Thursday, May 9, 2013

Rural Relaxation at Kew

The Lake in Kew Gardens
Last week I planned to go on a coach trip to the National Archives at Kew to dig around in some old dusty records - and I promised you a report on my visit. Well this is not quite what I was planning.

The Temperate Green House
But it was a lovely day and I decided to go to Kew Gardens instead, in part to see the huge Victorian Temperate Green House which is closing this summer for a five year restoration programme.

The Queen's Beasts and the Palm House
Needless to say I enjoyed every minute of it  - spending four hours wandering round the grounds and into the greenhouses - and taking lots of photographs. An there was still a lot I hadn't seen.

One of the many different brilliant Water Lilies
Just walking round the gardens was great, with cherry trees is blossom, and enormous giant redwoods towering overhead. There was also a high level tree walk (with a lift for the less mobile) which allows you to view the woodland canopy in comfort. In addition the contents of the green houses with plants from dry deserts through to tropical rain forests was amazing. 

King and Queen - A David Nash Sculpture
All I can say is that if you are planning a visit to the National Archives to dig out more about your ancestors take an extra day and visit Kew Gardens - they are too good to miss.

No comments:

Post a Comment

This is the newsletter for the Genealogy in Hertfordshire Web site. Comments on this blog are moderated and may be transferred to the web site where appropriate. If you have a local or family history query you want answered you must use "Ask Chris" - See box in right hand column. Anonymous comments cannot be answered.