A National Trust Double Down

31Oct

Sadly, this is nothing to do with KFC, though I can confirm the double down is superb!

The last time we took Munchkin on a long journey (3 hours) was to see some family in Eastbourne in 2019. It was hell, with tears for the whole journey. With that in mind, we planned to break our journey down to Surrey into a few stops, putting our National Trust membership to good use.

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Dunstable Downs

I think Natalie could have killed me when we stepped out the car into the fierce freezing winds of Dunstable downs, the highest spot in Bedfordshire, just off the M1, north of Luton. But the view was amazing with a sky that didn’t seem to end in any direction.

We had a short walk (there are several routes from 2 to over 6 miles) but as Munchkin wants to walk whenever he can, we only managed a short stroll down the hill and back.

On the amble, Munchkin pointed out all the people flying kits, with yells of ‘kite, kite, KITE!’. So we popped up to the cafe for some warmth, a coffee and a snack, and bought a kite.

We popped outside and got the kite into the air. We thought the amazement would reach sky heights however….there were some wooden posts nearby and well, Munchkin was more interested in them. Oh well, at least we have the kite for future fun.

Slide left to see our lovely kite, right to see what Munchkin was interested in

Dunstable downs NT is free for everyone to explore, however there is a charge for parking, but it is free with membership.

Cliveden

We popped back in the car for a short 50 minute journey to Cliveden, the main event for day one of our trip. This National Trust had a bookable slot system, with half an hour arrival times. Luckily due to Daddy’s impeccable planning (hehe), we arrived just 1 minute into our slot.

Cliveden is a huge estate, with a storybook play park, a woodland play trail, all set in beautiful woodland, high above a route along the Thames. We loved the park, pointing out all the storybook additions, as well as the wooden tractor and train (‘choo choo!).

There’s several routes along the woodland above the Thames. We took one of these then a slope down to the river. It is such a beautiful place for a woodland walk.

However when we got the few miles back down the Thames, we found the only was back up to the top, was many steep steps. To top that, Munchkin was asleep in the pushchair. It added a tough exercise to our otherwise relaxing day.