The Garden in the Clouds: Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic

(Paperback)

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Winner of the National Trust Outdoor Book of the Year 2011
The story of one mans unlikely quest to create out of a mountainous Welsh landscape a garden fit for inclusion in the prestigious Yellow Book the Gardens of England and Wales Open for Charity guide in just one year.
The son of two passionate gardeners, Antony Woodward was born with chlorophyll running through his veins. Unfortunately, growing up with Latin plant names took its toll, and he was ingrained early on with a profound loathing of both gardens and gardening.

Buying Tair-ffynnon, a derelict smallholding 1,300 feet up in the Black Mountains of Wales, changed everything. Hooked by its beauty when not buried in cloud Woodward battles to meet the strict requirements of the famous Yellow Book in this unlikely terrain. He finds himself driven by apparently inexplicable compulsions: wood chopping, hauling a 20-tonne railway carriage up a mountain, even beekeeping. Soon, his voyage along the rocky path to his own patch of paradise takes on a more personal tenor as he unearths the deep roots linking gardening and his childhood in this warm, funny and unlikely memoir.

Beautifully written and effortlessly engaging, 'The Garden in the Clouds' is a compelling read for anyone who has ever gardened or ever dreamt of doing so.

Reviews

Woodwards tongue-in-cheek account of finding, making and growing his own little patch of heaven is right on the button, as is his nostalgic, romantic, down-to-earth attitude of make do, mend, maintain and modernise, making a life worth living and a garden worth showing right here at home in the mud The Times

Very few people are brave enough to live a realisable dream and then to write about it in such a way that readers feel deep laughter and admirationAnthony Woodward, once an award winning advertising copywriter and Country Life columnist, has done just thatan energetic tale of an innocent abroad Country Life

His progress is told with side-splitting brilliance that only a truly gifted writer can achievenot one dull pagehis lovely epilogue is up there with Proust as a shimmering example of classic remembrance of things past Daily Mail

I set out determined to dislike the book, and I completely failed to do so. There can be no higher praise than thatI read it in one sitting, at first from malice, then for enjoyment Byron Rogers, Spectator

HilariousupliftingThe Garden in the Clouds is much more than a horticultural tale. It is testimony to what can be achieved with a dash of imagination and a very British refusal to admit defeat Sara Wheeler, Mail on Sunday

Author Bio

Antony Woodward is the author of the bestselling "Propellerhead" and co-author of the 2007 Christmas book "The Wrong Kind of Snow". He has written columns for Country Life and Tatler, and before that won many awards as an advertising copywriter. For some reason all his books so far have had something to do with clouds.