Christmas Charm & Historic Halls #4 :: Nunnington Hall NT

Hi there everyone 😀

We are currently in Wales, where, at the time of writing, the temperatures were low and there was the chance of snow forecast over the next few days. We were fine though … nice and toasty in the lodge and awaiting the arrival of our guests for the New Year.

Back at the end of the November, when we were up in Yorkshire for the week with Jackie and Phil, we took in our fourth National Trust visit of the month … this time to Nunnington Hall …

Whilst we had visited before it was new to Jackie and Phil and we had never been at Christmas time. The theme this year was created in collaboration with local charities, social groups, schools, and community members, with groups being invited organisations to decorate Christmas trees around the theme of 'caring for nature'.

Each tree was to feature eco-friendly decorations made from natural or recycled materials, reflecting a shared commitment to the environment. Around 20 trees were displayed throughout the Hall, each telling a unique story of community spirit and care for the planet.

We weren’t quite sure what to expect and hoped it wouldn’t feel too ‘amateurish’ but we were all very pleasantly surprised. The trees were fabulous, lots of them … and all on theme … but really professionally done and looking beautiful. There was also a really lovely sense of community about the whole event.

Before we actually headed in the hall we had a bit of a wander around the garden … 

… quickly realising we’d forgotten to tell Jackie about the peacocks, which are not her favourite bird by any stretch of the imagination. We needn’t have worried, they were well out of the way …

Whilst rain was threatened it was quite bright and the sun did put in a bit of an appearance …

It’s not a huge garden, and the time of year meant that there was not as much to see as at other times but there were still a few interesting spots to catch the eye …

We paused for a photo before heading inside …

… where we were greeted with a tot of sherry and our first tree …

… to be followed by many more … all beautifully decorated, with the environment in mind …

Throughout the hall there were also lots of displays of knitted mice depicting the tale of A Christmas Carol.

On the top floor was the most fabulous exhibition of artwork celebrating UK woodlands. There were some truly stunning pictures.

We had intended to perhaps then head into the tea room for a quick refreshment stop but it was just so busy that we ended up heading into Helmsley on the way back instead … where the threatened precipitation made its appearance in bucket loads …

We’d had a lovely day. Nunnington had been a real treat and that was not the last of our Christmas trees for 2025 by far 😀

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Weekend Catch Up - #1 Nunnington Hall, NT

Hi there everyone

You'll probably remember that back at the beginning of June we were away on the North Yorkshire coast. It was time for our annual weekend catch up with old work friends and we were meeting up in Robin Hood's Bay. As it's a bit far for us, just for a weekend, we had decided to stay on and make a week of it.

It’s the 7th year running we’ve managed to have our weekend catch up and it’s a great way of keeping in touch and having some good quality time together ... the trick is to get the date on everyone’s calendar early ... we already know we want to meet up in Broadway in The Cotswolds next year, just need to sort out the date.

It’s become a bit of a thing for us to try and visit a National Trust property on our way and this year we headed for Nunnington Hall, somewhere that we thought we hadn’t visited before.
However, as soon as we saw the comfrey growing in the woodland, walked over the wooden bridge and heard the peacocks calling, it all came flooding back ... yes, we had definitely been before, but not to worry, the gardens of these places always look different at different times of year so there would still be plenty to see.

First stop was definitely a comfort break and as I was making a mad dash I was stopped dead by an “excuse me ...” it was only Sue and Phil, one of the couples we were meeting up with, they’d obviously had the same idea and had arrived at pretty much the same time as we had.

Next stop for us was the tea garden out back, where we sat in the sunshine and had a quick lunch, under the watchful eye of some of the local inhabitants ...
There’s something very special about a National Trust tea garden. They always seem to instill a sense of chilled out calm, especially when the weather is as good as it was for our visit, and this one was no exception.

I was thrilled to bits to find a peahen feather in the tea garden for my natural collection and that was soon safely stowed away to be added to my gull feather from Stratford when we got home. I lived in hope that I might find a vibrantly coloured peacock feather, but that was sadly not to be.

The gardens were looking lovely, with plenty of wild flower meadow to wander through.
We followed the peacock ...

... and couldn’t help but compare how he looked to a bride in her wedding dress ...
There was lots of my favourite colour going on in the herbaceous borders and lots of plants that we have at home, which was really nice to see.

The alliums were looking particularly good ...

As were the irises ...

We wandered back towards the house via the cutting and vegetable gardens ...

Composting NT style ...
... and past the tree covered with brightly coloured ribbons ...

... for a quick look around the house before heading off on our onward journey.

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