Days Out

Belton House in Winter – Days Out Scrapbook pg 2

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Saturday night when I got home from seeing some friends in London, hubby and I had a quick chat about what we wanted to do the following day. Checked the weather forecast and Sun all day! Brilliant. We got out our National Trust handbook and started looking at where is open during February that isn’t too far away.

Belton House is somewhere that I remember going to a lot as a kid – in the summer it has an amazing Adventure playground which Monkey will love as he gets older. I *think* these pics were taken there in the early 90’s – I’m sure it has changed a bit since then though!

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Anyway, back to this weekend and the house and adventure playground are closed at this time of year but there is still a lot to see, so we decided to head on up and make the most of the day. It’s near Grantham so only about 40 mins away from us which is easily doable.

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It is a beautiful house set in some amazing grounds -and we had a lovely time exploring the gardens…

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…the maze…

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…and the rest of the grounds. There is a lot of snowdrops blooming too which is just so lovely and very picturesque.

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They have a fantastic ride and play cafe but unfortunately it was really busy today as they had a party booking and we couldn’t get a table, they do have another lovely restaurant though so we had lunch there. Monkey loved his pea soup!

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We had a bit more of an explore after lunch and then little Monkey got tired leggies so had a piggy back on the way back to the car. I asked Hubby to try and get some piccies of Monkey and I as I am usually the one snapping away and we don’t have too many of us together. Clever Daddy got some great pics of us so I am very pleased.

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There are a lot of deer on the estate too but we only saw them from the car so no pictures I’m afraid! We had a fantastic day though and will definitely have to go back as there is plenty more that we didn’t get to see.

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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Days Out Scrapbook – Page 1 – Lyveden New Bield

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Do you ever find that weekends come and go in a blur of chores, shopping, visiting family, playtime etc. without feeling like you’ve made the most of the time together as a family? We do. So we have decided to make more of an effort this year to visit places. To do something different.

To add a fun side we have also decided to make this into a scrapbook for Monkey. He’s too young to remember these days out so we thought it would be nice to start a scrapbook with pictures, ticket stubs, interesting things we found or did on our day out, so he can look back on them as he gets older. As he gets older putting the scrapbook together will also be a fun thing for him to enjoy.

This is my blogged version of that scrapbook.

I am very lucky in that my lovely aunty bought me a lifetime membership to the National Trust quite a few years ago that gives me +1 entry to all National Trust sites.  I did initially think that this would be purely for National Trust places but I think it’s nicer to widen the scope and encompass all days out.

So Page 1!

Yesterday we went to Lyveden New Bield. A small National Trust site but as it is only about 30 mins from home we decided it was a good place to start.

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It looks like a ruin but it’s actually a house that was never completed as the owner, Sir Thomas Tresham died mid-way through. The building was started in 1595 – if you want more of a history please visit the National Trust page – I’m sure it would be more accurate than me!

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On a grey miserable morning it looks very haunting up on a hill in the middle of the Northamptonshire countryside.

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Monkey had on his wellies and his (slightly too big so they look a little like MCHammer trousers) waterproof trousers and he had a whale of a time exploring.

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There’s names carved into the stone all over the building and as much as I don’t approve of general graffiti, it is kinda cool seeing graffiti from 1790 all the way up to now.

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We had a lovely lunch and some tea in the tea rooms, Monkey enjoyed his lunch and we got some free cress in his lunch platter so will have fun growing that at home 🙂

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After a bit of a play with his ball it was time to head home.

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Great start to our new Days Out Scrapbook, stay tuned for many more

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall