Favourite Trendy Garden Centre
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| The very rustic Petersham Nurseries |
London is surrounded by garden centres, restaurants and cafes but this is the trendiest one I know. It is full of celebrities and the super rich of London and lots of foreign tourists. I love it too but am surprised by its success.
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| The lovely overpriced plants |
The tables and chairs and garden wares are all old, mismatched and rusty, most of the furniture has seen better days and realistically belongs at the tip, the greenhouses are old and tumbled down and the plants and food are all overpriced. BUT ... and this is a BIG BUT ... the restaurant has a Michelin Star and needs to be booked months in advance, the cafe serves the most delicious snacks and cakes and superb coffees and teas, and the plants are amazing, and the whole experience is full of delight and character.
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| Beautiful settings for beautiful plants - I want this orchid £40! |
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| Rustic garden wares |
Petersham is nestled alongside The Thames about two miles outside central Richmond town, and almost opposite the wide open spaces of Richmond Park. It is surprisingly rural given that it is so close to central London and is surrounded by watermeadows and fields full of cattle and horses. The walk from Richmond to Petersham is delightful - especially with Petersham Nurseries to visit at the end of it. Come with me and take a look ...
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| The walk begins at the car park at Richmond Upon Thames riverside |
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| A view to the right to a river crossing |
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| A view to the left to Richmond town bridge |
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| It is still fairly quiet but will get very busy later |
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| The birds are noisy especially the ducks |
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| It was nice to see a crane |
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| The pleasure boat waiting for customers |
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| Now the water meadows begin |
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| You can just see the tips of boats on the river |
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| It is hard to believe we are so close to London |
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| Lovely rural footpath to the nurseries |
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| The building behind the horses is the Royal Star And Garter Home where all the poppies have been made for years by disabled service personal |
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| And here we are at the nursery |
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| Some cycled from town but we walked the two miles from the car |
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| First stop the cafe |
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| The cakes are tempting me |
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| The jams and preserves are all amazing |
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| The snack menu looks tempting |
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| And the lunch menu looks interesting |
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| Even the drinks menu looks good |
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| After dithering we settle on coffee and cake for me and just coffee for him |
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| We collect some iced water |
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| Admire the scenery |
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| Coffee and carrot, chocolate, and coconut cake which he mostly ate! |
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| And this is where we sat in the sun |
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| And this was the view |
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| This is the entrance to the Michelin Star restaurant |
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| Another view of the restaurant |
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| Old clay pots in the shop |
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| Isn't it just amazing? |
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| Another view of cafe seating |
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| This really is a nursery - but it is so much more |
Before I finish this post I want to explain that blogger is really playing up and I just cannot get it to post my photos in a consecutive order - they are just going where they choose and so have given up. I know there are already plenty of pics but some of the better ones just will not post! Hope you enjoy this rather badly organised post anyway. It really was a lovely walk in the sun followed by a lovely walk back and a delicious lunch in Richmond.
