Lost Gardens of Heligan

The Lost Gardens of Heligan are well over an hour's drive from the Lighthouse but seeing the gardens has been on my To Do list for ages so mid-morning I struck out for St Austell.

I'm going to let the pictures do the talking, save to say I found the Northern Gardens very moving. When the door to the overgrown gardens was opened for the very first time by Tim Smit and John Willis in 1990 they named the first tiny room they uncovered 'The Thunderbox Room'. There, in the flaking plaster, was the names of the gardeners over the years, many of whom died during the Great War which is how the garden became neglected all those years ago, as so many of them didn't return. In 2013 the Imperial War Museum recognised The Thunderbox Room as a Living Memorial to 'The Gardeners of Heligan'.

  

The only pineapple pit in Europe. Not exactly cost effective as the first pineapple grown cost about £10,000 in terms of construction, labour and cultivation (and horse manure I guess). The gardeners ate the first one! The second pineapple produced was presented to the Queen for her Golden Jubilee. In the second photo you can see tiny pineapples growing.

Here, in no particular order are my favourite photographs of the day. Mainly taken in the Northern Gardens. Starting with a lovely photo of a wall. I would love a walled garden. Especially a secret walled garden,

My final destination was the Woodland Walk and my final Heligan photo is of the Grey Lady - so ethereal she's almost invisible.

As I was so near I popped into the bustling harbour town of Megavissey for a cream tea. It's been at least a week! It was delicious and served with an apricot scone. According to the lovely waitress who served me at Tea On The Quay her mum's bored of making the same old same old so she's experimenting. It was delicious.

The view from my table at Tea on The Quay.

And home to The Lizard after another lovely day.

Love from The Lizard Girl