Middle class Mums all over the UK breathed a sigh of relief when National Trust announced they were reopening their gates to the public following lockdown. With social distancing measures in place, you can now either stay up late on a Thursday night or get up at the crack of dawn on a Friday to attempt to book yourself a slot during the following week to visit one of their beautiful properties – albeit only the grounds.
We didn’t join in with the initial mad rush for slots, but waited a few weeks before grabbing one at Hanbury Hall – booking in a Sunday afternoon slot for an hour before last entry, at the slightly more civilised time of 9am on Friday morning. I fired off a text to my mother in law, who is in our household bubble, and invited her to join us if she could grab herself a slot too, and our plans for an actual outing were set.
Sunday afternoon was thankfully dry and sunny, and we enjoyed exploring the formal gardens which we’ve not had a chance to walk around before. We’ve often taken the dog in the past and decided to leave her at home this time, so that we would be allowed into the extensive formal gardens they have there – only assistance dogs are allowed into the formal gardens.
Having Ruth in our bubble meant that she could travel with us and we didn’t have to worry about socially distancing from her, and just had to worry about keeping our distance from the others in the gardens. Thankfully there were very few people there which made us feel really comfortable and we were able to let the children run wild a little; climb trees, race around, and explore the gardens to their hearts’ content.
We have taken great pains to make sure Georgie and Lydia understand the need for social distancing, and how they can interact with and move around other people in a safe way. They are 7 and 9 now, so they are old enough to not be right next to us constantly, and we can trust them to go a little out of our sight and believe that they won’t be silly about things.
The gardens at Hanbury Hall were lovely, and I am glad we decided to leave Gypsy to chill out at home so we could explore them fully. Only one area of the gardens was closed to the public, and there were signs to encourage one way traffic in busier areas and reminders to keep distanced.
Thankfully both the toilets and the cafe were open with ‘one in, one out’ policies in place – so we were able to grab a takeaway snack & coffee to take over and eat on the lawn. The picnic tables have been taken away and the indoor tea room Is closed, so if the weather isn’t quite so dry I’d recommend taking along a waterproof picnic blanket or something else to sit on. There are a few benches left out around the gardens, but not in the area around the cafe. They are running a limited menu, but you can grab scones and sandwiches, along with various snacks – unfortunately their delicious sausage rolls had run out by the time we wandered along for our afternoon nibbles.
It was lovely to get out & about a bit more than we have been – this weekend was very exciting with our return to Sea Life as well as our afternoon at Hanbury Hall, after months of being restricted to local walks with the occasional jaunt over to the Lickey Hills or one of Birmingham’s many large parks. Our car did more miles than it has for weeks! Yet another step into the “new normal”.
If you want to explore one of your local National Trust properties, you can see what is open & how to book over on their website. I’d recommend checking very early on Friday mornings, especially if you are after a coveted weekend slot. You don’t need to be a member to visit, and prices for non-members have been altered to reflect how much of the properties are open. They have a comprehensive FAQ about the current situation with coronavirus and how everything is affected, so if you have questions do check that out.
