Alan spent thirty years turning an old quarry into a garden visited and loved by thousands.

Now a mortgage threatens to take it all away.

Please sign and share to help keep Cascades Gardens open and secure fair solutions for mortgage prisoners.

“Every action has a universal dimension, a potential impact on others’ happiness…
it is important to consider what we do carefully to ensure that we do not harm others.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in a personal letter to Alan Clements, 2006

Set in the heart of Derbyshire, Cascades Gardens is more than a garden. For thirty years, it has been a place of reflection, rooted in compassion, created out of loss, and shaped by the teachings of the Dalai Lama.

Built in a former deserted quarry in Bonsall, it welcomes thousands of visitors each year. Many describe it as a place of stillness, transformation and comfort.

🌿 An RHS Partner Garden
🌿 A supporter of the National Garden Scheme for more than twenty years
🌿 Home to a newly created Japanese Tea Garden, developed with guidance from the Japanese Garden Society

Now its future is under threat

Alan became a mortgage prisoner following the 2008 financial crisis. His former Northern Rock mortgage passed to Landmark Mortgages, leaving him trapped on expensive variable rates without access to an affordable replacement mortgage.

Alan has made mortgage payments on his home for thirty years. During his cancer treatment, when we did not even know whether he would survive, his mortgage interest rates exceeded 9%, and monthly demands eventually approached £4,500 in interest alone.

He continued working through serious illness and we all worked hard trying to keep our home and the garden going. Those demands were beyond what we could afford. Despite very substantial monthly interest payments, the debt continues to grow.

The prolonged uncertainty has taken a heavy toll on Alan's health and our family’s wellbeing. We face losing our home, livelihood and his life’s work.

There is a practical way to protect the garden

We have asked Landmark to release its mortgage charge over the part of the public garden included in its security, while retaining its charge over the house and immediate grounds.

This would allow the house and garden to be dealt with separately, helping preserve Cascades Gardens for public use. Landmark’s commissioned valuation recognises that this land forms part of the wider public garden and that including it with the house is not sensible.

Despite repeated requests, we still have no agreement that protects the garden and provides a workable way forward.

What we are asking for

We call on Landmark Mortgages’ chief executive and board to:

• Release the relevant public garden land from its mortgage security on workable terms.
• Reduce ongoing interest and review accumulated interest and charges for reduction or waiver.
• Provide protection from repossession while an agreement is actively pursued.
• Negotiate a solution that preserves the garden and enables our family to secure suitable housing.

Our experience is part of a wider problem affecting thousands of mortgage prisoners across the UK. We stand alongside UK Mortgage Prisoners and parliamentary campaigners, including Lord Sharkey, in calling on the Government, HM Treasury and the FCA to deliver:

• Fair limits on standard variable interest rates.
• Workable routes to competitive mortgages with active lenders.
• Targeted financial support.
• Effective access to redress through legal and regulatory reform.

Why Cascades Gardens matters

After losing his first wife to cancer, Alan found comfort in Buddhism and the gardens of Japan. He turned an abandoned quarry into a place where others could find peace.

He also devoted years of unpaid service to the Tibetan community, chairing the Tibet Relief Fund, co-chairing the Tibet Society and helping organise the Dalai Lama’s visits to Britain.

At the heart of the garden sits a golden Buddha, donated in 2021 by the Aldershot Buddhist Centre in memory of Riki Hyde-Chambers OBE. Riki was Alan’s dear friend, a longstanding friend of the Dalai Lama and supporter of Tibet.

Through the National Garden Scheme, Cascades has helped raise funds for nursing and health charities. The Scheme has featured it as a garden for health. Visitors’ letters and our visitors’ books record the comfort people find here during illness, bereavement and difficult times.

Losing Cascades would mean losing a much-loved sanctuary and thirty years of care and creativity.

How you can help

• Sign and share this petition.
• Support the garden through visits, B&B bookings, and plant or bonsai purchases. Check cascadesgardens.com for opening times and details.
• Support our Save Cascades Gardens fundraiser to help with campaign and legal costs.
Learn more through the RHS listing, the National Garden Scheme’s feature​, Alan’s BBC Radio Derby interview, the Tibet Alive YouTube channel and UK Mortgage Prisoners.

Please help protect Alan’s life’s work and keep Cascades Gardens open for everyone who finds peace here.