Everything in the garden is NOT rosy! (Lost Gardens of Heligan)

Member Name: nikkisly

Product:	Lost Gardens of Heligan
Date:	19/11/00 (77 review reads)
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Having spent a whole day wandering around the Lost Gardens of Heligan, I'm afraid that I left with mixed feelings. The first feeling was relief, the second was that I personally would have much preferred it had they stayed lost.

Not that there weren't parts of the day which I enjoyed.I loved the 'homemade' ice-creams on sale at the garden's entrance, so much so that I forced myself to eat two of them.I found the walled vegetable garden with its neat, weed - free rows of every vegetable and soft fruit you can think of, a delight. I was fascinated by the pineapple houses and the glasshouses growing cucumbers and melons - not that we could actually see these because of condensation, but they said they were there and who am I to argue.There was also a lovely little summerhouse with far-reaching views. But the gardens themselves were a real let down.

Initially we walked through a wood which contained several 'living sculptures' - allegedly.(We only managed to find two of them and they were disappointing). We visited the old pond area with it's muddy, uneven and dangerous footpaths and admired the black, brackish water. We got well and truly bitten by the attendant insect life too. In need of refreshment, we chanced upon a tearoom which appeared like an oasis in a bleak desert. It was closed.

Next we took the river walk - muddy, with a steep uphill climb through some dank, dark woods to get back.And then we got lost!

I don't mean the sort of lost where you have just momentarily lost sight of a footpath, but the sort of lost that makes you wish you had brought a tent and emergency food rations.Try as we might we could not find our way out and kept following path after path, going round in ever decreasing circles. In fact, it was only the thought of the homemade icecream that gave us enough hope to keep trying.

We finally scrambled through some woods, across a road and found ourselves within si
ght of the main entrance again where, being a keen gardener,I decided that I would like to buy some plants. I changed my mind when I saw the prices. One particular plant that I took a fancy to cost £9.95 - I bought it from my local garden centre the following day for £3.50. A small tree, priced at £19.95 cost £7.95 at the same garden centre.To cap it all, the toilets that we visited on the way out were filthy.

I don't wish to be unfair to this project so I will say this. The work there is still ongoing - it could well improve in time. I liked the fact that I was able to take my dogs in with me - however, being a responsible dog owner, I carried a plastic bag 'just in case'. It was more than obvious that other dog owners hadn't followed this unwritten rule. Many of the trails and paths were extremely muddy and slippery and this was in summer when we had actually had very little rain for a couple of weeks. The toilets were appalling, the plant centre prices were extortionate and there was a serious lack of signposts throughout.

Suffice to say, I was disappointed.I have, however, promised to take some frinds there next year, a promise extracted only under great duress and with a bribe of as much ice-cream as I can eat. Perhaps we caught Heligan on a bad day. Hopefully things will improve as the work progresses. However, my abiding memory of the day remains the dozens of comlaining tourists we heard expressing their disappointment at a place which could be magical - but unfortunately isn't.

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