Route: The Alnwick Garden
Area: Northumberland
Date of walk: 28th March 2015
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 3.0 miles
Weather: rained most of the time, clearing later
The Alnwick Garden is a unique contemporary garden conceived by the Duchess of Northumberland and created by award winning garden designers. We were passing through Alnwick on our way to our afternoon walk at Dunstanburgh Castle, and this was a good opportunity to visit the garden for the first time
It was overcast and raining, and too early in the gardening season for most of the plants to be showing, but we were struck – awestruck in fact – by the strength of the design, which overcame these issues
We’ve never seen a garden like it, with unique features such as the Grand Cascade, the Poison Garden, and the vast Cherry Orchard. We could only imagine what the garden would look like in summer and we hope to return to see for ourselves
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The Grand Cascade, the centrepiece of the garden
Beech hedging and hornbeam pergolas follow the flow of the cascade
The Ornamental Garden
It’s too early in the season for most perennials, but the hellebores are at their best
We were given an entertaining tour round the Poison Garden
Ivy tunnel in the Poison Garden
One of the many interesting water features in the Serpent Garden
The Bamboo Labyrinth
Looking across the estate as we cross the bridge to the Treehouse
The Treehouse
We walk through woodland, with wild garlic about to come into flower…
…in order to enjoy this view of Alnwick Castle. We’d barely scraped the surface of this amazing place - but hope to be back to see more
