It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to visit a National Trust location due to a poorly toddler and broken foot. It broke our hearts (and wallet) thinking our memberships were simply going to waste.
So last weekend we decided to take ourselves off out a bit further than usual and visit Standen Park near East Grinstead.
A 40 minute drive from home, we decided to make a day of it and drive over nap-time, pack a small lunch, and take enough change to treat ourselves to something in the café!
With our wellies and raincoats on we explored Standen Park, which is a gorgeous modern estate nestled in the hills of Standen. With views of Medway Valley and Ashdown Forest you’re sure to have something to look at during your visit here. The location is absolutely stunning, even in the winter.
Woodland spaces
As well as open spaces and ornamental gardens you also have deep woods to explore that also break out into open spaces. There’s even a play area and section to build dens – we’ll definitely be returning when T understands the concept of den building.
On the day we visited it was particularly muddy, so a lot of the woodland walks were shut off but there was still plenty to explore and do.
Standen House is also open to explore, but we decided not to venture in on this occasion as we had a rather energetic toddler and a very muddy dog! That being said, even if we were all clean, we didn’t actually have enough time to explore the house as we had so much going on around us!
Standen House was a pleasant surprise, as was the weather. We had a wonderful time trekking through the woods and the grounds of the house, not to mention resetting ourselves after what has felt like the longest winter ever. We’ll certainly be revisiting in the spring.
