In December 2019 we held the launch of the book The Golden Gate Grand Café, by Laura Moniz. It is a Sherlock Holmes detective novel set in Madeira, featuring several local personalities of the period, including Mr. Hinton. Some of the action takes place in Madeira.

In the first half of 2020 the architectural plans for the main house restoration were ready to go, but from the attic to the old kitchen on the ground floor there was still the challenge of emptying the place and deciding what best to do with all the contents.  

   
          

To replant part of the garden an agricultural project was applied for which included a vegetable garden, an orchard with pomegranates, sharon fruit and custard apples, a flower plantation with proteas and heliconeas and a large area for asparagus (across the road)

Clearing and organising the garden for replanting was a long and arduous task

The giant Norfolk Pine at the top of the garden which appears in photos of the mid-nineteenth century was another victim. The top third of the tree had earlier snapped off but the tree remained firm and grew two new shoots from the top. With the fire, however, about half the trunk was badly burnt and it managed to survive for some time before succumbing.

After the fire, weeds grew back with a vengeance. The yellow flower is a creeper, Macfadenya Unguis-cati which spreads from large underground roots resembling sweet potato.

The Kawri tree  (Pinheiro de Damara) on the left did not survive, but the Lemon-scented Eucalyptus Citriodora next to it not only seemed unharmed but sired hundreds of little saplings which had to be patiently pulled out.

 

Later  in the year a beautiful large cedar in front of the house was blown over. It was not a good year. 

The wood, however, is very beautiful and has been used to make bed rests and the restaurant tables.

 

In August 2016 a forest fire in the mountains descended on the city of Funchal causing widespread damage. The fire destroyed an area of about forty percent of the garden, particularly the forested part on the South and South West. Fortunately the houses and the formal part of the garden were saved, but the garden had to be closed for extensive restoration.