Episode 4

Episode 4
Another gardens I visited whilst in Cornwall are the Lost gardens of Haligan.
There gardens had been started as early as the 1600’s and perhaps even before that as some document has been found from the 1500’s relating to building some part of the garden. Most of it however was established in the 19th century by the Tremaine family. After WW1 it fell into a state of sad neglect and it is only since 1993 that work has begun to restore the place to its original glory. Covering many acres, it has all different types of gardens from almost tropical jungle in a steep south facing gully to the walled kitchen gardens that supplied vegetables and cut flowers to the big house.
The jungle area is a thick forest of plants some temperate like the big stands of bamboo and some monkey puzzle trees, these latter are an araucaria from Chile or Argentina and closely related to our bunya pines in Queensland. In amongst these trees are more tropical plants including bananas. I think I’ve seen more bananas in England than there is in Burnett Heads. During the time when the place was neglected the stands of bamboo took over vast areas and much had to be cleared. There are 3 ponds, one below the other and fish in the ponds, there is also an otter that visits the ponds but has not yet been seen, only his droppings that are quite distinctive apparently. At some time in the future a CCTV camera is to be installed to spy on the otter and any other nocturnal visitors. They could easily import an endangered panda or two to browse on the bamboo there is enough to support several pandas I should think.
On the higher slopes there are proteas, grevilleas and callistamons that are frost tolerant but there are also big trees that help to protect the lower plants and keep it a bit warmer. Amongst these I saw an avocado that seemed to be doing quite well despite the fact that the temperature can drop to -6C
In the lovely walled kitchen garden there were a couple of glass houses; one was for growing peaches and the other for grapes. Not many of either has survived but new plants have been planted recently. There is also only one of the original fig trees still growing up against one wall but many young ones heavily loaded with fruit were standing in pots. A wide variety of citrus trees were standing outside in pots too, and all of those had some fruit or flowers on them. I expect that they are put away into a more controlled climate for much of the year otherwise it would get far too wet for them and possibly too cold too. Here too, I saw the biggest sunflower I have ever seen, it was massive, The cockatoos would love it.
Half of this walled garden was devoted to flowers that filled the place with colour, plenty of sweet peas in bloom and a variety of other flowers that could be cut. Originally these would have been cut and placed in vases in the ‘big house’. Now many are sold as bunches in the shop. The vegetable garden here didn’t really have a lot in it, some young lettuces, some broccoli and cauliflower, asparagus, and other summer vegies. Someway further back up the hill was an even larger kitchen garden but it too did not seem to have a great deal in it, perhaps because it has been so wet this summer. There were a lot of stone fruit trees growing on trellises that makes them very easy to prune and to pick. Some of them had some fruit but they were not loaded, not like Heather’s plum trees that are so heavy with fruit that the branches are breaking.
All around the whole gardens there are great hydrangeas in full bloom, blue, white and pink. Also huge banks of rhododendrons: In the Sikkim garden a few of these rhododendrons were so massive they are the size of an oak tree, not quite as tall perhaps but spread out. They are so dense that very little grows beneath them. They would be great for climbing, kids would love them. Some member of the family had collected these in the late 1800’s and had been put in jail in Sikkim for a short time during his expedition there.
Yet another area was designed to resemble a mountains pass with a rough foot path and gardens designed in a rockery style. All the plants here were of Alpine origin.
In another gully that was made for use as a pleasant carriage drive there are more large trees and dense vegetation along with more pools but here it is not so warm. One of these pools was the mill pond. Also along here were the charcoal burners, and there is still one that is used now for the excess trees that are being taken out. Especially sycamore trees that have propagated well over the years of neglect: The charcoal is sold in the shop for barbeques and they also make artists charcoal using other plants including bamboo.
A quite recent addition is the wildlife hide and the CCTV camera that have been installed to spy on the family of barn owls that have their nest in one of the buildings. The spy camera makes it easy to monitor the progress of the family whilst not interfering with them what-so-ever. During the spring when there were 7 chicks hatched one BBC program was monitoring them and watched as the 3 stronger chicks killed the 4 weaker ones. Another camera is installed around yet another pond and this one can be controlled from inside the hide and focused on different areas to watch birds or small animals that might be about.
I spent several hours wandering about here while David stayed in the car and read a book, I think that he had looked at enough plants the day before at the Eden Project.
Of the time we spent in Cornwall it rained most days for a few hours at least but still we enjoyed some lovely warm sunny weather too. Our SatNav system we programmed to take us along routes other than the major highways with the result that we wound our way around many a country lane with high embankments and trees that met over the top so it was like driving through a green tunnel. Most of the lanes are so narrow that if you should happen to meet another car then one of you has to find a place where you can pull off the road far enough to let the other pass, that often requires someone reversing quite a way. Even passing a cyclist or a pedestrian is not easy; in fact I don’t think a big 4wd would have fitted down some lanes.
