Eden Project, Cornwall

...I would write about the Eden project as it is a place I have wanted to visit for a long time and at last on this break I got the opportunity.

A LITTLE HISTORY.

The Eden project is a charity owned by the Eden trust. The site was purchased in 1998 and was originally called Bodelva.
At the time of purchase the site had just ended its life as a china clay pit.

It was not what you would call an ideal ...
...months and then gave the Eden project a loan only to be repaid if the project was successful.

The National lottery gave 37 million pounds in funding; this is too be followed up by another 13 million for help with the new Dry Temperate biome. (A new biome still under construction).

WHAT IS IT?

The Eden project is not a theme park. It is more an educational centre and a living demonstration of what we are ... more

Well it’s nice to be back and get writing again.
I thought I would write about the Eden project as it is a place I have wanted to visit for a long time and at last on this break I got the opportunity.

A LITTLE HISTORY.

The Eden project is a charity owned by the Eden trust. The site was purchased in 1998 and was originally called Bodelva.
At the time of purchase the site had just ended its life as a china clay pit.

It was not what you would call an ideal site for a project of this type at 60 metres deep and the size of 35 football pitches. There was no level ground, and no soil, very little vegetation and enough water to start a sea of its own. With a wonderful marvel of engineering all the water that now falls on the site is used for irrigation, spraying for the humid tropics zone and for flushing the toilets. All this is subterranean and can take anything the weather can throw at it.

The soil used on the site was created from recycled waste and it took 85,000 tons to ready the site for cultivation.

The famous McAlpine brothers Sir Robert and Alfred worked free with no payment or contract for 18 months and then gave the Eden project a loan only to be repaid if the project was successful.

The National lottery gave 37 million pounds in funding; this is too be followed up by another 13 million for help with the new Dry Temperate biome. (A new biome still under construction).

WHAT IS IT?

The Eden project is not a theme park. It is more an educational centre and a living demonstration of what we are capable of achieving if we set our minds to it. It is a reminder of the wonderful things this planet possesses, and a vision perhaps of our future.
There are three main areas to visit.

INSIDE THE EDEN PROJECT.

The first is the Roofless biome. This is a 30 acre area shaped like a crescent and is outdoors. This contains many plants that have shaped the world and could help shape the future. This was the first place we visited and although it was a little patchy in some places you have to remember that different plants flower and grow at different times.
Visiting the project at different times of year would give you differing colours and stages of growth.

The second is the warm temperate biome. This is inside and is the smaller of the two indoor biomes. This houses plants from the Mediterranean, South Africa, and California, as well as flower displays from Europe. Whilst we were inside they had the most beautiful Tulip displays. Again the time of year of your visit would affect what plants are flowering and stage of growth. There were also vines but they were very small, and no doubt in a few months will be growing avidly.
This biome contains some beautiful sculptures and also some displays to enhance the setting and show the many uses of these plants.

The third is the humid tropics biome and it was my favourite by far. It is now known as the largest greenhouse in the world. This houses over 1000 different species of plants from across the globe, including Malaysia, South America, various tropical islands, and West Africa. The temperature varies between 10c and 35c and is very warm and humid as you would expect. (See photo 5). There are lizards, frogs and insects in this biome, but none are hazardous to humans and they were all bred in captivity.

OUR VISIT.

The park opens at 9am but these times are subject to change. The indoor biomes open at 10am. We arrived at about 9.40am and easily found a car parking space guided by a car park attendant. All the car parks are attended and all are marked by fruits, such as (Lime one, Lime two, Lemon one, etc. We were in a large camper van and we had no problem at all being guided into a car park full of camper vans. All the car parks have park and ride buses, this is especially useful if it is hot or your car park is one of the more distant ones.

We made our way to the entrance which is in the visitor centre at the top of the site.
There were four ticket sales points and we queued for less than a couple of minutes. You can buy fast track tickets from outside vendors around Cornwall and Devon.
The prices at time of writing are £12.00 per adult. Senior citizens £9.00. Students £6.00. Children £5.00. Family ticket £30.00 for two adults and up to 3 children. Under fives go free. Guide books are £4.00.

To your left on entry is a restaurant which gave a very varied menu with different dishes from around the world, although a little pricey. To your right is the shop which I will mention later.

