Burghley House Garden of Surprises.

The Garden of surprises is a lovely place to visit when the weather is sunny and gorgeous. Fortunately, despite the foggy, cold start the sun shine through on the day we visited. In our party there was 4 adults, 2 teenagers and 2 toddlers and we all enjoyed it. We decided that because we were short of time we would only visit the gardens, not the house, I'm please we did because I don't think we would have had time for both.

There are three garden areas in Burghley house, the garden of surprises, the sculpture garden and the more formal house gardens. The garden of surprises is an interactive area, where visitors of all ages can paddle, dodgy and splashing in the various water features. It isn't an overly large area so I imagine it would get quite busy on really sunny days. It could also be improved by adding some colour. However, the teenagers enjoyed pushing each other in to the water and the toddlers enjoyed paddling about and the adults, well we revered back to being children and splashed about as much as the rest.

After a picnic we decided to go to the sculpture garden, this has been at Burghley a while and every time I go there seems to be new things added. There is a very pleasant walk round and the sculptures are interesting to spot and look at. It is a shame that your not allowed to touch and play on the sculpture, as some of them are very tactile and are just asking to be climbed on. The views over the lake are beautiful.

I think if you are visiting the best thing is to take your time, enjoy the marvellous surroundings and let the kid in you come out. 

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire.

Lovely Tutor hall set in the beautiful Derbyshire hillside. The hall is often known for being made of more glass then wall. In the Tutor period glass was seen as a luxurious expense, therefore the people who wanted to show-off their wealth the more glass they had the weather they were.

Hardwick Hall is well worth a visit, though at £11 for the Hall and garden I think it is a little on the steep side.

Aysgarth Falls, Yorkshire.

Aysgarth falls in the Yorkshire Dales are a stunning triple set of waterfalls which are on the river Ure. They are beautiful and the upper falls lovely place to go for a picnic as you can walk down to the river edge. They are also an ideal place to paddle, though the water is fast flowing and can in heavy rain be dangerous. At the right time of year can can see fish jumping up the falls. The upper falls were also used in the Kevin Costner film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, where he has a fight in middle of the river with Little John.

The middle and lower falls, which are a short walk though gorgeous woodland, from the upper falls, are also lovely though access is limited.

This is a definite must see place to go if in the area, it was recently voted one of the natural wonders of Britain.

Tattershall castle, Lincolnshire.

Tattershall Castle is situated in rural Lincolnshire. Built in 1434 by Lord Ralph Cromwell (Henry VI's treasurer), on the site of a older stone castle, which some of it can still be seen in the grounds. Tattershall castle is built from red brick which is rare for the period. It dominates the surrounding fen land and can be seen for miles around.

The castle it lucky to have survived, as it was left to decline for 200 years. However in 1911 the castle was brought by Lord Curzon, who set about restoring it to its former glory. The stunning medieval fireplaces were rescued before they were shipped off to America. The floors and windows replaced and restored. When Lord Curzon passed away in 1925 he give the castle to the National Trust.

The castle itself is quite bare inside, some of the room often have exhibits in them and Dutch tapestries have been placed in the dinning room to give visitors an idea of how it use to look. The visitors can go onto the roof and admire the beautiful views of the surrounding area. If visiting keep an eye out for some extraordinary graffiti, some of it dating back to the time of the civil war.

Boston Stump, Lincolnshire.

Boston Stump is one of the defining landmarks in Lincolnshire. The Stump is the tower which forms part of the St Botolph's church in the heart of the town of Boston. Standing at 83 metres high it is the tallest parish church in England, and up until the 19 century the highest building in the world. It was built 1309 and finished in 1510, the tower was built in 1450 and despite being built metres away from the river Haven, the foundations, which are under water, have never been renovated. It is a stunning piece of architecture, which at the time it was built seems very frivolous and extravagant when most of the residents of the town were living in poverty.

It is also a very special place to visit, a place of quiet contemplation or for the more active you can climb up the stump, though not to the top as people keep jumping off it. The views are stunning and if you look carefully you can see Lincoln cathedral, Ely cathedral, Tattershell castle and my house.

Warwick Castle, Warwickshire.

Warwick Castle is a lovely place to visit. You need to give yourself plenty of time to look round and if you time it right during summer there are loads of special events on ranging from medieval knights jousting to battles being re-enacted. The castle is own by the Madamme Tussard group who also own Chessington World of Adventure and Alton Towers, but don't let this put you off, as Warwick castle has not in anyway been spoiled and turned into a theme park.

The castle is stunning, built by William the Conquer in 1068, the building has been adding to throughout the century's, it is amazing that so much of the castle is still intact. It is a great place for all ages. I loved it and hopefully going to go back soon because they have added some more things, like a catapult.

Thorpe Cloud, Dovedale, Derbyshire.

Thorpe cloud is the name of a limestone hill in Dovedale. It is a popular walk and and views across Dovedale are well worth the effort. It is a short trek, but can be tough in areas near the top. There are good paths which are well signed. At 287 metres high it doesn't take long to reach the summit (30Min's). Though the summit looks flat from the bottom, it is narrow and steep so take care, it can also be windy at the top. Once at the top you can choice to go back the way you came or down a more tricky but quicker slope.