The first signs of spring are starting to emerge around Bath and Bristol and places are sparkling after their winter deep cleans. There’s plenty to entice you out and about this winter with wassail celebrations, February half-term trails and woodturning workshops. What’s more, every time you experience a National Trust day out, you help care for these special places for future generations.
Here is what’s happening near you this winter, please check property website for opening days and times:
Wassail celebration at Dyrham Park
4 January, 12 noon-2.30pm
Join us for a wassailing event where visitors can walk round in a procession with music and celebration to bless the pear trees for a good harvest in 2025. From 12noon, visitors can make wassail sticks in the Stables. At 1pm there will be traditional music in the courtyard leading up to the great wassail procession which will start around 1.30pm.
Price: Free (normal admissions apply). Booking not required.
Guided walks at Dyrham Park
Selected dates Jan to March
Walks led by expert volunteers through the parkland, garden, village and on the interesting waterways of the South Gloucestershire site. Please check website for times and dates.
Price: Free (normal admissions apply). Booking not required.
February half-term fun at Dyrham Park
Sat 15-23 February, 10am-5pm
There will be activities for families to get involved with at the 270-acre site so pull on those warm clothes, wellies and get out in the great outdoors during the school holidays.
Price: Free (normal admissions apply). Booking not required.
Nature tots at Old Lodge
Tuesdays in term time from 18 Mar 10.45-11.45am
Popular volunteer-run sessions for pre-schoolers are held at Old Lodge play area in the parkland. Sessions include crafts, games, stories and songs all themed around nature.
Price: Free (normal admissions apply). Booking not required.
The Abbey rooms re-open 1 March after the winter clean. The snowdrops and crocus will be out in abundance in the gardens and visitors will be able to pick up a spring flower count spotter’s sheet from mid February. There will also be spring themed activities for children over the February half term 22 Feb – 2 March.
Price: Free (normal admission applies). No booking required.
Nature in winter
Every Sat and Sun in Jan, 10am-4pm.
The Newark garden, estate and tea pavilion are open on weekends in January from 10am-4pm. Wrap up warm and come for a bracing walk on the orange or pink route and perhaps finish with a hot drink to warm you up from the tea pavilion. Younger visitors can pick up a free Newark Park Nature Challenge sheet.
Price: Free (normal admission applies). Booking not required.
February half-term trail
Daily 15-23 Feb, 10am-5pm.
Visit during February half term and get involved with the nature-themed family trail around the garden at Newark Park. Stretch little legs in the fresh air and have fun together as a family.
Price: Free (normal admission applies). Booking not required.
Silent Space trail at Prior Park
Daily, see website for opening times
Escape the hustle and bustle and take a moment to reset. Getting outside can reduce stress, calm your mind and improve your overall health. Take it a step further with the Silent Space Trail at Prior Park, with points around the garden encouraging you to slow your pace and enjoy your own silence. It’s not just about what you can see but what you can hear, smell and feel, taking the opportunity to exist in the moment and connect with the garden. Available whenever the site is open, please check the website for the site’s opening hours.
Price: Free (normal admission applies). Booking not required
Behind Closed Doors tours
Weekdays between 7 Jan and 7 March. 11am-12noon, 12.45-1.45pm, 2.15-3.15pm
During this tour visitors will have the chance to visit areas of Stourhead House which are usually closed, including the attic and basement storerooms. The formal showrooms are not usually included in the tour. Tours may cover four floors with many stairs and will give you an insight into what goes on behind the scenes.
Price: Free (normal admissions apply). Booking required via the website or please call 0344 249 1895.
Winter warmer weekends
Every Sat and Sun, 11 Jan to 2 March. 11am-3pm.
After a wintery stroll, come and warm up by the log fire in the Entrance Hall of Stourhead House. Our volunteers will be on hand to share Stourhead's history with you.
Price: Free (normal admissions apply). No booking required.
William Gibbs: Saint or Sinner?
27-31 January / 3-7 February 10.45-11.45am, 12noon-1pm, 1.15-2.15pm, 2.30-3.30pm
On this interactive tour, visitors will learn about Tyntesfield’s chapel, built for William and Blanche Gibbs in the 1870s. The tour will look at the Gibbs family’s Christian faith, and about the huge sums they donated to charity. But we’ll also consider how the family made their fortune and the human and environmental costs of that activity (suitable for 16+ only).
Price: Free (normal admissions apply). No booking required.
Gendered Spaces and Social Status Tour
Weekdays, 6-24 January 11-11.45am, 12noon-12.45pm, 2-2.45pm
The Gendered Spaces and Social Status Tour will explore Tyntesfield’s kitchen and butler’s pantry, taking a look into the divisive roles taken on by both male and female servants, and how those roles still exist today. The tour will also move ‘Upstairs’, looking at Victorian ideals and expectations for the Gibbs family, and how at times, Blanche and William Gibbs lived very different, and separate lives.
Price: Free (normal admissions apply). No booking required.
Introduction to Green Woodworking
23 February 10am-4pm
This one-day course takes you through the basics of pole lathe turning and green woodworking. Starting with an ash log, we split, chop and shave our billet (section of timber) to a cylindrical shape before putting it on to the lathe and using chisels to shape it to a finished product (over 16s only).
Price: £80 (includes admission to Tyntesfield, all materials, use of tools and hot drinks). Booking essential (email somersetbodgers@icloud.com)
Make a rustic stool or coffee table
22-23 March 10am-4pm
In this two-day course, you'll make a three or four leg stool or coffee table with the Somerset Bodgers (over 16s only). We split ash logs into useable pieces. We then chop the sharp edges and use a draw knife to shave and horse shape the billets into cylinders. These are then fashioned on the pole lathe into legs for our stool or coffee table. A rustic top is chosen, cleaned up and prepared and then drilled to take the legs. It’s all fitted together and you go home with your item.
Price: £125 (includes admission to Tyntesfield, all materials, use of tools, and hot drinks). Booking essential (email somersetbodgers@icloud.com).
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