I have to admit to not being one for museums, or art galleries, or historic churches; I thought I must be subconsciously anti high culture (in the early days my husband was concerned I may be a vampire, because I didn't want to look inside interesting old churches on holiday) until I realised that the reason is that I work indoors a lot, stuck in front of a pc, so in my leisure time I really want to be outside if possible. So for me, if sculptures are inside I would probably rush through them a bit to get outside again, so an outdoor sculpture trail in a beautiful garden is absolutely perfect and has been something of a revelation (I'm not a philistine, I just want a tan). I didn't expect children to enjoy sculptures either, I thought they would whizz past them and find them uninteresting, but nowadays I think the children enjoy looking at the sculptures at Borde Hill (and picking their favourites) as much as they enjoy doing the Children's Trail.
If I could give one tip for the Children's Trail it would be to read the first part of the accompanying booklet before you start the trail. We have been doing the Children's Trail for years at Borde Hill and we still haven't learnt that we get carried away with the activities and puzzles at the beginning, forget that the children are supposed to be writing answers at the back of the booklet and then by the time we get a third of the way round we're all in a muddle and have missed answers and have to go back or leave them out - I know we aren't the only ones too.
The pun generating machine has been wheeled out and put into overdrive this time, so prepare for some groan-inducing play on words as you meet the mischievous Finbow the Fox and his slightly unfortunate friends. Will there be a birthday party at the end of it all? Does Finbow really deserve a birthday party, or is he just too annoying? Will Finbow mend his ways and stop playing practical jokes on his lovely friends? Do any of these questions get answered along the trail? Book tickets for garden entry and the children's trail online and find out...
Elizabeth Wickenden
Director - Grapevine Media Group
