A memorably quiet weekend, thanks to Eyjafjallajökull

While the volcanic ash from Iceland played havoc with many people's travel plans it also provided West London with a weekend of unrivalled quiet. The sunshine seemed to recognise this and did its best to make this weekend something rather special.

The weekend of 17/18 April 2010 is now part of history.

And where better to celebrate this unexpected quiet than Kew Gardens which sits directly under the flightpath of Heathrow's arrivals.

So that's what I did. My third visit there in little over a month and already I'm in profit on my annual membership.

It's a little hard to photograph silence but I hope that this view taken somewhere in the middle of the gardens gives some impression of the tranquillity of that memorable day.

I was feeling so good because of the quite and the sunshine that I ventured up the treetop walkway for the second time and made it all the way around even though the increased numbers meant that it was swaying just enough to be unsettling.

And the best may be yet to come as having wallowed in silence for a few days it is even less likely now that the people of West London will allow the third runway to be built. A great weekend indeed.