The site, which includes a house, was originally known as "Bankburn". Bankburn was built in the late 19c for the Laird of Bigswell, William Isbister and his wife Jane Bewes. The Bigswell properties were one of only three properties in Orkney that have a lineage that can be traced directly back to the 15c (J Storer Clouston). They are now divided as a result of crofting reform and forced sales but Bankburn was not formally designated a croft and the landlords were not forced to sell. The properties were clearly of more historical importance than monetary value and Bankburn now represents all that is left of the Bigswell estate that is not in private hands. The garden was created from a bare hillside by Edwin Harrold, between October 1948 and the 1990s. Edwin Harald lived in Bankburn, rent free, without the knowledge of either the owners or the Crofting Commission. This was clearly illegal but is not a very fashionable part of the story. During Edwin's time in Bankburn he planted and wired the property and it became known as Happy Valley.[1] Mr Harrold had to give up the garden, as he was too old to maintain it, and he died in 2005.[2] Amongst his aims, was to create a wooded area on Orkney, as trees are highly unusual on the archipelago.
In 2004 the local council, Orkney Islands Council, took ownership of the site from the owner, Professor William H Isbister. A group was formed in 2007 called "Friends of Happy Valley"; they are a group of volunteers who meet together not only to discuss the future of the gardens, but also to work on maintaining the garden.[3] The Council Special Projects Department assisted by maintaining some of the paths and steps, and in April 2008 volunteers planted 700 new trees to add to the existing woodland.
One of the waterfalls created by Edwin Harrold in Happy Valley
Orkney, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of the coast of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, the Mainland, has an area of 523 square kilometres (202 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. Orkney’s largest settlement, and also its administrative centre, is Kirkwall.
High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. High Park is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One-third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology. High Park was opened to the public in 1876 and is based on a bequest of land from John George Howard to the City of Toronto. It spans 161 hectares and is the second-largest municipal park in Toronto, after Centennial Park.
The Mainland, also known as Hrossey and Pomona, is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections.
Shapinsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. Balfour Castle, built in the Scottish Baronial style, is one of the island's most prominent features, a reminder of the Balfour family's domination of Shapinsay during the 18th and 19th centuries; the Balfours transformed life on the island by introducing new agricultural techniques. Other landmarks include a standing stone, an Iron Age broch, a souterrain and a salt-water shower.
The Northern Isles are a pair of archipelagos off the north coast of mainland Scotland, comprising Orkney and Shetland. They are part of Scotland, as are the Hebrides. The climate is cool and temperate and much influenced by the surrounding seas. There are a total of 36 inhabited islands. The landscapes of the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrast with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and on the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both island groups have a developing renewable energy industry. Both have a Pictish and Norse history. Both were part of the Kingdom of Norway until they were absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century. They remained part of it until the 1707 formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the 1801 formation of the United Kingdom. And they both played a significant naval role during the world wars of the 20th century.
The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston Common. It is a part of the Emerald Necklace system of parks, and is bounded by Charles Street and Boston Common to the east, Beacon Street and Beacon Hill to the north, Arlington Street and Back Bay to the west, and Boylston Street to the south. The Public Garden was the first public botanical garden in America.
Olana State Historic Site is a historic house museum and property in Greenport, New York, near the city of Hudson. The estate was home to Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900), one of the major figures in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. The centerpiece of Olana is an eclectic villa which overlooks parkland and a working farm designed by the artist. The residence has a wide view of the Hudson River Valley, the Catskill Mountains and the Taconic Range. Church and his wife Isabel (1836–1899) named their estate after a fortress-treasure house in ancient Greater Persia, which also overlooked a river valley.
Bailey Arboretum is a 42-acre (17 ha) arboretum located in Lattingtown, New York, a small village on the North Shore of Long Island. It opened to the public on Aug. 5, 1969 after being donated to Nassau County in 1968 by the heirs of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bailey. Through an agreement with the Village of Lattingtown, admission to the arboretum was limited to 200 people at any one time.
