Photo Friday: Living statues in Cornwall
January 2, 2009 by Caitlin
Filed under Places & Inspiration
Cornwall, UK; June 2008
The two living statues above are from the Lost Gardens of Heligan near St Austell in Cornwall. In a real-life version of Sleeping Beauty, these gardens fell into disuse during the First World War. They became entirely overgrown and forgotten until someone discovered a tiny room buried under masonry in the early 1990s and the restoration began. The gardens are vast – there are walled flower gardens and kitchen vegetable gardens, a New Zealand forest filled with tree ferns, flower-filled meadows and even a jungle in a gully where the micro-climate is genuinely sub-tropical. I wrote more about the gardens and the nearby Eden Project in a post on Cornwall for EcoSalon.
I didn’t even notice these statues the first time I walked past, and only found them because I’d seen them in the brochure and specifically went looking. It was interesting watching children with the statues – most of the time, they didn’t see a thing until their parents pointed it out and the very small ones remained entirely oblivious.
The Thomas the Tank Engine statue below is a different story of course – it too is covered in vines, but it’s designed to appeal to kids and it’s pretty unmissable contrasted against the grey wall of the tourist information office in St Ives. This photo is from the same holiday to Cornwall in June this year, but St Ives is the other side of the peninsula to St Austell. I took the photo mainly to show my little half-brother Huw, who is almost three years old and a big Thomas fan.
I didn’t see it at first either! What fun when it finally appeared to me. My 4 year old had trouble finding it but eventually with some help. Thanks for the fun this morning!
: )
I’m glad you had fun with it! It’s even harder to see it in real life, with all the greenery everywhere to camouflage it and only vague directions about which path it’s on. If I hadn’t been tipped off by a gathering crowd of people, I might never have found it! – Caitlin.
My son would love the Thomas one. Will show him pic!
Those living stature make me smile, much greener than the ones you see hanging around at tourist sites. I must try and get to the Eden Project soon.
Take a side trip to Heligan when you do – I really enjoyed this place! – Caitlin.
Looks like an intriguing place. I love the one statue that appears to be coming up out of the ground…kind of like a demented Loch Ness monster or something!
I remember being out at Greenfield Village here near Detroit on a day that Thomas happened to be visiting. With all of the kids clustered around waiting to take a ride on Thomas, we had the rest of the historic village mostly to ourselves! Now,I should try finding those pix in my woefully unorganized photo files!
that second statue is very cool.