Kew Gardens

30 June 2008
London

It was a cracker of a day today, so after a leisurely breakfast and a quick stroll to the supermarket to get some fresh bread for lunch, we headed to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, otherwise known as Kew Gardens.

The Kew Gardens date from the 1760s and the days of the Hanoverian kings, and have been added to and extended over the years into around 300 acres of parkland, gardens, glasshouses and displays containing over 40,000 species of plant, and is one of the finest plant collections in the world.



The Gardens receive about 1.5 million visitors a year, and it's a great day out to get away from the industrial greyness of the city.


We took advantage of a little "Granny Wagon" which takes visitors for a spin around the borders of the Gardens, and is a great way to see the spread of the 300 acres. (If you look carefully at the photo above, you can see Mum and Dad sitting in the corner, waiting for the Granny Wagon to arrive). The tour took us up to the bank of the Thames, and past crazy pieces of architecture built by various architects for one over-indulged Royal princess or other, including a Chinese pagoda, a Japanese ornamental bridge, and Kew Palace (which was lived in for a while by George III's wife Queen Charlotte and her sprogs).


On the way, our driver pointed out the site of one of the tea rooms, explaining that the old one was burnt down by the English suffragettes as part of their struggle to win the vote. Good for them, we thought, although we were pleased that they built a new tea room, as we were feeling a bit thirsty.

The Gardens contain some impressive botanical greenhouses, built in the Victorian era, which housed the collections of the great 19th century explorers (including those of the voyages of Captain Cook around Australasia and the South Pacific).



Mum and Dad were awestruck by the Palm House, which contains massive palms and tree specimens from all over the world, including this banana tree. We thought Dad's hat made him look a bit like the explorer Dr Livingstone, and that all he needed was a machete to cut through the undergrowth. 



As it's midsummer here now, most of the spring flowering of camelias and rhododendrons had already passed, and apart from the rose gardens, there weren't a lot of flowers in bloom. We did come across some impressive lavender plots, though.



The layout of the Gardens varies hugely, reflecting different historical styles and fashions of horitculture - from wild grassy knolls (very hip in the Romantic period) to carefully manicured and labelled gardens, such as the Order Gardens, below.



The Gardens are dotted with small Grecian temples, gazebos and park benches, artfully placed to give visitors a place to catch their breath and enjoy the view. Here's Mum and I checking out the map to see where we were (we were actually in the Mediterranean Gardens).



Of course, it wouldn't be a day out without at least two stops for a cup of tea. One of the cafes had a lovely outdoor area, so we found a table and chair in the shade (knocking back a few old ladies with Zimmer frames who wanted to sit there as well) and had a cup of tea and a slice of Victoria sponge cake in the sun.


On the way to Kew Gardens, we hit a few straggling hippies with backpacks, making their way back from the Glastonbury Festival. On the way back from Kew, Mum and Dad got to experience the joys of Victoria Station at rush hour, but again, people were very gallant about giving up their seats for them. 

After dinner, we tuned in to watch the nail-biting tennis match between Andy Murray, Britain's sole hope for a success at this year's Wimbledon tournament, and Richard Gasquet.



Mum and Dad got a bit of a kick watching a game that was being played just down the road from my flat (well, a mile or so down the road) and at one point, we tried leaning out my living room window to see if we could hear the roar of the crowds. 

Another great day, with sunburnt noses to boot, though it's hard to believe that tomorrow is July.