ONE of the country's oldest and most spectacular arboretums has finally been opened to the public after almost 200 years.

Arley Arboretum, in Upper Arley, with its "magnificent" trees up to 150 ft tall, is now open regularly for the first time since it was founded in 1820.

The Earl of Lichfield officially opened the 15-acre site on Monday when he handed over a cheque for £10,000 to the Acorns Children's Hospice Trust, which is appealing for funds to build a new Worcester hospice for terminally-ill children from Worcestershire, Gloucester-shire and Herefordshire.

The original horse shoe-shaped arboretum now has a three-acre extension, bisected by a 300-yard long Turner "ride", or avenue.

"It's all been planted with new species and we've also replicated some of the very successful original species such as Wellingtonias and Crimean pines," explained David Binnian, the agent of the estate.

The avenue is named after Roger Turner, an industrialist and philanthropist who saved the arboretum from ruin when he bought it - and the 1600-acre Arley Estate - in 1959.

"He rescued it and brought it back to life. Like lots of arboretums after the war it had become run down," he added.

Mr Turner died three years ago and left the estate to the RD Turner Charitable Trust, which he set up in 1969. The trustees then decided to extend it.

Mr Binnian, a dendrologist - someone who studies trees - added: "It's an important arboretum. The older area contains a Crimean pine over 150 ft in height."

"There is also a Grade II listed walled-in garden extending to three acres which is divided into four compartments. One is the Italian garden, which contains pools and a gazebo."

Mr Binnian said the arboretum - now open every Wednesday and Sunday between April 1 and October 31 - is "educational" and will eventually be as popular as Wolverley's Bodenham Arboretum which attracts 20,000 visitors a year.