Beningbrough Hall

Beningbrough Hall is located just outside York near the small village of Beningbrough. It is 8 miles north-west of York, and 2 miles west of Shipton along the A19.

Admission and Prices

As with most National trust properties opening times aren't simple as they could be.

Grounds/Shop/Restaurant

Most of the grounds, a shop and restaurant are open 11 until 330 Monday to Wednesday, and at the weekends. During the high season March until early November they are open until 530, and during July and August they are also open on Friday.

House

House opens later in the year, (March rather than February) and until mid-March is only open at the weekends. From March to November it is open Monday to Wednesday and weekends from 11 until five. And again as with the grounds during July and August it is also open on Friday.

Galleries

The galleries are open all year round, but they are only open in from 11 until 330, and their only open at the weekend.

Prices

Gift Aid Admission (Standard Admission prices in brackets) Summer: £8.40 (£7.60), child £4.20 (£3.80), family £20 (£18). Groups (£7.30). Winter: £5.50 (£5), child £2.60 (£2.35), family £14 (£12.50). Groups (£4.40).

Again as with all National trust properties the admin prices include a gift aid donation, but you can pay the standard admission if you do not wish to pay the gift aid.

What to See

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House is a 1716 Georgian mansion, which can be visited all the several floors.
The upper floors house the galleries with some interesting interactive galleries. In one gallery you can take a picture of yourself and superimpose it onto an 18th-century portrait and then e-mail copy to yourself. In another area you can dress up in Georgian clothes (although they are not full outfits, they are specially made outfits which will hook over your shoulders).
There are also rooms which have puzzles for children to do.
Some of the ground floor rooms and some of the rooms on the first floor don't have any electric light, so if you are visiting out of high season then the best time to view these rooms would be around midday, as the natural light may be too dull early in the morning or later in the afternoon.
A lift is available to all floors from East Courtyard, for anyone using a wheelchair. There are also five wheelchairs available from the reception building.

Grounds

There are lots of lovely gardens to see, one of which is a fully functioning garden which supplies lots of the produce used in the restaurant.
Also in the grounds you'll find a wilderness area, which is a large play area for children which incorporates lots of wooden climbing frames and other activities based around a large wooden fort.

For cyclists there are two miles of National trust permitted cycle routes, which are available to use.
Some of the paths in the grounds and gravel are paths, so wheelchair users may struggle at these points. But mostly the grounds are accessible to all users.

Refreshments

There is a restaurant called the walled garden restaurant which sells a variety of hot lunches, snacks and cakes. It also has a selection of hot and cold drinks including alcoholic beverages. Gluten-free and vegetarian options are also available, as is the children's menu.
You don't want a sit-down meal you can also use the kiosk window to buy snacks.

Shops

On-site you will also find a National trust shop, selling the usual variety of National trust souvenirs, there's also a small plant centre and a second-hand bookshop.

My Thoughts

We really enjoyed our trip to Beningbrough Hall, the interactive galleries really made all the difference for my children; it turned what could be a dull trip around a musty old house (in their opinion) into a fun day out. Being able to e-mail the fruits of your labour to yourself is also a great idea, and it means you can have a laugh at yourself when you get back home as well.

The gardens were really beautiful, and of course the children enjoyed a wilderness area which is suitable for children up to around 11 or 12.

The food in the restaurant was very nice but it was rather expensive, and had we thought about it in advance I would probably have taken a picnic to eat, and then just bought a couple of tea and perhaps a cake for a mid-afternoon snack.

Petit Nieulle

Located in a small village just outside La Rochelle on the west coast of France, this cottage is a lovely base for your holiday.

The cottage is actually located in a village called Nieulle Sur Seudre in the Charente region. The village is very small but without a satnav the cottage would have been rather difficult to find, as the instructions for the final few miles were very basic.

However, once you’ve navigated the small roads of the village the cottage is a very pleasant surprise. It seemed to us that it may once have been two separate cottages that have been joined together, as not only are there 6 bedrooms in the cottage, but there is a studio flat attached where the key holders can be found.

As just mentioned there are 6 bedrooms, one of the three downstairs bedrooms has an en-suite shower room as well. There is also a separate shower and toilet downstairs, and upstairs there are the other 3 bedrooms and a separate shower and toilet. All the bedrooms downstairs are double rooms, and one has a double and single bed in it. The main bedroom upstairs is a double and also has a cot in the room, the second has a bed which is larger than a single, but smaller than a double (so may suit a new love bird couple who still enjoy the closeness, rather than a wizened old couple who sleep at separate ends !) The third bedroom upstairs has a single bed, but it is still a reasonable sized bedroom.

