“They’re ruining the flowers”- Canterbury’s downtrodden beauty

Canterbury’s Westgate gardens has been a staple of the city for years, and has recently become a viral sensation garnering millions of views for posts about it on apps such as Instagram bringing tourists not only from England, but all around the world.

 

And whilst this is good for the historic city, boosting its economy, the sheer number of people looking to get their own viral social media posts from posing in the flower beds is taking its toll leaving many sections of the flower beds trampled or even having to be removed so that the healthy parts of the flower beds aren’t ruined too.

Despite signage on the beds asking people to please stay off the grass many people are not heeding these warnings. This has led to the grass centre patch going from lush green grass to more of a muddy pathway just from the volume of people walking on it.

 

Just over the river from these flower beds is local punting business Westgate Punts. Junior manager Bradley Slade shared his thoughts on how the viral videos of the gardens have affected them:

As somebody who is at the gardens almost daily, Bradley sees what is happening on the flower beds and shares what he thinks of the situation:

Whilst the problem certainly is partially down to the people visiting the park, there are many tourists visiting from overseas for whom English is not their first language. There is only one small sign on the grass which is written only in English telling people to stay off the grass and the flowerbeds, despite this seeming like it would be common sense it may be easy for someone to be overexcited in trying to create the perfect selfie.

 

A Canterbury City Council spokesperson told the BBC:

“We are currently actively looking at measures we can put in place that would protect the flowerbeds while still allowing photographs to be taken.

“We are sure that through a combination of common sense and small changes everyone can continue to enjoy the park and its flowers.”