Happy Valley (garden)

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Happy Valley is the name of a garden in Stenness, Orkney, Scotland. The area was originally known as "Bankburn".

It was created by Edwin Harrold, between the October 1948 and the 1990s from a bare hillside. Mr Harrold had to give up the garden, as he was too old to maintain it, and he died in 2005[1]. Amongst his aims, was to create a wooded area on Orkney, as trees are highly unusual on the archipelago.

In 2004 the local council, Orkney Islands Council, took over the garden. A group was formed in 2007 called "Friends of Happy Valley"; they are a group of volunteers who meet together not only to discuss the future of the gardens, but also to work on maintaining the garden.[2] The Council Special Projects Department assisted by maintaining some of the paths and steps, and in April 2008 volunteers planted 700 new trees to add to the existing woodland.