WALKING THE PARK


Walking the Park


Smith’s Lawn and Valley Gardens is just one of several walks in Andrew Fielder’s Windsor Great Park – A Visitor’s Guide


rough-mown grass area adjacent to The Duke’s Ground at Guards Polo Club. The Valley Gardens are a creation masterminded by


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Sir Eric Savill. Work began here after Wold War Two and a key factor for Sir Eric was to make the best use of the natural topography of the landscape and select plants that would thrive in the sandy, poor, free-draining soil. There are streams flowing down towards Virginia Water and the valleys through which they flow make for miniature landscape and planning projects in their own right. The Valley Gardens are a place where garden enthusiasts can come along and glean ideas to take home for their own projects, combined with a fabulous year-round floral display, plus a wide variety of trees, plants and shrubs. With a total of 250 acres to see, there is something here for everybody who enjoys just being out in a garden. The walkways, paths and rides combine to form a natural maze and at certain times of the year, when the displays reach their most colourful crescendo, the sight and smell of the Valley Gardens can literally take your breath away. The best way to enjoy the Gardens is just to walk wherever your feet


take you. Don’t worry about following a map or route – it’s virtually impossible to get lost inside the Gardens but it is easily possible to spend


100


he entrance to the Valley Gardens and the car park is situated alongside a small group of estate workers’ cottages just across from the


a few hours simply savouring and enjoying the landscape and the planting. There are a number of key landmarks set within the Gardens that you will encounter on your walk. The visual highlight in early May has to be the


Punchbowl, with its fabulous display of azaleas in full flower. Wandering along the pathways and rides will eventually lead you to the Plunket Memorial Pavilion, where you can enjoy a splendid view down a grassy valley to Virginia Water. The Memorial was constructed in 1979 and is dedicated to the memory of Patrick Plunket, Deputy Master of the Royal Household. The Heather Garden, which is located on the site of an ancient gravel works, is often overlooked by visitors


whose eyes are immediately drawn to the stately trees and overwhelming array of colourful season shrubs just ahead of them. However if you take time out to wander around this miniature woodland you will find a remarkable collection of evergreens and heathers which can brighten up even the dullest of days, particularly in late winter. A walk to the north-eastern corner of the Valley Gardens will take you


to Canadian Avenue and the Totem Pole. A visit here in autumn will reward you with a memorable display of tints and colours. The avenue of red oaks, possibly planted by the Canadian Forestry Battalion which was stationed at Smith’s Lawn during World War One, show themselves off in their finest array during the months of “mists and mellow fruitfulness”.


GUARDS POLO CLUB OFFICIAL YEARBOOK 2011


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