Oliver Land

Oliver Land was where Derek and Jeannie Tangye first saw the cat Oliver.
At that time, he appeared to be living wild and they watched as he pounced on some little creature, missed, and in the nonchalant way of cats proceeded to wash himself as if he did not really want to catch it anyway! This was around the time when Oliver decided to move in with the Tangyes.
Oliver Land lies across the small valley to the east of the cottage and consists of the Clover Field, Blackthorn Alley, the Ambrose Rock and the Honeysuckle Meadow where Derek and Jeannie's ashes were scattered.
Nowadays, access to Oliver Land is from the coastal path by means of a new gated entrance and there is no through route to or from the Winding Lane. The owners of the lane and Derek's neighbours tolerated access during his lifetime but in legal and practical terms Oliver Land Nature Reserve is land-locked apart from the new entrance from the coastal path. A general through route from the main road would negate the object of "A Place for Solitude" and its intensive use as a public footpath could in consequence disturb the wild creatures.
As Derek wrote in 'Jeannie',~"Oliver Land was OUR land, 20 acres of it and we decided that any money we had when we died should be devoted to its preservation..."
"It must be preserved," said Jeannie, "for the natural inhabitants, the multitude of wild creatures, insects, butterflies, foxes, badgers, nesting birds. It mustn't be preserved for human beings, except those who seek solitude."
And so the Minack Chronicles Trust was set up and 12 days before Jeannie died, Derek arranged for the signboard for Oliver Land.