Written by Carly Freestone | 5th April 2019
The weather may be telling a different story, but spring has definitely sprung and school children all over the country are breaking up for the long-awaited Easter holidays. Don’t worry if you haven’t made any plans yet though. Here are some of the top places to visit in the Michael Graham region if an Easter-themed day out is on your to-do list.
The birth place of Sir Winston Churchhill and a World Heritage site, Blenheim Palace is transforming it’s Pleasure Gardens into an Easter wonderland from 19-22 April. The Easter timetable on the Bleinham Palace website is well worth a look before you go along as the schedule is jam-packed. Suffice to say, the Easter Bunny has a lot of company with princesses, clowns, fairy stilt walkers and Punch & Judy all looking for a slice of the action.
Open from Saturday 6th – Monday 22nd April, Millets Farm in Abingdon has laid on extra treats for Easter. The Victorian Carousel, Falconry centre and indoor play barn make this a great place to go whatever the weather and from 8th – 18th April you can enjoy chocolate egg decorating workshops. Waterperry Gardens near Wheatley and Batsford Arboretum (6 – 22 Apr) just a stone’s throw from the historic Cotswold market town of Moreton-in-Marsh both have gorgeous gardens to explore with an egg hunt to keep little ones from getting bored.
You can always rely on a National Trust destination to celebrate Easter in style and many sites are part of the Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt again this year. Waddesdon Manor are celebrating the fact that the house is open, the gardens are blooming and the birds are singing in the aviary. What better place for a day out this Easter? At Stowe they’re combining Easter with celebrating 30 years of the National Trust at Stowe with chocolate prizes galore up for grabs. To find your nearest Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt head to cadbury.easter.co.uk
The Chiltern Open Air Museum in the Chiltern Hills has Easter themed crafts, activities and the obligatory Easter trail. Nothing says Easter more than new born lambs and you can find them on the farm there too. Green Dragon Eco Farm, near Bicester, and Thrift Farm, near Milton Keynes also have baby animals galore. These last two are ideally placed for a cheeky detour to Bicester Village or The Centre: MK if you’re brave enough to combine children on a sugar high with a bit of retail therapy.
While you enjoy the newly reopened Woburn Abbey Gardens, rest assured any children will be fully occupied hunting for Easter bunnies which have been dotted throughout the Abbey gardens. The Spring and Easter Flower Celebration with Jonathan Moseley on 17th April is a decidedly grown up treat culminating in a fabulous take-home table arrangement guaranteed to wow at any Easter gathering. Booking is essential.
You probably know it as the film starring Judy Garland, but Mead Open Farm in Billington is excited about what they describe as “an immersive Wizard of Oz walk-through experience” from 8th – 22nd April. Lambs, bunnies, chicks and chocolate are all there too if you like your Easter days out more traditional.
Compton Verney Easter Trail has to be the most sophisticated Easter egg hunt we came across. The eggs hidden around the 120-acre park are inspired by the hand decorated eggs in the gallery’s Marx-Lambert collection. To complete the challenge, you have to find the seven missing eggs from the award-winning art gallery.
Knebworth House first achieved fame in Victorian times as the home of the novelist, playwright and politician Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, author of the words “it was a dark and stormy night” and “the pen is mightier than the sword”. Let’s hope for sunshine rather than storms on 19-20 April when children can follow a trail through the flower gardens, around the Edwardian maze and amongst the 72 life-sized dinosaurs in search of hidden symbols to win a prize. We’re guessing it’s made of chocolate. Medieval jousting displays are included in your admission ticket.
Hatfield House is opening for the season on Saturday 6th April and to mark the occasion there will be live music throughout the day, free activities at the riding school and Easter crafts for children. The workshop on how to create the perfect chocolate Easter egg is surely one for the adults too.
Cambridge University Botanic Garden from 6th – 22nd April ticks all the boxes of being environmentally friendly, educational and fun. No need to book, you can just drop in for Easter craft workshops using natural materials and enjoy time in the Botanic Garden where storytelling is used to bring the plants alive. There is also a free trail which takes chidren on a springtime adventure to find the animals, see some amazing plants and collect an Easter prize at the end.
Given Northampton’s rich history and heritage of shoe making, what could be a more appropriate twist on the Easter egg hunt than an Easter Shoe Trail? Explore the town centre as you hunt down ten styles of shoe from displayed trail posters in the shop windows. Then post your completed trail form for a chance to win giant chocolate eggs in the prize draw at the end of the month. Entry form can be downloaded or picked up from The Guildhall and the library in the town.
Once the largest house in England and Palace of Charles I, Holdenby House is a Grade II listed country house close to the Althorp estate. Open for Easter celebrations with a Victorian theme on 21-22 April, prepare for an extravaganza. A circus school, falconry displays, magic shows, party games and pony rides, plus Holdenby’s traditional Easter egg hunt and egg roll will surely tire out even the most Duracell of bunnies. The 20 acres of spectacular gardens are listed in the book “1001 Gardens You Must See Before You Die” and the house will be open for visitors on Easter Monday.
Michael Graham is delighted to be sponsoring two local pre-school Easter egg hunts again this year. Good luck to everyone taking part to raise funds for Hartwell pre-school on Saturday 6th April and East Haddon pre-school on Friday 19th April.
Are there any places we’ve missed? Please get in touch on Facebook, Twitter or instagram and for Michael Graham town and country homes to buy or to rent, head to the property search on our website, which includes the three homes shown below.