Seeing Speke

As the autumn draws in, we're planning a lot of our family days out around the potential for the weather to turn, so some sort of indoor activity is essential!

The National Trust properties are perfect for this - alongside huge gardens and protected land, they offer castles, stately homes, and other places of interest, and many of these sites put on activities and events around holidays.

So we ventured across the Mersey to Speke Hall, where the Tudor hall had been decorated as 'The Haunted Mansion' for Halloween, with rooms themed around classic horror stories such as The Masque of the Red Death, and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Speke Hall is a wonderful place to visit year-round - and it's one of Oli's favourites as there's a lovely playground, and a woodland trail themed around 'The Child of Hale' (apparently a local resident who was the tallest person in the land!) with interactive activities all along, and a forest play area at the end.

The manor itself is also beautiful; built around a central courtyard, the black-and-white timber building is a warren of gorgeous rooms, informative displays, and friendly guides who are more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Oddly, Olivia has always been fascinated by the secret room, the priest's hole, where the Catholic Norris family hid clergymen from hunters!

Speke Hall is easily accessible from the M62 or M56, and it's pretty much right next to Liverpool Airport (which admittedly makes for a very strange juxtaposition as you hear a plane roar overhead while meandering through Tudor gardens!