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Spectator
24-07-2025
- General
- Spectator
The secrets of the Palm House at Kew
The news that the Palm House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, will begin a £60 million, five-year renovation in 2027 brought back to me a slew of memories from 1978, when I worked there for several months. The extraordinary fame and innovative nature of this unique Victorian building, with its curvilinear, cruciform shape, designed by Decimus Burton and constructed by Richard Turner, seemed to confer a kind of grandeur and significance on an otherwise pretty lowly and scruffy horticultural student. The special treat was the periodic 'weekend duty' when, after turning the enormous iron key in the door at eight o'clock on a weekend morning, for two blissful hours I had the entire building to myself, before the visitors began to wander in. Alone, that is, apart from the sparrows chattering high up in the palms and the menacing cockroaches that lived underneath the floor and came up through the vents to get at the bananas before we could. The temperature in the Palm House is kept at 21°C all year round, and my first task was to increase humidity by damping down the floors and spraying the leaves of tall palms, creating my own personal tropical rainstorm with a heavy-duty hosepipe. I wore the black leather clogs, with metal rails nailed to the wooden soles, that I had been issued on my first day at Kew, since they were much more comfortable and less slippery than wellington boots. The rest of the day was spent sweeping paths, 'picking over' dead leaves and watering pots on the staging – dull work enlivened by the presence of 1,000 plant species, from cocoa and rubber to jade vine and Madagascar periwinkle. The unpronounceable Latin name on the label protected the coca plants from theft. My only anxiety was that my inexpert watering might see off the oldest plant at Kew, an enormous cycad, Encephalartos altensteinii, from the Eastern Cape that had been collected in 1775 and lived in a crate in the Palm House since its opening. Every time I visit the Palm House, I give its leaning trunk an affectionate pat. One of the aims of the renovation is to change the heating system from gas boilers to air and water source pumps, in a drive to achieve carbon neutrality. That's a far cry from the original 12 coal-fired boilers, situated deep below the house, the smoke from which emerged from the Italian Romanesque campanile near the Victoria Gate. During the second world war, Kew's position close to the River Thames – a landmark used by Luftwaffe bombers to navigate on moonlit nights – resulted, on more than one occasion, in high explosive bombs falling on the gardens. One night, many of the panes in the Palm House were blown out, and the nearby Waterlily House (which is also to be renovated) was badly damaged. It must have been the devil's own job in wartime to source replacement curved panes of glass. Eighty years later, the 16,500 panes will be made of 'high-performance sealed glazing' to help confound the contemporary enemy, global warming. Things felt rather simpler in 1978.
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Kew Gardens' Palm House is getting a £50 million climate-friendly makeover: Iconic Victorian glasshouse will SHUT for four years in major net zero push
It's one of the most iconic glass buildings in London. Now, experts have confirmed that Kew Gardens' Palm House is getting a £50 million climate-friendly makeover. The Grade I listed Palm House, a 362ft long structure at Kew Gardens, is the world's oldest surviving Victorian glasshouse, dating back to 1848. Last renovated in the 1980s, the stunning Victorian structure, which takes the shape of an upside down boat, houses palms and other tropical plants. But it is 'showing serious signs of deterioration' and easily leaks heat, which increases energy consumption and contributes to the climate crisis. The £50 million renovation will replace an antiquated Victorian heating system, fit new glass panes, repaint the white iron frames and redesign the interior for visitors. Palm House's hard-to-find exotic species – numbering more than 1,000 – are threatened if the building is not better designed to retain heat and humidity. 'At the heart of this project is the need to protect the extraordinary plant collections,' said Tom Pickering, head of glasshouse collections for Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. 