I recently wrote about a visit to Birmingham's Winterbourne House and Gardens and that there was a part two to the day. This is part two: Birmingham Botanical Gardens which is only a short hop from Winterbourne.
I have visited Birmingham Botanical Gardens previously, but I think it was getting on for twenty years ago and I admit I could not remember much about it. The gardens have a fine history: they were origanally designed by John Loudon and were opening in 1832. The glasshouses were added in 1852. They are an independent charity so get all of their money from ticket sales, events and donations. Botanical gardens across the country are in decline, most 'belong' to someone, so an independent garden is special. It is therefore important that we cherish all botanical gardens and that ones such as Birmingham where the gardens are still basically the original Loudon design, are supported by our visits.
The Birmingham Botanical Gardens are going through a period of restoration and development. The project plans are ambitious and exciting. Some of the plans have already been actioned such as the removal of the aviaries and birds and also the ornamental fish. This was not an uncontentious act, but it was felt important to focus on the original focus for the gardens: plants.
The glasshouses are surrounded by brick buildings that have been added on a piecemeal process. This means that the amount of light that should be getting into the glasshouses has been limited. The Palm House used to be double height, but sadly it was damaged a storm in the late 1960s and the top had to be removed. The future plan is to remove these brick buildings and to restore all the glasshouses to their former glory. To do this all the plants have to be relocated - all of them. Think about that for a moment: that is no small task. It is planned that this will take four to five years to complete and they are not intending closing the gardens. So things will be in a state of change for a few years which I think in itself will be interesting to see.
The original entry house will be restored and a new courtyard will be created where the brick buildings will be removed. Also there will be a new fancy visitor centre and an education centre. It all sounds really exciting....
and really expensive.... it is really expensive: c: £19m is required and they almost have all of the funding, almost but not quite, they still need donations. Part of this has come from lottery funding but more than half has been independently sourced. To date they have had no state funding. This is quite an achievement.
The glasshouses need urgent restoration, when you are looking around them if you look beyond the plants (which is hard for me to do) you can see they need some attention.
So, not a lot of photos from this part of the visit as I was too busy listening to what we were being told. I make a half-hearted apology for this. What I will say is that I would encourage anyone to visit these gardens if you can. I think visiting now to get the 'before' picture and then as the work is being done will be fascinating. The nearest train station is about 20 minutes walk, there are buses, taxis and if you drive they have a car park which is not free which would usually make me grumpy, but just consider the payment part of your contribution to keeping these gardens for the future. If you want to donate to help the gardens reach their target then you can do so here.
I am already arranging to go back and visit with a friend. Excited at the thought already.
When I'm over there next, I'll put it on my "plan to visit" list. Thanks for sharing the highlights and the information!
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