Emerging from the visitor centre is a viewpoint which gives you visual access to the whole site. I took some great photos here. (See photo 6). You then have two choices. One is to walk down to the main site on a zigzag pathway, or to take the land bus. This is a train led by a Tractor. There were two of these in action on the day of our visit. These take an alternative zigzag path down to the main centre but both routes give excellent visual access.

We took the land bus and at this point I must say I was most impressed with the facilities for the disabled. The rear most carriage was for wheelchairs, with there own ramp and safety harnesses for the journey to the main site. In fact the whole site and both indoor biomes are very wheelchair friendly. There are practically no steps at all.

The land train drops you by the large pond. Here you can find the education centre which has computers, and information on fair trade products, chocolate sales and how it is made. There are also other demonstrations at different times. For you chocolate lovers there is also free sampling.

Here you can also find two takeaway bars, and the Eden live dome tent. On our visit there were some Samba drummers. Various events occur during different times of year.
To the right of this is another venue for live events but this one is outside.

Directly in front of us was a building called the Link. This part links the two indoor biomes together and inside you can find a Café, restaurant, toilets, meeting point, and outside is another takeaway. This building has a grass roof. This building was very busy and a little congested with people switching from biome to biome as well as the toilets and eating areas.

We turned right and entered the warm temperate biome and it was very impressive. It was easy to move around and it was definitely one of the quieter areas. There were some lovely displays in here and some of the sculptures are very aesthetically pleasing. There is only one set of steps but this does not hinder the disabled as all the exhibits are accessible. The plants are clearly marked and the tags tell you what they are, where they grow, and what they are used for.

Crossing over to the humid tropics biome involves walking through the Link again. The first thing that hits you in here is the heat and the humidity. There are small sprays letting off water every few yards. Again the displays and sculptures are impressive and this biome is three times the size of the temperate biome. It also involves quite a climb to the top, and the further up you go the hotter it gets. The climb only involves ramps and no steps so once again it is wheelchair friendly. There is a waterfall at the top that goes down to the bottom of the biome and if you’re lucky you may see a lizard or two. You will be sweating when you emerge from here so be warned.

Leaving this building we explored the rest of the park. I was a little disappointed at the large bare patches of ground that contained no plants, but then I remembered it was April, and it is only just the beginning of the gardening season. I would love to see this place in the summer. Remember this if you visit as the time of year could be important for the outside displays.

We then made our way back to the visitor centre and the queue for the land train was longer. We waited for ten minutes. I could see this as a possible problem during busy times.
In the visitor centre is a shop selling the usual trinkets and souvenirs, and as you would expect it was on the expensive side.

Next to this and by the exit is a plant centre and this I really enjoyed. It sells very unusual plants although they are expensive. There is no way you could buy these plants in your local garden centre. I bought a Himalayan Banana plant, An Olive tree, and a Citrus tree. They were all £4.99 each but you get a free care sheet with every one and a free booklet. I thought this was excellent.

CONCLUSION.

I really enjoyed the whole experience. I learned some new things and I was amazed at the miniature rainforest they have built in the humid biome.
There were plenty of toilets all around the site, and the food and drink facilities were ample but a little pricey, 80p for a can of coke, although all profits from the whole centre go to the Eden project, so it’s not so bad when I know its going to a good cause.

The sculptures and displays enhanced the whole experience and the tagging of the plants was excellent. There is a lot of potential reading to be done so don’t forget your glasses.
Disabled facilities were second to none and amongst the best I have ever seen designed.
There was plenty of park staff all very helpful and easily available.

It is not a place I would take very young children. Personally I wouldn’t take under fives.

I think there could be a problem with how busy the park gets in peak times. The brochure actually says to get there early or after lunch. They have shut the park in the past for safety reasons suddenly and without notice, so don’t get there at 11 or 12 in the morning you may be disappointed. The park stress that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are their busiest days, bear this in mind. I would allow about four hours for your visit.

All in all an experience I would recommend. In this review I haven’t described plants and displays as I felt you should explore these yourselves. Anyway I would be here all day there are so many. Hope you enjoyed this review.

Regards…..Tony.

 

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