Old B.
Yelp
200th YELP 2016 !!
We visited here end of Sept 2016. It was overcast, with rain from time to time. Arrived by car, early enough, so parking was not a problem. We traveled from Broadstairs, on the coast with relatives, who belong to the National Trust, and two of our party had knee issues, so that also made it easy to park very close.
I have always, found Winston Churchill a fascinating guy. Especially with his smoking, drinking habits, which we have in common. He looked good in a hat and suit, too, like myself . . . ahem . . . and . . . he was a great orator, much like mys . . . . okay, okay, but I do write some, he wrote loads of books, and I can't paint for poop, he seemed to be rather gifted in that area. Hey!! Bet I'm a better rock & roll, blues, country singer, guitar player though?
After parking in the lower area, we had to walk up a slight hill, right below the gift shop, restaurant, bathrooms, which we promptly took advantage of after the lengthy ride from the coast . Then off walking to the main house.
The house is situated 650' above sea level, so it's uphill, with snow . . . okay, maybe no snow, but it was up and down hill a lot!! Luckily, there were a few places to sit and rest for the tenuous, all day journey. Her Ladyship says it wasn't more than three minutes, and she just had a knee replacement, but I'll leave you, the reader to judge.
Personally, if I was a teenager or younger, I might find this place boring, so I can't really say it's great for kids. There are a few ponds full of fish, lots of space to run around, but not really anything geared towards kids.
If you're a history buff, interested in Churchill, and some beautiful grounds, gardens, walks and views, a definitely great place to visit, with a nice little restaurant. The gift shop is oriented towards live plants, but Her Ladyship did find a sculpture, to bring back to the states. It's a duck. Personally, I thought it was one of the ugliest things I'd ever seen, but it kinds of grew on me. It's one of those things that are so ugly, that they're cute. (see photos) Yeah, I really like it now.