My friend and I spent a wonderful few hours at Blickling Hall on Thursday morning and after she told me about the mausoleum walk I couldn't wait to return so with dry weather forecast we packed up some lunch and headed there today.
It was a fairly easy-going walk with no steep hills and the surfaces were fairly hard, with just a few muddy puddles to step around. With my dodgy hip and hubby's bad back we struggle with tough terrain so this was perfect.
The children had a great time exploring somewhere new and the boys used their binoculars to spot a few birds and check out Blickling Hall when we were at the far end of the lake.
The children loved the sight of the Tower and the pyramid mausoleum in the middle of the woods. The mausoleum, built in 1794, is based upon the tomb of Caius Cestius in Rome and houses the sarcophagi of the 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire and his first and second wives. Although there are 'windows' you are unable to see anything inside. The M&M Trust website has a few photos if you're interested: see here
Having a well-earned break.
They also spotted a number of toads and I was very impressed with Harry's calm nature when watching them hopping off. Usually if any animal, big or small, makes a sudden movement it has him jumping up into my arms!
Watching Mr Toad hop back towards the lake.
There are carpets of daffodils all over the gardens. So beautiful.
This little fellow joined us for lunch!
There was certainly lots to see and do on our walk and each of the children enjoyed every aspect of nature that we encountered.
We finished off the walk with a picnic, the first one of the year. We didn't go into the house this time and the play area was shut while the orchard recovers from flooding but the children are already looking forward to visiting again during the Easter holidays. I can see that our NT membership is definitely going to get used a lot but if you're not members the park is free to visit, with car parking at £3 all day so if you take your own food it can be an inexpensive day out.
This post has been linked up with Coombemill's Country Kids. Click on the button below to see more
This post has been linked up with Coombemill's Country Kids. Click on the button below to see more
What a lovely tour around you had and I love the use of sticks and binoculars. Sometimes I think it is a good thing when play areas are shut as it forces kids to be more resourceful and imaginative with their play. It looks like the little tower and pyramid were a great discovery not to mention the toads, I've yet to see any of those yet at Coombe Mill this year. I hope you get to return when it really opens up. Look out over Easter with your membership too, there are usually some great Easter trails to do with the National Trust. Thank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids
ReplyDelete