I see from the Google UK page that today is the 250th anniversary of Kew Gardens.
Today it costs £13 to get in. I nearly threw a wobbly at the price on my last visit (just over a year ago, when I took the photo) – the poor lad on the gate didn’t understand my objection, but then, he was too young to remember.
We used to go there when I was a child and I’m pretty sure I remember that it cost one old penny to get through the turnstiles. I’m certain it was 3d when we went decimal, as we noticed that it was one of the few things that actually went down – to 1p.
Just googling this – the good, though uncommon, blogging practice of fact checking – and I find I am not the only one to have noticed the major price increase in the entrance fee. I never expected to quote the FT’s chief business commentator on this blog.
I used to live in Kew in the early 80s, and would walk in at one gate an out at the next on my way home from work. I’ll have to disagree with John Gapper: I think the current entrance fee is way too high, and the Gardens are becoming far too gimmicky.
don't confuse the narrator 