National Trust Stowe mows Silverstone circuit in parkland meadow, signalling new collaboration

Stowe Gardens and Silverstone are working together to generate funds to upgrade a four-mile parkland trail at Stowe into a nature superhighway. Stowe Gardens is asking racegoers to look out for the QR codes at the British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend. These link to a campaign page raising funds for the parkland trail which will create new habitats, increase biodiversity, improve access and create sustainable visitor facilities along its route. Eventually the two organisations want to enable green and active travel between their respective sites.

Corporate volunteers from Silverstone plotted the shape of the circuit using GPS mapping for the ranger team to mow. Stowe Garden’s bee racer mascot, dressed in a yellow- and black-striped race suit and helmet, made a guest appearance with a test lap of the circuit on the mower.

Silverstone’s volunteers returned to help with Stowe Gardens’ annual Bioblitz, specifically surveying the bats and glow worms in the historic gardens and parkland. In exchange, experts from the National Trust and Stowe Gardens will go to Silverstone Circuit to establish a baseline survey of the ecology of the site with advice as to how improvements can be made for nature.

Silverstone is only three miles from Stowe Gardens and was once part of the 18th century estate belonging to Stowe House. During the Second World War, the site belonged to RAF Silverstone. The airfield was first used for motorsport in September 1947 when a group of friends organised an impromptu race. The following year, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) hosted the first British Grand Prix at Silverstone when an estimated 100,000 people flocked to the course marked by haybales, ropes and canvas barriers.

Stowe Gardens and Parkland is a Grade 1 listed landscape of international significance and was placed in the care of the National Trust in 1989. With over 40 scheduled monuments and temples, the gardens host a quarter of a million visitors every year. The 1,000 acres of parkland and 245 acres of landscape gardens are home to lakes and ponds, vast wildflower meadows and rolling wood pasture – it’s a haven for wildlife and for people.

During the three-year collaboration, National Trust Stowe Gardens, along with the bee racer mascot, will have a presence at Silverstone during the F1 British Grand Prix, Silverstone Festival and MOTO GP weekends over the next three years. Members of the public will have the opportunity to help increase biodiversity through sponsorship of elements in the landscape such as a metre of footpath at Stowe, saplings and wildflowers, a bat box, beehive, or swift brick.

Head of Business Sustainability for Silverstone, Stephane Bazire, says: “Our ambition is to be connected to the ecosystem of the wider Silverstone community, working collaboratively with our neighbours to make Silverstone a sustainable business and leisure destination. We want to have a positive social and environmental impact whilst growing our business and we see an opportunity to do this by working with our neighbours at National Trust Stowe who share our zero carbon intent. The vision is for visitors, staff, volunteers and members of our local community to be able to walk, run, cycle or wheel safely between Silverstone and Stowe along a green corridor.”

General Manager at National Trust Stowe, Tanya Brittain, says: “We’re partnering with Silverstone in our quest to improve access, enhance biodiversity, create green corridors and new homes for nature and improve connectivity by enabling green travel and active lifestyles. Together we aim to raise the funds necessary to create a three-mile nature superhighway connecting the two sites. Upgrading the Parkland Trail at Stowe puts us firmly on track to achieve this and will be the focus of our combined fundraising efforts.”

Make sure you’re in pole position to get involved by following @silverstonecircuit and @stowe_nt on Instagram.