We had a really enjoyable day out at Normanby Hall. We have been a member since the summer so have visited a few times. We started with a visit to the playground which is a decent size and has equipment suitable for both little and bigger ones including a sand pit area and a zip wire. We then went on to have lunch in the courtyard area and had brought our own picnic. There are tables there for you to use. There is also a place to buy food and drinks if you want to buy lunch there. There was a crepe hut outside too!

After lunch we went into the main open area near the house. The trees were in blossom looking gorgeous. We had taken a football so some of us played with that. It is a place you can take dogs but they have to stay on a lead. They have an outdoor bar which sells hot drinks too so we did use that. My daughter spotted a “paradise for ducks” a bit further down which we have not noticed other times we’ve been. There were lots of ducks down there! It was really peaceful.

Later on we went to look around Normanby Hall which was the first time we’ve been in there as it’s previously been closed due to the pandemic. There was quite a lot to look around both upstairs and downstairs and they had various activities to keep the kids entertained including a leaflet with questions on, screens with games on, a dressing up area and a doll’s house. Our toddler wasn’t too keen on any of this and preferred to be outside! As well as the house, there is also the Rural Life Museum which we’ve not yet had chance to go to. There’s a splash pad too.

After this we had a walk and saw some deer and we went through the area where they do ‘Go Ape‘ which is an outdoor adventure experience, travelling through trees using ropes. There are two courses: the Treetop Adventure is £20 per person and takes about 1 hour and the Treetop challenge is £32 per person and takes 2-3 hours and you need to be 10 years or older for this one. I think you need to book in advance. We’ve done something similar before and the kids found it fun although this one looks higher and move advanced than the one we have tried but I think we’ll try it at some point in the future. We finished off the day with an ice cream from a van near the car park (although it was pretty pricey!). The membership cost for Normanby Hall is £36 for a family versus £7.50 for an adult per visit and £4.50 for children aged 5-16. Under 5s are free. It’s worth considering joining if you think you’ll manage to go a few times in a year.

Peaceful spot