Public Places


The Albert Barracks


“To the rear of the chalet is an area of wildflower meadow where rare orchids grow. There is also a small museum where stuffed specimens from various hunting trips, from less PC times, are on display, including a five-legged deer!”


One of the nine garden plots provided for the royal children


Red perform. “Rather less for Steps,” says Toby with a smile. “If the weather forecast looks poor, we


are able to use the parking facilities at nearby GKN Aerospace in Cowes,” explains Toby. “This helps enormously to reduce damage and wear to the lawns. The visitors are then transported in, using our fleet of minibuses.” It is one of these minibuses that takes us to our next destination; Swiss Cottage. As we travel through the extensive woodlands, Andy Turner explains that these are managed by a volunteer team of fourteen, with any tree surgery carried out by arboreal contractors. All trees across the site are surveyed on a fifteen month rotation basis. This ensures that they are checked at various stages of their growth. Fortunately, Ash Dieback has not yet reached the island. Once the drop off point is reached, it is a short walk to the Swiss Cottage. It looks, as you might expect, like a typical Swiss chalet, but Toby explains that its construction did not use traditional methods. It was built solely for the children’s use and everything inside is to a seventy percent scale. To the front of the building are nine


garden plots - one for each child. Here, the young princes and princesses were able to grow their own produce, selling


it back to the main house so as to understand business finance. Each child was supplied with their own individually labelled wheelbarrow and cart. These are now on display in a small thatched building, the bricks having been handmade by the children, who also helped with its construction. These garden plots are now maintained by Toby’s team and the produce is still sent up to the main house. To the right of the chalet is The Albert Barracks, a model hill fort consisting of a star shaped defensive moat and guardroom. Again, the bricks were handmade by the children. Mini canons and an attack moat complete the play area, which was continually enjoyed by three generations of royal offspring. To the rear of the chalet is an area of wildflower meadow where rare orchids grow. There is also a small museum where stuffed specimens from various hunting trips, from less PC times, are on display, including a five-legged deer! As we head back to the main house and our final destination, the walled garden, we pass a nine-hole golf course that, whilst it sits within the boundary, is a private members club maintained separately from Osborne. Restoration of the walled garden was completed thirteen years ago and is


Rare orchids grow in the meadow behind Swiss Cottage


102 PC JUNE/JULY 2013


The Walled Garden has been planted with species only available prior to 1901


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148