| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Leader: | |
| Group email: | National Trust Visits group |
| When: | Various dates |
| Venue: | Various venues |
Group Leader: Ann Stanford,
Members can book their places and pay at the general meetings or contact Ann by email.
£5 deposit taken for all trips at the Monthly General meeting.
Ann will be standing down as National Trust Group leader at the end of 2025.
Ann has done a fabulous job organising these outings for many years but it’s now time for someone else to take on the role.
If you have enjoyed these visits and wish them to continue, please consider taking over from Ann.
There is potential for members to share the booking of the visits but it does need someone to be the central point of contact. If you are interested then please contact our Groups Co-ordinator Marilyn Redfern.
Old Manor and Kedleston.
Saturday 11 October - final visit for 2025 to Attingham Park,
A Georgian house set in the beautiful Shropshire countryside. The Johnson’s coach will be leaving the Arena at 09.00. Price is £20. The house contains a picture gallery designed by John Nash along with regency furniture, paintings, silver and porcelain. There is a walled garden and within the parkland there are miles of accessible paths.
National Trust at Southwell workhouse
National Trust visits for 2025
Thursday 24 July. and Thursday 25 September
The Old Manor and Kedleston. Price: £10.
Leaving the Arena at 09.15.
The Old Manor House is a medieval hall near Ashbourne. It is small and only open on a Thursday.
Accessibility for Old Manor House. The entrance is step-free, stairs to upper floor with restricted headroom throughout the property. The small garden is accessed via steps.
Kedleston Hall is a lavishly decorated 1760 show palace with 800 acres of parkland to explore.
Accessibility for Kedleston. There is a shuttle bus from the visitor reception to main hall as some routes have uneven surfaces, steep ramps and slopes. Level access to the gardens from the car park.
Step free access to exhibition and food areas. There is step free, level access to and through some of the parkland.
Previous Visits
National Trust Group visit Woolsthorpe & Belton.
Our last National Trust outing for 2024 was on Thursday 17 October was to Woolsthorpe Manor and Belton House.
We had the most glorious perfect autumn day! Woolsthorpe was the home of Sir Isaac Newton.
Newton was a genius who had a curious, experimenting mind from an early age.
During the 17th century ‘lockdown’, the time of the Great Plague, Isaac came back to Woolsthorpe from Cambridge to develop theories in calculus, optics and the laws of motion and gravity.
Some of his experiments are still evident and of course the story of the falling apple, from a tree in the adjoining garden, that inspired Newton, is a scientific legend!
Belton Country House was built in the late 17th century by the Brownlow family and everything about its 1,300 acres was to impress.
The collection of paintings, silver, orientalist ceramics and books are some of the finest within the National Trust.
The formal gardens of Italian and Dutch design complete with conservatory and fountain are beautifully maintained.
The ancient deer park, grazing sheep, ponds and woodland provide miles of walking trails and, of course, the huge adventure playground for all to enjoy
National Trust Group visit Upton & Canons Ashby
After a misty, cool start to the day we had glorious autumn sunshine at Upton House and Canons Ashby. Upton House was the 1930's country retreat of Lord and Lady Beasted. Tapestries, a world famous priceless art collection and fine Chelsea porcelain are displayed here.
The gardens and woodlands were spectacular, making the most of the sheer drop into the Ice Age valley below with the Mirror Pool reflecting the skies above.
Canons Ashby is only 17 miles from Upton House, but it took us over an hour to arrive due to road closures because of HS2 work in the area.
Such an interesting Elizabethan manor house, largely left as it was since 1710.
For over 400 years the Dryden family lived, renovated and extended this property.
The house was built using the stone from the remains of a medieval priory. In the original part of the house there are wall paintings of coats of arms of visitors. One was of Sir Walter Raleigh! The gardens, with evidence of medieval farming, were beautifully maintained.
Click on or touch first photo to see slide show,
