If you like gardens, Wisley is a nice one to see. I don't remember
how far it is outside of London. Also loved the time museum in
Greenwich - just a short drive from downtown London, or the buses go
there, I believe. You can spend days at the British Museum. You  can
also check to see if any of Beatrix Potter's wonderful studies of
fungi and other natural illustration work is in London. There used to
be some in the Victoria and Albert but I'm not sure if ithey're still
there.  Oops - I just googled- they're mostly in Cumbria in the very
picturesque Lake District in the far northwest, quite a bit of a
distance away. Sorry. If you have a car and time, tho it's definitely
charming. Kew is cool, very cool! England is actually quite small so
even what looks like a long drive is a manageable day trip.

My favorite place there was the drive from London to Stonehenge to
Salisbury. But now Stonehenge is all fenced off and the feel of the
place is ruined by that horror... The Tate is also very much worth a
visit and the walk along the Thames is very lovely.

Kathy


"We are one brief generation in the long march of time; the future is
not ours to erase."  - David Suzuki, scientist/author/environmentalist



On Sep 24, 2006, at 5:18 PM, chris gralapp wrote:

> Hi Geoff and all,
>
> Ever since I saw the book ' Meetings with Remarkable Trees' by Thomas
> Pakenham, I have been very interested in experiencing some of these
> notable
> trees.  Many were brought to England by explorers expressly for large
> estates in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and have been
> growing
> ever since into mammoth beings.  Many are incorporated into
> buildings and
> structures, have Victorian tree houses in them, and are so big they
> have
> rooms inside the trunks.  They are dotted all over Britain, but Kew
> has a
> concentration of remarkable trees, and I must make a pilgrimmage to
> some of
> them, rain or shine!
>
> Thanks for the Kew site!
>
> Best,
>
> Chris
>
> PS< if amyone else has suggestions about London or environs--let  me
> know--we will be staying within walking distance of the British
> Museum,
> whatever neighborhood that might be.
>
>
> Chris Gralapp, MA, CMI
> Medical and Scientific Illustration
> 415 454-6567
> [log in to unmask]
> www.biolumina.com