News and events for spring 2019 Derbyshire | Leicestershire | Lincolnshire Northamptonshire | Nottinghamshire | Rutland Near you © National Trust/David Goacher © Trust/David National Make a fresh start Follow us... or your local National Trust place on © National Trust/Simon Atherton © Trust/Simon National he New Year is a time for making social media. Share your days out resolutions and fresh starts. Perhaps with us and get the latest updates on Celebrate you’d like to get active, spend time spring flowers, Easter and much more Twith friends and family, learn a new skill or give something to others – all great #NTMidlands for boosting your wellbeing. the first Wrap up warm and walk the trail for all seasons at Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire, © National Trust Images/Chris Lacey Images/Chris Trust © National downloadable from the website. Belton Volunteering is a great way to make new signs of House in Lincolnshire has a weekly Park Run friends while working in amazing places – on a Saturday morning (starts 9am) for the there are so many opportunities. Canons energetic and for those who like things a bit Ashby in Northamptonshire is opening on spring more steady, there are lots of walks around a Thursday for the first time this year and the parkland including dog friendly routes too. would love to hear from you if you’d like to After the bleakness of winter, spring is a During half term it’s all about family time. be part of the team. At Mr Straw’s House welcome change of the seasons. Mother Join the team at Longshaw in Derbyshire for in Nottinghamshire you can become a walk Nature springs into life with bulbs pushing their Woodland Day (weather depending on leader, welcome visitors, help with research through the ground, tree leaves in bud, the 10 Feb) to help out on the estate and earn and share the stories of this unique place. sound of birdsong and longer days. your wild woodland activity passport. At Also in Nottinghamshire, The Workhouse will At Hardwick in Derbyshire see how Lady Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire you can build a open Firbeck Infirmary this year and would Spencer’s Wood is transformed as carpets bird box to help nesting birds look after their like volunteers to help visitors make the of intense colour appear under the canopy chicks. And don’t forget, half term is a great most of their experience. Take a look at the of trees, an ideal habitat for bluebells. wood anemones and crocuses. While at Mr time to start your ‘50 things to do before National Trust website to find out more and Lambs are a quintessential part of Straw’s House in Nottinghamshire you can you’re 11¾’ activities that are happening at be part of an incredible team. spring; at Calke Abbey and Kedleston follow the spring trails in the garden and lots of our places. Hall in Derbyshire you can see the lambs see what’s growing. playing in the spring sunshine, and if you’re The highlights for this season are spring lucky you may catch one being born – flowers, lambs and carpets of bluebells, a check the website for dates. sure sign that spring has arrived. You help At Gunby Estate, Hall and Gardens in us protect these signs of spring. Lincolnshire stroll along the Wildflower Thank you. Walk and take in the masses of daffodils, For details of all there is to see and do, visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/midlands or take a look at the ‘What’s On’ section www.nationaltrust.org.uk/midlands 1 Spring 2019 © National Trust Images/Chris Lacey Images/Chris Trust © National Adventures await at Calke Explore alke Explore has long the serenity of the woodland and been synonymous with listen to the buzz of the thriving family adventures: wetlands. nestled in the woodland, ‘There’s more to caring for the © C Trust National the outdoor natural play area parkland at Calke than first meets has been a popular attraction the eye,’ explains Bill Cove, Calke’s during recent summers. Now the Countryside Manager. ‘Calke site has been transformed into a Explore provides a great chance year-round outdoor destination, to celebrate all the work we providing a stepping stone into do, from routine woodland and pring is just over the the wider estate for visitors of all wildlife management to important horizon. The turning of ages. conservation projects including Sthe seasons is always an Set to open later this spring, the recent reintroduction of the uplifting time of year for me and the new facilities include a café, grizzled skipper butterfly.’ it’s time for a good spring clean, toilet and changing space. Step Calke Explore will also offer getting outside and savouring outside and there will be outdoor direct access to the Tramway Trail, the natural world. In this issue play areas, nature trails and which was extended in 2017 to you can read about how we are accessible footpaths. open up new vistas and spaces, working to open up some new ‘Whether you want to explore and provide an all-weather circular places to explore: whether that the National Nature Reserve, path suitable for cyclists and is outdoors as at Calke Explore, unearth some fantastic industrial walkers. or whether it is the chance archaeology or discover rich The Tramway Trail is open now, to see the Firbeck Infirmary flora and fauna, Calke Explore with Calke Explore coming soon. adjoining the Workhouse in will provide the place where you Visit the website for updates as Southwell. can start that exploration,’ says the project progresses, so you can We also want to do more Stewart Alcock, General Manager start planning your first cuppa in to ensure that everyone feels at Calke Abbey. the great outdoors, with birdsong welcome in our places and that When you visit, you’ll be as your soundtrack. wherever we can we provide helping to protect the heritage at access to people of all abilities the heart of Calke. Not only will Check out the website for more and backgrounds. The ‘hands you give the house and gardens information and plan your visit on, hands off’ project describes some breathing space, but you’ll for later this year: one way in which we are trying also see nature flourish in striking www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ to do this in our houses. You parts of the parkland. Soak in calke-explore can also read about ‘We are Bess’ where we have invited contemporary women to respond to the story of Bess of Hardwick (below). We are Bess strikes a cord You may have read or heard about We are Bess, the winning photographer Rachel Adams, hang new and innovative exhibition at Hardwick Hall, alongside original Tudor portraits the Hall’s Long Derbyshire. Following its hugely popular run last Gallery, accompanied by the participants’ responses autumn, it is back this spring at the house built by to Bess’s story. Most of all though spring is a the Elizabeth Talbot, the Countess of Shrewsbury ‘These modern perspectives on an old tale awake time for simple pleasures, which aka Bess of Hardwick. us to both the troubling and the comforting parallels we increasingly understand to The exhibition uses modern-day women to tell between the present and the past,’ explained We be important for our health another side to Bess’s story; household names are Bess Creative Director, Dr Suzannah Lipscomb, and wellbeing. So please do including classicist and broadcaster Professor Dame historian, author and broadcaster, and reader in join me in taking the time to Mary Beard, actress Patricia Greene (Jill in BBC history at the University of Roehampton. notice birdsong and savour the Radio 4’s The Archers), newsreader Cathy Newman, We’d like you to have a greater understanding of orchard blossom, wherever you and teenage campaigner Amika George, sit alongside what a complex and formidable person Bess was, can find them. local women. but to also find a connection with a fascinating All these women considered the similarities human story. between the challenges she faced in the 16th century and their own experiences. This reveals a We are Bess re-opens at Hardwick Hall 16 kind, nurturing, and courageous woman - not quite February – 2 June 2019 (Wed – Sun). Find out the Bess we know from the history books. more about We are Bess and see the exhibition Andy Beer Portraits of these women, taken by award- online at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wearebess. © Trust National Get out into A day in the life... nature this Easter Ted Talbot, Countryside Manager, Peak District The cry of a curlew is unmistakable. I We are replanting the peat forming Bring the whole family together am lucky to hear it, here in the Peak sphagnum moss in the dark muddy this Easter and treat your District on the rare occasion that pools that slowly puddle behind loved ones to the magic of our I have escaped the office to work the dams, restoring the conditions parent whose children have left Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts! Get with one of my Ranger teams on the for insects like crane flies to thrive home perhaps. Today, I share the ready for a long weekend of upland bogs of the Eastern Moors or again. Curlews love leather jackets – moment and reflect on how nature fun and discovery as you the High Peak. As we look to restart the crane fly’s juicy larvae - which it sometimes speaks directly to us. spot the first signs of spring our moorland restoration work in extracts from the peaty soil with its This iconic bird, such a privilege to and experience nature late summer, after the bird breeding long, down curved bill.