Birding in the fens near Ely<\/p>\n
Spring has arrived at Wicken Fen, one of Europe\u2019s most important wetlands, and with it the first summer migrants. Chiffchaffs are usually the earliest, with their rhythmic song ringing out across the fens. Then, if the weather is mild, blackcaps and willow warblers might join them. Listen closely, especially early morning or at dusk, for the foghorn-like calls of the booming bittern across the reedbeds. There\u2019s a pushchair- and wheelchair-friendly boardwalk around Sedge Fen, and wheelchair-accessible wildlife hides. Look out for the electric blue flash of a kingfisher, and male marsh harriers performing their dramatic sky-dancing flights as the breeding season gets under way, before the cuckoos arrive in late April. Artful planting in East SussexSpring evening at Petworth House. Photograph: Slawek Staszczuk\/Alamy<\/p>\n When Dan Pearson created the landscape design at Goodwood Art Foundation sculpture park, which opened last May, he planned 24 seasonal moments to complement the art-dotted trails through woodland, glades and meadows. This is the first spring visitors will see his graphic plantings of daffodils and bluebells, cherry blossoms and the katsura grove coming into copper-coloured leaf. Over the Easter<\/a> holidays, children can pick up a free Art in Nature pack to create rubbings and collages inspired by the shapes and textures.<\/p>\n There is artful nature of a different kind at nearby Petworth\u2019s spring festival, with more than 100 pots of spring bulbs in flower, willow foraging and basket making workshops, and other garden-themed kids\u2019 activities. Feast by the sea in KentMorelli\u2019s ice-cream parlour in Broadstairs. Photograph: Eye35\/Alamy<\/p>\n From Italian small plates in Margate to Japanese ramen in Deal, the Kent coast has upped its foodie credentials. Dig in at the Broadstairs food festival, which pops up on the seafront over Easter (3-5 April). There\u2019s a delicious lineup of chefs, street food stalls and local artisan producers, plus food-themed arts and crafts workshops, from chocolate lollipop making to screen printing napkins with fig, oyster, crab or seaweed designs. Broadstairs is a treat to eat your way around anytime, with seafood at Kebbells<\/a>, tapas at Bar Ingo<\/a> and, of course, a sundae at Morelli\u2019s<\/a> Formica-tastic ice-cream parlour. Treetop thrills and stargazing in the Lake DistrictGo Ape high ropes course in Grizedale Forest. Photograph: Michael\/Giant Peach<\/p>\n The deep dark woods at Grizedale Forest in the Lake District offer an action-packed day out for families, with Go Ape treetop thrills, adrenaline-pumping mountain biking and sculpture-filled walking trails (including a Gruffalo orienteering route and a Room on the Broom nature walk for Julia Donaldson fans). Now you can add stargazing to the list. The new Grizedale Observatory opened last May, the Lake District\u2019s first public observatory and planetarium. There are family sessions every Saturday at\u00a04pm, where budding astronomers can touch real meteorites and watch a\u00a0show in the planetarium. Easter holiday events include Jupiter viewings, aurora nights and afternoon planetarium shows. See grand designs and baby lambs in North YorkshireCastle Howard. Photograph: Eye35\/Alamy<\/p>\n Sir John Vanbrugh was a playwright with no architectural experience when he was commissioned in 1699 to build a massive new house for a fellow Kit-Cat Club member, the Earl of Carlisle. It would be fair to say that Castle Howard was a decent first stab. In celebration of the tercentenary of its creator, there are new tours giving unprecedented access to areas of the house, follies and monuments not usually open to the public. Plus you can meet baby lambs born on the estate at the magical Skelf Island adventure playground (4 and 5 April). Woodland blooms in CornwallMagnolia at the Eden Project. Photograph: Douglas Lander\/Alamy<\/p>\n Each year, six champion Magnolia campbellii are eagerly watched in six of\u00a0the Great Gardens of Cornwall, including the Eden Project.<\/a> The moment they come into full bloom (counted as 50 flowers), spring is declared to have officially arrived in England. This year it happened on 27 February. The Gulf Stream helps hurry the start of the season along here, and means you may see a few bluebells popping their heads up in the Easter holidays. Tehidy <\/a>woods<\/a> is famous for its carpets of bluebells \u2013 the first were spotted in early April last year. That will be just in time for fantastical theatre company Rogue Otherworld\u2019s Wild Awake show, which weaves between the trees telling the story of the forest awakening, guided by the Wild Spring Hare. Poohsticks in Ashdown ForestAA Milne\u2019s famous bridge in East Sussex. Photograph: Andrew Hasson\/Alamy<\/p>\n It\u2019s the 100th anniversary of AA Milne\u2019s Winnie-the-Pooh this year, so good reason to follow the honey-loving bear and his friends down to the