This autumn marks the 100 anniversary of the birth of Ian Hamilton Finlay, creator of one of my favourite gardens in the UK, Little Sparta. It is about a decade since I last visited, but throughout August the Little Sparta Trust ran minibus trips out to the garden from Edinburgh every Sunday and my daughter Nadine and I caught the last trip of the summer. The bus was full, and the journey blessedly uncomplicated. The weather, scudding clouds, intermittent rain a chilly breeze, had a sense of impending autumn. My last visit was shorter than I would have liked because of car club hiring constraints, so this one had a more reflective feel – helped by the weather and the late summer views across the hills. Much of the garden felt new. The familiar was the play between planting and sculpture/ lettering in quite enclosed spaces; what was new was the space on the hillside and lakeside under a big sky, which gives quite a different perspective. Nonetheless the enclosed and the close up are really what makes it; the allotment, the miniature box hedges in a small enclosed ochard, plums and pears nowhere near ripe (unlike in southern England), the newt Nadine spotted in the circular pond. A good place for a picnic lunch.
This being the 100 anniversary there was a talk in the house after lunch by early printing collaborator Michael Hamish Glen who worked with Hamilton Finlay when he was very young. Charming, amusing, and informative. A fascinating coda; he is now (relatively recently) the partner of Sue Finlay who was H-F’s wife, and mother of his two children, and left him in 1990. I dont think he was the easiest person to live or work with. Michael was keen to point out – correctly I’m sure, just how important Sue was as a collaborator, particularly in relation to the construction of the garden. Hamilton Finlay had ideas, many of them good ones, but needed people to make them happen. The story of many great artists down the ages. Both of these two in different periods of his life and in relation to different art forms very much did this. Michael’s insights in to Hamilton-Finlays work and methods really made the day.
The garden is a bit of a walk from the car park, so the day managed to combine a stimulating talk (with souvenir print keepsake), a garden visit like no other, and a spectaular country walk from farm cottage and garden to car park in late summer sunshine. A combination that surely Ian Hamilton Finlay would have approved of, and no doubt enjoyed himself on many occasions. Cheers to his memory!