Kew Gardens

Pagoda

The weather was pretty awful last week, so the first proposed trip to Kew Gardens was postponed. Friday looked the best day, so we plumped for that. The day turned out to be overcast, windy, cold and drizzly off and on. We went anyway.

All the times I've been to Kew Gardens, I've never been to Kew Palace, but I'd read they had on display one of the headdresses worn by the actress who plays Queen Charlotte in the Netflix series, Bridgerton. This I had to see! King George III and his Queen lived here, so of course I was interested to see the house.

I discovered that this archway and stoneworks are not a ruin from the gardens but were placed here to look like one. The bridge above was used to move sheep to the gardens.

But first we walked around areas of the gardens we'd not seen before. We came across one of the ponds, and there was a view across the river to Syon House. We also viewed a few of the Light into Life installations by Marc Quinn. There were many we missed, unfortunately, but one can't do everything on a visit to Kew Gardens because it is so big.

Redwood

The Broad Walk towards the Orangey and Kew Palace is beautiful with stunning colour from the planting. I seem to have neglected this part of the garden in the past and concentrated on the hot houses. We also took in The Hive as I hadn't been there since shortly after it was opened. The top platform was very wet and slippery, though children were enjoying skidding across it!

The Broad Walk

The Hive

In Kew Palace only the ground and first floors were open, but we saw the living areas and bedrooms, along with the famous headdress. In some rooms, the walls had been stripped back to reveal the wood behind. I would love to revisit the house again sometimes when, hopefully, the other floors are open.