Great West Way® Travel Magazine | Issue 03

Pictured
left then
clockwise:
Stourhead;
Strawberry
Hill House;
Cliveden
House;
London
Wetland
Centre.
ENGLAND IS RENOWNED for its stately homes
and gardens and many of the finest lie along the
Great West Way. Here's our pick of some of the
best from east to west!
CLIVEDEN HOUSE
The gardens of 300-year-old Cliveden House hold
just as much interest as the house - itself known for
exuberant high society parties, political scandals
and, most recently, its connection to a certain royal
wedding. Meander through the six acre Parterre,
with its distinctive triangular beds, be uplifted by the
fragrant intermingling of fresh spring flowers and
classical statues in the Long Garden and come over
all romantic amid 900 roses in the heavenly-scented
Rose Garden.
LONDON WETLAND CENTRE
London Wetland Centre, an award winning nature reserve,
brings the countryside to London. Although close to the
heart of the capital it is a haven of tranquility for both
wildlife and people.
The lakes, pools and gardens are home to kingfishers
nesting in a bank, sand martins zipping over the ponds,
wading birds searching for food at the lake edges and
ducklings waddling after their mother in the spring. For
keen bird watchers there are bitterns in the winter and
yellow wagtails on the grazing marsh in summer. It’s a
wonderful place for a relaxing walk through the scenic
paths that meander among the lakes and gardens.
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW
For an unforgettable horticultural experience, make a
beeline for Kew Gardens - a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. Hop aboard the Kew Explorer Land Train, which
will wizz you round the main sites in around 40
minutes. Current highlights of any tour include the
Palm House, built with a rainforest climate to nurture
the plant life brought back by Victorian botanists;
The Hive, an immersive experience that echoes the
life going on inside a real beehive; and The Princess of
Wales Conservatory, which is packed with all sorts of
prickly curiosities from cacti to carnivorous plants.
HAMPTON COURT PALACE
As host of the prestigious RHS Hampton Court Palace
Flower Show, with 500 years of royal gardening
experience, Hampton Court Palace is certainly no
amateur. The gardens you see now are all a product
of its rich history - the Baroque-style Great Fountain
Garden for instance was executed by King William III and
Queen Mary II’s gardener, in the shape of a goose foot
as was fashionable then. Elsewhere you can navigate The
Maze, which featured in Jerome K. Jerome’s novel, Three
Men in a Boat, and tour the immaculate Royal Kitchen
Garden with its heritage vegetables.
STRAWBERRY HILL HOUSE
Strawberry Hill House, the former summer residence
of Horace Walpole, author of ‘The Castle of Ontranto’,
is famous for being Britain’s finest example of Georgian
Gothic Revival architecture. →
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