By now it’s likely you’ve been out to visit a park or garden space with your family and friends. And, as the UK continues to reopen the doors and gates of its National Trust properties and other spaces to visitors, you may assume it’s easier to control crowds and distancing when you have plenty of room and it’s all outdoors.
But there are myriad challenges for these venues – from “pinch points” on the grounds of stately homes, to animal interaction at wildlife parks.
For visitors, checking that places and areas are safe to visit before embarking on a trip (visitbritain.com/know-before-you-go) is a must-do. While introducing measures and restrictions such as ticketed entry, limited visitor numbers, relocating gift shops
to larger rooms and increasing the sanitisation around the venue in areas such as toilets and food outlets has been key for managers at properties across the UK.
‘The approach is to inform before arrival as much as possible’
Andrew BruceWootton, CEO, Atholl Estates
Reopening an estate with gardens may seem an easier prospect than, say, an indoor venue, but there was still plenty to consider for Atholl Estates chief executive Andrew BruceWootton and his team at Blair Castle and Gardens. Measures have included relocating the shop and a highly increased sanitising regime.
“The approach is to inform before arrival as much as possible; different people will be in different circumstances,” he says. “Because we are a large venue, people will often want to sit down, so we’ll be cleaning benches every couple of hours, but if people want to bring disinfectant with them, then please do.
“It’s about trying to keep the venue as normal as possible, and clear and unfettered, so you’re not arriving to a hall of mirrors and every turn you come to you’re confronted with another sign.”
As the grounds cover a rather large area, with a 3.5-hectare walled garden, arboretum, open areas of grasslands and a deer park, BruceWootton says the attraction can accommodate a large number of visitors safely under the new guidelines. “We’ve moved our shop to the ballroom, again looking at how we can make the visitor experience as relaxed as possible given that shops are by nature rather confined spaces,” he adds.
‘The wellbeing the garden gives is really important’
Stuart Stanbridge, chief visitor experience officer, Erddig – National Trust
In Wales, the 18th-century house and gardens of Erddig have opened with pre-booking at a reduced capacity to control numbers.
“We have timed-ticket slots, which are based on a 50% [capacity] summer day,” says chief visitor experience officer Stuart Stanbridge. “The estate part you can come and explore as much as you like – that isn’t pre-bookable, so that’s all open anyway,” he says.
“What we were looking forward to and what I think has been proved is the fact that we’ve been able to really enjoy the space. What’s so special about National Trust places in general, and Erddig in particular, is that they’re a place where people can go and escape from whatever problems they’ve got. The feedback from visitors is that they’re pleased to be back here. Because it is very peaceful and close to large populations, that outdoors space, the wellbeing that it gives, is really important.”
Head gardener Glyn Smith maintained the grounds and historic plant collections, while Stanbridge helped with tree maintenance and even the venue’s shire horses and donkeys.
“I’ve helped to pleach the lime trees, I’ve really enjoyed it,” says Stanbridge. “We’ve got two shire horses and donkeys – I’ve been looking after those as well. It’s been beautiful. It’s always quiet on the estate, but during lockdown there hasn’t been the traffic and pollution, so it’s been peaceful.”
‘We’ve got 2-metre pawprints everywhere’
Owen Craft, chief operating officer, ZSL Whipsnade zoo
For ZSL Whipsnade zoo chief operating officer Owen Craft, it wasn’t just about the staff and grounds – there were some very specific large animals (and small ones, too) to think about. The park has reopened in phases, of which they are now in the second of four.
“Our proposition is about authenticity and adventure, with vast open spaces and large herds of animals from elephants to rhinos, lions, tigers and bears,” he says.
“We have smaller immersive up-close experiences such as a butterfly house, so it’s a nice blend. The key thing when organising this was to control the numbers when coming in. And the best way of doing that is pre-booking, only with morning and afternoon slots to stagger flow.”
But some areas of the zoo remain closed off. For humans to go near the primates, for instance, visitors would need PPE because primates are more susceptible to Covid-19 transmission.
“On arrival and in and around the site, we’ve got 2-metre pawprints everywhere,” says Craft. “The queueing system starts from the car park. Anywhere you funnel into a smaller viewing area we have to control queues, so we have pawprints for those as well.”
Each of the zoo’s first two phases of reopening was in line with UK government advice
and the next two stages will be as well. “Phase three is about indoor play,” adds Craft. “Certain experiences we’d look to bring back as well as looking at how we can do an indoor restaurant offering. Phase four is about our overnight accommodation lodges, they’re seasonal and not open at the minute. We have nine glamping pods up on the downs and we run that from March to October ... so we will reconvene those in 2021. But the core day-visitor experience is open and running.”
Again, it’s about the wellbeing element of what the venue offers, he says. “As we’re easing out of lockdown, people want that connection with nature – and I think Whipsnade being reopened is not to be underestimated, really.”
‘People have come back to a wilderness and they’re loving it’
Tammi Peek, partnerships manager, Mount Stewart – National Trust
With large manicured gardens and its own lake, Mount Stewart is a neoclassical home and National Trust property in County Down, Northern Ireland.
For partnership manager Tammi Peek and the team, the focus so far has been on installing low-key signage and one-way systems, as well as setting up a pre-booking system. Above all, their aim is to ensure that people would feel safe bringing their loved ones.
“The first challenge was to think through how we get people on site,” says Peek. “People tell us when and what time they’re coming. Members are free and non-members can pay online. We get a list and print that off each day and know the surname and arrival time. When they arrive, we give them a brief description of how the property is now working. And we’ve found that while at first there was frustration, because you can’t be spontaneous any more, once people arrive, they are loving the security of us knowing how many people are on site.”
The venue has slowly increased daily visitors and reopened its tearoom. Being measured and cautious has helped, says Peek.
“We’ve found people have respected each other’s space. On site, we’ve got one-way systems in operation, which we’ve tried to make as intuitive as possible.”
The property now runs with what Peek describes as a “skeleton staff”, with 20 workers brought back from furlough, but not all on a full-time basis. “Lots of us are doing jobs we might not normally do, but our priority is get folk in,” she says. She adds that they’ve tried not to be “overly covid signposted”, but that visitors do want to know which routes around the property will help them best adhere to social distancing. And there have been some lovely surprises for return visitors, too.
“They’ve come back to see a wilderness in some places and they’re loving seeing the long grass and the way the breeze goes through it and the increased numbers of butterflies.”
This advertiser content was paid for by the UK government. All Together is a government-backed initiative tasked with informing the UK about the Covid-19 pandemic
