1950s

An aerial photograph taken in July 1958 of the new Eastern section of the Garden, looking north towards the centre of Cambridge.  The whole of the eastern area has now been cleared and the snaking pathways are clearly marked out.  To the south of Cory Lodge (centre) is a pile of soil from the path clearing; this mound is to become the Limestone Ecological Mound in the British Wild Flower section of the new extension.  Apart from some trees, so far none of the later plantings have been developed. To the north of Cory Lodge is the Cory Laboratory and experimental glasshouses, built in 1957, in the private area of the Garden.  © Cambridge University Centre for Aerial Photography (CUCAP)

A 1922 Map of the Garden featured in Humphrey Gilbert-Carter’s Guide to the Botanic Garden.  The layout of the nineteenth-century had not changed fundamentally by the 1950s.  Serpentine ‘gardenesque’ paths encircled the Garden. These were named West Walk, Border Walk, East Walk and South Walk.  That in front of the glasshouses was known as Lynch Walk.  The Garden was dissected by two straight paths forming a ‘T’ where the Main Walk joined Broad Walk and a curving Middle Walk.  The main entrance to the Garden was to the west from Trumpington Road, across Hobson’s Stream; the stream is within the garden boundary.  There was a side entrance and bicycle park on Bateman Street.  The tree collection features prominently in this guide with trees planted at regular intervals along the various walks.

From the Air Home:  The Garden in the 1960s:  The Garden in the 1970s:  The Garden in the 1980s:  The Garden in the 1990s:  The Garden in 2000s