Kids in London – Summer in Kew Gardens

I especially like introducing youngsters to the delights of Kew Gardens and last weekend I had the pleasure of the company of a rather energetic four year old who needed to be entertained and worn out (to give his poor father a rest later in the evening as the four year old slumped into a happy slumber – well, that was the plan!).

We arrived at Lion Gate and set off for the tree walk which I had talked about on our way there. There were numerous signs indicating that the lift was out of action, but the 100+ steps did not deter us. The four year old raced around the sky-high structure – oblivious to the occasional groans and moans of the metalwork underfoot – demanding that we read the wildlife themed information on the beautiful bronze sculpted plates at each intersection. Whilst his Dad and I would have liked to stop and admire some of the fabulous views, our four year old leader insisted that we raced to the next attraction. So off we went.

We took a meandering route to the Temperate House and read a few of the tree and plant labels and were only allowed a short time to admire this fabulous structure which was a rather obscured by the staging works following the jazz evenings that had just finished. Evolution House – with its waterfalls (and don’t you just have to put your hands in the water), mists and large bug models was more alluring to my charge. And he was over the moon when he found a huge pine cone that he spent a good 20 minutes trying to persuade one of us to carry for him.

A few rolls down the grassy banks and we were on our way to the Palm House – getting our bread out from our rucksack in readiness. Running around trees and flowers – catching a glimpse of an occasional peacock or chicken – made the walking time pass quickly. And though it is strictly forbidden, we couldn’t resist climbing one or two trees along the way. With us adults now in dire need of coffee, we stopped at the Victoria Gate café and whilst Dad braved the incredibly long queue, me and the young man paid a visit to the loos – avoiding the rather imposing gift shop carefully.

Refreshed, we reached the Palm House and spent quite some time feeding the ducks and geese on the platform by the lake in front of the Palm House. My young friend was truly delighted to actually feed the huge carp and koi in there by hand – squealing in delight as the fish sucked noisily at the bread and not minding a bit when the over enthusiastic ducks and geese grazed his fingers in their eagerness to get the bread before the fish. Further delight when the huge eels came to the surface in search of some of the doughy bounty. Tearing ourselves away (actually, we had run out of bread) we stepped into the sticky warmth of the Palm House and down to the aquarium we went. We were so grateful for the numerous sets of steps to allow the small people to press their noses up really close to the tanks containing all manner of interesting creatures. We were particularly taken with the hermit crabs, Nemos (“Clown Fish” he told me seriously), mudskippers, Archer fish and the lovely, lovely sea horses. We emerged into the fresh air and did a very quick circuit of the rather warm Waterlilly House – noting the tiny fish in the pond and the carnivorous plants in the corner.

Our destination was the lake and the Sackler Crossing but we found a perfect picnic spot on the way and sat down in a suitably shady-yet-with-sunshiny-bits place. The squirrels amused us there – coming to take grapes from our fingers and bouncing across the meadows in an appealing Bambi-like way. We crossed the Sackler bridge without incident – admiring the numerous tiny Moorhens and Coots and loving the persistent squeaking noises that they made. No one fell in. Result! Although I wanted to strike out for the Badger’s Sett (always a firm favourite with the small folk) I thought it might be a stretch too far so we turned North instead and had a quick look at the information about silk worms in the Minka House and the Japanese bamboo gardens.

We finally reached our destination – The Climbers and Creepers indoor play area - to find that the outdoor section has been removed. Luckily, my young companion was thoroughly excited by the indoor area and removed his socks and shoes in a flash and took up residence in the tree house area where he took immediate command of the other kids that were hiding there. He was so happily involved there that Dad was able to enjoy a relaxing snooze on the grass outside while I slipped into the kids shop to buy some kid sized gardening kit and some sweets for the journey home (which were fiendishly expensive – so be warned). As we left we picked up an ice-cream – strawberry for the young man and lemon sorbet for Dad. Both were delicious.

And so we embarked on the very long walk back to Lion Gate. My four year old play mate was now flagging, bless him. But he mustered up the energy to ask lots of questions about the large world map in front of a large fragrant flower display, play soldiers and sentries in the ruined arches and remembered to hide with me so we could jump out on an unsuspecting Dad from the summer house. I am pleased to report that the young man was asleep within just 10 minutes of being strapped into his car seat – and just before he dozed off he told me that he couldn’t pick his best bit from the day because it had all been so fabulous. Mission accomplished.