Sara Hardy Writes

Edna Walling is very much in the air - or should I say in the garden, her spirit anyway. Well over 3000 people visited Bickleigh Vale Village earlier this month during the Open Gardens Victoria day. I was there. Eight gardens were open. It was stunningly beautiful. I've been asked to give a talk on this wonderful woman, details below. (p.s. Still no news on the novel/publisher front, fingers crossed, nails terribly bitten.) AUTHOR TALK Edna Walling The Woman Who Grew A Village Edna Walling (1895-1973) walks across a cow paddock and has a vision… “I shall build a village here,” she said. And over time, that is exactly what she did. Join author Sara Hardy as she explores the journey that led Edna Walling to create a village on a hill in Mooroolbark. Bickleigh Vale Village brought together Edna Walling’s ideals and ideas about design, nature and community. It is her living legacy, an oasis of beautiful thinking. The

Those who live in and around Melbourne may be interested in taking advantage of a rare Open Day to explore Edna Walling's self-made Bickleigh Vale Village in Mooroolbark on Sunday 13th October,  10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Location: Bickleigh Vale Road, off Pembroke Road, Mooroolbark. Eight gardens will be open. This rare opportunity comes through Open Garden Victoria. visit:  www.bickleighvalevillage.com.au If you haven't caught up with Edna Walling and her extraordinary life and career as a landscape designer, own-home builder, unique village maker and vanguard eco-warrior - then you might like to read all about her in The Unusual Life of Edna Walling - available in libraries or from bookshops (literal and virtual). [lovely photo of garden gate at Bickleigh Vale is by Brett Horan]