Fred Cleary

For example, he was involved in restoring existing buildings rather than demolishing them; he also helped find alternatives to glass and concrete edifices that were known to have a much greater environmental cost.

[5] Born 11 April 1905, in a flat on Prince of Wales Road off Haverstock Hill, Hampstead, London, Cleary was the son of an electrical engineer.

In his autobiography, I'll do it yesterday, he writes about what people refer to as waste and the efforts of residents in Hornsey Borough to continue to salvage, repurpose and recycle as much as they can.

For over thirty years, from the early 1950s onwards, Cleary became a leading light in the provision of many gardens and open spaces provided by the Corporation of the City of London and others, resulting in his nickname 'Flowering Fred'.

However, in 1958 Cleary retired from the London and Investment Mortgage Company and focussed his time and energy on Haslemere Estates with the support of Frank Collier and Hilda Lupton.

The company continued to prosper over the subsequent 25 years before being acquired by Rodamco (part of the Dutch asset management group, Robeco) in 1986.

'Haslemere' specialised in restoring the integrity and elegance of period buildings, while simultaneously allowing for the considerations of the modern occupiers of such property.

In a striking manner, Haslemere Estates have proved beyond doubt that commercial interests and architectural conservation are by no means incompatible, and can, in fact, be complementary."

Over 150 gardens within The City of London were transformed and maintained during his leadership, creating natural beauty out of war-torn scars and neglected spaces.

St. Margaret's Bay had been a regular fixture during school holidays and made a great impression on the young Fred, to the extent that by the late 1940s he and his wife Norah became resident here.

In 1981 he was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society in recognition of his services to Gardening in the City of London and elsewhere.