We always spend a few days visiting my family between Christmas and New Year. This year we’d managed to catch up with everyone on Boxing Day, thanks to my sister hosting a party. Having caught up with everyone early meant that we woke up with itchy feet the day after Boxing Day, and a need to get outside in the fresh air. Having discovered that Uppark House, a 17th century house and gardens, was just a few miles away, we decided to take my mum and have a day out.
The house itself was closed, but we were able to go through the tunnels and see the Victorian servants’ area, which was decorated for Christmas. We weren’t able to take any photos inside, but found it interesting to look around the areas where the servants would have lived and worked. The housekeeper’s room looked particularly cosy and inviting! I also found the butler’s pantry very interesting with its trestle bed which one of the footmen would have slept on in order to guard the family silver.
We also saw the beautiful dolls house at Uppark which dates from around 1735-1740. As it was Christmas, there were a few red reindeer placed around the doll’s house to spot. Jessica and Sophie were more interested in the jigsaw laid out on the floor than in trying to spot the reindeer though!
Outside, the girls enjoyed exploring the stables which were also decorated for Christmas. Father Christmas had visited in the run-up to Christmas but had, of course, returned to the North Pole by the time we visited, although his empty chair was still there.
I kicked myself for not having packed wellies as it was quite muddy underfoot, after all the damp and drizzle over Christmas. Thankfully the girls were happy to run around the grassy areas (much less muddy!) and weren’t too bothered that their explorations were somewhat curtailed by the lack of suitable footwear! They had a lot of fun running around with Daddy and picking up sticks, whilst my mum and I enjoyed a slightly more sedate walk!
There were a few moments when I wondered if hubby might be having more fun than the children – especially when the three of them were running up and down the urn mound and spinning around at the top!
It was the perfect way to blow away the Christmas cobwebs and lovely to have a day out with my mum too. Despite having grown up just a few miles down the road, this was my first visit to Uppark, but I’d like to try and visit again later in the year. We treated ourselves to National Trust membership while we were there and I’m looking forward to making the most of this throughout 2016.
What a lovely place to visit. I’m sure you’ll get really good use out of your National Trust membership this year. It will be lovely to visit when the house is open too. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Happy new Year! Will you be at the LHM Open Day in April? x
Thanks Claire – I’m sure I will get good use out of it – there are lots of places near us that I want to visit! I’m hoping to be at the LHM Open Day again this year – maybe I’ll see you there? x
gorgeous photos of a lovely day out. Happy new year x
Thank you – happy new year to you too 🙂
You will love your National Trust Membership, I wish we had done it years ago when ours were young like this, now they complain about visiting but years ago it would have been a huge adventure. I love the way your Hubby joins in, you can see the girls faces coming to life playing their spinning game with Daddy, it must make you very proud to watch. It looks a lovely place to visit, I look forward to seeing more when you return in summer. a great way to grab some fresh air over the Christmas break. Thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids.
It is lovely when hubby joins us on days out – it always is so much more fun when he is there and I love watching the way he is such a big kid when he is with the children and they love it so much. I’m looking forward to using the NT membership – so glad that we have got it now as there are so many places near us that I want to visit – I’m sure they’ll all be featuring on my Country Kids posts throughout the year! 🙂
NT membership is fabulous, you will definitely get good use out of that 🙂 Love these photos, especially of daddy and his girls. What a lovely day you had xx
Thanks Sara – it was such a fun day out. Really looking forward to getting good use out of the NT membership 🙂
Looks and sounds like a really nice day and lovely to get out and blow away the cobwebs isn’t it? Xx
Thanks Caroline – it was just what we needed after a few days indoors! 🙂
You will absolutely love your national trust membership I’m sure as you are always out and about with the girls so will definitely get your moneys worth and explore some fantastic places. #countrykids
Thank you – am certainly looking forward to making the most of it! 🙂
Looks like you all had a really fun time – and it’s always good to get outside and blow the cobwebs away after Christmas. I need to get a NT membership too – would certainly be an incentive to do even more visits to its properties around the country. #countrykids
Thank you – it really was just what was needed. Looking forward to making full use of the NT membership this year 🙂
I grew up near Uppark and can remember when they had an awful fire there when I was a teenager – it’s lovely to see it restored back to its former glory – looks a fab day out 🙂
Yes, I read about the fire – so glad that they were able to restore the building. We certainly enjoyed our visit there 🙂
That’s a lovely place to go to and explore to blow the cobwebs away. Is it a National Trust property? Love poking my head around old Victorian houses 🙂 #countrykids. xx
Thanks Dean – yes it is a National Trust property and was a lovely place to explore 🙂
That house looks mighty impressive and glad that you all had so much fun running around the gardens. We love our NT membership #CountryKids
Thanks Mary – it was a great place to visit and I’m so glad we decided to get NT membership as there are so many other places I want to visit this year! 🙂
I’ve not come across Uppark before, but we love our NT membership. I’m sure you’ll enjoy exploring more sites…just a shame so many shut over the winter. I need to remember to check which near us are open to get the last one visited before I have to renew (and start paying for N!)
Glad that you’ve been enjoying your NT membership too Emma. I’m certainly looking forward to making the most of it now that I have it! 🙂
Looks like a lovely day out, your very lucky to have somewhere like that close to home.
What a lovely day out with your beautiful mini explorers. I am looking forward to your NT days out and abouts. Lovely photos too. xx #countrykids
This sounds ace and I’m looking forward to more National Trust adventures. We’ve taken our little one to a few and some have been fantastic.