Cornwall, St Austell The Lost Gardens of Heligan

The Lost Gardens of Heligan a garden for people (like me!) who don't like gardens. Wonderful location, serene and tranquil, best of all is the feeling of rediscovering something which was lost since the First World War. Forget the Eden Project - this is far more enjoyable!

St Austell The Lost Gardens of Heligan is an excellent and very enjoyable days visit. A major good point was the cafe's position near the entrance, as it is from here that one turns right or left to see everything. Left is one aspect of the vast range of plants etc and turn right and different aspects open up with an even more diverse planting and scenery. This should be on everybody's 'to do' list and very worth the effort of travelling to Cornwall to see it, which is more than can be said for the Eden project! And this from and exceptionally avid gardener.

We visted The Lost Gardens of Heligan in August of 2002. The Gardens surround Heligan House (now owned privately and not accessible to the public). After 150 years of cultivation, the gardens demise began following the Great War, when many of the staff from the gardens lost their lives. The gardens became totally overgrown and neglected but were 'rediscovered' in 1990 and have been restored today to their former glory.

There are a number of distinct areas of the gardens, each with their own character. The guide book contains details of an 'essential' tour which takes in most of the key areas and offers comprehensive disabled access.

We set off for the 'Jungle' area first which has only limited accessibility. This is a valley containing many exotic samples of plants and trees. The variety of species is spectacular, as is the setting.

We then joined the 'essential' tour which took in the Productive Gardens (an intensively cultivated walled vegetable garden), Pleasure Grounds, walled flower gardens, as well as a number of smaller 'specialist' places to 'discover'The gardens appeal on many different levels. For the keen gardener, the productive gardens contain examples of many traditional and now less common varieties of fruits and vegetables. For the less experienced gardeners, the variety of different areas, plantings and jungle area are still fascinating. Our children also enjoyed the woodland walk, jungle areas and the poultry orchard.

If you have to try and see everything, this will be a very long and tiring day. Check first, but often weekends are the quietest days to visit attractions in this part of the world because it is the tourist 'changeover'