Last time, I wrote about the National Trust properties that we’d visited within a 90 minute drive of where we live, in Sowerby Bridge. Today, this is about the properties that we haven’t yet visited. It’s a much shorter list.
Goddards Garden
Goddards is in York, and in fact is in walking distance of where I grew up. It was owned by the Terry family, they who introduced the world to the Chocolate Orange, and later on became the regional offices for the National Trust. I don’t remember it being open when I was younger, but nowadays you can pop in and see the gardens at weekends.
Rievaulx Terrace
Again, stretching the 90 minute journey time but it’s also closer to York, where my parents live. The village of Rievaulx is just outside the pretty little market town of Helmsley, and is better known as the home of Rievaulx Abbey. The Abbey is a ruin (yet again, Henry VIII had a lot to answer for) and managed by English Heritage. But above the abbey is Rievaulx Terrace, home to some formal gardens, woodlands, and a couple of folly temples. The National Trust suggest that you combine a trip with nearby Nunnington Hall if you want to make a day of it.
Beatles’ Childhood Homes
Going over to the West Coast, and you can visit the childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Access is by guided tour only, and has to be booked in advance with pickup from either Liverpool South Parkway station, or Speke Hall. There are only four tours offered each day, but they’re available seven days a week, except in low season when the houses are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Whilst many Beatles tours in Liverpool will take you past these houses, this is the only way that you can actually go inside.
The Hardmans’ House
Another house of a similar vintage in Liverpool is The Hardmans’ House, offering a chance to see how people lived in the 1950s. It was home to Edward Chambré Hardman and his wife Margaret – Edward was a well-known portrait photographer, so you can also see his dark room, and a selection of photographs. Currently it’s closed until May, and then only open on Fridays and Saturdays, with pre-booking advised.
Little Moreton Hall
I feel like I may have been to Little Moreton Hall in the past – as with nearby Biddulph Grange, we have family nearby. But I certainly don’t remember anything about it, so if I have been, it must have been a very long time ago. It’s a similar-looking Tudor house to Speke Hall and has an actual moat. Over the years, various bits have been added to it, making it probably one of ‘wonkiest’ houses that you would ever see.
Rufford Old Hall
Another Tudor survivor is up near Ormskirk. Rufford Old Hall may have been visited by William Shakespeare during his teenage years. As well as the house, there are large gardens and woodland to explore, and so if you’re not a member then it’s one of the higher-priced National Trust properties. But that should mean that there’s plenty to do there.
So there’s only six places that we haven’t yet been to within 90 minutes travelling time, and three of them have limited opening hours. That being said, I think we’ll make plans to go to Little Moreton Hall and Rufford Old Hall in the near future. As I mentioned at the start of the year, our summer holiday this year will be in North Wales, and there’s no shortage of National Trust properties up there either.