Nice view - shame about the cost (Belvoir Castle)

Member Name: paws17

Product:	Belvoir Castle
Date:	03/05/07 (149 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quaint, rustic charm - Pleasant views of Lincolnshire on a sunny day

Disadvantages: Very poor value for money - Gardens are very unspectacular

As "Friends of HHA" (Historic Houses Association) we are constantly on the look out for new places to visit that are part of their membership scheme and that are within reasonable travelling distance of Sheffield - The website for this property is suitably clear and promised a good day's entertainment. We visited on a quiet Thursday afternoon in May and were able to park within 30 yards of the ticket office - and because it wasn't a weekend or Bank Holiday we didn't have to pay an extra £1 for car parking.

The first thing to greet my own family's arrival was a sign saying that the Adventure Playground was closed for essential maintenance. Hardly the best of starts given that we'd originally planned to take our two youngsters to Alton Towers on that day..

The HHA scheme (which costs around £54 a year for 2 adults - plus £17 each for extra family members) allows you free membership to Belvoir Castle - which is a very good thing given that the rather thin guide book which you are offered at the ticket office will set you back £5.00! (and there are no price indications visible until you come to pay - so beware).

Those unfortunate enough not to have discount entry options are going to start feeling their pockets lightened quite quickly:

- £11 each for adult entry; £30 for a family ticket
- £1.60 for a pot of tea; £1.75 for a teacup size coffee
- £1.95 for a tray bake; £3.95 for a piece of chocolate cake; £5.95 for a sandwich: £9.95 for a main course....

There's also a very large piggy bank on the restaurant counter (that's right, it's definitely not called a cafe!) just in case you've got any small change left to supplement the catering staff's income further.

The castle itself is very interesting although you will baulk at being invited to donate further sums when leaving the military exhibition and chapel. Quite a number of rooms are cordoned off and can only be viewed by peering from an open door. Guide staff are rather thin on the ground and so you shouldn't expect a "National Trust info-tainment experience" if you don't manage to catch the guided tour which started at 2.30pm on this day.

The plan of the castle grounds and gardens - which isn't included in the guidebook, incidently, is wildly out of scale and disguises the extent of walking through unkempt scrubland and badly maintained paths you'll have to engage with in order to visit the 3 gardens. The rose garden and statue garden are the closest to the castle - and neither will occupy you for more than 5 minutes a piece. Wandering along paths hoping to find something of greater visual interest and value will normally bring you to yet another sign saying "Private" and then entail you retracing your steps back past the garden scenery you've already seen and written off as rather uninspiring.

Cue time for the "Duchess's Gardens". A 5 - 10 minute walk through ankle deep wood chippings will bring you to what you hope will be the final highlight of your visit. What you'll find instead is a former secret woodland garden in a very interesting open quarry style setting that has obviously seen much better days. The website reveals that a restoration project is underway but you'll be hard pushed to find a great deal of evidence of the fruits of this labour. At a time of the year when most other feature gardens worth their salt have spectacular displays of bluebells, rhododenrons and azaleas, you'll be lucky here to find the odd new camillia bush dotted about and a few forget-me nots to brighten what, in honesty, is a very dull garden & woodland landscape.

So, what can I tell you - Join HHA and at least make visiting Belvoir Castle a slightly less financially painful one - and keep your expectations suitable low - This isn't Chatsworth House, even though the prices here might lead you to suspect otherwise. Choose a weekend when there's a special event on that you'd happily pay to come to in its own right - and count the castle and gardens as a "Brucie bonus".

Summary: Worth the entrance price only when there's a special event on