Temperate House, Kew

Today we spent a very enjoyable day wandering around the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. It is a very long time since I last visited these gardens. I think that entry then was still through wonderful iron turnstiles which allowed you in for payment of a nominal sum (something like one old penny, if I remember correctly). Entry now is a quite substantial sum - although on this occasion, our entry was a gift from our nephew in return for my wife's work in arranging the flowers for his wedding.

Mind you, it must cost quite a lot of money to keep this place running. They maintain a comprehensive collection of trees and plants, including some species which no longer exist in the wild. Their conservation work is recognised internationally. They also have some rather splendid buildings, including the Temperate House, shown here.

The Temperate House is the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world, covering 4,880 square metres (5,5850 square yards) and extending to 19 metres (63 feet) high. It is a Grade I listed building, was designed by Decimus Burton and took 40 years to build (according to the Kew Gardens web site). The building is currently undergoing restoration work which is scheduled to last five years (until 2018) and will cost £34.3M.

This view was taken from the 18-metre high, 200-metre treetop walkway, a rather splendid addition to the gardens opened in 2008.