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Alnwick Garden is situated on the estate of the Duke of Northumberland
and was set up by his wife, Jane, The Duchess of Northumberland. The
garden (on a 12 acre site) was opened by Prince Charles in 2002 and
has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in North East
England. The garden appeals to a wide audience, from the proffessional
gardener, down to people who just garden as a relaxing past time. The
garden has excellent access for the disabled, which I think is great.
It has the advantage of being built recently, so such considerations
could be taken into account into the plans.

Its £8 for adults to visit and on a pleasant day you could easily
spend a long morning or afternoon there, but a full day I think might
be a bit long, unless you just want to relax on on one of the many
seats in quiet enclaves surrounded by plants or have kids who can play
in a safe environment. The gardens main feature is a vast stunning
water feature that is built onto a hill, which every half an hour
begins a display that sends the water from the top to the base using
fountains and jets. At the top of the hill is a stunning heavily
planted walled garden, with a large dovecote attached to one of the
walls and a huge range of plants in separated areas, with walkways and
water between them.

Within the main garden is a number of smaller zones, such as the rose
garden, bamboo maze and a selection of ingenious water features,
creating curtains of water and bubble pools. To the left of the large
water display is the poison garden. This garden has been sectioned off
with a large wrought iron garden gate with ornate poison ivy and
spiders which could have came from the set of Harry Potter. (Alnwick
Castle, just a short walk away was used as the school in the film.)
You can only enter this part of the garden with a guide, and on
realising this I was going to give the wait a miss. However, I decided
to wait for the next tour to start and was glad I did. The guide was
informative and humourous and gave a tour of all the deadly and
poisonous plants, with an explanation of the damage they can do. As
well as Marjuana (the first of which had been stolen by a local
enthusiast!) and opium plants, the garden contained plants that can be
found in many suburban gardens. Two examples are foxgloves and
Laburnum trees, both of which if ingested can cause serious illness
and even death.

There was a plant in the garden called Vinca, which is a strain of the
Periwinkle family, the guide explained that is used is used for
treating Luekemia. What was amazing was that the guide told us that
when researching the plant, they discovered that as long ago as the
16th century it was recognised as helping to reduce tumours. The
Elizabethans were clever!

There is new dining facilities within a glass visitor centre where you
can stop for a meal, snack or ice cream and sit and admire the view
from tables on a large patio overloking the garden. There is a well
stocked shopping area with some nice crafty stuff, home made fudges
etc. Within the grounds, near the car park there is one of Europes
largest tree house villages, with a shop, restaurant and rope bridges
connecting the houses. It's great and I reckon if your have young
children they will absolutely love it!

If you have never visited Northumberland before, then Alnwick Garden
is a good reason to make the trip. Northumberland is a great county
with stunning coastlines and castles, Stately homes, Hadrians wall,
the rolling Cheviot Hills and pleasant market towns (Such as historic
Alnwick!), picturesque villages, Northumberland National Park, Kielder
Water (the largest man made lake in Europe) and the dynamic city of
Newcastle Upon Tyne in easy reach. It's a great place for a short
break.