A Day Out in Kew Gardens

The sun shone the day Patrick took me to Kew Gardens on the trip arranged and organised by Age UK Hammersmith and Fulham.  The day before it had rained so hard there were floods inside the shops on King Street but the sun came out and welcomed me to the outside world as I clambered into the cab that took Patrick and me to the local  Age UK headquarters. Once there we were duly counted and had our temperature checked, for Covid19.  After this, the nine of us set off on the 20 minute drive to Kew with Noel driving the most well-appointed mini-bus.

Once there at Victoria Gate, Peter, one of the Age UK organisers, distributed the little picnics he had been holding onto for each one of us. He then informed us that we were now on our own but to be back at the same gate at 2 o’clock if we wanted to go on the Health Walk.

Journey to the painted dragons

I had longed to see the newly painted dragons on the pagoda and so Patrick wheeled me in my wheelchair in that direction. On the way, with the sun still shining, we stopped at a conservatory. Here they advertised a sensory display: attaching wires to you and a plant via a laptop so you could feel the plant. But the plant, a large geranium in a terracotta pot, didn’t want to be felt. Try as she would the poor operator could not get it to work.  In despair, she looked at Patrick and me and said,

‘Oh dear, it does work, I know it does.  It works every time there are no visitors here to see it.’ 

‘Well, ‘says I, ‘it’s obvious the plant doesn’t want to be put on display for us humans to gawp at!’

Everyone laughed awkwardly at such an impossible suggestion and Patrick and I resumed our trek to the pagoda.

Once there we sat in the warm sunshine staring at the brightly coloured dragons and ate our picnic.

The Health Walk

Patrick and I decided we did want to do the Health Walk and so headed in the direction of the meeting place via the lake and the palm house.  Here we found the rest of our troupe sitting beside the lake and watching the two distinct types of geese.  The geese were not on the lake swimming.  They were feeding. The Grey Lags were on one lawn, the Canada geese on another.  Keeping their species separate they were partaking of their lunch by nibbling and pecking at the grass.

We took photographs then announced that as 2 o’clock approached we were going on the Health Walk.  We didn’t know what it entailed but we were most interested to find out.  Much to our surprise none of the others wanted to join us.  In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been a surprise.  None of them were in their first flush of youth, the sun was still shining, in fact, unusually for this year the sun was quite warm and they’d probably been walking for a while. Now they were simply enjoying the luxury of sitting down watching the geese.

On the other hand, I was being wheeled everywhere including on the Health Walk.

Together with Patrick and Peter, we were escorted by three, then two, of Kew Garden’s staff. We meandered past the rose gardens where the roses were being pruned, along a leafy lane to the Bamboo Grove to see the Minka, a Japanese farmhouse.  A countryside dwelling where three or four generations of one family lived.  Three of the five of us had been to Japan and wanted to see it.  I’d seen the TV film of the Japanese craftsmen flown to the U.K. to build this one. Also, I had set a play of mine in a Minka in 1930’s Japan.

The five of us then ambled back to the meeting point to go home. On the way, we crossed over a bridge on a little lake, where we were given a fascinating fact, which unfortunately I cannot remember.

Tired but very happy and all present and correct we were driven back to Age UK Hammersmith and Fulham by Noel in the little bus which he had spent most of his time guarding against getting a ticket as parking near Kew Gardens was well nigh impossible.

Everyone on the bus agreed it had been a most delightful day.

Written by Susan