"Opened on International Biodiversity Day, 2008, the Treetop Walkway stands in the Arboretum, between the Temperate House and the Lake. It was designed by Marks Barfield Architects, who also designed the London Eye. The 18-metre high, 200-metre walkway enables visitors to wlk around the crowns of lime, sweet chestnut and oak trees. Supported by rusted steel columns that blend in with the natural environment, it provides opportunities for inspecting birds, insects, lichen and fungi at close quarters, as well as seeing blossom emerging and seed pods bursting open in Spring. The walkway's structure is based on a Fibonacci numerical sequence, which is often present in nature's growth patterns."
We took the lift up to the top as neither of us could face climbing up the stairs. From the top there was a great view of the treetops.
As well as seeing the tops of the trees, I realised that Wembley Arch could by seen between the high-rise buildings in the distance.
Below is a view through the trees of the opposite side of the walkway and the section holding the lift, with the stairs just behind it.
The photograph below shows the view over the side, looking down onto the ground below that can just be seen between the tree with cream flowers and the tree with darker leaves.
There are circular areas where the Walkway paths are joined together and, in some of these, the wire mesh floor is warped and uneven - which is very disconcerting when you are so far above the ground. Even more disconcerting was approaching an area where a couple of children were jumping up-and-down on the uneven surface and making it even more scary!
We walked down the stairs and I took a few photographs on the way down.
No comments:
Post a Comment