If you go down to the woods at Scotney Castle today you're sure of a big surprise. Helen Geraghty and children found they didn't know the gardens as well as they thought.

If you're a kid in Kent, the chances are that at some point, you've run screaming down the steep grassy hill at Scotney Castle, possibly crash landing at the huge rhododendron bed at the bottom.

Now, while your mother is looking anxiously around for an angry gardener, you might like to hush up, slow down and veer right at the bottom of the hill, rather than straight on towards the castle ruins, because those gardeners have been hard at work again.

What they have created, while no one was watching, is what in fairytale books they call a 'forest glade', in the tradition of the one where Bambi was born, and where poor Snow White walked out blinking from the dark, frightening trees to discover the little home of the seven dwarfs.

It is a quiet and magical area, with a tinkling clear stream, tiny waterfalls, a little wooden bridge and perfect grass, well off the usual path that visitors take up and down to the ruins.

My daughters, 11 and eight, were captivated on the sunny day we went and spent four hours watching dragonflies and water boatmen hover over the water under the newly-planted river birch trees, and dangling their hot toes in the tiny current.

The ambitious work, which has been carried out helped by a donation from a visitor last spring, is part of a conservation plan to take the garden back to the late 1800s.

Head gardener Paul Micklewright told me the area, now called the West Glade, had for years been called the tall trees area, but had been decimated in the 1987 hurricane, when 90 trees were blown down at Scotney in one night.

A decision was made to plant quick-growing bamboo among the remaining trees, the strident philidelphus and increasingly huge rhododendrons.

But although it seemed 'a good idea at the time' the area became overgrown and virtually inaccessible with a large yew tree slowly dying back.Brambles and nettles completed the horticultural horror.

After two years of clearing shrubs, replanting and landscaping, the picture is now complete.

Nearby, a woodland path has been re-opened with wood anemones, cowslips and snake's head fritillaries planted at the edge.

Paul added: "Finally, the gardeners have waved goodbye to the bamboo which has all but gone and the area is now a beautiful lush lawn. Running through this area is the picturesque stepped stream which feeds the moat and, until recently, there was a giant yew tree which towered over the adjoining border.

"This sadly, after many years of trying to save it, died back and had to be felled. This then opened a space and the decision was made to create a new glade.

"A small bridge has been built over the stream to link the two parts of the garden and a seating area has been made so visitors can sit among the river birches and watch the dragonflies skim over the water."

Paul says: "We are very proud of what we have created. It gives life to an otherwise rarely used part of the garden and it is a lovely space to reflect and relax."

If you feel like calming down on a hot day you might like it too. But shhhh... Don't tell anyone.

Scotney Castle is near Lamberhurst. Admission to the gardens is £8.10 adults, £4.95 children. Admission to the Victorian mansion and gardens is £12.60 adults, £6.30 children. Family tickets are available. More details on 01892 893820.