Today in Bristol was a rare day of blue sky and sunshine among many days of grey. So we decided to get my kids out in the fresh air and countryside and opted for Tyntesfield. We packed a picnic and set off.

The Tyntesfield Estate is breathtakingly beautiful. There is vast open space, rolling green hills and trees of all shapes and sizes from yew to fir to monkey puzzle. And today at Tyntesfield, we had our first sight of snow drops…

…and of Spring.

We started our visit by making our way through the estate to Tyntesfield House, exploring the grounds as we went.

Tyntesfield House was as you would expect – grand and giving a window into life many years ago.

Unfortunately my children didn’t get too much out of the house. As well as still being a little too young to understand history, the inside of Tyntesfield – like many stately homes – is kept quite dark with its blinds pulled to protect the contents of the house from the sun and I think because of this my kids were a little scared.

They loved exploring the house, however, and roamed from room to room.

Following our visit to the house, we searched the grounds for a bench to camp on for our picnic lunch with not much luck. However, eventually we spotted a grand stone bench to enjoy our – not so grand yet still delicious – tuna and tomato sandwiches, apples and fruit cake.

Following our lunch we explored the grounds some more.

My children climbed a strong old climbing tree…

…and also played beneath one, its heavy drooping branches providing a cavernous space to explore and play monsters…

The children enjoyed the Tyntesfield play park…

I like how Tyntesfield aims to invite children into exploring its history…

We decided to conclude our trip to Tyntesfield with a trip to its cafe to enjoy a cream tea and flapjacks for the kids.

I definitely recommend Tyntesfield as a place to visit with children. And if you didn’t want to visit the house, the grounds at Tyntesfield are beautiful and vast enough to entertain children for hours. When I asked my children what their favourite part of thee day had been, both replied that playing on the tractor had been their favourite bit!

We had a truly lovely day and left Tyntesfield refreshed and happy.