Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens - Easter 2015

Belsay Hall is one of our favourite places to visit in the North East. The gardens are an absolute joy to walk through and the walk from the hall to the castle is just perfect for four year olds. This Easter we decided to visit and take part in their Easter Adventure Quest which involved hunting for treasure chests and solving some clues to help to Hall's maid to find her keys. We parked our car, bought our tickets from the slightly chaotic reception and started our hunt.

First up, was Belsay Hall. This is a grand unfurnished building with gorgeous windows and original features. Everytime I visit I wish it was my home! We discovered a few chests in here and started to crack the mystery.

Next up was a walk through the gorgeous gardens of Belsay towards the Castle - there is always an abundance of wildlife whatever the season - we spotted wild birds, pheasants and lots of pretty Spring flowers during our walk. As my parents were there to help with the children I had a little chance to practice my wildlife photography as well.

The walk to the Castle is perhaps a little over one mile - there are accessible routes too. I just love how majestic the Castle looks set against the surrounding countryside.

Heidi climbed right to the top of Belsay Castle with her grandma whilst I stayed on the grass with the boys who were complaining their legs were tired!! Not too tired to play chase around the gardens though it seems!

Heidi managed to discover the rest of the clues in the castle and we worked as a team to figure out where the maid's keys could be! As soon as we solved the mystery it was a race back to the start to find the maid, find out if we were correct and collect our chocolate reward.

Events at Belsay Hall are always fantastic fun (read about last year's Knight's tournament here). Entrance is free if you are an English Heritage member (or see here for entrance prices) which makes it a fantastic value family day out. There are picnic tables dotted about and a lovely tearoom at the entrance. Please note the only available bathroom's are in the car park so make sure you visit before your walk.

There are lots of future events coming up at Belsay including:-

•  Medieval St George's weekend - 25th & 26th April
• 1940's weekend - 2nd-4th May
• Belsay Bootcamp - 23rd-29th May
• Boots, bayonets and belles - 30th & 31st May

You don't need to wait for a special event though, Belsay Hall is open every day from 10am-6pm from now until the end of September and is the perfect place to take a quiet stroll, walk the dog or let your children let off some steam.

After our walk we had definitely earned a lunch so we popped to the nearby Toby Carvery at Kenton Bank where they had an offer for a carvery meal and chocolate cake and custard for £6.50. I can't believe Heidi managed to eat all of her Yorkshire Pudding. It is the size of her head!

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