Over the next few weeks S is going to be working from home as part of her work, which means I’m going to be taking myself off out for the day so that we’re not a distraction for her.
This, therefore, gives me the perfect opportunity to use our National Trust membership. We sadly haven’t used it for a while due to other plans and poor weather, so I’m hoping the next few weeks will change that!
This may sound odd, but I often don’t go out on my own with T without it being to a class or baby group, so this will be a nice change to just venture out on our own.
Nymans House and Gardens near Haywards Heath was where we took ourselves for our first mummy-son outing.
Nymans was a country retreat for the Messel Family, however became a National Trust property in 1953. The house is a stunning property, albeit ruined, surrounded by gorgeous gardens and trails. Even in the winter it’s stunning and the house has a very gothic edge to it.
The gardens are really expansive, with lots of hidden corners and routes. I really enjoyed the woodland areas as they were covered in festive lighting, making use of the peculiar plant life already there.
Although the location is quite small compared to other National Trust sites, we managed to spend a few hours here slowly walking around and enjoying the scenery. The house was unfortunately shut for winter refurbishments, however there was an exhibition going on at the property detailing work by Gilbert and Sullivan, meaning parts of the surrounding woodland and gardens had been transformed to represent their work!
Because of the on and off drizzle, I decided to use the buggy – I’ve yet to find a National Trust place that isn’t buggy friendly. What I also like about their sites is how I can always find a nice, quite place to feed T, without having to make myself go out of my way, which is handy as we can’t often feed in cafés as T gets distracted easily, meaning I often end up flashing my boob.
I really enjoyed our first outing, and will no doubt bring S here one weekend.
K
