Two parks, the Grand Western Canal Country Park and Stover Country Park have, once again, been recognised as being amongst the best in the UK after they both received the Green Flag Award.
The award is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.
Devon County Council manage both and this year marks the 21st consecutive year that Stover Country Park has received the award, and at the Grand Western Canal Country Park it’s 16 years.
This year Green Flag judges further increased the points they awarded to the Grand Western Canal.
It follows the Park benefitting from a range of improvements to visitor facilities over the last 12 months, including new noticeboards and interpretation panels along the towpath and new video displays in the Visitor Centre.
To mark this The Canal Ranger Service, in partnership with the Tiverton Canal Co, Tiverton Town Council and Mid Devon District Council, held an Open Day on Saturday.
At the event Councillor John Hart joined staff and volunteers, council colleagues, the MP for Tiverton and Minehead Rachel Gilmour and Tiverton’s Mayor Councillor Neal Davey to mark the 50th anniversary of the horse-drawn barge ‘Tivertonian’ operating on the canal.
The Canal has also inspired and supported a model swan trail in Tiverton this year, hosting a beautiful ‘roses and castles’ themed swan in the Canal Basin.
At Stover Country Park, work started in March on a range of major improvements as part of the Restoring Stover Park Project funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Highways, adding to the comprehensive programme of activities for underrepresented community groups.
Work on the visitor centre extension, the new community workshop, the conservation of the Grade 2 Listed Gatehouse, the dredging of Stover Lake, and the re-establishment of a section of the historic serpentine Lake is expected to be completed this autumn. The extensive activity plan of community engagement is continuing to be delivered throughout the three-year programme.
The Restoring Stover Park Project will be completed in 2026 delivering benefits to wildlife, the historic landscape and Park users through improvements in visitor facilities and the water quality of Stover Lake, and the creation of new walking routes with conserved historic features.
Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd MBE said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved at Stover Country Park and the Grand Western Canal Country Park on achieving a Green Flag Award.
“We know that staff and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure that it maintains the high standards of the Green Flag Award, everyone involved should feel extremely proud of their achievement.”
The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.
A full list of Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces is available on the Keep Britain Tidy website.
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