All aboard for the very best spring days out
VICKY LISSAMAN looks at 10 of the top places in Britain for you to visit now that the days are longer and the weather is getting warmer
SPRING is here, with the welcome return of more daylight, warmer temperatures and flowers in bloom. Here are 10 great family days out to enjoy the splendour of the new season…
BEAUTIFUL BLUEBELLS
The Bluebell Railway, Britain’s oldest preserved standard-gauge railway, is renowned for its historic carriages and enchanting stations, redolent of another age.
As the name suggests, the Sussex woodlands bordering the line are at their best in spring, a mass of deep blue among the trees.
Each station is restored to a different period: Sheffield Park to the 1880s; the country junction of Horsted Keynes to the 1920s; Kingscote to the 1950s.
Among the railway’s historic carriages are two 1920s Pullman cars, which form part of the Golden Arrow Pullman dining train on Saturday evenings and for Sunday lunches.
Board and alight at Sheffield Park, East Grinstead.adult return/advance purchaseall Day Rover £16 (bluebell-railway.com).
AL-PACA YOUR WALKING BOOTS
Cheeky and charming, alpacas are the perfect companions for a spring walk in Northumberland. Hemscott Hill Farm has eight fluffy friends to walk around the farm. £25pp, over 12s only.
Under 12s can enjoy Meet the Alpaca sessions at the farm.afternoon tea available after the walk for £12.50pp (tractorsandtents. com).
Meanwhile at Ferny Rigg Alpacas, you can stroll with these gentle creatures in the Upper North Tyne Valley, in the Northumberland National Park.the beautiful countryside is within sight of the Kielder dam and all walks are at a slow “alpaca pace”. £22 per alpaca walked. Children 10 to 16 must be with an adult, children aged six to 10 must be closely supervised (fernyriggalpacas.co.uk).
Or go for an hour-long walk with an alpaca at Barnacre Alpacas, where you’ll also meet sheep, angora and pygmy goats, chickens and hares. £20pp. Minimum age seven (barnacre-alpacas. co.uk).
THE GRUFFALO & FRIENDS
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in south west London, will become home to author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler’s much-loved characters from April 4-19.
Visitors are invited to follow a specially curated trail to track down The Gruffalo, with springtime horticultural highlights along the way. Advance online tickets £16.50 (kew.org/kew-gardens).
Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, will also be hosting its own Gruffalo Easter programme. £14.50 adults, children free (kew.org/wakehurst).
Meanwhile a new 3D interactive trail starring Zog, the lovable dragon, is launching at Warwick Castle for Easter, featuring zogtastic tasks from testing the Roar-o-meter to capturing a princess.
Advance online tickets from £13 (warwick-castle.com).
GARDEN GRANDEUR
Iford Manor Gardens in Wiltshire is set to star on the big screen in a new version of children’s classic The Secret Garden in April.
Discover for yourself the awardwinning Grade 1 listed gardens, featuring steep terraces, pools, fountains, colonnades and statues tucked away at the bottom of a tranquil valley.adults £7.50, concessions £6.50, under threes free (ifordmanor. co.uk).
Also, the RHS is joining forces with The Secret Garden to host gardenthemed workshops, arts and crafts across the UK, and, at the four RHS gardens (Wisley, Surrey, Hyde Hall, Essex, Harlow Carr, North Yorkshire and Rosemoor, Devon) visitors can follow trails to find six hidden keys (rhs.org.uk).
Nationwide celebrations will mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of the “world’s first ecologist”, the Rev Gilbertwhite.
Born in Hampshire in 1720, his pioneering work helped shape the modern scientific approach to natural history and inspired naturalists from Charles Darwin to Sir David Attenborough.
Follow in his footsteps on the Gilbert White Circular Walk, a six-mile, figure-of-eight route starting from Selborne.
The first circuit is through the village churchyard and Lythes meadow to Priory Farm and back through the beech trees of Dorton Wood; the second includes walking The Hanger, part of a 275-acre meadow, woodland and common overlooking the village, on a famous zig-zag path cut in 1753 by Gilbert and his brother (visit-hampshire.co.uk).
SOUTH WALES WONDERS
Dyffryn Gardens is the National Trust’s most visited property inwales and its 55 acres of formal and informal gardens are particularly colourful in springtime.
For the children there’s a touring exhibition of Judith Kerr’s muchloved