BUILDING BRIDGES
Schoolgirl helps return Oriental bridge to iconic garden, reports Ian Hodgson
Fundraising by a 10-year-old girl has helped pay for the replacement of an iconic Chinese bridge and fence in a National Trust (NT) garden. On hearing about the removal of the famous but dilapidated structure at Staffordshire’s Biddulph Grange Garden from her volunteer grandmother, Mia Hearson set out on a personal sponsorship challenge. She raised almost £1,400 by running 52 miles – the equivalent of two marathons.
The ornate red, green and yellow footbridge, first built in the 19th century and replaced in the late 1980s, is a key feature of the China garden, one of a series of garden ‘rooms’ that take visitors on a global journey around the Grade I listed venue. Modelled on the famous ‘willow pattern’ ceramic design, the bridge had deteriorated to such a state by the autumn of 2018 the NT decided a replica should be made for safety reasons.
“I remember going on this bridge since I was little,” said Mia. “It’s something now that when I look at it, I can think, ‘I’ve helped make this possible’.”
Proud grandmother Elaine added: “Mia did it completely off her own back, it was all her idea, she just went out and ran in all kinds of weathers.”
Thanks to additional funds that came from other fundraisers and donors, an NT Heritage Craft Skills team at Clumber Park, Nottingham, hand-crafted hundreds of pieces of timber from original designs. After three months of work, 50 sections of the new bridge and its zig-zag fence were manhandled into the garden down narrow, winding paths along the valley-side garden via a tunnel cut through a vast stonework feature known as the ‘Great Wall’.
Biddulph Grange Garden was created from 1840 by wealthy industrialist and passionate gardener James Bateman, helped by botanist wife Maria and artist Edward William Cooke. At the garden, visitors are taken on a journey around the world taking in Italy, the pyramids of Egypt, a Victorian vision of China and a recreation of a Himalayan Glen.
■ Visit www.nationaltrust. org.uk/visit/shropshirestaffordshire/biddulphgrange-garden.