| Product: |
Speke Hall Garden & Estate (Liverpool) |
| Date: |
31/07/06 (292 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Relatively cheap family ticket. Friendly staff.
Disadvantages: Extorionate cafe, massively exaggerated "attractions".
Trying to think of a cheap and cheerful day out during the summer holidays to entertain four children aged between three and thirteen is no easy task. So many things cost money nowadays and there are only so many times you can get them excited about the museum! In our never-ending search to find a cheap but fun day out my wife and I had vague positive childhood recollections of Speke Hall. Buoyed by the good weather we decided to take brave the twenty mile trip from scenic Ormskirk to Speke.
Getting to Speke Hall is straightforward wherever you may be coming from. Simply following the signs to Liverpool airport takes you there as Speke Hall is right next door. Unfortunately, this was to be one of the few positives of our trip. On arrival at 11 am we were greeted by an open gateway yet a large "closed" sign. Confused and about to reverse for another entrance, we were fortunate enough to encounter a dog walker who informed us that, "the sign is often like that but it is open". Driving down to the large car park this was confirmed by the few cars dotted about although we were surprised that it was not a lot busier, particularly with it being the summer holidays. Perhaps, an omen of things to come?
Admission seemed to be reasonable enough at £19.50 for a family of five with our three year old being free. This was to include (and I quote):
* One of the most famous Tudor manors in Britain
* Intriguing period interior: discover the secret priest's hole and 'thunderbox' toilet
* Attractive landscaped gardens with vivid flowering displays
* Countryside walks, with panoramic views over the Mersey Basin towards Wales
* Adventure playground.
All sounded good so in we went. Greeted by some friendly national trust staff our initial fears were quelled for the time being and we headed off with our map to find the house otherwise known as "Speke Hall". After a long walk along a twisting road we came to the house itself and indeed its exterior is impressive with dark wood, high walls and surrounding paths which dip where a deep moat used to be. However, we were disappointed to find the house locked and bolted with no sign of opening. With no signposts or people to ask we were left with a map and four children to keep amused. Lucky for us we had the
"restored stream garden". Unluckily for us, aside from the impressive reclaimed moat the rest of the gardens consisted of a few trees, large lawns and a number of pretty but inconsequential hydrangeas. Hardly, the Chelsea Flower Show and certainly not enough to keep our sprogs entertained.
Speke Hall also promises, "woodland walks and magnificent views of the Mersey basin and North Wales hills from The Bund, a high bank." The map cum guide suggests putting aside one and half hours for this scenic, spectacular walk and being an active lot we were up for a ramble before lunch. Unfortunately, the woods are a sparse collection of trees and the magnificent views are only visible on a small stretch of path overlooking Speke Airport. Perhaps, we were imagining more than this treacherous pathway with a bench in the middle as we envisioned from the map and description a large bank that allowed marvellous views of the surrounding scenery. The length of time to negotiate this walk was half an hour to forty minutes at most. And this is remembering we had four children and a pram loaded with food in tow. It says a lot about this walk that the most exciting part of the walk for our children was seeing the planes passing low overhead and taxiing on the adjacent runway.
So, the walk has returned us to the entrance. This incorporates a cafe, picnic area and adventure playground. Hungry and if were honest, somewhat pissed off, we make camp underneath a large tree and venture into the cafe. We are greeted by a paltry selection of four sandwiches (tuna, ham, cheese or chicken) at the inflated price of £3.25 and the option of a children "funbox" which had a stale ham roll in it, a packet of cheddars, juice and a rice bar. All completely unappetising and certainly not worth the £2.75 per box. However, since we unadvisedly did not bring anything substantial we are forced to part with nigh on £20 for four boxes and two sandwiches. Add to this a wholly unfriendly set of staff and we could not get back under our tree quick enough!
After eating our "meal" the kids had a run around on the adventure playground which, to be fair was quite adequate and being wood construction and bark chip flooring, was in keeping with the area. There was a nice selection of slides, ropes and roundabouts for my three and seven year old although the two teenagers were a bit unimpressed. The age range does state three to eleven though and as such our eleven and thirteen year olds were probably too old to be seen dead there!
A visit to the toilets which are plentiful and very clean shines some light on why the house was not open. It does not open until 1 pm! This is something that is not common information and it is very annoying that I had to read it on the door of a toilet cubicle to learn it! What is a nice feature though is the use of a small shuttle bus between the reception and house for use by those disabled or otherwise. Something we also did not discover until we had walked back to the house.
On finally entering the house we were offered various guides and had the option to pay an extra £5 each for a tour which included the "secret priests hole" and "roof". At these prices we decide to wander ourselves but were pleased when the quiz were given an educational detective style quiz to complete. Indeed, Speke Hall itself is a very pleasant experience. Parts of it built in Tudor times and others Victorian it has an odd combination of styles and atmosphere and plenty of features in its construction from roman numerals left by carpenters when constructing woodwork to secret listening holes to hear illicit conversation in the courtyard. Each area of the house also has a steward who is happy to answer questions and give information.
Wandering around the house is interesting as you examine old furniture and rooms kitted out as they would have been used including dining rooms, bedrooms and even a Victorian toilet! However, what is disappointing is the lack of interaction. Many of the areas are roped off to such an extent that you can barely pop your head in the doorway to see the spectacular furniture. Also, due to this cramping with a queue of people building up behind, we felt obliged to move on quicker than we would have liked. We would have loved to have spent more time examining the armoury or the secret priests escape route but felt like we were being ushered by the hordes of people relentlessly towards our exit. In fact on exiting we felt like we had missed a lot of the house and with no ticket anymore, had no chance of re-entry. As such we were forced to retrieve our pram (which we had to leave in a store on entry) and head for home. Another minus point although the disabled access to the house and gardens is good there is no access available upstairs. Likewise, the scenic walk is certainly inaccessible for wheelchair users.
Oh well, we have had a bit of a crappy day but we shall let the kids pick something expensive as way of apology from the gift shop. No such luck! The shop is sparsely stocked and certainly missing souvenirs other than the standard key ring, spoon, postcard. Our kids had to settle for things they could buy in any store namely plastic water pistols, bow and arrows etc. Hardly, memorabilia from Tudor or Victorian times. As a parting shot we noticed a marking on our map stating "orchard". Another hyped up term as a group of barely spouted saplings greeted our bemused faces. Kind of sums up the place really. Speke Hall describes itself as, "An ideal afternoons' escape from Liverpool" yet it is far from it. The place is poorly signposted, suffers from over hyping itself and woefully short on activity. We would have been better going next door to John Lennon Airport for the day!
If you are planning a day out in Liverpool there are hundred places better than this and even better equivalents. Liverpool's Croxteth Country Park offers more for pretty much the same fee. Go anywhere but here!
Summary: Croxteth Hall, your local park. So many better places to visit!
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