Category: National Trust

July saw the group visit the beautiful venue at Belton House near Grantham. Taking a slightly later departure time than usual we still arrived at Belton by 10.30 am.

By now the sun was shining and boosted by many families enjoying the start of the school holidays the grounds were soon fairly busy.

Most members, having had a drink in the café, then seemed to venture to the many outdoor areas. These included the Italian Gardens, the Conservatory, St. Peter and St Pauls Church, the Dutch Gardens, the Maze and the Parkland with its herd of beautiful deer. Some ventured further afield walking round the pond and into the nearby village.

After lunch most of us then spent time in Belton House itself with its wonderful mixture of rooms which were once owned by the Brownlow family. The rooms here have been fashioned over many years by some of the finest designers and craftsmen in the country. There was still time for a visit to the courtyard at Belton with its array of shops, ice cream parlour and cafes.

Everybody was safely back on the coach for 4.00 pm when we began our journey home arriving back in Hucknall for 5.15 pm after a very enjoyable day.

August takes us to Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire where the day includes a guided tour of the Abbey and gardens.

Following last month’s very wet day at Gunby Estate, the weather Gods were on our side as we set out on a warm and bright sunny morning to visit Tatton Park.

There was a lovely moment, to start our day as a local duck followed by six of her young decided to jump out of the River Leen and head in convoy for the Market Place. Popping out to stop the traffic, we managed to herd the family back safely into the river before setting off on our journey.

After a pleasant journey we arrived at Tatton just after 10.30 am. One of the staff duly boarded the coach to hand out maps and give us all the information that we needed for the day ahead.

The Park was now bathed in bright and warm Cheshire sunshine. The first port of call for the majority of the group was a walk around the magnificent and extensive gardens which for many were highlighted by the stunning Japanese gardens.

Later the large courtyard at Tatton provided the ideal meeting place to have a drink and some lunch. This area also had some spacious gift shops as well as shops selling locally grown produce.

There was still time to research the Tatton Mansion and explore the extensive parkland with over 400 deer roaming freely.

As we returned to the coach at 4.00 pm for the journey back to Hucknall the majority agreed that it would be nice to return one day to complete our exploration of a wonderful site.

After a trouble-free journey, we were safely back in Hucknall by 6.15pm.

July sees the group take the shorter journey across to Belton House near Grantham. While the group are also planning to return to York in November to complete this years visits with a visit to the Christmas Market.

The group set out at 8.30am on Wednesday 22^nd May to visit Gunby Estate. We left Hucknall Market in heavy rain which sadly remained with us for much of the day. Despite the rain the group set out to make the most of the day.

On arrival at Gunby we were met by a member of staff who scanned membership tickets and briefed the group about the Estate.

The small cafe area was soon popular with the group. Following that interlude there was an artist in residence who was very happy to engage with the group in his gallery. Many of the group then braved the rain to explore the sizeable gardens and second-hand book shop. Some members ventured further over the Estate to explore the ancient church and other features of the area.

Members visited the House with timed tickets during the afternoon session observing the library, the drawing room, the below stairs kitchen and domestic areas and on the upper floor the bedrooms and other family rooms.

In view of the inclement weather the group assembled on the coach a few minutes early and arrived back in Hucknall for 6.00 pm.

The June visit takes us to Tatton Park in Cheshire.

Unusually the group had two visits in April firstly to;  

Kedleston Hall

 We set off for Kedleston Hall on Monday 15th April on a morning which saw some rain and a cold wind blowing. Fortunately, the rainfall reduced to showers over the day although the cold wind never really abated.  The short journey into Derbyshire saw us arrive a Kedleston for 10.30 am.

Coffee or tea was the order of the day for most members on arrival followed by a slow and comprehensive tour of the impressive Hall. The large rooms beautifully decorated ranged from dining rooms, libraries, bedrooms through to kitchens.

A look round the gardens followed for many and a visit to the various shops on the estate. The usual waterside walks were very much curtailed on this visit by the wet ground and cold wind.

A 4.00 pm departure saw us arrive back in Hucknall shortly after 5.00pm.

Snowshill

The second visit in April saw over 70 members visiting the beautiful setting of Snowshill in the Cotswolds. Here the house is much smaller than the usual NT property but was full of over twenty two thousand objects collected by the owner, Charles Wade, around a hundred years ago. A truly fascinating collection. Charles Wade also extended his property out into his lovely gardens with many buildings adorned by beautiful models often hand built by Wade himself. A truly unique collection which included a Cornish fishing village. Using the knowledge from the very keen volunteers on site we learned so much about the venue and its contents.

Some members also found their way into the nearby church and picturesque village of Snowshill.

After last minute refreshments we gathered for the journey back up to Hucknall after a really pleasant day in generally nice weather.

May’s visit sees the group venture towards the east coast of Lincolnshire to visit the Gunby Estate.

We have recruited a considerable number of new members for 2024 including some who are newly joined u3a members.

We have had to make some changes to the 2024 programme of visits and some members have asked if I could again list the venues that we are visiting.

The programme is :

Monday 15th of April – Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire.

Tuesday 23rd of April – Snowshill, Gloucestershire.

Wednesday 22nd  of May – Gunby Estate, Lincolnshire.

Thursday  20th of June – Tatton Park, Cheshire.

Monday  22nd of July – Belton House, Lincolnshire.

Monday 19th of August – Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire.

Wednesday 25th of September – Erdigg, near Wrexham.

Thursday  24th of October –   Nunnington Hall, Yorkshire.

The April visits are fully booked and we have added a smaller 22 seater coach to our usual coach for the visit to Snowshill.

Reports of the April visits will appear in the May Newsletter and on this website.                                                             

Barrie