Kelly

Our visit to National Trust Ormesby Hall.

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Home to the Pennyman Family for over 400 years this gorgeous Georgian home with it's Victorian kitchen and Laundry room will take you back in history.

Gorgeous gardens, parkland, streams, and walks this National Trust property offers so much for the whole family to enjoy.

A little bit About the Pennyman family.

Pennyman have been at Ormesby hall since 1599 with James Pennyman, who bought the single storey house and started the series of extensions that went on for the next 150 years.

The last Pennyman was Lt. Col. James 'Jim' Pennyman, who died in 1961 & his wife Ruth who died in 1983. They didn't have any children and Jim left his estate to the National Trust.

I loved walking around and looking at the photos and paintings which tell the story of the family. My personal favourite touch was the little box of books that would be left for guests to read.

Jim & Ruth were amazing, kind people who were all about the community. In the 1930s they helped unemployed miners learn carpentry skills through the Boosbeck Industries and when you go into the main family bedroom you will see the work on the 4 poster bed.

The trust discovered over 100 letters that were sent to Jim's first wife, Mary, who was the secretary of Kings own Scottish Borders widows & orphans fund. Mary would receive letters from women who had lost loved ones in the war. I just find that so interesting.

Ormesby Hall is currently holding various Summer activities, which end 30th August.

The day we visited there was various sporting activities to get involved in along with a staycation trail.

The summer staycation trail encourages you to use your 'diary' to find out more about the places the Pennyman family would visit. Head to each location and complete the activity and draw a picture.

Summer sports to try include: tennis, team games, archery, field athletics, badminton on the sports field and table tennis, sand pits and mini golf in the stables. I am looking forward to the new guide book being printed as we collect them and I would love to find out more about the family and the history at the house.

Flowers are still in full bloom and the wildflower meadows on either side of the croquet lawn are incredible. We sat in the semi circle seats for ages just watching all the wildlife take advantage. Here at Ormesby you can enjoy the Spring gardens, Woodland & Holly Walk.

I love that they are gardening for nature here and you can really see the benefits if you just sit back relax and watch the insects at work. Best seen July-September. We are heading back in autumn and again winter to see what the gardens have instore for us.

You can find a lovely natural play area which the boys loved and a really nice bird hide. There's also an area for den building, which Elliot got involved in. There's also a willow theatre, Ruth Pennyman loved to perform in plays in the garden and encouraged others to get involved too.

We visited during August 2021, unfortunately the model railway was closed on this day. The boys really enjoyed it and loved getting involved in all the activities in fact Elliot really enjoyed Croquet and was really good at it too! The guides in the house were all lovely and helpful and when the boys (mostly Elliot) had questions, even strange ones, the guides knew how to answer. The young man at the front of the house was lovely and gave a great description on what to expect from our visit. He was super patient with the boys too.

Plants to spot include

🌻Rhododendron

🌻Foxgloves

🌻Wildflowers

🌻Alliums

🌻Delphiniums

🌻Agapanthus

🌻Lavender

🌻Roses

and lots lots more.

Ormesby Hall sits on around 240 acres of woodland, crop fields, streams and open fields. You can find three different walking routes with various levels of difficulty, such as the Churchyard route, Pennyman Woods and Upper Fields. Find out more including maps HERE.

Please note Dogs are welcome but must be kept on a short lead. Some of the walks pass tenanted farms with livestock so please do be mindful.

There is a second hand bookstore that is very reasonable with some amazing books to purchase. This is a really important part of the fundraising avenues for the hall. (I will be back with plenty of change next time!)

Info

🌳Dogs are welcome on short leads

🌳Free Parking

🌳Lots of hand cleaning stations

🌳No touching in the house as some items can not be sanitised.

🌳Parkland is open

🌳Most of the house is now open

🌳Model Railway on the upper floor

🌳British Wildlife Photography Competition

🌳Stables with picnic benches

🌳Various sporting activities

🌳Garden trail