Hoyt Arboretum is a public park in Portland, Oregon and is part of the complex of parks collectively known as Washington Park. The 189-acre (76 ha) arboretum is located atop a ridge in the Tualatin Mountains two miles (3.2 km) west of downtown Portland. Hoyt has 12 miles of hiking trails, two miles of accessibility paved trails, and is open free to the public all year. About 350,000 visitors per year visit the arboretum.
Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden is in Didsbury, Manchester, England, between the River Mersey and Stenner Woods.
Eastwoodhill is the national arboretum of New Zealand. It covers 131 hectares (1.31 km2) and is located 35 km northwest of Gisborne, in the hill country of Ngatapa. It was founded in 1910 by William Douglas Cook. Cook's life work would become the creation of a giant collection of Northern Hemisphere temperate climate zone trees in New Zealand – a dream that would eventually cost him all his money – buying and importing thousands of trees from New Zealand and British nurseries.
The Orkney Wireless Museum in Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland, houses a collection of domestic and military wireless equipment. It developed from the private collection of the late Jim MacDonald from St Margaret's Hope and marks the importance of wireless communications in Orkney during World War II.
Prehistoric Orkney refers only to the prehistory of the Orkney archipelago of Scotland that begins with human occupation. Although some records referring to Orkney survive that were written during the Roman invasions of Scotland, “prehistory” in northern Scotland is defined as lasting until the start of Scotland's Early Historic Period.
Hubbard's Hills is an area of natural beauty directly to the west of Louth, Lincolnshire, England and is popular for family picnics, school field trips and dog walking. The park is dedicated to the memory of Annie Pahud.
Fanhams Hall is an 18th-century Queen Anne House-style country house in Wareside, Hertfordshire in the south east of England. It is a Grade II* listed building which is now operating as a hotel.
The Cedar Valley Arboretum and Botanic Gardens was founded in 1996 and is located directly East of Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa. The mission of the Arboretum is to enhance the quality of life for all individuals through horticulture. The vision of the Arboretum is to serve as a compelling public resource for the study of plants, a leader in environmental stewardship, a cultural center for the community, and a showcase of Iowa's rich heritage with the land. The Arboretum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, independent organization and supported by its volunteer base and community support.
The Jacksonville Arboretum & Botanical Gardens (JABG) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Jacksonville, Florida, similar to Tree Hill Nature Center, and organized for the purpose of developing a unique natural attraction on a city-owned, 126.82-acre (51.32 ha) site. The arboretum officially opened on November 15, 2008, and the Sierra Club of Northeast Florida stated, "Development of this park is truly a community project of a size and scope never before undertaken by a volunteer organization."
Lt.-Colonel James Johnston, J.P., was one of the earliest and principal Scottish merchants at Quebec following the fall of New France; of the firm Johnston & Purss. He was foreman of the first grand jury of the new British province of Quebec, justice of the peace, and colonel of artillery in the British militia.
Witchcraft in Orkney possibly has its roots in the settlement of Norsemen on the archipelago from the eighth century onwards. Until the early modern period magical powers were accepted as part of the general lifestyle, but witch-hunts began on the mainland of Scotland in about 1550, and the Scottish Witchcraft Act of 1563 made witchcraft or consultation with witches a crime punishable by death. One of the first Orcadians tried and executed for witchcraft was Allison Balfour, in 1594. Balfour, her elderly husband and two young children, were subjected to severe torture for two days to elicit a confession from her.
The Big Tree is a sycamore in Kirkwall, Orkney. It was named "Scotland's Tree of the Year" in the annual competition held by Woodland Trust Scotland, in 2017. The tree was nominated for the Scottish competition by Andrew Richards and Hazel Flett on behalf of the Kirkwall Community Council who also won a £1,000 grant from the Scottish Woodland Trust and Postcode Lottery. The prize money was used to stage a series of competitions to engage the public with the tree in the largely treeless islands.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
