SCHOOL HOLIDAY FUN AT DODDINGTON
Families with children on their school holidays are being offered the chance to have fun in Doddington Hall’s beautiful walled Kitchen Garden every Wednesday and Sunday thanks to support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Kitchen Garden is full of fruit, veg, herbs, bugs and history! And when the bugs have been conquered, there are unicorns in the House that need to be found and a prize claimed!
Between the hours of 12 noon and 5pm (Wednesdays, Sundays & Bank Holiday Mondays only), families can arrive and have a great time together taking part in lots of fun and educational activities. No time restrictions apply, so parents can take as long as they wish.
On arrival, children will each be given an old-fashioned wicker trug by education officer Catherine Lee, which will hold exciting things such as a magnifying glass, a bug jar, a map of the Kitchen Garden and stickers. The intrepid child - with mum, dad or guardian leading the way - will then set off an on adventurous journey amid many fruit and veg, some of which are really old varieties and perhaps were around in grandma’s time!
Can you find the pears? Where are the cabbages? What exactly is an Edzel Blue? All these questions (and more!) will be revealed as vegging out takes on a whole new meaning and children will see what’s involved with growing the food that ends up on the plate.
As well as Hunt the Veg, bugs will become the centre of attention when they are found and identified as either a friend or enemy of the gardener. The bug jar becomes a very important part of the explorer’s equipment as he or she no doubt makes an incredible discovery of some really horrid creepy crawlies and some boisterous bugs!
Finally – switching from bugs in the dirt to taste buds in the mouth – the demanding but important role of crushing, grinding and squashing herbs in a mortar and pestle is ideal to discover more about herbs. Do you know what the sage in your sage and onion stuffing looks like? And what smells nicer, mint or rosemary?
Having fun in the Kitchen Garden is included in the admission price, so the good news is that once the Kitchen Garden has been thoroughly explored and conquered the rest of the Ornamental Gardens – complete with dinosaur egg and maze – and House are still to be discovered. The Unicorn Quest in the House is a fun trail round the huge and atmospheric rooms seeking out unicorns (and all manner of majestic and mythical creatures and characters!) Children can collect stamps and claim a prize at the end. Before going home to dream of bugs and unicorns, a cold drink and some cake or even an early BBQ tea become the perfect way to end a day out.
Fun in the Kitchen Garden is every Wednesday and Sunday from Sunday 27th July to Monday 25th August. Bank Holiday Sunday 24th August and Monday 25th August include ‘buggart’, a brilliant way to make life-like bugs out of natural air-dried terracotta, leaves and twigs (no painting or glue). Entry included in admission. No need to book. For more information or if you have any queries, please call 01522 694 308.
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