real-life Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest. Milne wrote the children\u2019s classic at Cotchford Farm (now a holiday rental) on the edge of the forest, where he lived with his wife and his son, Christopher Robin. Follow the Pooh Walks (0.6 or 2 miles) from Gills Lap to trace out spots from the book, including The Enchanted Place, the Heffalump trap and Roo\u2019s sandy pit. Don\u2019t leave without playing a game of poohsticks on the Poohsticks Bridge. Pooh fans can plot a return trip for the summer holidays to catch The Big One Hundred celebration, which will include a giant puppet roaming through the woods, interactive performances and five new walking routes. A wild coastal walk in County AntrimGobbins cliff path, County Antrim. Photograph: Vincent Lowe\/Alamy<\/p>\n The walkways, bridges and steps that make up the Gobbins cliff path cling to sheer basalt rock, the waves crashing below. This elemental trail was built by the railway engineer Berkeley Deane Wise in 1902, and now can only be followed on 2.5hr guided tours, which have been paused since last year due to rockfall. They are due to restart on 20 March, and it\u2019s a thrilling stop on the Causeway Coastal Route. Alternatively, the Blackhead Path is almost as dramatic and free, starting at nearby Whitehead. The route hugs the coast past smuggler\u2019s caves and rocky coves, before taking the steep steps up to the clifftop Blackhead Lighthouse. A Mauds ice-cream at Coastal Coffee back in Whitehead is just reward for the climb. Relive Springwatch in the Peak DistrictPadley Gorge. Photograph: Suxxes Photo\/Alamy<\/p>\n Last year, BBC\u2019s Springwatch was based at the Peak District\u2019s Longshaw Estate. Over the weeks of live broadcasts, Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan spotted short-eared owls feeding voles to their chicks, kept an eye on pied flycatcher nests, and tracked hares, deer and a host of other wildlife across the estate\u2019s habitats. The Padley Gorge and Burbage Brook walking route is particularly good in\u00a0spring, winding past the pond to\u00a0the\u00a0ancient woodland of Padley Gorge,\u00a0with its twisting oak trees and moss-covered boulders. Back out on the meadow, watch for birds of prey overhead \u2013 buzzards, red kites, peregrine and kestrels \u2013 and adders emerging from hibernation in the grass (so dogs need to stay on leads). Go mudlarking on the Thames Photograph: Julio Etchart\/Alamy<\/p>\n For a hands-on dig into London\u2019s history, try one of the Thames Explorer Trust\u2019s In the Footsteps of Mudlarks tours. Normally anyone searching the river\u2019s foreshore needs a\u00a0permit from the Port of London authority, which has a waiting list running into the thousands. These two-hour guided tours give combers the chance to temporarily jump the queue, with archaeology experts on hand to help find and identify surface artefacts \u2013 maybe smoking pipes, pottery or even bones. Children over eight can join regular scheduled tours, while during the school holidays there are special family sessions (aimed at ages 5-12) meeting at the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe. Take a seabird safari in North BerwickGannets flying over Bass Rock. Photograph: Feldman1\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Off the coast of North Berwick, the Bass Rock is home to the world\u2019s largest colony of northern gannets. After spending the winter in warmer seas, the birds, with their distinctive black wingtips and yellow heads, return in February. Boat trips from the Scottish Seabird Centre restart in late March, and range from exhilarating RIB \u201cseafaris\u201d to gentler catamaran cruises, which loop around Craigleith (home to almost 10,000 breeding puffins) and Bass Rock, sometimes accompanied by dolphins and seals. Back on dry land, the centre has live wildlife cameras, as well as exhibits, games and films, or join a spring beach clean (10 April) along the sand. Join the Famous Five in DorsetSwanage Railway and Corfe Castle, which inspired Enid Blyton. Photograph: Janet Carmichael\/Alamy<\/p>\n \u201cIn the very middle \u2026 on a low hill, rose the ruined castle,\u201d wrote Enid Blyton in the first Famous Five adventure, Five on a Treasure Island. Blyton holidayed for decades on Dorset\u2019s Isle of Purbeck, and the imposing remains of Corfe Castle are\u00a0believed to be the inspiration for Kirrin Castle. The most storybook way\u00a0to arrive is in the vintage carriages of the Swanage Railway, which the author herself took, chugging through the countryside in a plume of smoke and steam. Try to catch the new Magic Faraway Tree film (out now) at a cinema to complete the Blyton jolly. Iron age living at Loch TayReconstructed roundhouses at the Scottish Crannog Centre. Photograph: PR<\/p>\n Back in the iron age, crannogs \u2013 roundhouse settlements built on artificial islands of stone and timber \u2013 would have been a common sight on lochs across Scotland. Their remnants have been remarkably