There is one main living room which is very large, it contains a 3 seater settee, a 2 seater, 4 single ‘comfy’ chairs (2 of which are designed for style rather than comfort I think), a dining table and 8 chairs, TV, video and DVD combi, a wood burning fireplace (which we didn’t need, so I can’t comment on that), there’s free wifi, which took a little sorting out, but was fairly speedy and there's a billiard table. There is a 450€ deposit for the billiard table, so we never bothered with that, but it is covered so makes a wonderful junk stop for putting bags, hats, car keys etc. The living room has patio doors out to the garden.

The kitchen, considering the size of the house, is mighty small. Although they have managed to fit in a washer, a dishwasher, a microwave, kettle, toaster and a full sized fridge freezer, but the worktop space is at a premium. Having said that, we did manage to cook meals for 8, and there is more than enough crockery and cutlery to go round.

The linen and towels are included in the rental costs; pets are welcome in the property and most important of all there is a private swimming pool, which has an electric pool cover and a small diving board. There is plenty of space around the pool for 8 sun loungers, and still leave room for kids to play. Next to the pool there is a shower which sprays short bursts of cold water for you to rinse off after coming out of the pool.

The inside of the cottage is very oldie worldie and quaint, the main room has lovely beams across the ceiling, and the furniture is old fashioned. Only on the final evening did we discover that the coffee table actually opens out into a large gaming table, perfect for playing cards, or Pictionary as we were.

The garden isn’t huge, but is big enough for playing badminton and scatch, and there’s also a shed for storing the sun lounger covers and any floating toys for the pool. Anyone visiting now will find a the tree missing a fair few leaves after being bashed by badminton racquets in order to get the shuttlecocks back down again. There’s a wooden table with wooden benches under a vine covered canopy for eating outdoors, plus there are a couple of white plastic tables and chairs for sitting out in the garden. Behind the pool area there is parking for two cars and a grassed area with a couple of washing lines, handy from drying out towels, or I suppose washing some of your clothes to save a job when you get home.

When we arrived we were greeted by the key holders, who were absolutely wonderful, very enthusiastic, and far better at English than we were at French, much to our shame, although we did try our best. They showed us around the cottage and showed us how the oven, dishwasher, etc worked. They also had juice and water ready in the fridge and served everyone a drink whilst they were chatting, and had very kindly bought a bottle of the local wine for us. As the gentleman went off to show a couple of us how to work the pool cover should it be necessary, his wife showed us some of the areas to visit and gave us details about which beaches were manned and safe, and which beaches were without lifeguards and were more dangerous. All in all you couldn’t fault the reception we received, and after such a long journey it was nice to be greeted properly, rather than being thrown a key over a reception counter and left to get on with it.

As the cottage was in such a small village, there was no street lighting, so the rooms were pitch black at night, which I loved, because I cannot stand even a sliver of light during the night, it was also absolutely silent, no raving drunks banging around at night, no cars racing around, absolute bliss. Probably the most noise came from us, with my nephew and niece becoming highly competitive over a game of Pictionary and Monopoly! The beds seemed comfy enough, no one had any complaints about mattresses, but luckily we’d had a good look at the photos on the Frenchlife website, and decided in advance that the pillows looked flat, which indeed they were, so we’d taken our own pillows as extras and they came in very handy.

The cottage is also well situated in the village for walking to the local Patisserie for early morning croissants and fresh baguettes, and the local supermarket. Although we only used the supermarket once as it was just small and a little expensive. A much large (in fact huge) supermarket can be found in Marennes, a town about 15 minutes away by car. The villages all seemed friendly enough, whilst we never had long conversations, they all said hello and gave a smile as we walked past. There’s a small cafe bar, but no restaurant in the village, so if you’re eating out you have to travel by car for about 10-15 minutes.

Can be booked from various site such as this

http://www.holiday-cottages-in-france.com/fc/franceLB653.htm

York Dungeon

I can't say I was particularly impressed with the York Dungeon, I had heard really good things about the London Dungeon, and I thought it'd be very similar, but this turned out not to be the case.

==Finding the Dungeon==

Firstly it took us a while to find the place. The directions we had and the signposting around York weren't the best, and we almost gave up. It was only because we'd bought the tickets in advance that we persevered.

The dungeon address is York Dungeon, 12 Clifford Street, York, YO1 9RD, which is a little back street well away from the centre of York.

==Opening Times ==

The dungeon opens at 10.30 each day, and closes between 4 and 5.30 depending on the time of year, it closes earlier in low season, and later during the school holidays.

