Two film crews and a wedding ...

The season is well and truly under way and what a spectacular start! April saw two film crews at Beningbrough, as well as our first wedding of the year.

The first film crew were from Daybreak TV, and arrived in the very early hours of the morning to cover the launch of the National Trust's 50 things to do before you're 11 3/4 campaign. Although we often have early

Daybreak TV presenter Katie Fawcett at Beningbrough with two visiting children

starts at Beningbrough, they aren't usually quite as early as 5am! The "50 things" campaign is all about getting out and rediscovering the things kids used to do before computer games came on the scene and we even managed to persuade a few children to come along and climb in our fantastic laurel den during the live broadcast. Some of the parents were interviewed, as was our resident elite ranger Des Cotton, an expert in safe tree climbing.

Elite ranger Des Cotton is interviewed live in our laurel den

The second TV crew to visit us in April were making a programme for BBC4 called "The History of Food." They filmed in the mansion, the Walled Garden and around the grounds and did a particularly nice shot with presenter Stefan Gates addressing viewers from the balcony in the Great Hall. What a great dramatic space! The programme will be screened later on this year. 

And then there was a wedding. Beningbrough's Great Hall is fantastic for weddings too, as well as film shoots! The couple and their party had the grounds totally at their disposal as the wedding was on a day when we were closed to the public. Seemingly miraculously, in a week where it had rained more than usual, the weather was lovely with quite a bit of sun. The wedding breakfast was in our restaurant, all beautifully decorated by the caterers - we loved the bunting! 

The Walled Garden Restaurant - ready for the wedding breakfast

And throughout May and June we're all set to be even busier with some fantastic public events including a Grand Tea Party for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Why not bookmark our events page? Don't miss out!