First sunny day in March and we got an email from NT suggesting three local places to visit. We'd... read more
First sunny day in March and we got an email from NT suggesting three local places to visit. We'd... read more
A visit in particular to see the Snowdrops and Aconites. When we arrived at the entrance we were... read more
Agree with those who think it would be better if it was closed for now. Most of the house cannot be seen due to a water leek. The views over the valley are fab, but there is no inside seating area for eating, gardens are quite poor and small, and the whole place is well below the normal National Trust standard. There are some good walks into the estate but we had traveled an hour to this place and can do similar walks a lot nearer to home. So nothing here to attract us back. At least we did not pay to go in as we are NT members.
We didn’t go into the house – only along the woodland paths. There are beautiful woodcarvings of mice, a woodpecker, owl, fox, snake plus an “adventure” play area - a great venue for children. Whilst the overall woodland is delightful, we found the “other footpaths” poorly signposted.
House is undergoing water leak repairs.
Downstairs is pretty average and of little interest with musty and dusty feel to it.
Gardens are scrubby and uninteresting.
Fields are untended and suitable for cattle grazing.
On a positive note the panoramic view over the Gloucestershire hills is worthwhile.
Not a great visit, boredom reigned I’m afraid.
Staying nearby on holiday and being National Trust members Newark Park was on our list of places to visit. The building is fab from the outside and it’s surrounded by live stock and land. The views from the house are stunning.
However, the house is terrible. They are recovering from a serious leak in March and are keeping going by opening the the basement and the ground floor only. As an asthmatic I didn’t stay in the basement long. The ground floor shows one room which is set out and another which is half full of furniture piled up. We feel that the place should be closed until it is finished as people are paying to see a tiny portion of a very disappointing historic lodge.
We went for lunch and whilst sitting eating some idiotic dog owner let their dog, a springer spaniel off the lead to release it from being tied to the picnic bench. The dog hurled towards one of the hens that was strutting around the picnic area. To be honest all I can really describe it as was a massacre. There were feathers everywhere and the dog , despite the owner, myself and my sister screaming at it continued to tear at the hen. The owner got hold of the dog and it let go. The hen went to the back of the catering lodge. I went and put my coat around the bird and spoke to the staff in the catering room. The hen was hideously damaged, missing a wing and part of the other,was bleeding and in terrible distress. Nobody gave a damn about the bird. They said they would speak to someone from the farm. Shortly afterwards a young catering assistant came over and advised me to put the bird back as she said I would shock the bird. Nobody would be coming to help the hen after all. We decided to go to the farm ourselves and a member of staff walked over and took the bird away. Such apathy about a terribly injured animal was heartbreaking. We were prepared to take the hen with us if nothing was done. I will never go again to Newark. We were so heartbroken about this poor animal and will be writing to the National Trust to inform them about the place and the treatment of the poor animal.
New National Trust place visited with the family. Place is very nice and green and a nice place also for the little boy to play in the playground. Unfortunately cause of the rain the house have had some damages and they are fixing so you can only visit the ground floor and have a tour guide of the kitchen.
We were on holiday in the area and decided to visit as the website says that the ground floor is now open following a water leak earlier in the year. I think that is a bit of an exaggeration, there is only really one room to see, you can visit the kitchens in the basement but this has to be a tour and there is only 2 a day, we had missed the first as this was not long after opening and the other wasn't until later in the afternoon. We decided to have a walk around the grounds but I can't really say this was peaceful as all you could hear was screaming children and barking dogs. This is not our usual experience of National Trust properties and I don't think we would bother going back.