SVU3A Gardens & Historic Houses Holiday June 2026

Prepared by the Met Office for a gloomy and doomy holiday based in Morecambe Bay, it was a pleasant surprise when we found the weather mostly dry and sunny, albeit a trifle windy at times. (Well, what else can you expect by the sea?)

The journey to Lancashire is quite long, even by a Kings’coach, so it made a pleasant break to spend two hours in the National Trust’s Biddulph Grange, Grade I listed Victorian garden.James Bateman and his wife, assistedby artist Edward Cooke,designed a ‘playful paradise’ in the1840s, with ‘rooms’ themed to different countries andhousing an international plant collection. Aftera first stunning vista from a terrace overlooking a serene lake fringed by yellow iris, water-lilies and rhododendrons and greeted by a sentinel moorhen, you wind your way along paths leading through successive delightful surprises including atmospheric Egyptian and colourful Chinese gardens,a Himalayan Glen, Italianate formal parterres, a Cheshire cottage, a magnificent stumperyand much more, ending up in the fascinating Geological Gallery, where you progress through a series of ‘illustrations’explaining what took place on each of the seven days of the Creation. A true ‘Box of Delights’.

If we thought nothing could equal that we were mistaken. Day 2 saw us at Dunham Massey, another National Trust property, this onea Georgian mansion on a moated site, with extensive gardenssurrounded by an ancient deer park, where a herd of fallow deer grazed as we made our way round to access the house and gardens. A difficult decision had to be made here - house or gardens?- as we were also visiting RHS Bridgewater later in the day and it was immediately obvious that you could easily spend an entire day at Dunham. On that basis I opted for the house. I don’t know whether anyone managed to doboth. I was told by others that there was a classically designed Orangery and a fanciful Bark House to see as well as a water garden. Dunham Massey also claims to have the best-stocked garden in the country. There are also many rooms and much to see in the house, which tells the tale of two great families and their country residence. Standout features for me were the Huguenot silver display, the library, containing a clockwork Orrery (no longer working) and a service/servants’ wing reminiscent of the one at Audley End.

Our second visit today was to RHS Bridgewater, or The Great Norther Garden, last visited three years ago, not long after it was first opened to the public. An interesting comparison for those of us who saw it then and have good memories! My main recollection was of the Chinese Waterside Garden, then still under construction. Currently a group of Chinese workers are busy building a pavilion there. The Western Walled Garden was also worth revisiting, with various sections dedicated to Bees & Butterflies, Wellbeing, Resilience etc and – the most appealing to me- a Paradise Garden.Who could possibly resist that?

Day 3 and Levens Hall, originally just a pele tower built around 1350, when defence against enemies was paramount, as in the Scottish borderlands. Extended in the Elizabethan era you can see the resulting fine panelling and plasterwork in the main rooms. Celebrated, too, for its fine topiary garden, created by French man, Guillaume Beaumont, gardener to James II, who also designed the grounds at Hampton Court. From inside the house the windows offer tantalising glimpses of this amazing creation, which for me surpasses the topiary work in Chirk Castle and Great Dixter,The afternoon was due to be devoted to free time exploring the delights of Morecambe.However, for much of this we ended up crawling along the M6, thanks to a jack-knifinglorry somewhere ahead.Fortunately, most of our party had already introduced themselves to the life-sized figure of late comedian, Eric Morecambe, whose statueis easily recognisable in a familiar pose about 200 metres further along the esplanade from our hotel. He shares his centenary year with two other famous personalities: Marilyn Monroe and Sir David Attenborough; the only one of the three still living.

The first half of Day 4 was devoted to a visit to nearby Carnforth Station Heritage Centre, famous as the setting for the film Brief Encounter,shot in 1945. No-one could accuse our organisers of failing to provide us with variety over the last few days! Most of us clustered round the platform clock to record it for posterity a few more times before we were given a brief introduction to the background of the film-making. We then had time to explore the Centre more fully and learn about the history of Carnforth itself, its workers and their families. A number of us also took the opportunity to re-familiarise ourselves with the film,running on a continuous loop and listen again tothe clipped, Noel Coward-style pronunciationof 80 years ago, sounding so different to speech today.Aftera sandwich & soup lunch served in a bar restored to resemble the filmset, wedeparted forour second destination.

