Hatchlands Park, National Trust
Dear mummy, last week we visited Just for Tiny People’s Open Day near Dorking and Guildford and decided to pop into Hatchlands Park, one of two National Trust properties on the A246.
Hatchlands is on the edge of the Surrey hills and a lot of families have been raving about the seasonal children’s activities they host. It’s only 45 mins away from London. We’ve already visited Clandon Park, down the road, on Mothers Day.
Hatchlands Park is a red-brick country house with surrounding gardens in East Clandon, Surrey, England, covering 430 acres and has been a Grade I listed property since 1967.
The Georgian Mansion was built in the 1750’s for naval hero Admiral Edward Boscawen. It is a family home and today its residents are in (we don’t know who they are), so the house is closed for visitors.
I’m sure the family don’t want people popping in to look at the great collection of musical instruments and paintings while they are watching telly. The property is famous for housing Europe’s largest collection of keyboard instruments associated with famous composers such as JC Bach, Chopin and Elgar. I’m like a magpie when it comes to musical instruments and gravitate toward anything they makes a big noise, so it is actually for the best I’m not in the house today.
Hatchlands Park also has five mapped walks and a parterre garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll. But today the weather is miserable so we head straight to the tearoom for lunch.
We enjoy some fine fare and warm up with hot jacket potatoes, fresh out of the oven…yummy.
A lovely man called Ray from the National Trust pops in to tell everyone that the cellar tours of the house are happening today free of charge, as visitors can’t gain entry to the house and the weather is so bad, it seems everyone is hiding out from the rain in the tearoom.
While we wait for the tour we venture outside and the rain is a light drizzle. I have fun jumping around in the puddles in the cobbled courtyard. Some of them are really deep and mummy tests them out to make sure I don’t get swallowed up by them!
Before long we hear the tinkering of ivories coming from one of the outhouses surrounding the courtyard. I run over making sure I stomp in every puddle on the way and find a piano, children’s books and activities in this stable barn.
Other children are playing on the piano and I wait my turn.
Finally I get to play on the keys, my small fingers gently prodding the cold keys, my mummy leans over and strikes some chords which I try to mimic. It’s great fun and the sound echoes around the empty courtyard and sounds eerie, the clouds have darkened again and everyone has gone inside for the cellar tour which is about to commence.
We queue up with the rest for the families on the tour and get a safety brief from the National Trust man Ray, he issues out safety helmets as it can get a bit dark down in the cellar and he doesn’t want us banging our heads on the low ceilings and old pipe work. I’m not allowed to be picked up or carried for that reason too, incase my mummy bangs my head, so I hold her hand and head into the darkness.
I love hearing my voice ‘echo echo echo’ and babble all the way down the stairs holding onto mummy and the side of the wall. It’s cold and damp down here and the National Trust have set up war-time scenes of when people used to live down here in war-time Britain when the bombings were happening. Cot beds and desks are set up so people could sleep and work here when’s the air strikes were happening. I couldn’t image it mummy, it seems so dismal and scary down here. The cellars have an eerie feeling…it was a humbling experience and we were glad we visited the cellars. Ray and Jenny, the tour host were very informative and friendly.
By the time we reach the top of the stairs into the daylight the rain has cleared up and the sun is shining. We head towards the Wizard Wix’s Willow Warren in the woods….wow! that’s a bit of a mouthful!!
It’s a adventure area made using tree stumps and wood crafted into dens and an assault course for small people.
It’s great fun and we spend a whole hour playing.
My mummy sings to me in the den and holds my hand as we walk the wooden beams. Other children are running around in a fantasy land of dragons and wizards and we can hear them talking about motes and dungeons. The sun is shining and I go to take a break in one of the wooden huts, I feel so lucky to be out in the fresh air exploring and getting muddy.
By the end of the day I’m pooped and feel my eyes getting heavy, my mummy is a bit tired too having had to navigate the buggy over the hills. I must fall asleep in the car, as when I wake up I’m home. A really nice day. Thanks National Trust.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hatchlands-park/
Love Bella x
Being first timers, we didn’t know where to pitch up or where to go. Natural instinct took over and mummy bundled me in my festival cart when we arrived with some bags and we took off on our trek to find a bit of flat grass. We walked for what seemed like ages, winding our way though the mass of already pitched tents. Even though we arrived at 1.30pm a lot of people had already secured their patches and more disappointingly secured others with bags and chairs. We asked several times if we could pitch up and sadly kept getting turned away with festival goers saying they were “reserved” for friends. Before we knew it we were very far from the car park, up a gradual slope and saw the end of the roped off little path. At last some space! Horror descended over our faces when we found out these patches too were “reserved” for friends that hadn’t turned up yet! 5 tent pitches! Eventually we talked the other camper round to let us pitch up as mummy had walked so far with me. When daddy turned up he was angry and couldn’t understand why people would reserve bits of grass with chairs and coats. Not a good start to the weekend my mummy thought.
We explored the magical Spellbound Forest and listened to some dusk campfire stories from the fabulous duo Patrick and Bridget. They were very funny! Later we headed back to the campsite for a BBQ and an early night for me.
Before we knew it 2 hours had past and it was 9am, ready for my cereal and for my Mummy to wake the rest of our camping party, Grandma and Grandpa and Daddy. Mummy and Daddy dashed off to the Social to practice the Tribal Stag Chant ready for Sunday’s Parade and loved it. Afterwards we all spent the whole day exploring the festival. From 10am to 6pm. Mummy and Daddy had gotten into their Stag costumes and really into the Just So spirit of things.
On Sunday, after a heavy thunderstorm over night the day was ominous. Black clouds littered the sky and the mood was glum. New day trippers had entered the site and gave the festival a fresh feel today, lifting wet spirits with new costumes ready for the tribal parade later that night. We spotted some great characters, like Mr and Mrs Fish carrying huge fishes on their backs with babies in slings on their fronts. The talented Fox 5 family who were singing in the Jitterbug Tent, the beautiful mermaids and the little boy who kept high-fiving my Mummy and Daddy, chanting “Go Stags!”
We found that the early hours in the morning and early hours in the evening were the quietest, we felt we had the whole festival to ourselves which is a testament to the intimate feel of this children’s festival. I had a blast and looking back at the photos that my Mummy and Daddy took, I have a smile in 99% of the them.
We hope you like our little review on our first camping and festival experience at Just So Festival. We have only just scratched the surface of this great family festival and what was on offer. We would recommend it to any family, young or old! As a baby there were certain activities that I couldn’t do, so I can’t wait till I’m older to visit again. Be sure to visit the Wild Rumpus team and the Just So Festival website for next years shenanigans, their early bird tickets for 2015 get listed soon.
Dear Mummy Blog 