Month: July 2025

July 22, 2025

The Green Flag flies over Penryn University campus after receiving the prestigious Green Flag Award for another year. 

The campus, shared by Falmouth University and the University of Exeter, is one of 2,250 in the UK to achieve the award, which is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces. A total of just five locations in Cornwall have been recognised by the scheme.

This is the eighth consecutive year that the site has retained the esteemed accolade. Oliver Lane, Director of Campus Services, said: “Our green spaces are incredibly important to us, and we take great pride in the stewardship of the Tremough Estate, what is now the Penryn University Campus.  

“Earning the Green Flag year after year is a true testament to the dedication and hard work of the FX Plus Grounds and Gardening team. They consistently showcase Penryn’s green spaces at their very best—for students, staff, and guests to enjoy. A heartfelt thank you to all who made this another successful year.” 

Penryn University Campus covers 100 acres of countryside, combining historic sub-tropical gardens with new landscapes that are open to everyone. Visitors are able to explore the Walled Garden, a fruit-producing orchard, the Italianate Garden and Terraces, the 18th-century Lime Avenue, the old drive with its Pinetum and native woodlands, and historically rare rhododendrons cultivated on-site during the Victorian era. A more recent addition is the rare and historic Lucombe Oak, gifted by the University of Exeter’s Streatham Campus in 2017. 

The grounds and gardens are managed with environmental sensitivity, enhancing natural habitats and boosting biodiversity on campus. Since January 2025, over 300 square metres of wildflower turf and 1,700 individual wildflower plugs have been planted—attracting a wide variety of pollinating insects and helping to support local wildlife. 

Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, Paul Todd MBE, said: “Congratulations to everyone involved at Penryn University Campus who have worked tirelessly to ensure that it achieves the high standards required for the Green Flag Award. 

“Quality parks and green spaces like those at Penryn campus make the country a heathier place to live and work in, and a stronger place in which to invest. 

“Crucially, it is a vital green space for communities in Penryn to enjoy nature, and during the ongoing cost of living crisis it is a free and safe space for families to socialise. It also provides important opportunities for local people and visitors to reap the physical and mental health benefits of green space.” 

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world. 

July 15, 2025

Flix Bus have launched a new daily return bus service via Penryn Campus bus stop and ending at London Hammersmith bus station at a competitive price. The service also runs from London Hammersmith to Penryn Campus. The service is already running and you are able to book your coach tickets via the Flix Bus website.

To book, enter ‘Penryn’ and the date you wish to travel into the search toolbar (either for the start or end journey) at www.flixbus.co.uk.  The option will appear as ‘Falmouth University’ – however this is the title for Penryn Campus.

The service running from Penryn Campus to London Hammersmith leaves campus at 06:00am and stops at: Truro bus station (6:20am), Plymouth bus station (08:05am), Exeter Stover Court-Bampfylde Street (9:20am), Taunton BP garage (10:10am), Bristol bus station (11:20am) and finally London Hammersmith (14:00pm).

The journey from London Hammersmith to Penryn Campus leaves at 16:00pm and stops at: Bristol bus station (19:15pm), Taunton BP garage (20:25pm), Exeter Stover Court-Bampfylde Street (21:15pm), Plymouth bus station (22:25pm), Truro bus station (00:10am) and Penryn Campus bus stop (00:35am).

July 11, 2025

Since January 2025, the Grounds and Garden team have installed over 300m2 of wildflower turf in numerous areas around Penryn campus. Many of these spaces are in bloom, attracting a variety of pollinating insects, supporting wildlife and boosting biodiversity on campus.
Some of the spaces in flower to check out include:

• An 80m long strip along the hedge between Reception and the Porters lodge.
• Next to Peter Lanyon, where concentric circles of wildflowers have been planted amongst short mown turf with a mown circular space in the middle. This will, in time, have a tree in the centre with a circular bench around it.
• Wildflower planting directly opposite the bus stops has more than doubled.
• Areas by the main entrance roundabout and the corner near the wooden Information Building and barriers (as you drive onto campus), have all been expanded.
• A section of dead box hedge between the School of Film and Television building and the Chapel Lecture Theatre, has been replaced with wildflowers.
• A small patch of wildflowers has been introduced the other side of the Heart Reception, near the shop.

The team have also continued to plant potted wildflower plugs, which are grown on campus by our gardeners and introduced into the designated wildflower areas. Last year (Jan-Dec 2024) a total of 3,010 individual wildflower plugs were planted and this year (since Jan 2025) we have increased that number by 1,700 plants. This means we are on track to beat last years’ total by the end of the calendar year.

Across the Tremough Estate, over five acres of grassland is cut annually in a wildflower friendly way. This is means it is cut only once or twice a year, at the end of summer or autumn, so that wildflowers have time to flower and set seed. After cutting, all the cut material is gathered up and removed to prevent the build-up of nutrient levels in the soil.

This area size is a conservative estimate, and “actual figures are likely to be much larger than this. Some of these areas can be more long grass than wildflowers as our soil is quite nutrient rich. Hopefully managing the land in the right way and continuing planting, when possible, will increase wildflower diversity and abundance over time”, said Alasdair Garnett, Gardener at FX Plus.

July 7, 2025

In June (2025), we completed a project to replace an aging and inefficient waste compactor by installing two new compactors – one for general waste and one for Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR).  

The additional compactor for DMR is a first for Penryn campus and the investment will help to generate significant cost savings and reduce the carbon footprint related to waste transport, as DMR collections will reduce from once a week to once every 4 or 5 weeks.  

Lynn Storey, Head of Facilities Management, said:  

“The new compactors are welcome additions to our waste compound facilities. The two machines will benefit our hard-working waste team and will also cut our waste carbon footprint, as well as deliver significant cost savings.” 

If you have any questions or would like more information about Waste and Recycling on campus, please contact the Sustainability team on sustainability@fxplus.ac.uk.