Botanical gardens in Birmingham 18th May

Had noticed on Google Maps that Birmingham had a couple of Botanic Gardens relatively near to each other so I thought it would be nice to do a comparison.  So on the 18th May I decided to pay Winterbourne House + Garden and Birmingham Botanic Gardens a visit.   Got off to a bad start as I had forgotten about a Hindu festival involving a procession in Whalley Range...my bus stopped for about 20 minutes then an inspector directed the driver to do a non-stop route into Piccadilly instead of going on the normal route.

I got to Piccadilly Station about 10 minutes after the hourly train service to Birmingham had departed which gave me plenty of time to contemplate why the ticket price was a lot more than going to London and why it took around 90 minutes to do this journey.  It's hardly a ringing endorsement for using the trains to do a relatively short hop. As usual, I got a plus bus ticket to have a cheap day's travel inside the city. And here's the twist...how many people knew that National Express also own a local bus company?  There were slightly confusing signs out of Birmingham New Street... go left for the buses and then do an arc round to the main street only to see a passageway to the station which  I could have taken if I turned right out of the station. You live and learn for the next time.

Having planned the trip to be Birmingham Botanic Gardens then Winterbourne, due to to my later than planned arrival, it was a case of swapping them round due to the opening hours at the Birmingham Botanic Gardens being longer. 

Winterbourne House and Garden is in the heart of  University of Birmingham area with the road only having a single pavement with the bus stop not being marked. A short hike is needed to get there but, strangely, it was a case of crossing the road to get onto the pavement before crossing the road again as I didn't fancy my chances of walking on the road.

Once through the entrance and the initial flower beds, this is the view of the ivy-clad house.

There are various greenhouses with each containing different plants.  Just a couple of shots  - first one is the arid zone with various cactii being grown and the second one is in the tropical zone... it was extremely humid inside there.

Going round the gardens, there were a lot of orchids.  Here are a  bunch of purple ones with white, pink and red flowers in the background. As I was trying my best to stick to the paths and not go on the grass, I couldn't locate the name of the flowers.

The grounds are fairly extensive and round the back you get to a rustic like scene with a wooden bridge.  To the left of the bridge is a little valley with rock garden.  There with a number of people walking very carefully on the narrow stone path as a warning notice said  it was slippery when wet.
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Heading back to the entrance and this is the view of the tea house. It was a bit bright so I used the HDR setting on my camera to reduce it which is why the colouring is slightly off.

Then it was back to Birmingham city centre to catch the bus to Birmingham Botanic Gardens. I didn't realise that it would have been easier to change buses at the Five Ways shopping centre and save some time.  There was a nice feature on the double decker - it had pre-programmed announcements of the current bus stop and the next bus stop, with a display unit showing the same.  Perhaps Manchester could implement this?

Birmingham Botanic Gardens has it's own tropical greenhouse as well.  But nowhere near as humid as Winterbourne.  Not sure if this is giving me the finger or not?

Various tropical plants with indoor pool.

There are a number of designed gardens. This one is about the recycling of water.  Who'd have believed that a bath would feature in garden?

This is the rhododendron walk.  Lots of colour everywhere.

This is their take on a rustic scene. On the right in the distance are some tennis courts

A rock garden with a pool of water

There is also an aviary.  Here's a parrot nibbling an apple. And yes, it did swivel it's head through 180 degrees

Out of the aviary and there's this pleasant scene with some statues created by an African artist.

The first sign of roses... Didn't do the other coloured roses being from the red rose county (pre-1974 boundary changes!)

And lastly the glasshouses with a range of arid plants. Couldn't take a photo like this when I got there due to the number of people sitting in the benches.

Then it was back to Birmingham New Street and the journey home.

Chester Bank Holiday Monday

So after contemplating Chester or Blackpool, I decided upon Chester given that weather looked decent and Blackpool would be even more crowded.  First decision was to decide "Do I take the fast and more expensive train or the cheap and cheerful option?" Almost £5 difference in the price and only 25 minutes more travel time meant cheap and cheerful Northern Rail won.  Left my flat at 8.30am to allow as much time as possible to get to Chester Zoo as I'd not been there for more years than I care to remember.  Not too many punters on the train.

As usual, everything was planned out with maps and timetables. Which is why I ended up going the wrong way after we arrived in Chester when aiming for Grosvenor Park.  Turning the map through 180 degrees pointed me in the right direction.  There was only one problem with the park - a lot of the paths were fenced off so the "seasonal flower beds" couldn't be seen and the rose garden was even devoid of buds.


Picturesque rock garden with a solitary cloud

Going round the grounds, you get to Quarry Garden with some archways.  This is the panoramic view. Think I've done pretty well to not get that many people in shot.

