FHS Visit to Westonbirt Arboretum

This Saturday the FHS organised a trip to Westonbirt Arboretum. It was quite an early start; we all met at 08:00 at College Farm near the junction of the North Circular and Finchley Road. The weather started to turn nasty whilst we were waiting for the coach to come and pick us up. The coach was an hour late and we didn't leave Finchley until after 09:00. Not a good start! It is about 90 miles from Finchley to Tetbury which is the nearest town to Westonbirt, which is approximately a mile and a half away.

The coach sent to pick us up was only a 25 seater there were 25 of us so we filled it completely and the seats were not designed for the more ample figure!

It rained solidly for the whole journey; it started to clear up slightly as we arrived at Westonbirt at noon. As soon as we arrived we went to the Information Centre to book a place on the free guided tour at 14:00. In the Information Centre there was an interesting exhibition of textiles, jewellery and hand crafted wooden furniture and puzzles. After having a quick look around the exhibition, June and I decided to go to the shops and have some lunch before starting to walk round as it was already past mid-day. There are two shops at Westonbirt, a general gift shop and a plant shop, we managed to spend some money in both of them, but were limited to only very small items as the size of the bus was somewhat restrictive as to what we could buy as there was no room for plants of any size.

Shopping and eating first turned out to be the best of plans as the weather was quite grim and it started to rain heavily again as we were going to have a bite to eat. Of course everyone and their brother also decided to have lunch then too. However, as soon as we finished eating the sun came out, just in time for the start of our walk.

We all gathered in front of the Information Centre to wait for the guide to arrive. The guide was an expert on the history of the site and the family who had started it, she claimed she was not a tree expert. She took us on a particular route round the Acer collection; Westonbirt is well known for its Acer collection and the autumn colour. I took the opportunity to take my new camera bought for me by my husband for my last birthday. Here is a selection of the pictures I took. Just to give a flavour of the wonderful colours and the rare tree specimens that we saw.
 


I did lag behind a bit so I didn't really get the full benefit of the tour; but what I did hear was very interesting. There are wonderful vistas as well as groves and specimen trees to see. It all looks remarkably natural, but of course most trees have actually been planted. There is a continuing replanting programme and new trees are protected from wildlife by protective fencing, detracting to some extent from the appearance, but obviously necessary for the preservation of the specimen.


After the guided tour I took myself off to see a bit more of this vast collection, I took a stroll round the native trees; I came across a herd of cows that were roaming freely in this area. and I came across this pretty cottage in the grounds. I just had time to have a piece of delicious lemon cake and a cup of coffee before it was time to meet back at the coach at 16:30, and the rain started again just in time for the trip home.

We were extremely fortunate with the timing of the window in the weather; it could have been a very different day otherwise.

It would be lovely to go again in spring. Maybe we can get Valerie to organise another trip but with a larger coach next time.