Hinton Ampner

Our final day, and travelling home day, found us at Hinton Ampner in Hampshire. We didn't stay here very long at all really, and definitely missed out quite a lot of it but it was so hot, one of the hottest days if I recall, and Baby F was distinctly grumpy after having such a stimulating few days. My two nephews who were with us are currently 4 and 2 (the youngest one only 6 months younger than Baby F) and, they spend a lot of time with each other anyway, but there is routine to when they see each other and their days spent together. Whilst the holidays are exciting and different they definitely need to get back into their routines afterward and just have some slightly less exciting days to recharge. 

It would be nice to revisit this place at another time, and perhaps when it isn't quite so meltingly hot. The extra kids play area put out for the summer was circus themed which was brilliant, but there was no shade around it at all so we couldn't stay and play for that long before we were frazzled to a crisp. 

It was a relief to get out of the car though and stretch our legs. We immediately headed to their cafe and the little ones could cool off with some ice cream. Partly by wearing it because they weren't eating it fast enough so it just dripped everywhere, and partly through the usual method of ingestion. Luckily we don't travel anywhere without several packets of wipes to tidy everything up. 

There is a nice walk around the gardens but thinking back, I don't recall anything specific about it really. I would love to know what this shiny plant is though, the flowers or seed pods or whatever they are look so juicy! And I love the ombre from green to magenta to deep shiny purple, how cool is that? I don't think I've ever seen these before. 

We never even attempted to go around the house. On the way back to the car, having admitted defeat with three grumpy small boys after several tantrums and sticky meltdowns, we walked back through the vegetable garden which was stunningly beautiful. These bits are often my favourite area of these grand houses, especially the cutting garden areas, but I like to see what else they are growing and any innovative ways to grow fruit and veg. My dream is to just have a garden, with a lawn space, a couple of borders, some raised edible beds and an apple tree. Currently, I have a fire escape balcony with some pots - and my thornless blackberry (bought for £1 from B&M last year) isn't overly happy in the pot so hasn't produced any fruit at all yet. Not even a single solitary flower. I'm wondering whether strawberries would survive the harsh conditions of my balcony as they would work brilliantly in my saddle pots, but it's very windy and the only plants that really seem to survive are hardy wildflowers or alpines. 

Anyway, I digress. I did have one dahlia plant come back this year, the rest all got killed off with frost sadly, but it wasn't anywhere near as spectacular as the ones in this garden. Those roses as well, so pretty. 

I hope that you have enjoyed my few little random posts about our family break away to Wiltshire. It's been one long run of touring National Trust properties and collecting their badges for our blankets. Honestly, if you have little kids, it's a worthy investment so that you can visit these places - effectively for free if you visit them enough like we do. We have the few around us that we visit regularly throughout the year, and you need only really visit eight times/places a year to make your money back. They make great holiday stop offs with nice food, toilets and something interesting to look at and walk around, and each of them is slightly different - although I'm not sure Mr DT is really that interested in the houses. 

I have just asked him what his favourite NT place was though and, after extensive digging through my photo archives after his vague description of "a three-sided big house which you could get a shuttle bus down the driveway too, somewhere Cornwall way"....we've found out that his favourite place so far is Lanhydrock. Don't all rush at once.