'Besides being beautiful, many have cultural, scientific and conservation value, and replacing these collections is unimaginable.' On Wednesday, Kew submitted a planning application to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames to undertake the 'landmark' renovation, as well as the nearby Waterlily House. The start date of the renovation will depend on planning permission, but it will begin in 2027 and take at least four years, subject to funding. For now, Palm House and the surrounding space is still open to the public. It was back in 1844 that work began on Palm House, designed by Decimus Burton and constructed like the upturned hull of a boat by Irish boatbuilder Richard Turner. By 1848 it was completed and it remains the heart of Kew Gardens, but today it is 'showing serious signs of deterioration' and is 'not energy efficient'. As part of the renovation, the structure's aged Victorian gas-fired boilers are to be replaced with fully electrified heat pumps to halve energy consumption. This more sustainable solution reduces the carbon footprint of the glasshouse whilst regulating internal temperatures to 64°F-71°F (18°C-22°C). Each one of the 16,000 glass panes will be recycled and replaced with new ones, lined with modern sealants to better retain heat and humidity. Currently, much of the heat generated by the boilers is lost through the glass, which results in wasted energy – much like an open window above a radiator. Kew Gardens is hoping to be 'net zero', which means it will be reducing consumption of energy generated by fossil fuels – linked to the ongoing climate crisis. Meanwhile, the rapidly-peeling wrought-iron frames that make up the skeleton of the structure will be stripped and repainted in their iconic white. An updated Palm House will also have rainwater storage mechanisms and fabric fittings to increase thermal insulation, while remaining 'sensitive' to the original materials and finishes done by the Victorians. When it reopens, visitors will benefit from a 'circular welcome space' for groups to gather, refurbished steps and doors and new handrails to improve accessibility – making the space 'fully inclusive'. During the renovation, the vast greenhouse will have to be empty, so more than 1,000 plant species will have relocated and stored in similarly heated conditions. According to Kew Gardens, Palm House contains tropical plants that originate from some of the most threatened environments in the world. Among its treasures are the oldest pot plant in the world (Encephalartos altensteinii) which arrived at Kew in 1775 and is native to South Africa, and the disease-fighting Madagascar periwinkle, valued for medicinal properties. There's also the Madagascan palm, also known as suicide palm, which lives for about 50 years, flowers once, and dies soon after. The relocation and propagation (new plants grown from seeds and cuttings) of the specimens by Kew's expert horticulturists has already begun. But Kew Gardens stressed that it is still seeking funding for this ambitious project – and is taking donations from the public through its website. Without 'urgent' funding, Palm House and Waterlily House, and the vital tropical plant species in them, are 'at risk of being lost forever', it says. Richard Deverell, director of Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, called it a 'pivotal moment' in the history of the gardens, which were founded in 1759. 'With sustainability at the core of our mission, this project exemplifies our commitment to safeguarding both the environment and cultural heritage,' he said. 'The transformation of the Palm House and Waterlily House into net zero icons will not only protect irreplaceable plants but serve as a beacon of what sustainable heritage can achieve.' Palm House reflects a Victorian love of glass buildings, which maximised light but were incredibly expensive to build, making them a status symbol of wealth. The 1,851ft-long Crystal Palace, completed three years after Palm House, boasted the greatest area of glass ever seen in a building. Designed by renowned English architect Sir Joseph Paxton, the Crystal Palace was built in Hyde Park at a cost of £80,000 (nearly £10 million in today's money). It hosted the Great Exhibition of 1851 – a vast event showcasing sculptures, machinery, diamonds, telescopes and much more from around the world. Afterwards, Crystal Palace was relocated to Penge Common, near Sydenham Hill in south London, where it remained until sadly destroyed by fire in November 1936. A potted history of Kew Gardens 1759: Princess Augusta, mother of King George III, founds a nine-acre botanic garden within the pleasure grounds at Kew. 1762: William Chambers builds the Great Pagoda, a tall, oriental-style structure at Kew. 1768: Joseph Banks sends seeds to Kew whilst on Captain Cook's voyage to South Seas, and becomes Kew's first unofficial director on his return. 