A+E to Heligan 1
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Wed 6 Sep 2017 22:37
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Andrew and Edward to The Lost Gardens of Heligan – Part
One   The boys were instantly entranced with
Heligan’s opening feature, a head with busy eyes.
Like Eden, I regularly visited the Gardens during the first year after discovery
and several times since – but not for over a decade, Bear has not been back
since it first opened.
The Tremayne Family have owned the
200-acre Heligan Estate for over 400 years. During the 18th and 19th centuries
there was a thriving, almost self-sufficient community here. Heligan House was
rented out after World War I. In the 1970’s it was converted to flats and sold
off, separated from it’s surrounding Gardens and Estate. In 1990
this Sleeping Beauty was discovered and re-awakened, becoming Europe’s largest
garden restoration project. Heligan’s story is unique. It is not the typical
story of the family in the Big House, but of the land and its workforce; their
knowledge and skills.
At least thirteen of Heligan’s outdoor
staff served in World War I, nine tragically gave their lives. Soon afterwards,
Jack Tremayne left Heligan and rented it out saying he “could no longer live
with the ghosts”. The garden soon became........ lost.
In 1990, John Willis (a descendant of
the Tremaynes) introduced Tim Smit (of The Eden Project fame) to the devastated
Estate. Tim was an archaeologist by training and this experience prompted an
all-consuming curiosity, to discover what happened here.
Easier said than done; what followed
was a mammoth task and, for many, a life’s work: decades of overgrowth were cut
back, priceless veteran plant specimens uncovered, buildings restored,
greenhouses resurrected and the traditional horticultural practices and
intriguing history meticulously researched. While excavating one collapsed
building, a thunderbox room (gardeners toilet) was discovered – and on its walls
feint pencil signatures, dated August 1914. The team vowed that the restoration
would be undertaken as a tribute to these working people. Some of these names
were later discovered on the local parish war memorials. In 2013 the Imperial
War Museum registered the Thunderbox Room – see below.
Today life has been breathed into Heligan once more. Over 20
gardeners and estate workers practice the skills of those who worked the land a
century ago, cultivating the walled gardens, growing heritage vegetables,
farming traditional livestock breeds, re-creating a thriving community and once
again re-connecting us all with the land throughout the
seasons.
 Andrew leads the
adventure.
 Wow, a sleeping
maiden.
   Fascination,
amazement and we find out she is called The Mud Maid.
   Andrew and
Edward – action ready.
   We met this happy
fur-chap but then read the sad news about the bee
colony. Let’s hope a new hive is back soon.
  We loved this gnarly
tree, not too sure about the Charcoal
Sculpture.
   Enjoying the Jungle
Walk, so love Edward running at the camera saying “cheese”, Andrew and grandpa go
in search of the swing bridge.
  The boys lead the
way and Small Person does his best. At the
other side we stopped for a drink and a snack.
   A well-earned ice cream
break.
  Posing by a
pretty bush.
   Flowers and
birds along the way.
   Enjoying the farm
animals.
  Passing the dove
cote we stopped to explore an old well – perhaps my favourite picture of
the day – inquisitive brothers.
CONTINUED
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