preserved thanks to being buried beneath the cold, dark, peaty waters. The remains of 17 have been found in Loch Tay alone, and on its shores the Scottish Crannog Centre reconstructed these ancient structures in an immersive living museum, until it was destroyed by fire in 2021. It reopened nearby in 2024, and this spring will complete its first new crannog. To celebrate, join The Crannog is Hatching event on 4-5 April, exploring the traditions of birth and renewal, with springtime foods in\u00a0the Feasting Hall. Dive into art near EdinburghGateway pool was constructed with thousands of hand-painted tiles. Photograph: PA Images\/Alamy<\/p>\n At the Scottish sculpture park Jupiter Artland, you can get a unique perspective on two of its works of art \u2013 by swimming in them. Joana Vasconcelos\u2019s wiggling, vibrantly coloured Gateway pool and Charles Jencks\u2019s Teletubbyland-like Cells of Life are open to bathers. Gateway is created from 11,366 hand-painted Portuguese tiles, and is bookable for half hour sessions from 2\u00a0April. Jencks\u2019s lakes, surrounded by\u00a0undulating grassy landforms, are open for swimmers every Sunday from\u00a011am\u00a0to 12pm (both over-3s only). There are pieces by Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Andy Goldsworthy elsewhere in the 120-acre park, which is a half-hour drive from Edinburgh. Budding artists can also give it a go in the Make Studio, filled with materials \u2013 an invitation to get messy with paint, clay and more. Find dragons in CaerphillyThe Great Hall at Caerphilly Castle. Photograph: Cadw Photographic Library\/Crown<\/p>\n Wales\u2019s largest castle, Caerphilly, reopened last July after a two-year, \u00a38m renovation by Cadw, the Welsh government\u2019s historic environment service. Built in the 13th century, the whole stronghold covers about 12 hectares (30 acres), with wide water defences, hulking great walls, stern-looking gatehouses and a leaning tower that\u2019s even more leaning than\u00a0Pisa\u2019s (reputedly the result of gunpowder damage during the civil war). The most head-turning of the recent upgrades is the Great Hall dining room, now dressed for its medieval heyday. Elsewhere interactive exhibits bring the castle\u2019s long history to life, and a family of giant, smoke-snorting (animatronic) dragons live in a lair beside the moat. Ride a carousel in FlintshireThe Hawarden Estate. Photograph: Louise Roberts<\/p>\n On Saturday 4 April the grounds of the Hawarden Estate will be filled with vintage fairground rides for its Great Easter Show \u2013 the ferris wheel spinning, the carousel cranking out the waltz and squeals coming from the red-and-white-striped helter-skelter. Alongside there are circus skills workshops, a dog show, craft sessions and an egg-and-spoon race. If you miss out on the fete do not fear \u2013 the fun continues all season with a kids\u2019 Explorer Club every Saturday and classes at the Walled Garden School (how to build a birdhouse on 7 April; a\u00a0spring foraging walk on 11 April). There is also a self-guided explorer trail from the farm shop, with a 10-metre trumpet to blast and secret mirrors to spot among the trees. Highland tales in InvernessAn exhibition on Celtic music in the north tower at Inverness Castle. Photograph: John Paul<\/p>\n Sitting grandly on the banks of the River Ness, the red sandstone Inverness Castle isn\u2019t really a castle at all: it was built in 1836 as a court and prison. There have been plenty of \u201creal\u201d castles on the strategic site since the 11th century, destroyed by everyone from Robert the Bruce to Bonnie Prince Charlie. This January, after a \u00a347m redevelopment, it opened as the snazzy new Inverness Castle Experience, where visitors follow the voices of the seanchaidhean (Gaelic storytellers) to\u00a0learn about Highland history and culture. Sure, there are clans and tartan, but also Celtic music, the sport of shinty and a tapestry created by more than 600 stitchers from across the Highlands and Islands. Finish on the rooftop platform looking out towards Ben Wyvis and the Highlands. Cruise the world\u2019s highest canal aqueduct in the Dee valleyPontcysyllte aqueduct, north Wales. Photograph: Travelling Light\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Standing 39 metres above the Dee valley in north Wales, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is the highest canal aqueduct in the world and, at 307 metres, the longest in Britain. It\u2019s described in its Unesco World Heritage listing as \u201ca masterpiece of creative genius\u201d. See it up close on a 45-minute trip on board the Little Star, which departs from close to the Canal & River Trust\u2019s Trevor Basin Visitor Centre five times a day from 1 April. Alternatively, walk across the towpath for free (you will need a good head for heights, although there are railings) and continue along the Llangollen canal to Llangollen. There, hike up to the ruins of Castell Dinas Br\u00e2n overlooking