Jyll Bradley with her book "Mr Roscoes Garden" in front of one of the photographs on display at the Walker Art Gallery.
Gardens rebuild would be the ultimate legacy of European Capital of Culture
REBUILDING Liverpool Botanic Gardens and its tropical glasshouses, to restore its international reputation, would be the ultimate legacy of European Capital of Culture.
This is the firm belief of Sam Youd, head of gardens at Tatton Park, the great National Trust property near Knutsford.
He was one of the highly skilled staff who worked at the Botanic Garden at Harthill, but left when he saw the dire future in the 1980s.
"Many of the staff are still traumatised by what happened," he says.
"If anything sensible comes out of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture, it would be the rebuilding of the Botanic Gardens.
"It’s a great shame that nobody has picked up this idea and got it sorted out when there is so much here already to build on.
"Sadly, I don’t think we’ll see it in our lifetime, but anything that promotes the idea of a new botanic garden, like this wonderful book and its photos by Jyll Bradley, is a start."
Sam also warns that time is running out and the collection and its legacy will simply fade away if serious long-term support is not forthcoming.
"Liverpool is made up of a fantastic jigsaw based around its merchants and sea trade.
"The big, missing piece from the middle is the Botanic Gardens.
"My family have been going to sea since the tea clipper days and I’ve spent my life working with plants, so I understand the importance of this connection."
