Easter Trail at Kingston Lacy
Easter weekend in the New Forest and we had every form of weather possible. There was gorgeous blue skies and sunshine one minute, then stormy hail stones, heavy rain and gales the next. We had planned a trip to Kingston Lacy National Trust, but we woke up on Easter Sunday to thunderous, menacing black skies and heavy rain.
We seriously debated whether we should just go home, but the weather forecast said heavy showers and sun, so we had a vote and chose to brave it out with our new waterproof trousers and headed to Kingston Lacy
On our arrival the sun came out and shone on us. The house looked huge and grand…beautiful. The children had their faces painted with bunny whiskers and we began the easter trail by hopping along the path. The first eggs on the trail were fantastic. The fabulous bushes in the garden were egg-shaped and had ribbons tied around them in bows, just like easter eggs.
We walked on through the woods to find more eggs. Luckily at one point there was also a den someone had previously made and the timing couldn’t have been better. The rain started, so we all crawled into the den for shelter until it stopped. We did find it rather amusing, if a little cramped for us grown ups, but the kids loved it.
The kitchen garden was the next stop. There wasn’t a lot to see, as it was so early in the year, but we did spot some herbs. The children had a great time playing on the tractors, then the biggest blackest cloud you could possibly imagine hovered over us, until it finally broke…the heavens opened and the torrential rain poured down on us with gale force winds and even hail.
The children sheltered in a play house while mummy and daddy stood under another shelter until it stopped. That was quite a storm! It didn’t seem to bother the children though, they were out playing again even before the rain stopped.
Continuing the trail, spotting the eggs, writing down their descriptions, we ended up back at the house, a great place to stop for lunch. There are two cafes to choose from in the stables and the kids found it quite amusing that we were eating where the horses used to live.
We collected our Easter bunny chocolate prize for completing the trail before checking out the house. It is a larger house than the previous national trust properties we’ve looked round. The children were fascinated with the pictures and ‘nude’ paintings, as well as all the books in the library. We always enjoy wandering round the house seeing how people used to live.
Kingston Lacy is a beautiful country mansion with wonderful gardens and parkland to explore and enjoy. It has so much more to offer than we got to see, we really hope to get back there again in the summer on a less rainy day.