A walk in the woods. Cornwall

The Lost Gardens of Heligan, have a long history. There has been a manor house on the site since the early 13th century. The estate was bought by the Tremayne family in the 16th Century and has remained in their hands ever since.

It is one of the most mysterious estates in England. It spread well over 1,000 acres, the gardens were laid out from the 18th century onwards over an area of 200 acres, maintained by the early 20th century by an army of twenty two gardeners (you don't expect the chattering classes to get their hands dirty, do you?).

The outbreak of WW1, also saw the beginning of the demise of the gardens being reclaimed by nature, as men of fighting age joined up to fight a war between different arms of the inbred european "royal" families. Many failed to return dying on Flanders Fields and beyond, including sixteen from the gardens.

The last true Tremayne, was an obvious bachelor of the parish, not marrying or fathering children, he buggered off to Italy in 1920, leasing out the manor house. The land, the gardens were never sold, leased or developed and were forgotten about. the brambles, ivy, rhododendrons and other thuggish plants took over

After the childless death of Jack Tremayne, the Heligan estate came under the ownership of a trust. The manor house was sold off and developed into flats.

Fast forward to 1990, when by chance three men got together and "found" the over grown gardens, and since then and even into the future the gardens are being brought back to life for us and our children's children to enjoy.

There have been several TV programmes about the gardens and they are multi award winning both nationally and internationally. In 2024 the 8th million visitor was recorded, since its reopening to the public 25 years ago. I did visit many years ago in the daytime, and enjoyed my time.

But enough of the tempting sales patter (for which I am unpaid!), lets walk in the night.

The light is fading it is time to tear myself away from the crackling logs, not overly cold, a lovely autumnal chill making itself known to one and all.

The path through a very small part of the gardens, lit only by the displays was firm and undulating, I wonder how many sprained ankles they get during the night season, which runs from November to early January.

I shall call this brolly bend.

Simple but effective

Toadstools

and magic mushrooms

the 'shrooms were very effective.

Oh dear, Mr G has

been making a pig of himself again with the hallucinogens.

Sensory overload man, just chill

It will soon be time to imbibe a couple of kingfishers

Snowdrops in my opinion.

Magnificent old oak trees, centuries old, they have seen the coming and the going, the lungs of the planet. They can also be turned into very good furniture.

Halfway round a conveniently placed hut offering a choice of burger or hot dog, along with a satisfying draught lager beer, Korev, a local beer and very refreshing it was too. The burger was superb, what left a nasty taste in the mouth was the cost £14.50p total fucking rip off.

I fucking hate spiders!

D-I-S-C-O

My suggestion...Snakeshead Fritillaria

and bleeding heart fuchsias

A wonderful hour and a bit walking in a seasonal wonderland, I enjoyed it I hope you did too.

Quiet now, the mud maid sleeps awaken her not,

_{Thanks for visiting my page, I am pleased to make your acquaintance. this is Stephen aka, @grindle, happily retired, travelling the world snapping away. My weapon of choice is currently a Nikon Z6(2). Unless stated all images are shot by me (©@grindle) all text is mine, based on various info sources. NOT AI generated. If you like my blog, it would be very much appreciated if you upvote and follow me. Also please feel free to drop a comment.}

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