Tom Hart Dyke

Tom Hart Dyke first shot to international prominence in the year 2000, when he was kidnapped in the Colombian jungle on a plant hunting expedition that went dangerously wrong.

Tom and his travelling companion, Paul Winder, were kidnapped while trekking through ‘The Darien Gap’, a dangerous place abandoned by all to warring guerrilla factions. Tom and Paul were kidnapped on Tom’s sisters birthday 16th March 2000 and were held for nine months and released on 16th December 2000. During the nine month ordeal The British Embassy gave the boys up for dead, but Tom and Paul’s parents never gave up hope.

Jungle tale:

After Tom’s return home to his ancestral home of Lullingstone Castle, near Sevenoaks, in Kent, Tom and Paul (Winder) penned best selling book The Cloud Garden (Transworld) detailing their experiences in the jungle. Tom’s jungle antics – building gardens in the mountains, much to the annoyance of his captors – made the book an instant Times Top Ten Best Seller.

TV star is born:

In 2001 Tom travelled to South East Asia with KEO films to make A Dangerous Obsession (Channel 4, summer 2002) – the story of Tom’s search for an orchid to name after his beloved Gran Mary Hart Dyke (nicknamed ‘Crac’ by Tom). Tom’s search for an unnamed species was fruitless but the subsequent programme brought him to the attention of many. Kathryn Flett from the Observer named him ‘the new David Bellamy’ for his enthusiasm for his beloved subject – ‘orchids’.

2000-2006 Save Lullingstone (KEO films for BBC2) The story of the creation of The World Garden:

The idea for The World Garden was born in the depths of despair in the Colombian jungle as a diversionary doodle.

Since his release from captivity, Tom has been busy building the 'World' in his back garden at Lullingstone Castle. Under the watchful eye of KEO Films/BBC, the man, known locally as 'the Plant Nut', has been filmed commandeering his Granny’s 18th Century Walled Garden, within the grounds of the Castle, to create his jungle dream.

Every stage of Tom’s jungle project has been filmed for the 12 part series Save Lullingstone. The garden opened to the public in March 2005 and promptly won the prestigious British Guild of Travel Writers UK Tourism Award 2005.

Tom is busy weeding and preparing the World Garden for the 2006 tourist season.

With his amazing tale to tell, Tom is fast becoming one of the most talked about speakers. He is an accomplished public speaker and media performer.

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