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Friday 29 July 2016

Quick march to Kew.

Today was dedicated to plant life, we are off to Kew Gardens. I*t is only a little over a mile walk from the moorings at Brentford and we followed the Thames Path to stay off the main road.

There appears to be a fair amount of repair and building work going on in the area of Brentford Creek. Behind  Brentford Ait there are lots of moorings of a variety of vessels. It is an interesting walk to take as there are wrecks of boats and factories and new luxury apartmets and restaurants too.

We entered Kew Gardens via the Elizabeth Gates and we were soon looking round Kew Palace. This was where William III and his wife Charlotte and their 15 children lived for part of the time. George was the mad or farmer king and when he was ill he stayed here. It was a lovely place actually, on a human scale and the reproduced decorations were very 'liveable'. We also visited the kitchens.

There seemed to be lots of these sweet chestnuts trees around the gardens.The bark is sculptural and they are statuesque trees.

This is a Henry Moore sculpture, a classic, and is a reclining woman and baby. I thought she had a skate board!

This peacock was stalking around the cafe area by Victoria Gate until it was chased by several small children and then it flew up onto the roof.

The Palm House is a fantastic building and seems to be much better inside since our last visit a few years ago. The building was built by a ship builder and this maybe why we have the rounded shape of an upturned hull.

Inside the Palm House the atmosphere is frequently misted and the walk up the stairs and the walk at height is really warm but gives you a great view of the palms from above.

The vistas were enhanced by the Victorian style bedding at the start near the Palm House.

We were on an organised walk around the Gardens for an hour and we saw this guy walking up the path. We then recognised him as a friend of our daughter Adam Hepworth. He is an actor and musician and is appearing in Wind in the Willows that is being staged in Kew Gardens for several weeks. It was great to see him and catch up very quickly as he was just off to a dress rehearsal.

In the Princes of Wales Conservatory Helen was very impressed to see this Tequila Agarva and is the one that they crop after about 10 to 12 years to get the nectar and sap that they then distill to make the spirit.

This is a lotus flower. You can tell it is a day old as it is pink. Apparently on the first day of the flower it is white and smells of pineapple. This attracts a certain flying beetle that is the pollinator. Once they are present the flower closes and traps them. They then have to get coated with the pollen. The next day the flower opens. Gone is the smell of pineapple and the flower has turned pink, not now so attractive so the beetle flies off to fins another white flower! Isn't nature wonderful!

This is a new installation at Kew, The Hive. It is supposed to represent a swarm. Inside are lots of LED lights and sounds. It seems that they are linked to an actual hive where the vibrations of the bees themselves are converted to sound and light. We couldn't get near it for folk but it seems that you can take a stick, slot it in a hole and hold it between your teeth, stick your fingers in your ears and then feel the vibrations directly.



The rockery gardens had plenty of water running through them and reminded me of the Kyber Pass in East Park, Hull.

At the north end of Kew Bridge on the way home we stopped at the Empress pub. It has a great selection of beer and cider and had a good vibe to it. The food menu looked good to. Just down the road we saw the Museum of water and steam that is full of steam engines apparently. This is the chimney of the pumping station. Just a bit further down the road towards Brentford is the Musical Museum. This has a comprehensive collection of self playing musical instruments from little music boxes to mighty Wurlitzer organs. Who knew that there was so much to do in Brentford. After a dry day we also went to have a look at the Brewery Tap pub down by the creek. The beer wasn't as good a choice as ther Empress or the Magpie and Crown on the High Street bu they have Blue Grass nights every couple of weeks.

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