1772: Francis Masson, Kew's first plant collector, goes to South Africa and returns with thousands of plants. 1773: Capability Brown creates the Hollow Walk, now the Rhododendron Dell. 1788: HMS Bounty goes to Tahiti with two Kew gardeners and collects 1,000 breadfruit plants. En route to Jamaica, the crew mutinies. 1802: King George III unites the Richmond and Kew estates. 1840: Kew transferred from the Crown to the government. Sir William Hooker is appointed director. The Gardens are opened to the public. 1841: Joseph Hooker brings plants from Falklands to Kew in glazed Wardian cases, a new way to keep plants alive on voyages. 1848: The Palm House -a grand glass structure housing palms and tropical plants - is completed. 1852: The Herbarium is built. Today, after five extensions, it holds over seven million specimens. 1863: The Temperate House - a showhouse for Kew's largest plants - opens. 1876: Jodrell Laboratory is built. Work begins on plant pathology, and later on cells that produce latex. 1889: Titan arum (corpse flower) blooms at Kew, the first time outside its native Sumatra. 1896: Women are first employed as gardeners at Kew. 1899: Temperate House is completed. 1911: Japanese Gateway 'Chokushi-Mon' is presented to Kew. 1913: Suffragettes attack glasshouse and burn down Kew's tea pavilion. Two are jailed. 1939: Dig for Victory! Vegetables and medicinal plants are grown at Kew to support the war effort. 1952: Crick and Watson discover structure of DNA; a breakthrough that underpins Kew's current scientific research on genetic diversity of plants. 1965: Seed research begins in Kew's Plant Physiology department. 1987: Princess of Wales conservatory is opened. 1997: Wellcome Trust donation enables construction of the Millennium Seed Bank. 2003: Kew Gardens is officially inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Davies House opens. 2009: The Queen and Prince Phillip visit to celebrate Kew's 250th anniversary. The Herbarium and Library are extended to accommodate 30,000 items added each year.
West Australian
22-06-2025
- West Australian
Fleetwood is more than a Fisherman's Friend
I wasn't sure what to expect from Fleetwood, a fishing town out on a limb, perched where the River Wyre meets the vast tidal waters of Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea. But the inveterate traveller in me couldn't resist riding the tram from Blackpool to the end of the line, where the North Euston Hotel is the first of many surprises piquing my interest. A curvy grand dame with neoclassical features, it came about thanks to a partnership between two men: local landowner, politician and financier Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood and Decimus Burton, an esteemed architect who embellished many of London's royal parks and upscale streets. Peeking into the hotel (it's still operating), I walk through the kempt gardens opposite, where there's a bronze statue of Hesketh-Fleetwood, then cross to the esplanade, where plaques and information boards convey the story of this Lancashire outpost, from its ancient history — think Romans, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons — to the creation in 1841 of Fleetwood, one of England's first planned Victorian towns. A liberal-minded gent, Hesketh-Fleetwood envisaged this as a holiday resort for the working class of the north of England. The seeds were planted in his mind when he visited St Leonards-on-Sea, a new resort that Burton had conjured next to Hastings, a fishing town on England's south coast. At the tip of the Fylde peninsula, Fleetwood was fashioned during the advent of the railways and linked by a new line to London via Preston, for whom Hesketh-Fleetwood was a member of parliament. For a brief period in the 1840s, with Britain's west coast mainline not yet completed, Fleetwood became a popular spot for those travelling between England and Scotland. Passengers would come by boat from Scottish ports, stay at the North Euston Hotel, then catch an onward train to London. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert called by in 1847 on their return journey south from Balmoral, their royal retreat in Scotland (Her Majesty gave Hesketh-Fleetwood her white gloves as a gift). Heavily in debt from building the town and its railway, Fleetwood's founder suffered a hammer blow in the 1850s when direct trains started linking Glasgow with London Euston, leaving Fleetwood bypassed. To add salt to the wound, Blackpool was emerging as the premier resort on the Lancashire coast — a crown that, despite many ups and downs, it still holds. While I do love a bit of Blackpool, Fleetwood has its own, sleepier charms. You could walk for ages in peace by the briny waterfront, go crabbing at the boating lake, bag some fish and chips and lay down a blanket by the sand dunes or in the esplanade gardens sloping by the Mount, a hilltop pavilion and events venue from which Fleetwood's first residential streets fanned out. When the tide is favourable, you can board a 10-minute foot ferry across the Wyre estuary to Knott End, a quiet village with its own promenade and pubs. I stick to Fleetwood, admiring other works by Decimus Burton, including two lighthouses he built to aid vessels navigating the bay's treacherous sandbanks. The tallest, the Pharos, a red sandstone tower looming almost 30m above today's parked cars, took inspiration from the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt. I see more of Burton's legacy, including Queen's Terrace, a row of neoclassical houses, where both the architect and Hesketh-Fleetwood lived for a time. Now divided into offices and flats, the terrace neighbours the former Customs House, also designed by Burton and repurposed as the Fleetwood Museum. Well worth the £4 ($8.30) entrance fee, it chronicles the ebbs and flows of a town that developed a more industrial edge, with its expanding port thronging with fishing vessels, shipyards and docks, where cargo from across the globe — Caribbean sugar, Californian grain, Baltic timber and flax — would be unloaded. Maritime exhibits, from fishing nets to models of ocean-going trawlers, dominate the museum. One gallery is dedicated to Fisherman's Friend. Created in 1865 by a Fleetwood pharmacist, James Lofthouse, it fused menthol, eucalyptus and liquorice, helping to soothe the ailments of local mariners who would angle for shrimp and cockles in the bay and go further offshore, fishing in the harsh and frigid North Atlantic waters around Iceland and Greenland. More than five billion of these lozenges are still produced annually in Fleetwood with most exported overseas (a screen in the gallery streams Fisherman's Friend TV adverts from countries including Australia). Also in the museum are bygone travel posters of Fleetwood and photographs of the town's favourite sons and daughters, notably the tenor Alfie Boe and world champion boxer Jane Couch, the daughter of a trawler 'decky' (deckhand). The biggest exhibit is Harriet, a ketch-rigged fishing smack (ship) sheltered in a shed out back. Built in Fleetwood in 1893, it was used for catching fish like sole and hake before her retirement in 1977. Pointing out its fine details — including the pitch pine planking on a formidable oak frame — is Peter, one of the museum's volunteers, who has a palpable pride in the town and is keen to share stories and hazy memories from Fleetwood's heyday. He tells me there's still a buzz and bundles of community spirit on Fleetwood Day, one of its annual family-friendly festivals, held in early May. Cut off from the national rail network in the late 1960s and with its fishing industry in decline since the 'cod wars' of the 1970s, Fleetwood is often regarded as one of England's 'left-behind' coastal towns, scarred by decades of neglect from central government and with pockets of deprivation and one too many boarded-up shops. The town's high street — the first in England to have trams running the full length of it — is lined with down-to-earth watering holes and eateries, charity stores, bookies, booze shops, barbers and beauty parlours. I like the bakeries (full of tempting homemade sausage rolls and vanilla cream buns) and smart retro artworks promoting Fleetwood's pleasures. The liveliest spot in town — at least on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (9am to 4pm) — is the market, which has about 150 indoor and outdoor stalls and a mix of old-fashioned English and cosmopolitan flavours. To an audio backdrop of pop tunes from yesteryear, the chirps of gulls and Lancashire chatter, I wander by everything from clothes and hardware to a classic market cafe and Caribbean and Thai food kiosks. Exiting the market, past a unit selling mobility scooters, I skip by a gang of pensioners with faded sailors' tattoos on their forearms, and head to the Fisherman's Walk tram stop, opposite which is an anchor and a little wooden boat with flowers. Blackpool is just over a half-hour away, but it's a lovely day, and I'm in no rush, so I'll break up the ride with stops at other unsung towns and villages, enjoying walks along their uncluttered promenades and clifftop trails as the Irish Sea sways and sparkles in the afternoon sunshine.
