Arley Hall

You’ll find this characterful Jacobean-style gem down Cheshire’s leafy lanes, in a sea of magnificently tended gardens. The fine stately home (still home to Lord and Lady Ashbrook) and its grand clock tower, intricate carvings, Elizabethan cruck barn and grand state rooms are well worth the entrance fee. Horticulturists will love moseying around the vast, effervescent gardens, celebrated borders and hothouse, while you can tire out the kids and dogs on the woodland walk.

Visitors to the hall and gardens can also access the Gardener’s Kitchen. Cross the cobbled courtyard to find this vaulted barn strung with lights and proudly decorated with the family heraldry. Specials are chalked up behind the modern counter, which is filled with salads, sandwiches and cakes, many prepared to the 18th-century recipes of Elizabeth Raffald, the Delia of her day who learned her craft here.