The Woodland Walk

At the top of the Serpentine Garden, the Woodland Arch, or “WA” marks the entrance to the Woodland Walk and the Waterworks. Charlie made the WA out of steamed bent wood and created the Waterworks, with 14 cascading pools, connecting streams and waterfalls that he carved out of the otherwise dry woodland.

Barbara experiments here with shade-loving plants and woodland treasures. Charlie built two brightly colored bridges, one yellow, the other bright blue, to lead over the moving streams to sitting areas along the way. Boulders encase the crystal lined outline of Persephone, created by the sculptor, Simon Verity. Water spills over Persephone’s head into pools below, opposite a small orange bench and bridge Charlie added to allow the viewer to stop and admire her.

A new loop in the Woodland entices Barbara to extend the plantings to the bottom of the orchard.  Another of Charlie’s steamed, bent wood creations looks quite a lot like a ship’s mast and is covered in fragrant, autumn-flowering clematis.