Feature

From the West End to the Wild West: the path to ‘Wheal Jenny’

On a plateau, nestling in the site and totally blank canvas, into the opulent garden that hills, hidden away 500 feet now confronted me; a legacy beyond measure. The Neaves’ above the River Tamar, stood planting near the house occupied approximately one acre, ‘Wheal Jenny’ - an unusual leaving a further five and a half acres of wild uncultivated wooden house surrounded by countryside; wooded and steeply sloping in parts, with a mature gardens, seemingly spring meandering through the foot of the valley. At the front, planted with a galaxy of the aforementioned river view faces north-west - the sun desirable trees, shrubs and setting full square in front of the house by midsummer. Below herbaceous plants. With the plateau, at the sides, are many acers, magnolias, oaks, similarities to JMW Turner’s birches, a huge Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’ (the wedding painting Crossing the Brook, it cake tree), cherries and mature eucalypts, as the garden John Bailey had a commanding view of the unfolds through short wooded walks towards a pergola, river, the old railway viaduct linking Devon and Cornwall and greenhouse and vegetable garden before ending, (in this the ancient quays of Calstock. direction at least) at another ridge – a 40 to 50-foot drop, like Plymothian by birth, I’d been living in a place that couldn’t be a giant ha-ha... the old railway cutting! more different – Soho, in London’s West End. As ‘The Soho Leaving the conservatory at the side, and crossing the Gardener’, I was designing and creating gardens from there; terrace, a gate leads into an arboretum, now augmented roof gardens, atriums and courtyards for film companies and ad and ameliorated with numerous stands of different bamboos agencies. However, from 2000, due to family responsibilities, between the trees. Turning right, up towards the top of the I found myself increasingly back in the West Country and had ground, a raised bank clothed with ancient oaks and carpeted decided to look for a country property. In ‘the smoke’, the with ferns, stretches as far as the eye can see. This top run, constraints of the ‘bijou rectangle’ had long instilled in me and much of the valley below, was almost impenetrable. the desire to garden on a greater scale, imagining an elysian Massive brambles erupted from the tops of trees - bracken and idyll where plants painted their own pictures within a natural nettles were everywhere; ash, beech, birch, hazel, holly and landscape. And, importantly, somewhere I could indulge my oak, jostling as rogue seedlings. To facilitate traversion of the passion for bamboos. So, eventually, after many years of slopes, pathways were needed, cut slalom fashion - across searching, in the autumn of 2008 I found myself gazing in terrain that in places would prove to be deep stratal slate, on disbelief at the very manifestation of my dream. very precipitous ground. The moniker ‘Wheal Jenny’, was coined after the Medieval/ Edwardian silver and lead mine nearby. The vendors, Tony and Pam Neave, had been gardening earnestly here since 1982, completely transforming what was once a market garden

Magnolia ‘Felix Drury’

Blue Borinda bamboo

Restio quadratus by Diane Fifield

When my contractor and I first surveyed the site together, hacking our way through the jungle at the very top, the most breathtaking view imaginable was revealed. Buzzards circled below, their mewing cries punctuating the silence. “Nice

Photo by Diane Fifield

place for a seat,” ventured my companion. “How about a big chestnut deck?” I countered. Pause. In unison: “Wow!”

Below the deck, walkways and linking pathways were fashioned with three large staircases built from railway sleepers linking the newly formed ‘tranches’ of land; simple oak topped benches positioned throughout. A most revealing advantage of the steep terrain is the ability to look at plants from different viewpoints and angles whilst travelling through the garden – above, parallel and below. At the bottom of the valley runs a spring risen from higher ground - gurgling down in cascades and waterfalls as it runs behind a fascinating tree covered ‘island’ - then downstream, entering a natural bowl-shaped amphitheatre. In spring, thousands of Narcissus princeps carpet the ground here. Contemplating this ‘Rivendell’ landscape with wonder, I realised that by rerouting the stream slightly, we could make a natural pool.

At the tail, another deck - the overflow from the pool forming an impressive waterfall underneath and behind, as the stream, now a torrent, sped its way through a culvert towards the Tamar below.

Upward again, under the vast canopy of a line of enormous beeches - a ‘kissing gate’ leads directly into the most amazing garden feature - a 40’ deep gorge - the old railway ... a ‘cutting garden’, dear Mr Beeching having decommissioned the line in 1968. Untouched for fifty years, its sheer sides embroidered with native ferns, and massive slabs of exposed slate, dripping with jewel-like droplets of water. The floor, a carpet of ferns, moss and ivy, in a woodland of native trees, self-seeded in the detritus of the years - their monstrous, moss covered, claw-like roots invading the surface of the snaking pathway. Originally, and unbelievably dug by hand by Dartmoor prisoners in the 1880s, here it was now: an emerald, verdant underworld - roamed by deer, badgers, foxes et al, with bats silently negotiating the gloaming. Twelve years on, after continuous planting and development, with occasional valued help from horticultural students and volunteers, Wheal Jenny has evolved into a very beautiful, naturalistic, wild landscape garden. A recent visitor amusingly described it as ‘The Eden Project, without the bubble wrap’. The old railway is planted with a luscious cornucopia of tree ferns, bamboos, palms and other exotics. The excavated foundations of an old cattle shed are now transformed into a firepit courtyard, replete with ‘Versailles tubs’ fashioned from old stillages filled with hydrangea ‘Ayesha’. Circular tables made from old cable drums are positioned throughout the walks, with comfortable seating to enable visitors to linger and enjoy the many different vistas. Throughout the garden, hundreds of rhododendrons, camellias, magnolias, hydrangeas and many other rare trees and shrubs luxuriate in the ethos. Over 550 bamboos - including the new blue caned Borinda species from Tibet, contribute evergreen visual grace and elegance; stirred by the merest kiss of a breeze, their gentle susurrus also enhancing the soundscape of the valley.

John Bailey

Wheal Jenny Garden, Tuckermarsh is open to garden societies and by appointment. New garden volunteers are always welcome. Please contact John Bailey on 01822 840860 or 07876 41338.

Lockdown has had its difficulties for all of us, but for Ben Stevens it has been a very eventful year, leading to a brandnew venture - ‘Enchanted Woods’ outdoor dining experience at Horrabridge.

As 2020 got underway, Ben had recently started working at The Green, a luxury wedding venue in Cornwall. With a strong background in hospitality catering and business management, he had been appointed to develop complementary services for the venue, and was just about to launch a new health and wellbeing package when the pandemic struck. Redundancy followed swiftly, and with only five months in his current employment he became one of the people who ‘fell through the cracks’ in the emergency job and income protection schemes, leaving him with no income. Having moved into Tavistock ten days before the first national lockdown, Ben found himself in a new town with no local family or friends and no work. He had never previously been out of work and couldn’t remember ever really spending time on his own; as his mental health started to suffer, he signed up for online therapy and so began an incredible soul-searching time of self-discovery. Ben says that out of the many communities he has lived in, the people of Tavistock have proved the most friendly and supportive. One day he posted on a local Facebook group page that he was new to the area and wondered if anybody was interested in talking, making friends or even going for socially distanced walks. Replies flooded in, his Facebook connections grew exponentially overnight, and the wealth of support made a huge difference. Soon after, Ben started sharing pictures of his cooking at home and this Facebook audience suggested he cook for them. While exploring ways he could create his own new job, he was offered an opportunity to take over the Lemon Grove Café in the evenings when it was normally closed. And so, in the summer of 2020, Ben’s Bystro came into being, graduating from take-away meals to a sit-down evening menu that was fully booked for 11 weeks. Ben is no stranger to knock-backs, hard work and thinking on his feet. He has worked his way up the hospitality career ladder, ever since he was attracted to its variety and

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unpredictability during school work experience at a Newquay hotel. After studying hotel management at Cornwall College, Ben spent over ten years working front-of-house, and managing several restaurants for other people, but always aspiring to run his own venue. In a bid to expand his experience, Ben chose to move into the kitchen, managing to get a position with Kevin Viner, recipient of the very first Michelin Star in Cornwall. Over the next few years Ben worked in several other hotel and restaurant kitchens around Cornwall often putting in 80 to 90 hours per week. Whilst working as an area manager with Chartwells, Ben gained an immense amount of business knowledge, helping the Cornwall school meals contract go from £1 million loss per year to £1 million profit. This enabled him to set up a successful consultancy specialising in marketing, branding and coaching for hospitality SMEs, and motivated him to launch three restaurants of his own. This led to an amazing first year, followed by an incredibly challenging second year where he was working an unsustainable 120 hours per week to keep the business afloat. In the end he chose to close the businesses. The experience took its toll both physically and mentally, but he slowly picked himself up and took up management positions at Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse Bar and Grill and then at The Theatre Royal Plymouth, before being sought out for the role at The Green.

Despite the challenges of the last year, Ben has seemingly flourished. As well as settling into his new town and launching a new pop-up restaurant, he has also fallen in love. Introduced through a mutual friend on Facebook, Leanne is a massage therapist studying for a master’s degree in psychology, and together they are launching a brand-new and exciting project, Enchanted Woods. When I went to meet Ben, we sat and talked in the small meadow which is now the site for Enchanted Woods, complete with a huge wood-fired oven, a bath-tub barbeque, a hardstanding for a small marquee, a composting toilet, and a firepit surrounded by massive logs to sit on. The idea is that with the ease of lockdowns people will probably want to eat outside in the fresh air, and the concept is already proving popular as three of the first five Sunday lunch feasts are already sold out. Longer term plans for the rustic venue include outdoor weddings, private events, teambuilding and coaching sessions, and even a mini-folk festival when rules allow, but for now you can bring your own wine and enjoy a relaxed Sunday feast in these idyllic surroundings.

Rosemary Best

Sunday lunch costs £20 per person; for more details and to reserve places go to www.enchanted-woods.co.uk

You can also try Ben’s street food outside Stannary Brewing Company in Tavistock on Saturdays.

My biggest Dartmoor challenge ever

Photo by Chris Bunney

Chris Bunney is planning to hike 400km across the whole Dartmoor Ordinance Survey map, visiting 170 tors and rocks during the 14-day expedition in aid of Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team (Tavistock), starting at Yelverton Rock on 2 August.

Although Chris lives in Plymouth, Tavistock has become almost a second home for his frequent walking expeditions. After 41 years working for a communications company with a fairly sedentary career behind a desk and commuting long distances, he took early retirement at 60; his new-found freedom opened up possibilities with walking trips on Dartmoor coming high up the list. As a licentiate member of Master Photographers Association, Chris excels in wedding photography, as well as landscapes - in fact, it was photography that first introduced him to moor walking, when he started volunteering to instruct young people in photography as a new skill for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE). Before long, he had been co-opted onto helping with expeditions, and ended up leading the silver award group. Safety was always a key element to ensure his DofE group knew how to operate in the changing moors environment and Chris spent an increasing amount of time exploring Dartmoor, challenging himself to walk the same three-day routes he expected his group to complete.

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Photo by Chris Bunney

Chris now takes up the story, explaining how he ended up taking on his biggest Dartmoor challenge ever! What’s the challenge?

It started as a 60-tors-at 60-in-60-hours challenge to celebrate retiring and hitting 60 – that had a certain ring to it. But then Covid put paid to that so I needed another option. Basically, it got out of hand - I told a few people and before I knew it, I had committed myself to a very long walk! It got so difficult to choose, I decided why not just include everything on the Ordinance Survey map - yep, every tor and a few well-known rock stacks.

What inspired me to take the challenge?

Well, a sort of paying it forward. I intend to spend a lot of time on Dartmoor and it’s possible I, like many others, may need help one day. So, when I saw a Facebook post asking for volunteers to join the DS&RT Tavistock team to support fundraising, it was a perfect match. Then the small issue of a Covid pandemic crushed plans for fundraising events and I decided to use the time to plan and train for a charity challenge to help raise funds. Why?

To raise £20,000 to help DS&RT Tavistock achieve £50,000 to replace its failing operations vehicle. So, a target and a hike on a scale I have never achieved before! DS&RT probably needs little introduction - a team of highly skilled and very professional volunteers who train every week and respond at the drop of a hat to provide emergency help when contacted by the police. DS&RT is critical in locating, treating and extracting casualties from Dartmoor, as well as supporting urban searches for lost and vulnerable people. It also relies totally on donations. What’s the plan?

Training – I need lots of that so I started a challenge within a challenge: step-ups with a 65-pound backpack, one hour a night, five nights a week – it’s mentally tough as well as physically. Being in a garage doesn’t help much either! Staying within a local area during lockdown, I walked the Devon lanes, averaging 15km a day; I couldn’t wait to get back on the open moor and build up to walking with a 65-pound backpack. Hopefully I’ll be fit enough by the time I start! I also need to complete some ‘test’ walks, and I’ve never been wild camping so that’ll be an experience - plus route planning, de-risking, kit preparation, as well as publicity, giving talks and maybe writing an e-book. The reality of the challenge is starting to hit home! figure: please scan the QR code and make a donation, or sponsor me (if you already have then a huge thank you), and share my challenge with friends and on social media. It’s a tough ask in the current circumstances, however as we come out of lockdown Dartmoor is set to see a huge influx of visitors and locals, and any of them may need DS&RT. Can you be someone who has helped keep the search teams operational? I’m really excited and maybe a little scared about the challenge, but proud to be part of a team that could be the difference between life and death for someone.

Thank you, Chris

Donations: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ mybiggestdartmoorchallengeever Blog: www.bunneyphotography.co.uk/ blog Facebook: www.facebook.com/chris. bunney.750 Or scan the QR code below