Birmingham Botanical Gardens

 This weekend I went to Birmingham to my friends wedding. After a two year wait, it was strange to finally be there on the day, to finally see her getting married and to be a part of that day as she was a part of mine. It made me feel as if things had come full circle. So now shes off enjoying the heat of the Grand Canaries and we are having quite a heatwave in wales, which all started just before her big day.

The day was beautiful if not hot. Our start was hampered by trying to drive around Birmingham looking for some sodding trousers because the husband has put on weight and could not squeeze into his good trousers, which he failed to check before the day. 40 minutes before the service was due to start we are riving 10 Min's down roads that had 50 streets coming onto it, but no way to get off, was not my idea of starting the day off good grace, after lots of faffing around we came across a Tesco that sold clothes and after a quick change in the car and with literally  minutes to spare we got to the church in time. the church was a beautiful old Victorian one with beautiful architect. the vicar/minister (whatever he was) was pretty useless and messed up the service on no more than four occasions.

I have put website links for the Church and Gardens at the end of my post

 if you are interested in looking into them yourselves

After lots of picture taking we then went off the the reception at the Botanical Gardens. If the wedding reception was not held there I would never have known there was such a place hidden away in Birmingham, and let me tell you it is beautiful. It really was a great choice for a wedding. with lots of greenery, some topiary, little walks that took you past fountains and an aviary. There are greenhouses with exotic plants and even a butterfly building. A bright sunny day made it seem more lush than was possible, but well worth a look if you are in the area.

The day was only hampered by the air conditioning being broken in the reception room, and on a scorcher of a day, it became less than tolerable on more than one occasion. After some lovely food which included apple and rhubarb crumble with honeycomb ice cream, I took refuge in the gardens near a fountain and I spent at least 30 Min's just listening to the water sat in the shade with a breeze ticking over me and slowly bringing me back to some semblance of life. Birds twittering from the aviary and in the trees made this place feel magical and very relaxing. very little noise from venues or from other people travelled to you and it was truly a little slice of peace in a bustling crazy city.

So after some rather over the top heat and a hunt for clothing more reminiscent of a Norman Wisdom sketch, we ended our day back in a fully air conditioned hotel room, hot, sticky and tired but thoroughly thrilled for having seen some breathtaking beauty and been part of a magical day.

 

St Augustines

Botanical Gardens