We have just now come to the end of a week of one of the most significant events in the history of the garden, certainly in the past decade.

 

Like many others across Scotland we were in direct line of the winds from Storm Eowyn and particularly vulnerable as we sit like an exposed island at a height of 300 metres above sea level, surrounded by bare open moorland.

It shows the reason why so many trees had to be planted here in the first instance and what gives this place its special character.

 

 

We have lost 20 mature specimens, many of them dating back to being part of the original planting, so significant not only for their scale but also for their setting and history.

 

The important thing to note is that the loss of these trees, while devastating enough in its own terms, has the added complication of being fully part of the artwork which is Little Sparta. Many pieces or the places where they are positioned have been lifted up and wrenched out of shape.

 

 

 

There is a long list of necessary repairs and renewals alongside the replanting – replacing the smashed greenhouse, rebuilding the stone aqueduct where it has been jolted out of place, lifting and relaying pathways, renewing fences, drystone walls, cobbled areas, brick plinths and columns, as well as smaller scale artwork repairs.

 

We have just got power back after the main electric cable supply to the house was also brought down.

 

Work has begun and will continue to try and bring back everything to a degree where we can reopen the garden to visitors this year as usual and proceed with what were our intended celebrations for Finlay’s centenary. Please support our Storm Eowyn Damage Appeal to help us achieve our goals.