Harvey Dene Shell Cottage Smite

A Memory of Droitwich Spa.

When I was little I was taken to Harvey Dene Cottage in Smite by a friend of my mother's. I was enchanted with this incredible cottage garden constructed entirely of shells - the chap who owned it used to open it to the public at a small donation for charity. I remember it was amazing - he had made a cathedral of shells complete with a pipe organ, there was a boat, 2 ponds with lots of strange little manikins and the butterfly motif everywhere. Not forgetting the enormous cement flamingoes taking a sip from the many shell covered birdbaths and the ponds. It was one of my favourite places to visit as a child and I was very very sad when I rode past there on my bike in 1981 to see that the cottage was empty and the garden completely destroyed. All that was left was a bit of a cement column covered in butterflies and a rotting cement flamingo collapsed in the hedge. Does anyone know what happenned? I heard the owner died and someone bought the house and decided to get rid of that incredible garden. How sad - it was amazing and to see it destroyed was very distressing. Does anyone else have any memories of it?