Garden of Cosmic Speculation

D and I cycled out to Portrack this afternoon to visit the garden. It's only open to the public for one day a year, and this is always a popular event.

The Lakes were designed by Maggie Keswick Jencks and the landscaping and sculpture by her husband Charles Jencks. Various parts of the garden are designed to depict the universe, and have names such as the DNA Garden, the Black Hole Terrace, the Quark Walk and the Garden of Taking Leave of Your Senses. I actually prefer the natural parts of the garden, where there are some beautiful mature trees and an abundance of bluebells.

Here you can see the view from the stream which flows out of the lake and through the Red Bridge. In the distance on the left, you can see people standing on top of the Snail Mound.

Many years ago, I visited Portrack with Shawhead Primary School and the children designed their own garden, incorporating a Snail Mound. Sadly, this is now gone, bulldozed to make way for a new school, but it was great fun at the time and Charles Jencks himself came to the Grand Garden Opening.