== Prices ==

Adult: £14.00/ Child: £10.00/ Student: £13.00 / OAP (60+ yrs): £13.00

Booking online makes it cheaper, for example booking one adult and 2 children online means you can save up to £10.20. It is 'up to' that amount because the prices vary during the day, and early morning and late afternoon prices are cheaper. The only problem booking this way is that you are limited to a 2 hour slot, I'm not sure what would happens if you miss this slot.

The price is for the tour, and it lasts about 1 hour.

== My Thoughts ==

As I said earlier we struggled to find it, because it was on the corner of a little back street, in fact we only really noticed it because we saw a bunch of people loitering on the pavement. When we got closer we realised that this was the queue for the dungeon. There was a member of staff dressed as some sort of ghoul trying to entertain the queue, but he wasn't being very successful.

The major drawback to this attraction is the party size, they allow far too many people in at one time, and whilst this helps to keep the queues down it also means that the rooms are packed, with people shoulder to shoulder. It also means that children can't really see what's going on, because there are too many adults in front of them and unfortunately in today's society adults won't move aside and let children to the front so they can see.

On the tour you move from room to room, and the staff are dressed in different costumes, and they tell the tales of Dick Turpin, Guy Fawkes, the Black Death amongst others. There's also a mirror room that is supposed to represent the Labyrinth of the Lost Roman Legion, where you wander around a mirror maze.

During the Dick Turpin talk you sit on benches whilst the story is being told, then when Dick is hanged the benches drop a whole inch or two, which I presume is meant to be the thrilling part of the tour, but it fell completely flat.

There's also a mock 17th Century court room, where one staff member dresses up as a judge, and randomly picks people out of the audience to humiliate in the dock. Whilst this was slightly amusing, you could see that the people who were selected were extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed by the situation.

Unlike the London Dungeon there's no ride at the end, so basically you're paying a lot of money for an hours walk whilst being squashed in with a lot of sweaty strangers.

I can't really recommend it, I found it mildly interesting, but the kids didn't really enjoy it, mainly because they couldn't see half of what was going on. And a lot of the time they couldn't understand what the staff were saying, because they were putting on strange cackling voices to try and create a more horrifying atmosphere. Because I knew the stories they were telling I could just about work out what they were talking about, but because the kids had never learned of the Black Plague or Dick Turpin at school they struggled to understand what they were saying.

Culzean Castle Review

Culzean Castle (pronounced Cul-ain) is located in Ayrshire in Scotland, it is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, it is a magnificent castle, set in a huge country park.

Admission Times and Prices (takenfrom the website for ease)


Country Park: all year, daily 9.30am - sunset.
Walled Garden: all year, daily from 09.30am - 5.00pm (sunset if earlier)
Castle: 1 Apr to 1 Nov, daily 10.30am - 5pm (last entry to Castle 4.00pm).

Visitor Centre and all other facilities: 1 Apr to 1st Nov, daily opening from 10.00am - closing from 5.00pm

Visitor Centre, Gift Shop and Restaurant (Off Season): 2 Nov to 29 Mar, Sat/Sun 11.00am - 4.00pm.

Castle and Country Park Combined:
Adult: £13
Family: £32
1 Parent: £25
Concession: £9
Pay and Display: £2 (after 5.00pm)

Country Park Only:
Adult: £8.50
Family: £21
1 Parent: £16
Concession: £5.50
Pay & Display: £2 (after 5.00pm)
(Where it says 1 parent it means a 1 parent family).

Attractions

Castle

The main attraction of course is the castle. The castle is located at the far side of the estate overlooking the sea. It is an 18th century castle which has been restored over the years so it looks almost as good as it would have when it was new. It was designed by Robert Adams (a famous Scottish architect and designer), and inside the castle there are several collections dedicated to Adams. You’ll also find collections belonging to the Kennedy family and items belonging to Eisenhower. Of course there are paintings and tapestries galore within the castle. They also have a large collection of armour in the Castle Armoury.

Grounds


There are several gardens within the grounds, firstly a Victorian Walled Garden which features herbaceous borders, as well as including the kitchen garden and the pleasure garden. They have also restored a Victorian vinery. Behind the Walled Garden you’ll find the herb garden and the wildlife garden.

The second largest attraction, after the Castle is the Swan Pond, which is a 13 acre lake, with a children’s playground close by and a picnic area. There is also a small aviary close to the lake and a pagoda.

All around the grounds there are different walks, such as the cliff walk and the keepers walk. You’ll also see the deer park as you walk or drive through the grounds which house a small herd of Red Deer.

