Join us during Birmingham Heritage week for a gentle and unique tour around the Edgbaston Guinea Gardens. As one of only four surviving allotments gardens in this style in the UK, the tour offers a rare insight into the history of both allotments gardens and Birmingham as it developed though the Industrial revolution.
The Gardens survive as a unique link back to the gardeners of the eighteenth century. Although they were established by the 3rd Lord Calthorpe in 1844 they were laid out in the manner of the detached town gardens which existed around Birmingham in the eighteenth century before city expansion swallowed them. They comprised six acres of land returned to the Calthorpe Estate by the Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society who were struggling financially.
How to get there:
The allotments can only be accessed off Westbourne Road. From Birmingham you’ll pass the botanical gardens on your left-hand side. About 80 meters past the entrance (before bus stop) there is a track on the left signposted Edgbaston tennis club. Turn down the track and head right to the bottom until you come to Edgbaston Guinea Garden Gates. Access from other directions is not possible. The bus 23/24 stop next to the access track to the allotments.
Organised by Edgbaston Guinea Gardens Allotment Society
DATE & TIME
Sat 12 Sept | 2pm-3.30pm
Thu 17 Sept | 5.30pm-7pm
LOCATION
Edgbaston Guinea Gardens, Westbourne Road, Edgbaston. B15 3TR
(this is not an exact post code as the site does not have one – this is the closest reference point)
COST
£10
BOOKING
Booking required
ACCESS
While the gardens are relatively flat, the track that will be used is very uneven and not paved in any way, this may cause difficulties for some wheelchair users.