The road leading up to Leighton Hall certainly put the skills of our Kings’ driver, Trevor to the test. Full marks to him! We were ushered speedily inside after a warm welcome from the present owner and given a guided tour of this privately owned property, once the 17th century seat of Sir John Middleton, a former High Sheriff of Lancashire. The house contains a stunning collection of furniture, much of it from Gillow’s, thanks to the family connection and famous enoughto warrant a reference in Gilbert & Sullivan’s operettaHMS Pinafore: “and everything that isn’t old from Gillow’s”.The other highlight of the visit for me was a talk by a falconer, who brought with him three birds of prey: a little owl, a barn owl and a Harris hawk. Despite the fact it had to be held indoors because of deteriorating weather, at least this had the merit of enabling us to see these three splendid birds and photograph them at close quarters. At the very end, when the drizzle stopped, we were able to watch the Harris hawk being flown, ending our visit with a final flourish.

Before we knew it our final day arrived. On the return journey homewe stopped off at one of the best-known half-timbered buildings in Britain, Little Moreton Hall, a National Trust favourite of mine. The Hall is a flamboyant, delightfully wonky Tudor Manor, buckling beneath its own weightwith the massive burdenof a stone-slabbed roof and chimney stacks crowning the unbroken length of gallery windows, allbearing down on crooked, sagging timbers.When you catch your first glimpse of it you have to wonder how it’sstill standing. Only ever owned by a single family,it was bequeathed to the Trust in 1938. Sadly, little remains of what was once inside the house and, despite research, there are few records to tell us about the lives of this non-noble family, as a result of significant events that took place during its early history– social, political and religious upheavals. When you enter the courtyard via the gate-house you immediately realise that this was a house designed to impress visitors with its ambition.Little Moreton Hall is most definitely in a class of its own.The decoration is a curious mix of old and - at the time - new, with interweaving vines,cable mouldings,trefoils and quatrefoils, complemented by the leaded panes (‘quarries’) patterning the windows in different arrangements of triangles, rectangles, diamonds, circles, squares and lozenges. There are wonderfully decorated carvings, including a helmeted warrior seen on one doorway.Richard Dale, the carpenter responsible for the workon the bay windows, proudly displayed his name, initials and the date above one.  Once you start to explore inside all the roomsover the three storeys, you become aware that the house and the atmosphere it creates, start to speak for themselves. I was particularly impressed by the Little Parlour, a diminutive room in which, only fifty years ago, elaborate Biblical scenes and a frieze painted on the plaster were uncovered,hidden until then behind wood panelling. Impossible to describe all the rooms, but it would be remiss of me if I fail to mention theLong Galley, perched precariouslyatop the first floor, its narrowness making it seem all the more impressive. It was used daily for exercise and games, borne out by a number of tennis balls discovered during renovations and confirmed as dating back to the 17th century. The Gallery also contains some remarkable painted plasterwork. All too soon our visit drew to an end,leaving just enough time for a stroll round the moated garden in which the more knowledgeable horticulturalists among us may have spotted Tudor culinary and medicinal plants growing. Finally, there are two mounds, or ‘mounts’ which I imagine from othersseen elsewhere were probably designed as vantage points for viewing the knot garden.

So ended a memorable five days enjoying the delights of a varied selection of houses and gardens in Lancashire and Cheshire, leaving me wondering what we can look forward to in 2027. This holiday will be hard to outdo.

Lucy

• Down House
• Chartwell and Emmetts Booking Form
• Proposed Garden Visits 2026 pub

All visits start from The Red Lion car park, East Bergholt.