There are also caves in the cliff face below the castle, we never actually went down there so I’m not sure whether they are accessible to the public all the time, but the National Trust do guided tours of the caves on certain dates during the year.

Shops


There are several shops and kiosks in the Castle grounds. Close to the castle there’s the Castle Shop, which sells all manner of souvenirs, and opposite the shop you’ll find the Old Stables Restaurant.

A short walk from the Castle you’ll find the Candies@Culzean kiosk which sells homemade sweets and fudge, a second hand book shop, the visitors centre and Smiddy Toy Shop and Home Farm Restaurant, all within about 10 minutes walk of each other.

Carrying on around the main drive way and the Walled Garden also has plant sales, and finally the Swan Pond kiosk sells refreshments.

Accommodation


You can stay at the castle itself, although it’s a luxury that doesn’t come cheap. Staying in the Eisenhower apartments will set you back £25,000 for the week of Monday 13 to Sunday 19 July 2009, but fear not that price includes your breakfast! For the less well off, the Royal Artillery Cottage and the Brewhouse Flat come in at a mere £3,500 per week, self catering.

Weddings


The Castle also allow you to marry on the premises, and I can imagine the experience would be fantastic, but at £6,000 for the cheapest package it’s not for everyone.

Other Information


Dogs are welcome in the grounds but not in the buildings, any dogs in the grounds must be kept under control at all times.

There are four car parks; one at the visitors centre, one at Camellia House (and straight opposite the deer park), one close to the walled garden and finally one next to the Swan Pond.

My Thoughts


It’s not often you can describe a place in one word, but ‘stunning’ would be a great place to start. The castle itself looks amazing, you get the best views of it as you’re walking over the bridge toward it and it just looks like your stereotypical fairytale castle. Walking around the inside of the castle you get a great sense of history, and the rooms are just magnificent. As a child we’d often go around castles and I’d be bored stiff, but luckily Culzean Castle make the experience very child friendly, and have quizzes and little competitions for the children to do on their way around. When we went they had put a small Lego figure in every room, and the children had to try and spot the figure. This not only gives the children something to do, but leaves the adults free to read the information leaflets and look properly at the room and its contents. Or that was the idea behind in, in my case it actually led to lots of ‘mum, I can’t see it, where is it?’ meaning I’d have to stop what I was doing and look for it, but that all added to the fun.

The Swan Pond was absolutely beautiful, we went for the full walk around the pond, and at a couple of spots there are hides for watching the birds and the wildlife, although my two don’t stay quiet long enough for any animals to stick around, but there are supposed to be red squirrels and foxes which inhabit the area. Of course the kids made good use of the children’s play area, which is quite large, so there’s not too much of a problem with overcrowding. We visited during the school holidays and it was busy, but there was still plenty of room in the playground for all the kids to play nicely. The pagoda was a strange little building, set out of the way and surrounded on three sides by tree, it seemed to serve no purpose apart from to look nice, however I have read since that it may have been home to a monkey of some sort when if was first built.

We were able to walk from one end of the park to the other, although it looks quite a distance on the map, it isn’t really that far. But for anyone with mobility trouble the car parks are spaced nicely so you can visit one area, hop in your car and move onto the next.

Although I really enjoyed the castle and the Swan Pond, my favourite area was the Walled Garden, the entire area was blooming as you’d expect, and the variety of flowers was wonderful. Luckily it was a beautiful summer’s day when we went and this made the colours in the flowers seem that much brighter, and the scent was heavenly. The kids didn’t enjoy this area so much, but then they don’t share my love of nature.

We stopped for lunch the Old Stables Restaurant; they were serving your average lunch time fare of soups, sandwiches and light snacks, and of course teas, coffee, cold drinks and ice creams. As it was such a nice day we sat outside to eat, looking across the castle walls to the sea, we were treated to visits from bull finches who came to share in our lunch. They weren’t a nuisance though, and for someone like me who lives in a town centre and rarely sees anything but pigeons, it was very cute.

Later we stopped by at the Swan Pond Kiosk for ice creams, which despite asking for small ones, were absolutely huge!

Culzean and its grounds are so varied, there’s something to suit everyone, whether you’re a nature lover, a history buff, enjoying walking or like my two kids, enjoy climbing and running around and generally having fun. The National Trust have attraction days throughout the year, these range from nature walks, to craft fairs, to medieval fairs with jousting etc and outdoor plays, one this year I believe is Romeo and Juliet, and I can’t imagine a better setting for the play.

Although it may seem a little expensive at first glance, it’s actually great value for money, and I’d recommend it to anyo