The Duchess of Northumberland has appointed Disney-trained theme-park developer Christian Perdrier to bring his expertise to Alnwick Garden, according to the article Alnwick aims to Bloom with Disney Magic by Chris Tighe in the FT last Saturday (31st October). It’s a venue that Perdrier, alarmingly, refers to as “Alnwick resort”, although he denies wanting to turn it into a theme park.
Has your heart sunk? Apparently, we (the public) but want to absorb history through interactive methods, which, according to the article, may include “holograms, enactments and film special effects”.
AAAGH!
But hold on. Alnwick was one of the most disappointing gardens I’ve visited, so would a different emphasis be a Good Thing? For anyone who’s been and can’t quite put their finger on what was wrong, Robin Lane Fox ran his expert eye over it in 2007 in his FT article Wild, Wacky and Not Quite Right and is well worth reading (the Duchess of Northumberland set him right on costs a couple of weeks later).
Nor am I alone in my disappointment. Most of the reviewers at www.gardenvisit.com felt the same.
For me, one of the main troubles was that the big impact comes too soon; the cascade is the first thing you see. Everything else felt tacked on round the edges. I also got the distinct impression of someone, or a group, sitting down and, not sketching a garden as you might expect, but making a list. What shall we have? A treehouse! What else? A maze! How about sculptures? Make those interactive. And educational!
The most enjoyable bit was the Poison Garden, gates adorned with skull and crossbones. But the fact that you are only to enter with a guide and can’t linger struck me as gimmicky at best, condescending at worst. Adults aren’t known for stuffing leaves in their mouths willy-nilly (and if they do, they get what they deserve). And the exit should be at the other end of the Poison Garden so that you don’t have to return to the entrance through another guided group.
The garden isn't yet finished. Future plans include extending the garden and adding an adventure play area. It would be lovely if it grew into a garden with a greater feeling of unity. On the other hand, thousands are lured to Alnwick because of its Harry Potter connections, so maybe it should go the whole hog(warts) and become a permanent film set.
Note: you'll have to register to look at FT articles but it's pretty painless, and you're allowed ten free peeks a month.
...Landscape Juice Network
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