Grounds Maintenance, Landscape Creation, Arboriculture, Sports Surfacing, Parks management, IOS Managing Safely Training, Ecology & Biodiversity, Grass cutting, Horticulture, Street Cleaning, Soft Landscaping, Hard Landscaping
idverde provides a wide range of green services, including grounds maintenance, landscape creation, and advice services, to both private and public sectors across the UK.
In celebration of Love Parks Week, we are excited to announce that Delapré Abbey has been awarded a Green Flag Award. Being awarded the Green Flag Award is fantastic recognition of our team’s hard work and passion in creating magical green community spaces for everyone to enjoy.
About Delapré Abbey
Located just a stone’s throw from Northampton’s bustling town centre, Delapré offers a captivating glimpse into part of its rich history. Originally established in 1145 as a Cluniac Nunnery founded by Earl of Northampton. The parkland of Delapré now showcases conservation efforts, community events, clubs, and the abbey itself displays impressive works of art for the enjoyment of the public.
Delapré, a beautiful historic landmark, features an expansive open plan greenspace for all walks of life and is maintained by idverde on behalf of west Northamptonshire County Council. Retaining the green flag award serves as a testament to a well-managed park and green space.
To retain the Green Flag Award, our park has shown:
We are delighted to have shown our commitment to meeting these expectations and as result, the site offers all visitors an inclusive atmosphere supplemented by a commitment to environmental preservation and historical magnitude.
To discover more about Delapré and to plan your trip, visit their website here.
What services does idverde provide:
West Northamptonshire Council in partnership with Veolia contracted idverde to provide grounds maintenance on site. This inexhaustive list can consist of conservation, enhancing biodiversity, cutting the grass, and litter collection on the grassland. Our working partnership with RSPB enables us to deliver projects aimed at increasing biodiversity and helping wildlife to thrive.
How do idverde’s services benefit the client and the community?
Delapré Abbey is an especially vibrant, well-loved park, which attracts many visitors and locals alike. It is cherished by dog walkers, families, students, and individuals seeking sanctuary from their busy lives to experience nature, history, and culture.
There is always something on for the community to enjoy. The miniature railway, built by the Northampton Society of Model Engineers, attracts many railway enthusiasts. The impressive lake provides the perfect home for the angling club.
In celebration of love park weeks, there is a weeks’ worth of tasters for the public to enjoy; such as learning to fish at the angling club and water ski at the waterskiing/wakeboarding club, and nature trails, biodiversity, and bat walks with idverde.
The Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust is responsible for the running of the abbey. There are numerous events held throughout the year to celebrate 900 years of history, provide lifelong education, community engagement.
How does idverde encourage biodiversity at Delapré Abbey?
In order to enhance biodiversity across the site, Delapré took part in this year’s No Mow May. The grass in the field margins and boundaries were allowed to grow longer throughout the month of May and extended to summer.
This creates an excellent habitat for insects’ amphibians and small mammals.
By not mowing, this allows nectar rich wildflowers to grow for endangered bees, moths, butterflies, and other insects. Small mammals can nest in the grass which attracts birds of prey such as the kestrel and various owls which encourages more biodiversity.
RSPB volunteers survey the park regularly recording data to iRecords, a national database by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
This provides helpful evidence-based insights on how the parks management regimes is helping to support the wildlife in the park and drive future management plans with the agreement of our client.
Does your park have any interesting or unusual features?
Delapré abbey has a rich heritage that can be explored by the local community and visitors alike and local community groups make it their place of leisure.
The diversity of habitats in one location, such as dry and wet woodlands and abundant grass, supports a rich and diverse wildlife population. Some of the animals that live there are rare and red listed species, such as the otters and the lesser spotted woodpecker and swifts.
Why did you apply for a Green Flag Awards this year? Why is it important to apply for the award?
We applied on the behalf of WNC they wanted to represent the relationship between all stakeholders working together from our front-line colleagues to volunteers, to community clubs and charities.
The award is recognised as an industry leading, quality mark, which gives the general public confidence that the park is maintained to the highest expectations and safety standards.
Judges Claire Pick (Bedford Borough Council) and Mark Yates (Coventry City Council) commented;
“Great park which is well-deserving to fly the Green Flag. It was really positive to see how the many stakeholders seem to be working very well together on site to support each other’s areas and develop the park in a positive manner. Delapré Abbey Park is a lovely site with some really attractive features; all of it managed and maintained by people with an obvious passion for the site. We had a very enjoyable visit and appreciate the time everyone took to share their interest and involvement in the park. Well done to all involved.”
But don’t take our word for it, to discover more about Delapré abbey and to plan your trip, visit their website here.
