Kay Easton wrote in
:

Even if you argue Eden and Heligan just live off tourists, Rosemoor is
in Torrington, for heavens sake, surrounded by acres of mud and sheep!

Eden is in Cornwall, Rosemoor in Devon. *Everyone* want to go to Devon
and Cornwall! South Wales conjures up coal mines.

I'm afraid that is a 'vurriners' perception. I'll give you Eden, but
tourists go almost entirely to the coasts and the moors in Devon.

There are what are known in my family as 'MMBD' (Miles and Miles of
Bloody Devon') between the tourist areas. MMBD is occupied almost
entirely by thinly-spaced farmers, people 'escaping the rat run' and
mud. But you say 'Devon' and no-one thinks of Winkleigh or
Monkokehampton.

I regularly make the long, slow drive from Tavistock to Barnstaple.
Even in the height of the tourist season I rarely see more than a few
other cars on the great stretches from Okehampton to the outskirts of
Barnstaple, and a caravan is a rarity (hurray!).

Then you hit the North Devon Link road, and ah yes, *that's* where they
all are!

Eden has had an enormous effect on its surroundings, (which include
plenty of mines & spoilheaps). House prices, tourist industry,
infrastructure, perception of the area have all been affected. When I
moved to Cornwall, we bought a house here, not in Devon, because 'no-one
wants to live in Cornwall' so it was dead cheap. Not any more. The
local paper calls it the 'Eden Effect'.

I don't see why a garden in Wales should be doomed. Wales is a great
place, easier to get to than Cornwall, and with a similar mining
heritage.

I've lived in South Wales. It has an awesomely beautiful coastline that
frankly is as good as anything the Southwest can show, moorland,
mountains, beaches, castles, a really fascinating heritage, and it
doesn't rain any more than in Devon, (only 22 miles away).

It's just not sold very well, and it tends to underrate itself and be
underrated by others. I think that is utterly tragic.

Victoria