The Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew make a wonderful day out away from the hustle and bustle of central London. Learn 5 new things from Blue Badge Guide Patricia Gentry on: * How the gardens evolved from hunting grounds to a private royal pleasure garden, and then into a public garden for all to appreciate * Kew Gardens’ largest champion tree * The ‘Loneliest Bachelor in the World’ * The smallest of all royal palaces in England * How Kew Gardens became a clearinghouse for rubber seeds and saved the Amazon Rainforest

The once-marshy neighbourhood of Bankside was previously a military garrison within the City of London limits. Museum of London archaeologists discovered Roman warehouses here during the development of the Jubilee Line. The Norsemen were here too. King Alfred’s battling with the Vikings gives us the nursery rhyme ‘London Bridge is falling down.’