So you’ve discovered, reclaimed and restored the lost gardens of Heligan, what do you do for an encore, what is the next great quest? How about building the worlds largest green houses in a china clay quarry, in the heart of Cornwall? That is what Tim Smit and friends did next. The Eden Project, this is what they started with.
And how it looks today
I’ve visited before, way back in 2009, Mr Uphilldowndale had not, I was very keen to show it to him, it’s grown a lot.
As with nature the Eden Project is constantly morphing and changing, and as with Heligan it has a delightful dash of creativity, with added playfulness.
Part of the vision for the Eden Project was that the domes should remain hidden in the depths of the quarry, revealing themselves as you approach. As we approached, the main entrance, revealed to us on the information boards, photos of Mr Uphilldowndale’s late aunt and uncle, they are in the foreground, the photo captures them perfectly, with their bright enquiring minds and love of lively conversation. Sadly, they are no longer with us, they died in 2009 and 2011, they lived not to far away in South Devon and were early visitors to Eden, the public were encouraged to visit, before it was even finished, to engage with the dream and watch the project grow.
It is fascinating to see how the lunar landscape of the quarry has been brought back to life since 2000, it was a millennium project. Especially how they solved the engineering challenges, I think we’ll have to bring Joe along next time we visit.
Uphilldowndale 
May 4, 2019 at 5:41 pm
I went there 2 years ago and love it. It is an incredible idea.
May 4, 2019 at 11:51 pm
Our neighbour was there recently and enjoyed her visit thoroughly.
May 5, 2019 at 8:57 am
It’s certainly a fascinating place to visit. I’ve been several times, once before it was open, but not in recent years. xx
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