Daisybank is a much loved field between Daisybank Road and Pilford Road in Leckhampton – and it’s now owned for the community and for nature by a non-profit community interest company run by local people.
Visit the Daisybank CIC website for all the latest news and information.
Daisybank forms a striking first approach to Leckhampton Hill from the urban area. It includes criss-crossing public rights of way and nearby is a recognised heritage feature in the route of the former Leckhampton rail incline that once served the quarries on the hill. Daisybank is a safe natural play area for children and popular amongst walkers, pets and cyclists going to and from the hill. And in snowy weather it welcomes thousands of sledgers. It is part of the Cotswolds National Landscape and listed in the Priority Habitats Inventory for England and Gloucestershire’s Nature Recovery Network map for its grassland and woodland habitats. It hosts many wildflowers, birds, bats, IUCN-red listed adders, foxes, badgers and deer and features spontaneous springs in wet weather.
1.7 hectares of Daisybank were put up for sale in 2025 with a guide price of £75,000 by its longstanding owner, Pye of Oxford. Leckhampton with Warden Hill Parish Council asked Cheltenham Borough Council to recognise it as an asset of community value and this has been done, blocking general sale for six months to allow time for a community bid.
Martin gathered local people together on 2 April 2025 and the Daisybank Community Interest Company was later set up as a non-profit company to bid for the land and raise the necessary funds. Leckhampton with Warden Parish Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and a brilliant local crowdsourcing campaign raised the funds and enabled the CIC to buy the land in November 2025.
If you are interested in helping to protect this important community asset for future generations, please get in touch! We are particularly looking for anyone with experience of ecology or land management but also just enthusiasm and commitment. You can get in touch with Daisybank CIC here.