the town, then pick up some homemade butter fudge at Cottage Cream\u2019n\u2019Candy. Hike the new Teifi Valley TrailPoppit Sands, Pembrokeshire. Photograph: Robin Weaver\/Alamy<\/p>\n West Wales has plenty of stunning walks, and these will be joined in April by a new waymarked route: the 83-mile (134km) source-to-sea Teifi Valley Trail. Designed as an eight-day hike, the route starts up at Strata Florida Abbey and follows the River Teifi downstream. For a lovely day walk, join it for the final leg at Cilgerran Castle, perched dramatically above the Teifi gorge. The path wiggles almost 8 miles through the Teifi Marshes Nature Reserve (kids can have a whiz around the willow maze), past Cardigan (lunch stop at Crwst<\/a>), to the quaint village of St Dogmaels with its ruined Tironensian abbey. The finishing line is the dunes at Poppit Sands, where you can unlace boots and treat tired feet to a chilly dip. Car-free Cotswolds garden tourSezincote House in Gloucestershire. Photograph: Stuart Black\/Alamy<\/p>\n The lively market town of Moreton-in-Marsh is the ideal jumping off point for a car-free Cotswolds jaunt \u2013 it\u2019s only 1h 30min direct from London\u2019s Paddington, or one change from Birmingham or Bristol. From there, strike out along the Monarch\u2019s Way about 1.7 miles to Batsford Arboretum, home to the UK\u2019s national collection of Japanese flowering cherry trees, with more than 120 covered in frothy blossom. Continue on to Bourton House Garden, which reopens for the season on 7 April, for perfectly clipped topiary and cakes in the tearoom. Finish the loop at Sezincote House and Garden, a little slice of India in the English countryside, with its water garden, elephant statues and stepping stones across a winding stream.
From \u00a310 adults, \u00a35 children (under-5s free), nationaltrust.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
Goodwood Art Foundation, \u00a315 adults, under-18s free, goodwoodartfoundation.org<\/a>. Spring festival at Petworth, from \u00a321 adults, \u00a310.50 children (under-5s free), 4-19 April, nationaltrust.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
Free entry, 3-5 April, broadstairsfoodfestival.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
Grizedale Forest, free (bar Go Ape), forestryengland.uk<\/a>. Observatory events, from \u00a313 adults, \u00a38 children, grizedaleobservatory.com<\/a><\/p>\n
Garden tickets, which include Skelf Island, from \u00a317 adults, \u00a38.50 children (under-3s free), castlehoward.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
Wild Awake show, \u00a310-\u00a315 adults (pay what you can; under-3s free), 3-6 and 8-12 April, rogueotherworld.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
Free, <\/a>ashdownforest.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a322.75 adults, \u00a316.50 under-16s (minimum 4ft tall, roughly seven years old), thegobbinscliffpath.com<\/a><\/p>\n
Free, nationaltrust.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
Children\u2019s Footsteps of Mudlarks tour, \u00a330 adults, \u00a317 under-12s, on 4, 7, 9 April, thames-explorer.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
Boat trips, from \u00a332 adults, \u00a315 children (3 and under free); Scottish Seabird Centre Discovery Experience, \u00a313.50 adults, \u00a39 children (under-3s free), seabird.org<\/a><\/p>\n
Swanage Railway, from \u00a314 adults, \u00a37.50 children (under-5s free) one way, swanagerailway.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a315 adults, \u00a310 children (under-5s free), crannog.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
From \u00a311.80 adults, \u00a37.50 children (3\u00a0and under free; swims included in ticket price but must be prebooked), jupiterartland.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a312.90 adults, \u00a39 children (under-5s free), cadw.gov.wales<\/a><\/p>\n
The Great Easter Show, \u00a318.50 adults, \u00a312.50 children (under-5s free; tickets include unlimited rides). The Walled Garden School events, from \u00a330 a person; Explorer Club, \u00a310 a child (accompanying adults free), hawardenestate.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a320 adults, \u00a314 children (under-5s free), invernesscastle.scot<\/a><\/p>\n
Trips on AngloWelsh\u2019s Little Star, from \u00a310.48 adults, \u00a36.29 children, anglowelsh.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
teifivalleytrail.wales<\/a><\/p>\n
Batsford Arboretum, from \u00a310.90 adults, \u00a33.15 children (under-4s free), batsarb.co.uk<\/a>. Bourton House Garden, \u00a310 adults (under-16s free), bourtonhouse.com<\/a>. Sezincote House and Garden, from \u00a39 adults (garden only), \u00a33 children, sezincote.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birding in the fens near Ely Spring has arrived at Wicken Fen, one of Europe\u2019s most important wetlands,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-499782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}