I’ve finally figured it out. A path in woods is but a suggestion, to children. It may lead somewhere interesting, but so might a path made by a deer through the undergrowth. The chance to walk along a fallen tree trunk, will always be preferable to a well marked track.
Last week, we headed down to Fyne Court, which is owned by the National Trust. No house to see, but the grounds more than made up for it.
Not that the children totally ignored the paths. They did join us as we followed the trails. It was restful to take time and explore the different areas. We enjoyed walking around the ponds and streams, through the woods.
I envied the remains of their walled kitchen garden. Bare now and lacking its greenhouses, but in its hey day, I should imagine it produced enough food, for the big house, to last all year. Oh, it must have been busy and so full of life. We speculated about how many gardeners they would have needed.
Moving along the path, the children enjoyed the natural playthings, dotted along our route. We listened to the bird song and then they played their own music in response. Plink, plink, plonk.
I suspect a slightly different kind of music wafted over the woods, in times gone by. One of the few remaining buildings is the music room. Peering in the windows, I could imagine how grand the recitals would have been.
And on to another alternative track. This time the trunk fascinated us all, as it twisted round. Like a giant had picked the trunk up and twisted it to squeeze the very last drop of sap, then left it for children to walk along. As children do.
Until the time comes to head home.
Oh what a gorgeous spot! We’re huge fans of National Trust gardens for some proper exploring and I love how their gardens so often contain hidden surprises!
I bet they always have done. Must be fun dreaming up these hidden areas.
My girls would love it there 🙂
I think they would.
NT always getting it right, we love visiting new places and hadn’t heard of this one before. Just looked it up and fascinated by the scientist that lived there and his electrical experiments. My son would love clambering on those tree trunks.
He fascinated us as well, which was part of the reason we chose to go there. There is an exhibition in the information room, but I didn’t see any more about him. We may have missed it.
Gorgeous pictures, this is truly a beautiful place. We haven’t really visited many National Trust locations, but I think we should try start doing it. The gardens always look really beautiful and pictoresque. #countrykids
More so when the flowers bloom, but even beforehand, there is a beauty in most managed gardens. Great for ideas too. I always find I want to come home and change something in our garden. Not sure our neighbours would share my enthusiasm to add the musical logs though. 😀
what a lovely place to explore, I love the National trust grounds every bit as much as the houses and there is something rather special about natural play things. We have a music log stand like this at Coombe Mill and plenty of wild fun areas the older children love to explore. sounds like you had a beautiful walk imagining the grounds as they would once have been. thank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids
The musical stand is such a simple concept, but genius at the same time. I bet it’s popular at Coombe Mill. I love the grounds of these places. This one lost it’s house to a fire, but I really think the grounds are worth a visit.
What a fantastic place to go exploring, such pretty buildings too 🙂
Something to discover around each corner, too.
That looks like just our sort of place, love the natural musical instruments #CountryKids
They are great, aren’t they?
My kids would love it there. They love climbing and walking on fallen tree trunks. And I love it when they make instruments and playthings out of wood/old trees. So cool!
Acts like an absolute magnet for the children. Great fun.
Beautiful photos, and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. Those tree trunks are incredible, my kids would be just the same 🙂
The twisted one was particularly intriguing.
This looks like an amazing place to visit, we love finding new National Trust locations to see and look around #CountryKids
There are so many great locations out there to explore.
Looks like a lovely place to explore and I love the look of the natural playthings – your children look like they were having a wonderful time 🙂
They love finding the natural play areas.
What a fun day!
It certainly was a good day.
Thats giant tree!!! I love that. I was thinking its the tree that went up to the Giant’s castle and was cut up so that the Gaint cant go down here on Earth! So lovely there =) #countrykids #JackandtheBeanstalk
It could well be. It had such an interesting twist.
These sort of walks are my favourite. It looks like a lovely place to explore.
Me too! You never know what’s round the bend.
A music room! It looks like is is nearly as big as my house! What a great place for exploring.
I know. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a space like that, dedicated to music!
Oh, it looks beautiful! The fallen trees are amazing, definitely a good alternative to the path 🙂
We enjoyed our outing there. The trees were amazing.
I have so many fond memories of Fyne Court 🙂 a very long time ago! We made many visits there when I was a child, including a couple of school trips! Haven’t been for years, must visit again.
You’ll have to go again. I wonder if you would notice any differences.
What a beautiful place to explore. I’d choose the fallen tree over the path too. 🙂
A fun route to take!