Kew Gardens - a short ride on the tube I thought. How wrong I was. It was four years since I had been in London and the Circle and District Lines were both closed for maintenance this weekend causing quite a few problems for the tourists and locals alike. Next, the tube to Kew Gardens was busy - I had picked a bad weekend as the rugby was on at Twickenham with England playing the Kiwi's.

Getting to Kew gardens is relatively simple just a short walk from the tube, cross over the line and straight up the avenue 300m to the entrance.

I had never visited Kew gardens before but had passed over many times on flying into Heathrow. Quick tip - if flying in from Edinburgh, Glasgow etc try and get a seat on the right-hand of the plane as often the plane approach from the East of London and fly up the Thames passing just South of central London. On one flight as we were passing over the Millenium Dome the announcement was made "Those of you seated on the right of the plane can see the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace etc while those of you on the left of the plane can see the heads of those seated on the right!"

With mist in the air and frost on the ground that Saturday morning I travelled from Cambridge to Kings Cross and took the tube to Kew Gardens hoping the mist and frost would still be there by the time I arrived - they were. Kew Gardens is so big its difficult to know where to start. Maybe the best idea is to take the "train" around and have a look-see before heading out on foot. With not a lot of time I wandered around shooting frost on the plants, trying to capture the mist and sunlight beaming through the trees and anything else that took my fancy.

This autumn there was a display of glass art with pieces up to 4 metres high which features in my photographs below. These photographs are of the pieces in the grounds and not in the main pavillion.

Two hours was enough to have a look around think and about viewpoints that may be of interest the next time I go. So, off to the hotel to check in and then head off to the British Museum.