TOM Hart Dyke could easily do for horticulture what Indi-ana Jones did for archaeology.

The writer, explorer, conservationist, TV star and former hostage — who is delivering the Cromwell Lecture at the Felsted Arts Festival on Monday — turns the discussion of a superficially dry subject into an adrenalin-fuelled thrill ride guaranteed to grip even the least green-fingered of listeners. Alan Titchmarsh he ain’t.

Tom’s problem will certainly not be filling his hour at the festival, but finding a way of cramming his amazing life story into such a brief slot.

When the Observer spoke to him on Monday, Tom said there was one subject sure to feature heavily – the nine months he spent in captivity in Central and South America under the guard of suspected FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) guerillas.

Tom, 30, was on the hunt for a new type of orchid, which he intended to name after his grandmother, when he was captured in the swampland and forest of the Darien Gap, Panama, on March 16, 2000.

He was aware of the dangerous territory he and his adventuring pal, Paul Winder, had wandered into, but the importance of his mission blurred his judgement.

Tom, clearly in possession of an indestructible positive mental attitude, said: “Over the space of nine months we must have walked about 1,000 miles, moving from camp to camp in Panama and Colombia.

“We were treated reasonably well. A woman occasionally beat us up, but it wasn’t too bad.”

That all changed on June 16 when Tom was suddenly told he had five hours until he was to be executed. Such a stark timetable served, as Tom put it, to focus the mind and, as the clock ticked, he started devising plans for a “world garden”, with each bed a continent reserved for native plants.

Tom admitted that at the time he was just trying to keep his mind off the prospect of imminent death, but when the threat turned out to be a grisly joke, and when six months later he was eventually released, the idea stayed with him.

It really began to take shape when Tom returned to Lullingstone Castle in Kent, his family’s ancestral home, which was facing financial ruin. He saw the garden as a way to attract more visitors and persuaded his father to mortgage the castle to fund the project.

His subsequent adventures turning his vision into a one-acre reality were captured on the BBC 2 series Save Lullingstone Castle. A new series, Return to Lullingstone Castle, starts on March 5.

Early signs are the garden is a huge success, with 19,000 visitors last year compared with 2,000 in 2004.

As Tom said: “It looks like a good thing has come out of what promised to be a very bad day.”

Admission to Tom’s 7.30pm lecture in the Hunt Theatre is free, but those interested in attending are asked to contact the school on (01371) 822635. For a full programme of festival dates visit www.felsted.org/p >

allansont@hertsess*exnews.co.uk

source : www.herts-ess*ex-news.co.uk