The winter months are a challenging time to go National Trusting. Between January and March/April most properties close up and hibernate to allow the coldest days to pass, and those venues that are open are mostly outdoors, thus leaving visitors more reliant than ever on the weather. Thankfully, my birthday visit to Clumber Park in … More Clumber Park – Nottinghamshire

Every once in a while in life you’ll stumble across a place which you can’t help but wish is a better kept secret. Studland Bay is one of these places. Leaning out into the English Channel, the sandy bay stretches from the village Studland all the way to the mouth of Poole Harbour. On a … More Studland Bay – Dorset

From the moment you step out of your car in the little Glenoe car park, you can hear the roar of cascading water hidden somewhere in the trees. Glenoe Waterfall is an absolute must-see if you find yourself in County Antrim. Mere moments from the car park is the breathtaking sight of this thundering waterfall, … More Glenoe Waterfall – County Antrim

A creepy mausoleum in the middle of nowhere – sign us up! There’s not a huge amount to say about Templetown Mausoleum itself – it’s a tomb built in 1789 by an architect I’m not cultured enough to know (Robert Adam), and houses local landowners the Templetown family including the Rt. Hon. Arthur Upton who … More Templetown Mausoleum – County Antrim

If you were to pull up a chair and order a pint of Guinness at any other National Trust property in the UK, it’s likely you’d be (exceedingly politely) asked to leave. Naturally, here in Northern Ireland, the charity owns a pub in the centre of Belfast and having a pint of Guinness in any … More The Crown Bar – County Antrim

Full disclosure, I’ve cheated a bit with this one – both by rolling the two into one post, and also because I never actually found the National Trust point on Exmouth Beach. But life is short so we’re cracking on. First up was Exmouth Beach. Probably should have gone on a day that wasn’t the … More Exmouth Beach and Sidmouth Countryside – Devon

One of the things I love most about the National Trust is that it has rescued countless unique properties which would otherwise have fallen victim to developers’ diggers – like this mesmerising 16-sided house near Exmouth. A La Ronde was facing this fate in January 1991 when the owners could no longer sustain the running … More A La Ronde – Devon

Did you know Thomas Hardy kept his wife in the attic a la Mrs Rochester? No, neither did I. That’s the beautiful thing about National Trusting – each visit lets you walk where others have and get a glimpse of the life they really lived. And like his writing, Thomas Hardy’s life at Max Gate … More Max Gate – Dorset

I was beginning to wonder if I was lost or about to be murdered (or both) as I wandered through woodland from the car park in the general direction of Hardy’s Cottage. There wasn’t a soul around, and it was deathly silent save the heavy raindrops on the leaves above me. This ancient forest which … More Hardy’s Cottage – Dorset

Deep in the Norfolk Broads, an area of Outstanding National Beauty you will find Blakeney, arguably the most picturesque of the villages along the Norfolk coast. One of the most interesting things about the broads is the dramatic tides which flood the land and allow for crabbing from the pier at high tide, and leave … More Blakeney National Nature Reserve – Norfolk