A Garden to Protect Whales
Through the Scotland’s Garden Scheme, the Williams family will open their beautiful garden to the public and encourage donations to the Trust.
You are invited to explore the garden and enjoy the space, details for the opening are found below.
Saturday and Sunday 28 and 29 June, 1pm - 5pm
The Geans, Gosford Road, Longniddry, East Lothian, EH32 0LF
Entrance is £6, children free. Drinks and homemade cakes for sale in the cabin
The Geans garden has taken Nicky and Stewart Williams nearly 15 years to get it in it’s current shape. The house and garden are 100 years old this year, sitting on 3/4 of an acre, and had originally been planted with oaks, limes, maples, horse chestnuts which are all mature now.
“The garden was also planted with what must have been a job lot of about 50 leylandii conifers which were each taller than the house so we have cut them all down, which has basically given me a blank canvas. I have no specific plan and have learned on the job, having previously only had new build homes, but I definitely like structured wildness - think topiary in a planter in a wildflower bed. ”
Nicky’s favourite part of the garden is the wide border that had previously been nothing but huge leylandii conifers. After felling them, she put in a snaking path from the chippings of those trees; bought loads of compost and began replanting and collecting driftwood from the beach as focal points. It is now a haven of medium sized trees, foxgloves, elderflower and plum trees. It has been transformed into a massive nature trail with badgers, foxes, hedgehogs, squirrels and birds all triggering the wildlife camera they put it - very exciting to see what passes through the garden each day!
A real focal point of the garden is the beautiful whale sculpture. Below, Nicky details the story behind this eye-catching work of art.
“We went on the most amazing whale watching trip in 2023 from San Diego down the Baja California coastline to the Sea of Cortes. We saw so many humpbacks breaching right next to us, males chasing females, San Ignacio Bay with the gray whales that come BY CHOICE to your tiny boat to be scratched and to look you in the eye. It was the most amazing experience we have ever had.
Afterwards, we had a few days in Cabo San Jose which is a very arty town, and we came across the whale sculpture in one of the galleries. My husband was transfixed by it, I have never seen him react like that; he couldn’t stop touching it and saying we could get it for the garden. I thought he was joking because it is about 4ft high and wide and made of metal! The sculptor, Julio Cesar Celoso, was actually in the gallery at the time so we managed to chat to him and eventually we left with a price and the gallery owner was going to investigate shipping costs.
The next day we returned to say we couldn’t possibly go ahead but they offered various discounts and the shipping wasn’t quite as bad as we had expected. Plus, I had looked over the years for some big artwork to sit in the middle of the lawn, so I knew exactly where it would go. My husband had just received his last bonus that week from work before retiring so we decided to just go for it: it was using money we hadn’t expected; it wasn’t as if it was coming out of our savings. But we did agree that we weren’t going to tell anyone until, and if, it arrived in case we’d been scammed!
Three weeks later and the gallery owner contacted us asking what we thought of it, but we hadn’t received anything. A very anxious week later it was tracked down to customs in England, it had been there over a week… addressed to Nicky Williams, Scotland! No address, no telephone number! Anyway a week later we received an immense box and it was pristine inside. We were so relieved and came clean to the family only at that point and are still laughing about it all now a couple of years later. “
“We are incredibly grateful to the Williams family for opening up their garden in support of HWDT. Hopefully the weather behaves and it’s a lovely weekend for welcoming people into their beautiful garden.”
Nicky came across HWDT 10 years ago when trying to find her daughter marine biology related work experience. She was so excited to show Bella the Teen Team Expeditions; Bella subsequently ended up joining us aboard Silurian twice and has since volunteered over the years, gaining valuable work experience, knowledge and contacts in the marine biology field. Bella is now part of the team, working in the Hebridean Whale Centre and inspiring others to get involved.
“Over the years we have learned much more about the very real science being undertaken on very limited funds by HWDT. Not only are you offering a gateway for children into science but you have constructed a massive database of information of the history of what is in our seas and how it is affected by us. Having that wealth of data is the only way we will be able to enforce change and bring a voice to marine life. ”