Alison M

wales

Hidden Britain: Bamburgh Castle, Dyffryn Gardens, Gwrych Castle and More

Aug 9, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Bamburgh Castle, Dyffryn Gardens, Gwrych Castle and More

A Cumbrian estate hosting archaeology talks over supper, a restored Edwardian rose garden in Wales that's only just flowered for the first time, a Welsh castle that's seen a 20% surge in visitors since reopening its Great Hall, and a Christmas grotto you need to book in August.

Rob M, +1

wales

Hidden Britain: Chatsworth, Dunstanburgh Castle, Harlaxton Manor and More

Aug 2, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Chatsworth, Dunstanburgh Castle, Harlaxton Manor and More

A ghost garden reappears at Chatsworth after three centuries underground, a coastal castle ruin in Northumberland that takes a mile to reach on foot, Harlaxton's extraordinary Victorian excess in Lincolnshire, and a lost Burns portrait back on view in Ayrshire.

Rob M, +1

wales

Hidden Britain: Balvaird Castle, Mellerstain House, Caerphilly and More

Jul 26, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Balvaird Castle, Mellerstain House, Caerphilly and More

A Perthshire tower house open again after a decade of closure, Robert Adam's finest interiors in the Scottish Borders, the largest castle in Wales after an £8 million restoration, an Arts and Crafts house an hour from London, and a Surrey manor most people drive straight past.

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain Issue 13: Scampston Hall, Braemar Castle and More Heritage Finds

Jul 18, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain Issue 13: Scampston Hall, Braemar Castle and More Heritage Finds

Guided tours closing at Scampston Hall, Jacobite history at Braemar Castle, a forgotten Norman ruin in Herefordshire, and a Norfolk estate with a Walpole connection.

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Carlisle Castle, Housesteads Fort and More

Jul 11, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Carlisle Castle, Housesteads Fort and More

A Cumbrian fortress where Mary Queen of Scots began her captivity, a Roman fort now under new English Heritage management, and a timber-framed house hidden behind a West Sussex street. Plus Alnwick Castle's turn as Hogwarts, a personal tour led by the Petre family, and this week's curiosity about a small printshop with a surprising history.

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Woodchester Mansion, Stokesay Castle and More

Jul 4, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Woodchester Mansion, Stokesay Castle and More

An unfinished Victorian Gothic mansion in Gloucestershire where the bats have moved in, a 13th-century castle in Shropshire that survived the Civil War intact, and a Cecil Beaton photography exhibition inside one of Yorkshire's grandest houses. Plus a dragon-carved comb that's just come home to a Scottish abbey after centuries away.

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle, Great Dixter, Chartwell & More

Jun 27, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle, Great Dixter, Chartwell & More

After a week of hiding indoors, the heatwave breaks today. Time to get back outside, and this week's issue has plenty of reasons to do exactly that including: a medieval Leicestershire castle with a tunnel, a Parliamentarian story, and a Walter Scott connection; Churchill's paintings at Chartwell; a Victorian town in Shropshire that's still operating; and Waddesdon's art collection, one of the finest assembled in Victorian England.

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Castle Howard, Sissinghurst, Kinver Edge and More

Jun 20, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Castle Howard, Sissinghurst, Kinver Edge and More

This week: a contemporary art installation inside an 18th-century temple at Castle Howard, the sandstone rock houses at Kinver Edge where families were still living in the 1960s, and a garden at Sissinghurst that's been 91 years in the making. Plus a boat trip on a historic Surrey waterway, an after-hours evening at Colchester Castle, and an owner-led tour of a medieval pele tower in Cumbria.

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Chelsea Physic Garden, Mottisfont & More

Jun 14, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Chelsea Physic Garden, Mottisfont & More

This week: a London garden that's been locked away for years, the BBC series that's put a Cotswolds hoarder's manor back on everyone's list, a formal Edinburgh garden tucked off the Royal Mile, next door to where Adam Smith spent his final years, and a Dorset cabinet that spent a year in conservation before coming home. Plus jousting at the crowning place of Scottish kings next weekend. Enjoy.

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Grimsthorpe Castle, Coventry Charterhouse & More

Jun 5, 2026

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4 min read

Hidden Britain: Grimsthorpe Castle, Coventry Charterhouse & More

This week: Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire and its 500 years of stories now available by audio tour, Coventry Charterhouse which pulled in 50,000 visitors in its first year under the National Trust, and a garden on Anglesey that almost nobody knows about. Plus the newly opened Neolithic hall at Stonehenge, and a 5,000-year-old burial chamber on Anglesey with a solstice event coming up on 13 June. Enjoy!

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Tintagel, Bateman's, Sezincote and More Heritage Finds

May 25, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Tintagel, Bateman's, Sezincote and More Heritage Finds

This week: choughs are back at Tintagel after a century away, Rudyard Kipling's East Sussex home turns out to be far stranger inside than the exterior suggests, a Roman fort in County Durham has quietly reopened with some of the best-preserved bath house remains in Britain, and a Mughal palace in the Cotswolds that most people have never heard of. Plus medieval music at Tintern Abbey, minibeasts at Hopetoun, and a military festival in Cumbria all coming up in the next few weeks. Enjoy!

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Trebah Garden, Powis Castle, Farringford and More

May 17, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Trebah Garden, Powis Castle, Farringford and More

This week: A Cornish garden that runs down to its own private beach, a 600-year-old Kent house with guided tours, Tennyson's Isle of Wight retreat reopened to visitors, and a Civil War re-enactment at a Staffordshire manor next weekend. Good week for planning ahead. Enjoy!

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Preston Mill, Floors Castle, Lowther Castle and More

May 8, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Preston Mill, Floors Castle, Lowther Castle and More

This week: Preston Mill in East Lothian has been grinding grain again for the first time in 30 years, and it appeared in Outlander. Scampston Hall in North Yorkshire opens its doors for guided tours from 20 May. Floors Castle in the Scottish Borders is open for the season, and Halswell Park in Somerset is offering a rare behind-the-scenes tour on 14 May. Plenty to plan around this week and beyond. Enjoy!

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Stourhead, Muncaster Castle, Grimsthorpe and More

May 3, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Stourhead, Muncaster Castle, Grimsthorpe and More

This week: Stourhead's rhododendron circuit in full swing, Muncaster Castle's bluebell terrace above the Esk, a Lincolnshire castle reopening with a brand new exhibition, and Sutton Hoo's Anglo-Saxon burial ground. Plus a car show in a Capability Brown park, an antiques fair where the ticket gets you into the house, and Chavenage House, the Gloucestershire manor that doubled as Trenwith in Poldark and is now the subject of a Channel 4 series about saving country houses.Enjoy!

Rob M, +1

Hidden Britain: Wentworth Woodhouse, Bolsover Castle, Bodiam and Four More Heritage Finds...

Apr 19, 2026

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5 min read

Hidden Britain: Wentworth Woodhouse, Bolsover Castle, Bodiam and Four More Heritage Finds...

This week: a Yorkshire giant pulled back from the brink, a Derbyshire castle built for pleasure not war, a moated fortress in East Sussex that looks exactly like a castle should, and a Norfolk mansion with a ghost story that holds up under scrutiny. Plus a medieval ruin on the edge of Edinburgh that almost nobody visits, and a Somerset castle with views across Exmoor.

Rob M, +1