Pat Coulter finds an enchanting secret garden in Cornwall
Pat Coulter discovers an enchanting secret garden on Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula.
TWO great pleasures in life are immersing oneself in an absorbing book and embracing nature in a beautiful garden. Luckily for us, on this particular outing to Cornwall we will be indulging in both.
Our trip is inspired by a new film adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s much-loved book “The Secret Garden” starring two of our best-loved character actors – Colin Firth and Julie Walters.
To many, the tale of Mary Lennox, a petulant, headstrong girl brought up in India, is a familiar one.
The untimely death of her parents sees Mary uprooted from her childhood home to live on a bleak Yorkshire estate belonging to her strange, rather aloof uncle, Lord Archibald Craven (played by Colin Firth).
Her daily life is ruled by the strict housekeeper, Mrs Medlock (played by Julie Walters).
From her dire beginnings, the story sees Mary blossom when she discovers a secret garden, which she nurtures and cherishes, sharing her joy with new-found friends Dickon and Colin along the way.
The magnificent Trebah Garden, tucked away on Cornwall’s Helford River, was chosen as a prime filming location.
Just like Mary in the novel, we can enter a magical garden full of the wonders of nature.
It is also an opportunity to delve into the fascinating life story of the book’s English-born author, and to discover why she was inspired to write one of the world’s most treasured children’s classics.
Our day begins in Helford on the Lizard Peninsula.
Helford is a darling hamlet full of stone cottages tumbling down towards the river, a pastyladen village shop and a thatched pub, the
Shipwright Arms, with river views.
Long ago, Helford village was a busy port with trading ships laden with rum, tobacco and lace from the Continent, with the duty collected at the Old Custom House.
Nowadays, it is a more tranquil – yet still vibrant – scene, with gently plying pleasure craft.
Just upriver lies the famous Frenchman’s Creek, but that is a different story altogether!
Waiting for the passenger ferry boat to cross the river from Helford Passage, there’s time to reflect on the rather grander transatlantic lifestyle led by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Despite her frequent journeying, she always returned to her homeland just as surely as the tide spilling into the Helford River lapping at my feet.
Frances was born in 1849 into an affluent family in Manchester.
Her father died when she was only three, leaving her mother to run the family’s successful ironmongery business in Deansgate.
When Frances was in her teens, her mother sold the business and the adventurous, enterprising pair emigrated for a new life in America.
Frances, who had been an eager storyteller amongst her school friends, devoted herself to writing to supplement her income.
By the age of twentythree she had made enough money, having published her stories in prestigious American magazines, to travel back to England.
She later returned to the States, where she married and had two sons.
Whilst living in Washington DC, her first successful novel was published – “Little Lord Fauntleroy”.
Lured back to her homeland once again, the royalties from the book enabled Frances to buy a house in Kent.
Here comes the ferry, so let us continue with her life story once we have reached sub-tropical Trebah Garden.
Continuing our ecofriendly journey, Poppy and I strike out on Shanks’s pony along the South West Coast Path, admiring the elevated views of the river estuary and glistening sea beyond.
Poppy scampers along cheerful, yellow-gorse-clad paths, embellished with foxgloves and lingering primroses.
The waterside hamlet of Durgan, owned by the National Trust, comes into view.
Beyond that, hidden away, lies Glendurgan Garden, famous for its magnificent rhododendrons and magnolias, but we will save that pleasure for another day.
We have arrived at its close neighbour, Trebah Garden. Poppy loves coming here for her usual dog biscuit welcome.
Trebah is justly proud to have hosted filming of the latest adaptation of “The Secret Garden” back in July 2018.
Filming took place all over the garden and was the only location in Devon and Cornwall chosen for this movie. Four separate scenes were filmed here.
Keep an eye out for garden scenes amongst magnificent giant-leaved gunnera, around atmospheric ponds and in a tree fern dell when you watch the film. That’s Trebah!
