Staying Local
Local Info
Hodnet Hall Gardens
Hodnet, Market Drayton,
Shropshire, TF9 3LD
Hodnet Hall is the family home of the Heber-Percy family, who welcome visitors to explore their enchanting garden. An award-winning attraction, the gardens are open 11am-5pm Sundays, Wednesdays and Bank Holidays during the spring and summer months. Visitors can explore over 60 acres of brilliant flowers, forest trees, sweeping lawns and a chain of ornamental pools that bisect a cultivated valley, providing habitat for waterfowl and a host of other water-loving creatures.
Hawkstone Hall and Garden
Hawkstone Hall, Weston,
Shrewsbury, SY4 5UZ
This imposing Georgian mansion was built in the early 1700s by the great diplomat and statesman Richard Hill – and it remained in his family for almost 350 years. It has three floors, a magnificent ballroom, and a vast cellar beneath. In 2017, the Distinctly Hospitable Group became the estate’s fourth new owner in more than half a millennium. Hawkstone Hall is now a high-end spa, restaurant and bar, set in beautiful parkland. It hosts weddings and corporate events as well as people wishing to pop in for afternoon tea.
Wollerton Old Hall
Wollerton, Market Drayton, TF9 3NA
The three-acre garden at Wollerton is arranged in a chain of small, distinct areas, each following a different theme along the English garden tradition. Exuberant yet elegant, it features a range of gorgeous plants and is full of ideas for the amateur gardener.
Hawkstone Park Follies
Whatever landscape Narnia conjures up for you, it’s probably quite similar to what you’ll find at Hawkstone Park. The BBC chose this parkland – with its 100 acres of grottos, rocky clefts, towers, viewpoints and outcrops – as the setting for their tv adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia in the late 1980s. It takes 2.5-3 hours if you want to see all the follies on foot (warning: it’s steep in places, with narrow bridges and lots of steps), or there are shorter routes. There’s also a staggeringly diverse arboretum, and a lovely gift shop.
Hawkstone Park Golf Club
Hawkstone Park’s three golf courses are designed around the ruins of a medieval castle and the dramatic rock formations of the famous follies. They include two 18-hole courses, including the feted Championship course, and a six-hole par three course.
Moreton Corbet Castle
Children as well as adults are likely to find the ruins of this fairy-tale castle spellbinding. It was first built in 1200, and remodelled some 300 years later by the Corbet family (who continue to live in Shropshire today); the south wing is a rare surviving example of the bold and enchanting Italian-inspired design that’s characteristic of the Elizabethan era.
Haughmond Hill
Maintained by Forestry England, Haughmond Hill offers four walking trails, a café in the woods, and various picnic areas. The hill itself provides far-reaching views across the River Severn and Shrewsbury to South Shropshire, and to the Welsh Berwyns and Snowdonia beyond.
Woodseaves Miniature Railway
A charming little steam train for the smallest members of your group, this tiny narrow gauge railway chuffs around a nearby garden centre and carries children in exchange for a donation that goes towards its upkeep.
West Midland Shooting Ground
This family-owned shooting ground is one of the best places for clay pigeon shooting in the area, with a gun shop, café, over 80 stands connected by well-maintained paths, and some 200 traps are arranged along an escarpment.