Birmingham Botanical Gardens

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden that appeared in the early 1997 episodes of the Teletubbies television series. It only appeared in the first four episodes featuring King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys. They later performed at this same place on July 15, 2012 as a part of the 2012 Brum Jazz Festival. Gangs of Pupils of Chuckery Infant School were also in the botanical gardens, which was filmed in 1995, after the Aviary was built. In addition, their introductions were filmed at the Herbaceous Border. King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys also performed at this location on May 5, 2019 as part of the Swingamajig Music Festival, 24 years after they filmed their nursery rhyme music video selections.

Episode Appearances

• The Grand Old Duke of York (first appearance)

• See-Saw
• Humpty Dumpty
• Hey Diddle Diddle (last appearance)

Trivia

• The Botanical Gardens were originally designed by John Claudius Loudon in 1829, which opened on June 11, 1832.
• On the show, the entire exterior of the Pavilion Tea Room was white, there were a pair of three fir trees that stood in front of the arched structure on both sides of the semi-circle cactus and succulent display, and a deciduous tree in front of the glasshouses. The bandstand was white, had yellow and purple flowers, and also had tall bushes behind and around it.
• The bandstand was built in 1873.
• The aviary was built in 1994-1995, shortly before the nursery rhyme music videos were filmed. It opened on July 2, 1996. On the Teletubbies TV series, the Aviary was in its early stage after construction was completed.
• Between 2002 and 2003, the window sills outside the Pavilion Tea Room, the arch above the semicircle window, and the walls in between the windows that face the Main Lawn were painted gray.
• In 2005, the pair of three fir trees were removed.
• In 2010, the decidious tree was removed.
• In 2011, the bandstand was painted green and the windows in the Pavilion Tea Room that face the Main Lawn were replaced.
• In 2013, the tall bushes behind and around the bandstand were removed. The bushes eventually regrew.
• The Birmingham Botanical Gardens has also appeared in many TV shows.
• In 2012, the Botanical Gardens celebrated its 180th anniversary, and in 2017, its 185th anniversary was celebrated.
• King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys notably performed at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in the years 1995, 2012, and 2019. They performed there to entertain the Pupils of Chuckery Infant School while filming their nursery rhyme music video selections. They then performed there as part of a Brum Jazz Festival on July 15, 2012. They then performed there as part of the Swingamajig Music Festival on May 5, 2019, where a substitute musician in a black single breasted business suit filled in.
• On May 5, 2019, King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys performed at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens as part of the Swingmajig Music Festival, 24 years after they had filmed their nursery rhyme music video selections. However, a substitute musician in a black single breasted business filled in.
• The Swingamajig Music Festival has been held annually at this location since 2014. In 2020, the event was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gallery

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens

The Aviary

The Bandstand

The Loudon Terrace

The Pavilion Tea Room

The Loudon Terrace with the Aviary in the background

The trees at Herbaceous Border

The trees at Herbaceous Border

Another view of the Herbaceous Border trees

The trees at the Herbaceous Border

The garden bed at the Aviary. You can see the bandstand and glasshouses.

The Aviary seen on July 11, 2003.

The main lawn and bandstand seen on July 11, 2003. Parts of the Pavilion Tea Room are now gray instead of white.

View of the main lawn and bandstand on July 11, 2003 from the Loudon Terrace.

The aviary in the distance from the Loudon Terrace.

The bandstand seen in 2004.

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens seen in 2002.

The Main Lawn and Bandstand, and the Aviary

The Main Lawn and Bandstand, Glasshouses and Pavilion Tea Room now.

The Herbaceous Border now.

The Aviary now.

King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys at the Botanical Gardens in the July 15, 2012 Brum Jazz Festival.

The Aviary. You can also see shadows.

Loudon Terrace

The Botanical Gardens

Another shot of the bandstand

Winter at the botanical gardens.

The bandstand in winter.

The aviary in winter.

Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton at the Botanical Gardens in May 1998.

Rare photograph of the Aviary.

Rare photograph of the exterior of the Pavilion Tea Room featuring the Glorishears of Brummagem Morris Dancers on May 8, 1995.

King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys at the Botanical Gardens at the Swingamajig Music Festival on May 5, 2019.

King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys at the Botanical Gardens, alongside the Pupils of Chuckery Infant School.

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King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys at the Botanical Gardens. The Pupils of Chuckery Infant School are also visible.

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Mark Skirving singing Hey Diddle Diddle at the Botanical Gardens.

Mark Skirving singing The Grand Old Duke of York at the Botanical Gardens.