A logistical masterpiece, on filming days there were around 130 technicians and crew members in the garden, with a fleet of 10 articulated trucks making up the entourage.
As it’s the same production company as the Harry Potter films, there can be no question they know their business – “The Secret Garden” promises to be a magical movie.
I love the dramatic entrance to the garden.
Turning the corner, the elevated top of the garden vista reveals itself in breathtaking beauty.
From the lush lawn in front of grand Trebah House, the view reveals itself down through the valley of lush planting, interspersed with vibrant splashes of colour that entice all-comers to explore the flora of its jungle-like plants which await.
Beyond lies the Helford Estuary, a wash of cerulean blue in the distance.
The winding path leads us past an elegant pool with a tumbling cascade, which beckons us down into the enveloping flora.
If ever there was a secret garden, this is it.
Soon we are immersed in a sub-tropical, seemingly distant land. I half expect to see a toucan or bird of paradise.
Instead, we are greeted by an inquisitive and friendly robin, confirming we are still in dear old Blighty.
The bird reminds me of how, in the book, Mary is lured by a robin to the secret garden at Misselthwaite Manor.
In real life, that is
exactly what happened to Frances Hodgson Burnett in her own garden, which gave her the idea.
From the mid-1890s the author settled in England at Great Maytham Hall in Kent. The grand manor house boasted a large garden.
It was there that Frances could indulge her passion for flowers, and where she unearthed her very own secret walled garden.
Aided by a robin, Frances discovered the door to the hidden garden shrouded in a tangle of ivy.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Dating back to 1721, the walled garden was overgrown and completely neglected.
Undeterred, Frances enthusiastically set about restoring the garden, which she planted with hundreds of roses.
She would set up a table and chair in the gazebo, and there, wearing her customary white dress and sunhat, would write her books, embraced by the soothing tranquillity of her scented garden.
Back at Trebah, I feel as though I have taken a magic shrinking potion as I walk beneath a forest of giant-leaved gunnera, commonly known as giant rhubarb.
The leaves act like enormous parasols, shielding us from the sun’s rays.
Our incredible shrinking adventure continues amongst towering, neckcraning timber bamboos, 30 feet high and more.
The canes, or culms, are as thick as a strongman’s biceps and a hundred times tougher.
No wonder they are traditionally used as scaffolding poles in Asia.
We venture out beyond dappled shade to Trebah’s Hydrangea Valley.
A stunning display of mop-head flowers in china blue and soft white are reflected in Mallard Pond.
There is a bridge akin to those featured in Monet’s iconic paintings, so beautiful that had Monet cast his eyes on these blooms he would surely have been inspired to recreate their beauty on canvas.
The hydrangeas at Trebah were planted in the 1950s and the cut blooms were sent to Covent Garden flower market to raise income for the garden.
The wonderful garden which can enjoyed at Trebah today is the cumulative result of almost 200 years of horticultural endeavour.
Charles Fox, a wealthy Quaker, bought the house, garden and Polgwidden Cove, at the foot of the valley, for £4,375 in 1838. He pioneered Trebah as a 26-acre pleasure garden.
The Fox family ran a successful shipping business, which came in handy for transporting exotic, never-before-seen plant species from across the globe to stock the sheltered valley garden with its nurturing microclimate.
During the 1960s, Trebah became the home of racing driver and designer of Healey cars Donald Healey.
In 1990, ownership of the house, garden and cottages passed to Trebah Garden Trust, an independent registered charity whose key objective is to ensure that this remarkable garden will be preserved and maintained for the pleasure of future generations.
But just when the garden has seemingly revealed all its secrets, there’s another surprise ready to unfurl.
Trebah has its own private cove with an enticing beach – perfect for paddling.
There’s even an ice-cream hut selling super-creamy Cornish clotted ice-cream.
No wonder Poppy’s perked up!
Just like my ice-cream cornet, Trebah’s secret garden is just too good not to share! ■