With the summer holidays starting in earnest this week Muddy Boot’s Matilda was a little apprehensive about facing the crowds this weekend, but had an early parking slot booked at Sheringham Park, North Norfolk.
The National Trust is still operating on a ticketed entry to their car parks to allow for limited guests, we had booked these tickets a while ago and forgotten about them but were keen to get out of the city for an hour or two.
We were greeted at the entrance to the car park by some lovely volunteers who explained that the car park now had a one way system, only half the loos were open and the cafe was offering a takeaway service. They also told us when the gates were to be locked so we didn’t get trapped in the parkland overnight.
Whilst Sheringham Hall is privately owned, you are free to explore the staggering 1000 acres of land that surround it. Our favourite area of this is populated with giant rhododendrons and azaleas; they have been planted there for so long that they create dark corridors and twisted passageways under the canopy.
We managed to catch one of the remaining rhododendrons still in bloom.
The best time to see them in their glory is mid-May to early June.
We followed the “blue” walk which took us through the rhododendrons, out via the hall and back up the hill via the Temple. It was a quick hour’s stomp but did take us through the path of some very dozy cows!
It was a lovely Sunday morning stomp (not too muddy) and reinforced how well the National Trust are handling the situation! We will be back again soon no doubt! A few dogs joined us on our walk, although they had to be kept on leads for the sake of the herd, there is also a section of the walk that is wheelchair accessible, as well as disabled toilets at the car park.