Days Out: Autumn at the National Trust

October 12, 2018

Days Out: Autumn at the National Trust

This Autumn we have been enjoying visiting some National Trust properties. I became a member again at the beginning of September because I wanted a safe place to walk, on my own if necessary. I much prefer the parks and gardens of the National Trust rather than the houses, unless they feature "ordinary" lives, for example, the servants quarters at Lanydrock are absolutely fascinating. Here are three of our most recent visits:

Knightshayes Court, near Tiverton, has an amazing walled kitchen garden. When I first visited this property, the kitchen garden wasn't open (it was in decline during the war and has lain fallow between 1970s and early 2000s), but to see it today, fully in use and all the produce being used is just brilliant.

We followed a short circular walk through the parkland on this occasion, finishing up in the woodland garden where the trees were just started to tinge with Autumn colours.

Dunster Castle has a lovely (but steep) garden whose paths wend their way to the top of the hill. It also has a working water mill which still produces flour.

From the castle, you can just spot the West Somerset Railway with a steam train chugging along the coast!

Killerton Estate, near Cullompton is one of the houses that I have visited time and time again when the boys were younger. An especially memorable (or horrifying) visit was when we did an evening Halloween walk. Actors were employed to follow you in the dark and appear from behind trees - I have to confess that we were all terrified!

On this occasion, we chose a walk on the wider estate, Sprydon Walk which takes you from the main house to Budlake Old Post Office (which is an absolute gem to visit when its open) past some thatched cottages and into some woodland. Underfoot there were lots of sweet chestnuts and pine cones and there was a wonderful smell of woodsmoke from a nearby bonfire.