On a blissfully warm September afternoon, a PLT Group of supporters met up at the Lookout Learning Centre in Hyde Park with Royal Park’s Alister Hayes, Head of Programmes.

Following introductions, we moved to the Royal Park’s Nursery site, where we met Rob, who runs the nursery.

The nursery provides the bulk of the plants used in the Royal Parks and has recently concentrated its activities in the Hyde Park Nursery. Rob showed us around and explained how they are increasingly using bio-treatments to deal with pests instead of chemicals. The plants are grown on a massive scale, and a large team of volunteers helps with their development.

After our visit to the nursery, Alister took us on a ‘walkabout’ in the park. Our first stop was at the memorial to an extraordinary Welsh Argentinian, William Hudson, who made his way to Southampton, then walked to London, and eventually lived rough in Hyde Park for seven years, observing and writing about the park’s flora and fauna—an amazing story in itself.

We then moved on to look at the wildflower meadows created in the park and mown by horse-drawn grass cutters, followed by volunteers raking up the grass. We then looked at an avenue of trees and discussed how gaps are filled in after trees become diseased or are damaged in storms. There is a significant debate about what trees to replant, as the working assumption is that in the next 25 years, London will have the climate that Barcelona currently has. Therefore, new tree species need to be considered, as our native trees are unlikely to cope.

We moved on to the Serpentine, where Alister explained the park’s role as a visitor destination (77 million visitors per annum visit the Royal Parks) and how that needs to be managed alongside protecting biodiversity. One project being considered is allowing the expansion of reed beds to help enhance water quality while providing nesting sites.

We also learned much about the fascinating history of the park and its development from royal hunting grounds. Alister is a highly accomplished guide, and we were lucky to have him leading our tour.

After our tour of the park, a number of us basked in the warm evening air, sitting outside and enjoying a wonderful tapas supper in South Kensington. We debated what we had seen and welcomed our latest corporate member, Frognal Gardens. It was a good evening where we learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves!