The man of the Forest

This photo was taken in 2006 at The Lost Gardens of Heligan, in Cornwall, England.

Heligan, was the seat of the Tremayne family for more than 400 years, and the site of beautiful gardens. However at the end of the nineteenth century they were neglected and became severely overgrown with brambles and ivy. The trees grew tangled and unkept and it resembled an impenetrable jungle.

It remained abandoned from 1919 when many of the gardeners went off to the First World War until 1990 when the derelict gardens were discovered by Tim Smit and John Willis (descendant of the Tremaynes). The restoration of the gardens has been an ongoing project involving many many volunteers.

Tomorrow - his slumbering partner in the same forest. They are known as the mud man and mud maid.