Woolsthorpe Manor and Belton House

We drove about an hour and half from Cambridge to visit Woolsthorpe Manor which used to be home to Isaac Newton.Newton was born here on Christmas Day, 1642. He returned here from Cambridge University when the university was closed due to the plague and it was during this time he performed his ground-breaking work on light and optics. It is also believed to be the site where Newton observed an apple fall from a tree – which led to him formulating his law of universal gravitatio

 We found the apple tree from which the apple falling inspired Newton.

We enjoyed looking round the house, although small it had a lovely homely feel. 

 P enjoyed hunting for the mice in each room.

 I liked the drawings on the wall!

We also enjoyed the science centre where you can find out more about the experiments Newton carried out! There were some really great hands experiments suitable for everyone.

We then drove half an hour to Belton House. It’s a lovely country house set among 36 acres of formal gardens and 1300 acres of parklands. The story of the Moondial is set there. The house wasn't open on the day we visited so we explored the formal gardens and the adventure play area. The play area it's self is fab - the oldest parts of it are from the 1970s and it has been added to over the years so it now stretches a good quarter mile among the woods. The best thing about the playground is the way it is designed – long and narrow, and among trees  – so you can’t see it all at once.