A slow start, from the outset I was far too distracted by the late blooms of flowers. The curse of the curious – it takes ages to get anywhere…
Recognising this I remounted my bike - for the umpteenth time in a few hundred yards – and set off in a determined fashion along the clearly defined desire tracks over the rough grassland south of the Garden Festival Site. This tract of land sandwiched between the manicured parkland of Otterspool and the derelict land of the Garden Festival site, appears to be common land, open, and accessible for public use. But there is no mistaking the entering of the Brownfield land – the disused Garden Festival Site car park – clearly demarcated by fence posts, some still connected with chain-link fencing. Off my bike on this boundary line I pause for a while to take in the view. What I know is in front of me is the tree canopy of the Garden Festival site with the Anglican Cathedral tower beyond - a landmark of the City centre. But at the same time what I see is a vision of the rural idyll – rolling countryside, a coppice, and the distant village church on the horizon. It’s a question of perception, what we want to see...

20 years of slow decline, the site languishes derelict, and we have an eyesore yet again… is how the Land Restoration Trust have described this land.