A Bank Holiday Weekend with good weather is almost unheard of — an oxymoron — but we have had one this weekend. Well I admit the weather was nice autumnal weather, cool with a crisp breeze, whilst it is still August, but for outdoor walks, it was perfect. Even more fortunate, our Overground train line was running today. For the past two years or so, the line has not run on weekends very often because of repair work. The Overground and weather meant a perfect day for a trip to Kew Gardens which is only a 25 minute train journey from our local station.
We began with the Treetop Walkway.
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| 118 steps up! |
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| The Walkway in the treetops |
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| Into the treetops |
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| A birds eye view |
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| A view of the garden grounds |
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| Some wildlife in the treetops |
The day was so beautiful, we didn't visit the greeenhouses, but wandered among the tree plantations.
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| The oldest tree in Kew Gardens -- c.1700 Sweet Chestnut |
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| The Pinetum |
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| Looking up through a huge redwood |
And there was wildlife too.
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| This bird just sat as everyone took photos |
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| A Chinese pheasant who kept scurrying faster than I could click my camera |
My favourites were the buildings we visited.
Kew was originally a royal residence. Kew Palace was the favourite home of George III and Queen Charlotte. Kew Palace has been restored recently and we have visited, but not today. We had never visited Queen Charlotte's Cottage before. Built in 1771, the cottage was probably designed by William Chambers, the master royal architect, with a ground floor kitchen, the most elegant of spiral staircases on either side of the central bay, and a magnificent Picnic Room on the first floor painted with flowering vines by one of the many daughters of the family. No photos were permitted, and even Google images can't help me out on this one. The Royal Palace company keeps close tabs on their treasures.
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| Queen Charlotte's Cottage |
Then we walked over to the Minka House to find out what it even was. A house for minks? No, a traditional Japanese wooden house that is threatened with extinction because people want to live in modern homes. A Japanese organisation that helps preserve this vernacular house type donated one to Kew Gardens to be placed in the Bamboo Garden. Minka houses are all wood and pegged together so they can be disassembled and reassembled when necessary.
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| The Minka House |
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| How amazing is this roof structure . . . |
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| . . . pegged and tied together |
An all together pleasant Bank Holiday weekend, and now only one day left in August. Only one day of our staycation to fill.
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