This year rather than our usual month-long trip to France we did a two week camping trip to visit family around the UK along with day trips out from London. With vulnerable family members to consider, we have on the whole stayed outside with lots of walking, cycling, pony trekking and swimming in lakes, and even the sea! In addition we have embraced outdoor heritage by visiting National Trust and English Heritage properties, amongst other attractions, including:
Eltham Palace - a firm family favourite after the last visit when we were wowed by the Art Deco interiors of the Palace and the adult dressing up area. This time we visited before the building had reopened so we were able to explore the gardens which we didn’t have time for last time. English Heritage provided family trails, with noticeboards as a reminder along the way, which definitely added to our visit. My children and their friends also detoured off into the long meadow to spot grasshoppers, butterflies and other insects;
Osterley Park - another place we usually visit in summer as a half way point to meet friends and as we have never been in the house our visit was similar to last time. We took the play trail through the woods and had a great view of the House. Only the rope swings had been tied up and weren’t to be used this time;
Chiswick House and Gardens - again we just explored the gardens, not the house, with friends who live near there. We were impressed with the size of the gardens and the statues we spotted especially as this is accessible for free - a great resource for locals during lockdown;
Owl Sanctuary & various Farms - we camped on two different farms with the first also having an owl sanctuary, at Red Lion Farm in Haughton near Stafford. The staff kindly opened up early for us as we had to head off and we had a personal tour meeting owls with names like Frodo and Bilbo, and one called Molly that featured in a Harry Potter film! The farm animals varied from cows, horses, ducks, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, to alpaca and even Meerkats;
NorthBay Heritage Railway - in Scarborough we enjoyed taking the heritage trains from Scalby Mills to Peasholm Park with the chatty train driver filling us in on the history from when it opened in 1931. We also tried out the historic water chute at Northstead Manor Gardens - lots of fun but we got rather wet;
Scarborough castle - we loved the calm of the castle in comparison to the hectic South Beach below with it’s great views and headland space. As this was another English Heritage property we did the family trail again and even played a game which reminded me of What’s the Time Mr Wolf and Grandmother’s Footsteps from my childhood;
Cinder track - from Scarborough to Whitby there is a track that follows the route of the disused railway, that you can cycle or walk along and it is relatively flat. We cycled from Scalby to Hayburn Wyke where we stopped for lunch in the pub there before visiting the nearby waterfall and cove;
Sculptures along Scarborough beaches - there are a number of statues including ‘Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers' by artist Ray Lonsdale, based on a retired miner who turned out to also be one of the first soldiers to relieve the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the end of World War II. It represents all the normal people that were pulled out of an ordinary life and made to fight for their country;
Beverley Minster - sadly you can only look at the exterior of the Minster at present unless you attend a service. I was looking forward to finding my Great Uncle Lesley Gabbott’s name on a plaque inside as he fought for a local regiment in World War 1 but we will have to go back.
I would like to thank all of the staff for making our visits thoroughly enjoyable. I am sure that it has been difficult for each attraction to work out the best approach to be able to reopen post the COVID-19 lockdown. Booking in advance has been no problem and having limited numbers of people has actually made our visits more enjoyable. We are planning to return to visiting museums and galleries soon but having a summer of relatively good weather has definitely been a bonus for staying safe!
Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers by artist Ray Lonsdale