Westonbirt Arboretum

In the Acer glade

We decided to drop into Westonbirt on the way back from a flying visit to Somerset. I had got the idea from an interesting piece on autumn walks in last Saturday's Daily Telegraph. We didn't arrive until nearly 4pm, when it was already getting dark, and initially it seemed that we might have made a wasted effort. However, although we saw less than we had expected, the great benefit of arriving late in the day was that most people had already left, or at least were on their way out - the number of cars in the car parks, and the trampled muddy grass, strongly indicated that massive numbers had been there earlier in the day. I took fewer photographs than I would have wished, but at least they weren't full of other people taking photographs.

We had read about the seasonal trails through the arboretum and in the time available before dusk we opted to follow shorter trail, through the Old Arboretum (the other trail goes through the much larger Silk wood).

Leaving the restaurant/shop complex, you follow a mud path into the Old Arboretum and are quickly presented with the Savill Glade, an area of mature trees dating back to when the Arboretum was founded in the 1850s by Robert Stayner Holford.



Soon the path leads to the first of many wonderful Japanese maples (acer palmata).



Then you reach Holford Ride, with Westonbirt House (a school since 1928) framed at the end. One might think that the ride was laid out in order to see and be seen from the house, but in fact the reverse is true. Holford knocked down the house built by his father only 40 years earlier and built Westonbirt House, positioned in such a way that he could look down Holford Ride.



A few steps from here brings you to the Acer Glade, epicentre of the autumn colours at Westonbirt. Apart from the colours, the shapes of the trees and their sinuous branches add interest and beauty.



Further on, we marveled at this Oriental Plane, with its multiple trunks and great spreading canopy.



And in Specimen Row, we were staggered to learn that the beautiful Ginkgo, with its delicate, butterfly-like leaves, was the first tree to evolve, some 250 million years ago.



Distance: no more than 1.5 miles.

Rating: four stars. A wonderful experience. A gentle, winding walk through a garden devoted only to trees, planted in the aesthetic or romantic style - for appearance or effect and not in formal rows. We know we have only scratched the surface and can't wait to return.