Charlestown

After taking the train from Suffolk back to London, it was a quick ride on the Tube to Paddington Station, then a long train ride to Cornwall for my next horticultural adventure. While working at the Eden Project, I stayed in a cozy little apartment in the port village of Charlestown. The surrounding area of St. Austell was once a major exporter of china clay, and the rapacious mining practice over the years have left large ziggurats of clay dotting the skyline.

During my stay, I was fortunate enough to live on the same street made famous in Tim Burton’s recent rendition of Alice in Wonderland. My street can be seen at the very end of the movie when Alice’s ship sets sail, and if you look closely, you can still see the China clay shoot protruding from the dock. Apparently, not all is lost to CGI. Charlestown can also be seen in past movies such as The Three Musketeers, and the famous “Heart of the Ocean” necklace from the film Titanic resides in its National Shipwreck Museum.