Over half term we visited The Vyne, which is a beautiful Grade 1 listed house in Hampshire. The house developed over time and sits in a beautiful landscaped garden. Exploring The Vyne with kids (and a dog) The kids had a two week half term, so we found that most Halloween activities were over by…
As I told you about our family visit to the pretty cottage where Thomas Hardy was born yesterday, today I’m going to share our visit to Max Gate. This was the house designed by Thomas Hardy (who trained as an architect) and built by his father and brother. Thomas Hardy lived in the house until…
Over the summer we spent a week exploring Dorset, surely one on the prettiest counties in England? The weather was pretty good to us and we were able to use our National Trust membership to explore some new properties, such as Hardy’s Cottage and Max Gate, the home he built in later life. Thomas Hardy…
We recently spent a lovely day exploring Greys Court, a Tudor country house and garden near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. We packed a picnic, the two kids and dog, and went off for the day. The drive was beautiful and before we knew it we had arrived at our destination. We walked the short distance from the…
It seems a while since I shared one of our family days out here. Looking through my photos shows that we’ve had some great days out and I don’t always get round to writing about them. During the half term holidays we were able to explore beautiful Montacute House in Somerset with the kids (and…
Despite having grown up on the Isle of Wight I didn’t know it was possible to take a guided tour of Bembridge Fort which is owned by the National Trust. We recently spent a week on the Isle of Wight and booked a load of fun things to do with the kids. If you’re looking…
Before anyone gets excited I should perhaps clarify the title of this blog post. No, we haven’t been invited to spend Christmas Day at Hughenden Manor, but we visited last weekend to meet Father Christmas and enjoy their winter activities. Hughenden Manor is our favourite National Trust property and we try to visit at least…
Between Christmas and New Year we travelled a lot of miles to see family and friends. We had to plan places to stop to break up the journey and picked Barrington Court in Somerset. It’s owned by the National Trust so was free for us as we are members. A day out at Barrington Court…
We’ve had some amazing days out recently. Whilst we were away in Wiltshire we visited the beautiful gardens at The Courts in Holt near Bradford upon Avon. This place has been on our list for ages so I was really happy that we finally managed to visit. As I get older(!) I find I appreciate…