Topiary And Topiary Gardens To see In London, England and Britain

House with steep roof created by topiary.
Glasshouse by David Stowell in Wikipedia.

Lambeth - Garden Museum in and around Church.

Problem
Where to start?

Answer
The most easy to reach is the one in London, the Garden Museum in a former church by a bridge, Lambeth, London, England.

How to Get There
It is by Lambeth bridge which crosses the River Thames. Nearest London underground (nicknamed the tube) is Vauxhall. Combine with a trip to see the London Eye. If you are a walker you might also consider Lambeth North station or Westminster.

Look at a tube map and you'll see that Vauxhall is on the blue Victoria line, two stops south of Victoria underground station, four stops from Oxford Circus, 6 stops from Euston.
Lambeth North is on the Bakerloo line, (so called because it runs from Baker Street to Waterloo), one stop south of Waterloo.

http://topiaryintheuk.co.uk/garden-museum/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_Museum
https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/visit/

Shop and cafe free.
Fee for entry to the museum and garden.

If you are prepared to travel further, go to Little Moreton Hall, Also known as Little Moreton Hall, four miles from Congleton in Cheshire. (National Trust.) You might want to join the National Trust for a year if you plan to visit a few of their properties.

Little Moreton Hall, Knot Garden, photo by Chris Gunns, in Wikipedia.

What is a knot garden? It is a symmetrical garden with a square pattern which became popular in Elizabethan times. You will see a lot of these formal gardens in France, especially in the Chateaux of the Loire valley. A complete contrast to the English Garden style of Capability Brown who created vistas of  what looked like free form lakes and trees and mounds in the distance which appear as if they had grown naturally.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Ten Reasons to enjoy Canada, the maple leaf and maple syrup

Problem
We could not get to Canada to see the 150th celebrations.

Answer
Never mind. We celebrate Canada every day with 100 per cent maple syrup on our porridge.

Story
What do I like most about Canada?
1 Maple syrup!
2 Niagara Falls.
3 No guns.
4 Walkways in the sky between buildings so you can get around the city of Toronto when it's snowing in the streets.
5 Vancouver - my favourite city.
6 Chateaux hotels.
7 State staff in Ottawa have to speak both French and English - an idea we should copy.
8 Easily identifiable flag. Red maple leaf.
9 Houdini museum - on my wish list, at Niagara Falls.
10 You can practise your French.

What do I like least? The French accent is not the same as in Paris. Oh, well, I shall have to live with that. At least the written language is the same as the French I learned at school.

Tip
You can see the fireworks and celebrations in the BBC article.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40468161

I've tried not a hundred per cent maple syrup which is cheaper but it doesn't taste as good so now I buy the real thing.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (More on maple syrup in the next post. Please share links to your favourite posts.)