Tatton Park National Trust Scarecrow Festival : Days Out With Kids

Tatton Park National Trust

I spent the first part of a rainy February half term out numbered by my three gremlins. Thankfully my husband joined me on Thursday and Friday as he booked annual leave from work. Even more fortunately the weather brightened up at the end of the week! We therefore decided to have a day out at Tatton Park.

We have a National Trust membership which I constantly recommend to anyone who will listen! It’s a complete bargain for anyone, but especially larger families like us. We have had so many days out with kids using the membership. We pay £10 a month and more than get our money’s worth over the year.

Where is Tatton Park?

Tatton Park is located in Knutsford in Cheshire and actually isn’t too far away from Dunham Massey, another fantastic National Trust property. It’s easy to get to in the car, and has a massive car park so you don’t need to worry about getting a space, even during the holidays.

Tatton Park National Trust Prices

If you don’t have a National Trust membership, it’s £19 for a family of up to five people, per single attraction – the farm, mansion and gardens. You can get a family ticket for all the attractions for £33 which obviously works out cheaper.

If you are members you get free entry to the mansion and gardens and 50% discount to the farm.

While most NT properties offer free parking for it’s members, the car park at Tatton Park is council owned and so they charge £7 per car.

Tatton Park National Trust : The Scarecrow Festival

With its awarding winning gardens, working farm and mansion, Tatton Park is a great place to visit all year round, but this time we went especially to do the Scarecrow  Festival.

We’ve seen the Scarecrows at Tatton Park before but it’s been four years since we last went. Our daughter was newborn then so we knew we wanted to go back so she could experience it too.

We all enjoyed our tip four years ago but were all in agreement that this time the scarecrows were so much better. There was a theme of Heroes and Villains and the characters were recognisable, not just to us, but to the kids too.

They had great fun running and finding them and figuring out which characters they represented. The Disney and superhero characters were a particular hit with the kids!

The variety of characters were brilliant. From story book characters like Matilda and Miss Trunchbull to Feathers McCraw from Wallace & Gromit, there was something for everyone.

There was also the opportunity to create your very own scarecrow. They had plenty of old clothes and an abundance of straw so the kids could get creating. Here’s our (rather scary!) creation!

The Scarecrow Festival took place within Tatton’s award winning gardens. Even at this time of year the gardens are still so pretty and well maintained.

Sadly the mansion was shut on the day of our visit which I’m assuming is a seasonal thing. There’s an opportunity to have a bite to eat in the Stableyard and a great play area for the kids.

All in all Tatton Park National Trust is a great day outdoors for the whole family. If you’re looking to get outdoors more as a family, you should check out Rachael at Lukeosaurus and Me’s fab guide to cycling as a family.