The Guernsey-headquartered business Blue Diamond, the UK’s largest garden centre group, has donated £20,000 to fund urgent path and step improvements at Vaux de Monel, one of Guernsey’s most dramatic and well loved coastal locations.
The National Trust manages several sites at Pleinmont and Le Vaux de Monel encompasses much of the secluded woodland behind Portelet bay.
Colin Gaudion, lands manager for the National Trust of Guernsey, said it was extremely grateful to Blue Diamond for the donation.
‘It allows us to progress urgent works at Vaux de Monel much sooner than anticipated and will make a lasting difference to the safety and enjoyment of this much-loved site,’ he said.
‘Support like this is vital to our work in caring for Guernsey’s special places.’
Paths and steps through the site are in need of urgent attention and the donation will allow key safety and conservation works to be brought forward sooner than originally planned.
‘A lot of the paths have expanded over time as people and mountain bikes have gone to the sides of them,’ said Mr Gaudion. ‘We also have a lot of water running through the site which has affected the paths and needs managing. We want to make the site as accessible as possible, but with that, when the work is done, we would ask everyone to use the site responsibly and stick to the paths.’
The site hold special significance for the trust as it was the first piece of land gifted to it by one of its founding members, May Bonamy Collings, in the 1960s.
The ruins of her family’s holiday home, which was burnt down by the occupying German forces during the war, can still be seen on the site. Clues to a past house and garden include hydrangeas, crocosmias and rhododendrons flowering in an otherwise woodland place.
Blue Diamond has a longstanding partnership with the National Trust in the UK, where the group has committed £1m. in funding over three years.
James Robin, operations manager at Blue Diamond Guernsey, said that with deep roots in the island, the company felt it was a natural extension of that commitment to support the National Trust locally and help safeguard the landscapes that mean so much to islanders and visitors.
‘Vaux de Monel is a place that holds real meaning for many islanders, and it’s a location we are proud to help protect,’ he said.
‘Supporting the National Trust of Guernsey felt like the right thing to do, particularly given our wider commitment to the National Trust across the UK. As a Guernsey-based business, we are passionate about investing locally and playing our part in caring for the landscapes that define this island.’
Because the site has been classed as a site of special significance, the works will require permission from the Development & Planning Authority and the trust said work will start once permission has been approved and contractors are available.