- Title: Heligan
- Date: 18th April 1997
- Summary: Programme 6 THE LOST VALLEY AND THE FUTURE Even with an estate the size of Heligan it seems almost inconceivable that you could 'lose' a 22 acre garden,yet this is exactly what happened in The Lost Valley until it was re-discovered 'almost by accident'. What is used to look like,what it was used for,and how it should look again are the preoccupations of this programme. For project manager John Nelson it has meant a combination of old and new technologies: heavy shire horses to remove some of the self-set trees, allowing the fine British oaks and chestnuts to be seen,for the first time in this valley,in their glorious maturity; equally vital: serious earth-moving equipment to build new dams and lakes,to create the balance and a sense of mystery,the every-intriguing 'what's around the next bend?' Converting the wood to charcoal,in large old-fashioned braziers,set up on the forest floor,has meant hundreds of tons of timber can be removed at a fraction of their original weight. The mere sight of a chain-saw causes some people to wring their hands but in this,the final programme of the series,Tim Smit explains how if they had simply 'let things be' the whole garden would in time have atrophied and the treasures of the Tremayne family,so carefully planned and planted all those years ago,would have been lost forever. He and partner John Willis also tell of their plans for the future.
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Entertainment
- Producer:Unspecified
- Programme Episode:Episode 6
- Transmission Date:18/04/1997
- Rights:On Request
- Decade: 1990s