I had a lovely weekend and this was, in part, due to visiting Kew Gardens to see the Henry Moore. There is an exhibition of his large-scale sculptures in the grounds, forming the largest outdoor exhibition of his work ever held in London.
If you’re in London between now and the end of March, I would recommend a visit.
They’ve employed a clever audio-guide approach where one uses one’s mobile phone. Simply call a single number, agree to the charge for the service and then key in the number displayed next to each exhibit. Each call is the cost of a local phone call (so about 1p) and by using the speaker option on your phone, more than one person can listen. At £4.50 or thereabouts it’s not super-cheap but the commentary was illuminating.
So this saves on using the bespoke audio guides which often feature terrible headphones and unfamiliar interfaces.
[Every audio clip finished with “…thank you for listening to this piece featuring me, Mike Greenwood”. By the end of the 3rd piece you were perfectly aware of me, Mike Greenwood’s extensive involvement. Well done Mike.]
The Kew Gardens site is pretty good as well, allowing visitors to look up specific plants/trees etc. These are then explained and their position within the gardens identified on a map. For example, Monkey Puzzle tree.
