Country park recovers after 'worst winter ever'

With spring on the way, carpets of snowdrops are beginning to cover Attingham Park near Shrewsbury.

But the weather has taken its toll on the National Trust site over the last couple of years.

Storms, excessive rain and high winds mean the estate has had trees ripped from the ground and the land left holding millions of tons of water.

The site's general manager, Mark Agnew, described the past few months as "one of the worst winters we've ever had."

The 18th Century estate has been looked after by the trust for more than 75 years.

As well as the Grade I listed country manor, built for the first Lord Berwick in 1785, the site includes 200 acres (81 hectares) of parkland.

But the site is on the flood-plains of the rivers Severn and Tern which create problems during heavy rainfall.

Mr Agnew said the number of storms and the amount of rain that fell have caused the estate repeated problems for nearly two years.

"We used to have flooding once every four years - now we flood in October and it goes right the way through until about March or April," he added.

Water from the rain which could end up flooding the towns of Shrewsbury and Ironbridge comes through Attingham Park - which means the land ends up holding millions of tonnes of water on the flood-plain to stop it going straight into nearby towns, Mr Agnew continued.

"The water table is so high at the moment that every time it rains we're flooding. And not just here - if it rains in Wales, then the next day we'll flood [in Shropshire]," he said.

Flooding isn't the only problem facing Attingham Park - high winds and frequent storms have had a devastating effect on the park's trees, staff said.

"It took my teams about four days of constant work just to clear this and reopen," Mr Agnew said of the estate's Mile Walk.

"The whole of this track was covered in fallen trees, you can see all the stumps where they've been severed and chopped off.

"As they fell, they took others with them."

Despite a "very difficult winter", Attingham Park has been able to kick off its annual illuminated snowdrop walk, welcoming visitors into its woodlands to see the flowers that signal the beginning of spring.

"We are here for the people of Shropshire and we exist because they support us," Mr Agnew said.

"That relationship between us and our local communities is really important and we want people to come here and have a really lovely time.

"Hopefully if they're having a really lovely time they'll recognise the amount of work we do and they will then support us as a cause for access and for conservation."

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