Herbal Highs
08.07.09
Forty years of study and practice have made Anthony Lyman-Dixon a leading authority on herbs. TOM HENRY tracks him down to his North Somerset base to see the delicious - and deadly - species in his overgrown herb garden.
Most towns and cities worth their salt have at least one ‘gore tour’ — the gleefully grim and gloated-over guide to the very worst human behaviour, in which all the rascals and rogues of yesteryear are dragged back from history to feed the morbid appetite of the paying public.
The village of Chew Magna, just south of Bristol, is no exception. However, this is no traipse around haunted hostelries and the hangouts of highwaymen. It takes place in a herb garden, of all places, and our host is a singular, 60-something Englishman by the name of Anthony Lyman-Dixon.
“That one will stop your heart,” he announces grandly, as we tramp through an overgrown poly-tunnel, a bewildering array of plants curling around our feet. “That one will do terrible things to your liver, and if this one goes anywhere near your kidneys ...oh dear, it will make you very dead.”
I’m struggling to keep up as Mr Lyman-Dixon, a herbalist of international reputation garnered over 40 years, rattles off Latin names as though reading from a book. He isn’t, of course. Years of study and practice through his business, Arne Herbs, have made him a leading authority on herbs, both for culinary and medicinal use.
Universities approach him to cultivate rare plants for research, and he travels abroad spreading his knowledge among fellow herbalists (and occasionally pocketing something picked from a foreign roadside in the bargain).
You will also find him at the Bristol Farmers’ Market on a Wednesday, selling basil, thyme, rosemary and the rest to the foodies who make their weekly provisions raid down Corn Street.
A waspish character with the demeanour of a faintly amused walrus, Mr Lyman-Dixon is, you sense, a person rather happier among pots of the racier herbs in his 8.5 acres than up to his neck in common-or-garden mint.
“Oh, chefs are most unadventurous,” he snaps, when questioned about Arne Herbs’ (meagre) supply to the local restaurant trade. “They always say, ‘our customers won’t eat it’, and I suppose they’re right. For example, we sell proper chives — not the sorry, puffy garnish things, but good strong English chives that’ll make your eyes run.
“And this here,” he says, snapping off a small leaf for me to sample. “Salvia dorisiana. Tangerine sage. Absolutely beautiful shoved up the backside of a duck.”
Absolutely. On we go, past turmeric plants, hibiscus, datura (“a painkiller. Very effective soaked in whisky so I’m told. But don’t take too much or it will kill you”), dragon tree, patchouli and khat.Yes, khat. Beloved of Somalis, it apparently has narcotic properties but is still legal in the UK. ‘Does it work?’ I ask. “Wouldn’t know,” comes the reply, “it tastes absolutely bloody revolting.”
This being a farm with more than 900 species of plant on the go, there are some beauties among the beasts. In one tunnel, I’m almost overpowered by the heady scent of Greek sage, and while Mr Lyman-Dixon’s main interest is the cultivation and supply of medieval herbs to specialist gardens and growers, he has recently been approached by Birmingham University to supply a garden in the Minoan style. This plant would be an excellent place to start, I’m sure.
Arne Herbs is open to the public, and if you’re looking for something different, this is the place.
Mr Lyman-Dixon’s knowledge is second to none, though it perhaps wouldn’t be the best idea to rub unknown greenery between your fingers and inhale deeply as you meander through the pastures. Whatever it is could make you very, very dead.
Arne Herbs, Limeburn Nurseries, Limeburn Hill, Chew Magna, Bristol, BS40 8QW. Tel: 01275 333399.
www.arneherbs.co.uk
