Waddesdon Manor in the Sunday Sun

What a gorgeous day it has been! Today is the only day this week the 5 of us have been together so we thought we would make the most of it and head off to Waddesdon Manor to enjoy the good weather! We became National Trust members about 5 years ago. It is great, you get free entry to most NT venues and free parking at a lot of site too. We go to Cornwall a lot and this is what made us go for the membership as it saves us a fortune in beach parking down there. If you are not a member I strongly recommend you look into it especially if you have somewhere like Waddesdon Manor near by.

We arrived just before 11am expecting it to be packed, but were pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was (I think it was because the clocks had gone forward and everyone wasn’t as organised as normal). We took a leisurely stroll down the main drive towards the Manor house and then straight off to the adventure playground. This area is fantastic if you have a young family, it is all very clean and safe. It is set on different levels, down a hill-side, which are all wood chipped. The good thing about the lay out is you do not have hundreds of families packed into one area. The down side is if you have an excited child who just can’t wait to move on and shoots ahead, before you know it they are out of your site and down to the next level. This happened to us once, but fortunately, Madison found it quite scary to not know where we were so has never done it again. My girls love the nest swing so we headed there first, and for the first time ever, there was no queue. The girls played happily on the zip wire and swings for about 20 minutes and then we decided to head down to the Stables cafe at the bottom of the hill. Even though the adventure playground is set on a hill-side it is still reasonably pushchair friendly. There are wooden gang ways that are sloped all the way down to the bottom level. Watch out though as these can get very slippery if it has been raining. I prefer not to take a pushcahir personally as going down is fine, but it is hard work on the way back up and you have to go back up to get back to your car! There are hand rails on all the walk ways down the side of the play areas if you have someone with you who is not so steady on their feet. I just love the whole layout and feel of Waddesdon Manor. It is very family friendly and carries a very traditional vintage theme which is right up my street.

The Stables cafe has a large outside seating area and then a smaller inside one. We decided to sit inside despite the glorious sunshine. It was very bright, but there was still a bit of a nip in the air and Noah needed feeding so we headed inside. There are some fab new pictures in the cafe area of the Rothchild’s estate, they are breath-taking and worth going in just to see them even if you don’t fancy a coffee. The fresh cakes display is always a massive attraction to us and my husband and I always find it hard to resist. Today was no different. I went for homemade lemon drizzle cake (which was very light with just the right amount of sticky drizzle on top) and Mr BB went for the meringue with raspberry coulis. The girls decided they wanted Ice cream, typical children the first sign of the sun and they want an ice cream everywhere we go. The coffee is good, not too strong or bitter and we have always found the service to be swift and friendly. The menu offers light lunches, but we have not yet ordered from it. However, for what I have witnessed the portions look good and the food always looks fresh and appetising. I would say that the pricing is what you would expect for a National Trust cafe, by no means cheap, more your premium coffee shop pricing.

Seeing as Madison had yet another Birthday party to attend this afternoon (on average she is going to one a week at the moment) we had to cut our visit short today and head back towards the car. But not before visiting the adventure playground one more time. On the way back it was starting to get a lot busier and there were queues forming for the zip wire and swings. We have always found the visitors at Waddesdon Manor to be very friendly and polite. People will say good morning to you as you pass them and strike up a conversation whilst waiting for one of the playground activities. There is a small a very which the girls always enjoy walking round but we didn’t go in that direction today. There is still a lot of Waddesdon Manor that we have yet to explore. You can pay to have a tour around the Manor House which is something we are planning on doing this year. There is also a train ride that takes you down to the plant centre which is set at the bottom of the hill in a different area of the estate. It is always worth checking out the events calendar at your local NT venues as they host a whole range of events from Live Music to Wine Tasting and these can be discounted if you are a member. I really enjoyed our little trip out in the Sunday sun and always come away from Waddesdon feeling very luck that we live so close to somewhere so lovely!