Lyme Park is a stunning stately home and grounds in easy reach of Manchester.
It found television fame in 1995 as the setting for Pride and Prejudice and the heart-fluttering moment when Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) was caught after a dip.
This is a retreat that has it all – hilltop walks, a magnificent folly and gardens to match.
This was an escape from Manchester to the Merseyside coast.
Formby isn’t your usual jolly seaside resort, but a haven of tall sand dunes, gnarled pine trees and a broad stretch of beach.
Wind turbines stand tall out to sea and the mighty city of Liverpool is in view.
It’s a place to clamber, walk and inhale the bracing air – not to mention capture in photographs.
Manchester is a sturdy, handsome city packed with great buildings and urban power. But it’s relatively quick and easy to escape to the country and find green fields, hills and more.
Dunham Massey is a modest stately pile within the boundaries of Greater Manchester. We made a beeline for the formal gardens, which in Spring are bursting with colour. The tulips and rhododendron are out in force, while it’s that special moment of the year when the native bluebells carpet the woods. It’s soothing for the soul and easy to get snap-happy surrounded by these flowers…
Osterley Park has it all. Acres of formal gardens and waterways, lush woodlands and an impressive stately pile right at its heart.
You would think it lies in some English shire, but it’s just a handful of Tube stations away from my urban west London manor of Hammersmith.
As you walk around the grounds, the rural illusion is occasionally shattered by jets thundering over from nearby Heathrow Airport. But even so, this is a wonderful oasis close to the city.
This set of photographs captures just a little of a very enjoyable wander around a slice of National Trust goodness close to the heart of London.
Click first image to launch the gallery
This elegant bench looked so neat that I couldn’t sit on it – I took its photograph instead.
If you roam the beautiful grounds of Osterley Park in west London, there are no shortage of spots to rest your weary legs, from logs in the woods to stately seats close to the house at the centre of the estate.
I’ll share more from this London oasis with you soon.
Click first image for the full gallery experience