Nearest the city centre within the park, lies the ruins of St Johns Church. Fair number of people milling around all snapping away. Wonder how many people are cursing the effects of the sunlight?  This is the best of the bunch of photos from that area.

So onwards I went going past the amphitheatre and through the Roman Garden and down to the River Dee quayside, following the city walls. Noticed one lady had enough of walking in her flip-flops. Boat trips were available but the time-cost equation meant it was a no go for me although a number people going on board, with couple of largish boats and a speedboat at the moorings.

Round past the university and the Little Roodee where there were plenty of coaches parked up alongside the hundreds cars, with a couple from Switzerland and France. I came to a bit of "Chester through the ages"....

Modern... university. Medieval... Castle ruins.  Roman.... City Walls. 

Time was moving on with a bus to catch so through to the shopping area and take what seems to be the bog standard photo of the Eastgate clock.  Here's my version of it.

Then it was round to bus station passing by Chester Cathedral. Lots of people within the grounds, perhaps taking advantage of the tours?

Onto the bus station, tucked away behind the town hall. Very basic with small shelters.  10 minute hop on the bus and into Chester Zoo.  Car park was rammed and long queue to get in.  £22 entrance fee. Get the map and then proceed to take no notice of it so I went round the zoo in a haphazard manner.

Monkey enclosure and a macaque was tucking in to his food

 

"It's alright, macaque, old bean, I've had my lunch already so you've no need to make with those eyes!" 

Next up were a pair of pelicans.  With all the fencing around, it was a bit of a task to try and hide it in all the photos. Still, this wasn't too bad.

 A nod to my heritage with this pair of viracunas. Found in Peru.

 Alexandr Orlov couldn't make a personal appearance so he sent his representatives...

Quite a number meerkats and their pups, with some that could only be described as weeks old going off the size of them. Lots of attention paid to them,


Through to an aviary with brightly coloured birds, some inside and some flying around. Managed to catch this resting on a branch.

 The primates were all split up with this chimpanzee looking as though he's saying "We're not worthy!".

The jaguars were playing hide and seek.  Going inside their building and nowhere to be found but the notice did say that if they were not there, try the pen.  Made for a much better photo.

 Numerous pink flamingos around.

The aquarium was nice with a number of species I've not seen before. The lighting played a bit of havoc trying to take some photos but this is the best of the bunch.  Couple of sea urchins included in this shot.

Tiger, tiger burning bright... just don't start growling at me and keep looking at what's happening in that direction. There was another one on the prowl around the perimeter with a couple of offspring sat in the grass.

Then it was home time but not before getting this photo of a grey owl.  Successful day trip with over 300 photos taken

The downside to the day was that my back started to get a bit painful halfway round the zoo. Need to plan another visit and use the map instead of working out if I had been round that bit before and what I needed to look out for. Back home at 9.30pm.

Chatsworth a year ago today

just realised that today's the 1st anniversary of my trip to Chatsworth and the beginning of a summer travelling round a few stately homes and gardens instead doing more urban open spaces.  A slight difference in the weather!

Their website said the nearest railway station was Matlock but the £40 price put me off.  So it was a case of looking at the bus company and seeing the route it took before working out where to travel to.  Sheffield at around half the cost was a no-brainer, even if it meant a long bus journey.

Still spring like with the multi-coloured tulips around with the sunlight helping.

After doing the more formal gardens, it was a case of going round the grounds.   This is gives a better indication of the cloudless skies

View from one of the huts.  England's "green and pleasant land"

And there's always an opportunity of taking a "fun" photo.  Double shadow from a single tulip?

Can't wait to go back now that I've a better camera

Full set of photos of  my Chatsworth House Gardens photos

brief intro

For the last 4 years or so, I've been spending some time going up and down the country taking photos of places of interest instead of staying at home watching TV every single weekend after working all week at a debt management company.  This year, I set myself a hit list of places to go to and this is what it looks like at the moment

Half the fun is getting to these places... don't drive so it's all about journey planning and hoping the connections run smoothly. Craziest day out I had was last year going to Harewood House on the outskirts of Leeds which involved a tram from Chorlton to Rochdale, and buses from Rochdale to Halifax to Leeds to Harewood House. Just took around 5 hours to do and cost about £15.00 rather than train to Leeds and bus to Harewood.  Downside was leaving my flat at 6am and not getting back till 10pm.

Tomorrow... if there's decent weather it's either Chester or Blackpool, with a London trip looming large - 14th June and the rain reference alludes to a trip last year when i seem to have picked the only rainy day in August; was saturated in no time and the rain was so intense that I had to shelter under a tree for an hour.