In the Serpent Garden, a topiary snake entices you past a series of sculptures, in which water flows over polished stainless steel and creates a canyon through which you can try to squeeze without getting wet.

There is also a mushroom-shaped structure on which surface tension and viscosity overcome gravity. The display culminates in the Torricelli Fountain, where shrieking children become temporarily trapped in a ring of water.

I
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
‘O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!’

II
Pussy said to the Owl, ‘You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?’
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

III
‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

A previous post of mine reveals the message at the centre of the labyrinth.

Aristotle

William Wordsworth

We were staying right next to Alnwick’s Catholic church and I loved hearing the chime of the church clock overnight. Breakfast was enjoyable and we got chatting to another couple about local history and Hadrian’s Wall. After breakfast we went straight to Alnwick Garden arriving just as the gates opened. This meant the garden was quiet and we could enjoy it in relative peace and quiet. We particularly enjoyed visiting the poison garden, the cherry orchard with its swing chairs, the serpent garden and the labyrinth. We watched the grand cascade as we took lunch outside the restaurant.

After lunch we visited the state rooms in Alnwick Castle. There was an excellent exhibition on the 200th anniversary of Waterloo where we saw and learned things that were new to us such as Major Henry Percy,  ancestor of the Duke of Northumberland, who was tasked by the  Duke of Wellington with the great honour of carrying news of the victory at Waterloo to the English Prince Regent. There was also an exhibition on WWI.

After the castle we made our way to Barter Books so that we could have proper look around. It was then time to return to the B&B so that we could put our feet up before dinner. We dined in a local pub which looked promising but didn’t quite deliver and my Dover sole wasn’t up to scratch. After this slightly unsatisfactory experience we stopped off in a nearby pub before returning to the B&B.