National Trust Houses

Something that has influenced my creativity in the past is visiting National Trust Houses. I used to visit them with my friend and we would go and look round the houses and the grounds. I went to houses such as Upton House, Calke Abbey and Charlcote Park. Learning about the history of the houses and families was very interesting. Just the structures of the houses, how they had been built and how they looked from the outside was amazing. I also found that they all used to have a range of art and old paintings; something I noticed as a creative is that the style of painting changed as time went on, they became more and more realistic - rather than the people in the portraits having large heads and being out of proportion, they became more and more genuine.

I also loved looking round the gardens, the way they arranged plants and flowers into mazes, and the families sometimes had statues to appear wealthy. Walking round also allowed me to gather my thoughts and gave me the chance to do some photography. The views were breath taking (so it didn't take much photographic skill to capture them, however) I enjoyed practicing photography when going there.

Here's some of the photos I managed to get:

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Thanks for reading! If you ever get the chance, especially during summer, you should try to visit a National Trust house. They have children's activities, games, and loads of space for picnics, so they are perfect for a family day out. You can get a day pass if you're not a member of the National Trust.

Thanks for reading!

Katie Xx