To celebrate our partnership with the ‘Horrible Histories’ series publisher, Scholastic Children’s Books (who generously donated £50 worth of ‘Horrible Histories’ books as a prize), we asked Landmarkers to nominate their favourite family-friendly Landmark.
We thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your comments about Landmarks and what makes them so special. Gwyneth Clarkson was the competition winner, selected at random from the many entries. She nominated Cawsey House, where she stayed with her grandchildren, and valued the fact that ‘The house has large rooms with lots of space for everyone’, adding that there are ‘wonderful attics to explore and it is a great house for hide and seek or ‘Sardines’!’ Gwyneth also liked that ‘the children were able to play in the large enclosed garden while we got ready to go out and when we had to pack up at the end of our holiday’.
Lots of you remarked that the indoor and outdoor space is a great feature of our buildings – perfect for wet or sunny days, summer or winter breaks. Angie Kearney enthused about Castle of Park’s ‘wonderful rooms, staircases and many floors’ being ‘the most fantastic place for everyone to play hide and seek…some places people found to hide have passed into family legend!’ Many of you love that several buildings have an enclosed garden and also a much larger area beyond of parkland, woods or fields to investigate, making them enticing for younger explorers (and more mature ones). Ample outdoor space also makes many Landmarks dog-friendly, and it is a benefit to be able to bring these much-loved family members along to share in the fun.
There were lots of comments about other features of Landmarks that families can enjoy together, for example, Tixall Gatehouse or Wilmington Priory both have a games room with a table tennis table. Some have roof terraces used for ‘all sorts of games such as parachuting small toys safely to the ground!’ (Joyce Jenkin on Tixall), and at Goddards there is even a skittle alley. Some properties include washing machines and/or dishwashers, catering for those mundane aspects of family holidays, but allowing you more time to enjoy the fun ones.
Whilst each building has its own history, they all share the same quality of capturing the imagination and inspiring children – and parents ¬– to ‘pretend that we are princesses’ (Maria Popovics remarked about playing with her daughter at Tixall Gatehouse) or defend against ‘invaders with their knight in shining armour swords’ (Lorraine Groves told us of her 9 and 11 year old children’s enthusiasm for Martello Tower).
Landmark’s regional librarians have selected ‘Horrible Histories’ titles relevant to our family-sized properties based on the period of the building, so look out for the ‘Gorgeous Georgians’ or ‘Terrifying Tudors’, amongst others, which give an engaging and fun insight into the building’s history.
Also from this summer, new children’s packs are starting to appear in our family-friendly Landmarks, containing puzzles, trails, stories and craft activities. These are aimed at younger Landmarkers aged 6-12 years to enhance their Landmark experience, and eventually all properties sleeping four or more people will have their own red ‘Explorers’ Box’ with a special ‘keepsake’ folder for each child.
Of course it is not just the building itself that offers the chance to ensure a wonderful family holiday, but Landmarks are in some very interesting locations with many places to visit locally, such as nature reserves, stately homes and gardens, that will appeal to all the family for fun days out. Each property page on our website includes a link to a Pinterest site with information about local attractions, events and local pubs.
So whether you favour a countryside, coast, or central town location for your family holiday, there is a Landmark to suit everyone, and what better place than a Landmark to create enduring family holiday memories?
