley Lodge was completely rebuilt and founded as a racing horse stud for Hamar Bass


1896 The Byrkley stud produced and trained “Love Wisely” which won Ascot Gold Cup


1898 Hamar Bass dies and passes estate to Sir William Bass


1952 William Bass dies and Byrkley estate sold, shortly after the main house was demolished


2001 FA bought the 330-acre (140 ha) site


Two beehives recently installed


in the heart of the National Forest and actively seeking to plant new trees and help re-create the link throughout the whole country.”


“In addition, when the Euros were scheduled this year, UEFA made a commitment that every host country would plant 40,000 trees. They recognised that it would be a continent-wide tournament, creating more traffic, movements and potentially impact the environment by having a bigger carbon footprint. We had started talks with UEFA to determine what this would mean for us and if there was anything we could do to help, I’m sure these talks will continue on the run up to next year’s event. Any trees I plant now will be here for future generations to come and will be our legacy - which is an exciting concept.”


“Ecology has never been my strong point, however it’s something I am passionate about and learning more and more as I go along. We have introduced a number of bug hotels created from old trees and have a fair few bat boxes and bird boxes since the


site was initially built. We’re lucky to have such a diverse environment which, amongst many varieties of wildlife, is home for geese, wagtails, barn owls and a pair of kestrels. I have seen more hares than ever this year and I would say that could be down to less people and visitors to the site.”


“We have also recently looked at installing bee hives on the edge of the site, which are surrounded by wildflowers and bramble. Initially these will be managed by an external company, but in the future it would be great to harvest the honey to use in the restaurant and maybe even sell it locally.” “In places, we sit on what feels like a 100% clay profile, which holds on to water and there’s not much life in it, but we’re quite lucky really that we don’t suffer too many issues as a result. Having said that, the driveway does flood quite a lot, which can cause a few problems in terms of first impressions. When the site was landscaped in 2011, a lot of earthworks was undertaken and a small amount of topsoil was added, but it’s not great. I am doing everything I can to improve this by topdressing with 70/30


Views from the fishing lake up to the main house 42 PC August/September 2020


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