Brodsworth Hall - a service station alternative in South Yorkshire

During our recent trip to Henley on Thames I was determined to stop somewhere that was not a service station! I don't know about you but I find them to be expensive, depressing and lifeless and not the sort of place you can take a proper break!

I was looking for somewhere close to A1 near Doncaster/Sheffield as this was the mid-point of our journey and stumbled across Brodsworth Hall and Gardens.

Brodsworth Hall is managed by English Heritage and therefore free to members (otherwise £9.70 for adults and £5.80 for children - under 5's are free). I was attracted to the fact that there was a lovely looking play park for the children to stretch their legs, gardens to run around and plenty of places to spread out and enjoy a picnic - compared to a service station this sounds like some sort of heaven! We packed a picnic and decided to give it a go.

We arrived at Brodsworth just in time for lunch - we were informed that the hall would open later in the afternoon but this didn't matter to us as we were only here to visit the gardens. We headed straight for the park which is one of the best I have seen in an English Heritage site. There was lots to do including a huge ship to play on and various frames, rope bridges and smaller equipment for toddlers.

We were having so much fun in the play park that we decided to grab a picnic table and enjoy our lunch there.

After lunch, we decided to stroll around the beautiful gardens. They were truly stunning and so peaceful and relaxing. The best thing was being able to let the children safely run around to their hearts content.

We had such a lovely time at Brodsworth Hall - it was almost like a day out in itself! On future journey's I will definitely be searching for alternative places to stretch our legs rather than stopping at motorway services.

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