We made and excursion to Boscastle, a lovely little village in a steep valley on the Atlantic coast. It had suffered badly in severe storms a while back. Some of the houses had been swept away along with a bridge. All the houses here are a lovely grey stone. From here I walked someway along the cliff tops. Again David didn’t want to take part so I went by myself. I met several other walkers along the way. It was very pleasant and I saw some lovely wild flowers. One of the heather was in full bloom while another with a smaller flower was not yet fully out. Its such a lovely purple colour. Then there is the bright yellow gorse and a small pea shaped flower that was bright yellow and deep orange on the one bush. I looked down into one little cove that had a dark shale beach and deep blue very clear water. Sometimes the only thing that separated me from the vertical cliffs are very well made slate fences; with the slates laid vertically they can be found all over Cornwall and elsewhere too, they often have brambles (blackberries) growing through and over them as well as other plants.
This time we also made a trip to Lands End. The last time I was there was on a very cold day in 1972 I think. It was still chilly this time but I managed ok in my shorts and t-shirt. Now you have to pay 3 pounds to park the car and there is a choice of entertainment on offer for which you have to pay extra. One is some Dr. Who show. There are also shops, a restaurant, a pub and a bakery. We walked along to the last house, I think it was here last time we came. Its a souvenir shop now, probably was then. There really isn’t much to see, you just stand on the most westerly point of England and look out at the little islands offshore. Its 874 miles to John O’groats the most north-easterly point of this British Isle: and the start or end of a 500 mile walking track, wouldn’t mind doing that but probably never will. Bad weather with heavy fog would make it quite difficult I should think. There are also two boats on display here. Set on blocks one is able to walk on them and explore. One is an old trawler that was built in 1945 and decommissioned in 1993. Inside we could read the history of the boat. The other vessel was a rescue boat, not so much to see on this one, only the wheel house really.
A nearby place we visited here is the Minack theatre. This is really a small amphitheatre built in a shallow, steep gully overlooking the sea. It was the lifetime project of Rowena Cade 1893-1983. She moved to Porthcurno after WW1 buying some land and building a house for herself and her mother. Local actors used to stage plays in her backyard. Then in the winter of 1931-32 she embarked on the project of making this amphitheatre on her land. With her gardener as the chief architect and his assistant and herself as labourers they set about clearing and moving large amounts of rock to make a stage area and some rough seating leading back up the cliff.
The very first play performed on the stage here in 1932 was Shakespear’s “the Tempest”. More improvements were made over the years of the 1930’s then when the war came again the cliffs were fenced off. Rowena used to crawl through the barb wire with her mower and mow the grass on the seats. By the end of the war much had been destroyed and it was back to the basic state of 1932. Again Rowena and her same two assistants set about the reconstruction. They worked on it over the years improving it continuously. Indeed Rowena did the hard physical work required well into her 80’s, she died in 1983 just before her 90th birthday.
The theatre is designed in a shallow curve with a small stage at the bottom well above the sea and the seats facing out over the sea and rising steeply. Seating for a few hundred people in about 15 or so rows: There are stairs on either side for access to the stage and seats. Large rocks on either side of the stage act as wings. Just as we were looking a troupe of actors in white and cream tunics rushed down the stairs and started rehearsing a play. The life of some person set in 1539, we did not find it particularly riveting and as it was beginning to drizzle and getting quite chilly we only watched for a short time. Our sunny day had gone.
This place is now run by a public organization and they charge for entry for sightseeing as well as for attending performances, on the day we visited there must have been hundreds of visitors. Yet, for all the funds they must raise they have really made very little improvement of what this remarkable woman had created. Makes one wonder what these organizations do with the funds they raise. Rowena was planning to put a roof over the place but there is still no roof all these years later.
It is quite the thing to visit this theatre at any time of the year in any weather. People come quite prepared for it. They bring their sleeping bags, hot water bottles, flasks of hot drink or something stronger, snacks and rain coats etc. Some of Britain’s best know actors have performed here.
Just to one side of this theatre was a little cove with a lovely sandy beach that was crowded with people swimming and sunbathing (the sun had gone by this) and resting under beach umbrellas. Further around the coast we could see two other equally crowded beaches. The sea was fairly flat on this day but there were plenty of surfboards atop cars that we saw about.
During our time in Cornwall we stayed with Josephine and Allen, Jo is David’s cousin, they made us very welcome, we had missed seeing them last year. Also caught up with their daughter Sharon, she was badly injured in a car accident nearly 4 years ago and though she still has some on-going problems she is looking well and very fit. She has bought herself a log cabin that is on a residential park site.
We left Cornwall on a sunny morning and had a good run back towards Arundel. Around lunch time we went into Weymouth where we sat on the waterfront and ate some lunch. There were fishing charter boats and many private recreational boats in the water. The town was very busy with summer visitors. One little village we passed through nearly all the houses had thatched roofs, some very new and one still being done. In that part of the country thatch seems to be becoming more popular despite the higher insurance premium. A couple of very heavy showers dampened our way.
Now we must re-organize everything for our trip to Iceland, we fly out on Thursday. I plan to call and see Rebekah on our way up to Stansted on Wednesday. We shall stay the night near the airport.
©Lynette Regan 7th August 2007