Tag: penshurst place

We had a trip to Groomsbridge Place the other day and on the journey there we drove past the eye catchingly beautiful Penshurst Place in Tonbridge.  I took a mental note and added it to our list of holiday activities. With half term upon us my holiday buddy and I gather our massive brood of children and set off to explore Penshurst Place.  It took us under an hour to get there and it was very well signposted.  Both the children and I were taken back by the splendid sight as we pulled into the grounds to nab our parking place under the shade of the trees.    We were greeted at reception by welcoming and knowledgeable staff that took our very reasonable entrance fee and passed the children the woodland trail map for us to complete. Once outside the children made a beeline for the splendid adventure playground where we plotted up with our picnic for a good while.  There was loads of open space to picnic and run around, a small sandpit, swings, slides, lots to climb and balance on and a added bonus of some hungry chickens to feed.    Once lunch was devoured we made our way into the woodland to complete our trail sheet.  The children loved answering questions on their surroundings whist climbing trees, hiding in the undergrowth and looking for wildlife.  We were lucky enough to see a couple of Canadian geese with their newly hatched babies that were super cute!          The next port of call was the craft barn where we created some fabulous paper swords, princess veils, shields, masks and hats.  This was all done in the perfect setting of the beautiful courtyard so the children could then come out and commence their battles.  There was also a toy museum just across from the craft shed, but ours were far to busy playing with their creations so we moved straight onto the magnificent gardens.        I have been to many stately homes in my time but these gardens topped any I have seen before.  We had a quick ice-cream stop whilst taking in the views and the children happily ran in and out of the ornamental hedges playing catch and hide and seek for well over an hour.          The gardens were separated by walls and walkways and there was a different surprise around every corner. One of the children’s favourites was the wild gardens where they could run in and out of the long grass.  It reminded me of the story ‘Were Going On A Bear Hunt’. I was in my element with photo opportunities although one nearly ended badly when my over exited number four tried to push his friend right into the pond!!  Luckliy he managed to save himself and number four was very sheepish for a good while afterwards.  Well for the next ten minutes which if you know him is a long time for him!    We didn’t attempt to go inside the house as we had nine children between two of us and I think that would have been tempting fate.  My Mum would love it here so I think I will save the house for a quieter visit with her one day. This was a really lovely day out with plenty to entertain the kids and lots of beautiful grounds and history for the adults to take in.  There is a maize maze that will be ready for the summer so we will be making a return visit in the summer holidays to give that a try.