Sissinghurst Castle Garden ©NTPL/David Sellman

‘The sunlight falling on the red tulips, against the more muted blues and greys in the background, creates such a simple and striking effect.’ Debbie Schrieber (Acting Editor)

Cotehele ©NTPL/Andrew Butler

‘The empty bench is so inviting! You can really imagine yourself there, enjoying the views of the garden.’ Helen Beer (Editorial Assistant)

Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate ©NTPL/Andrew Butler

‘Quarry Bank Mill is about more than our industrial heritage – it’s also full of colourful gardens and beautiful natural features, which this photograph shows perfectly.’ Debbie

Sissinghurst Castle Garden ©NTPL/Jonathan Buckley

‘There’s a lovely depth to this photo, with the brickwork gate providing just a glimpse of the White Garden beyond, and the magnolia in the foreground look almost close enough to touch.’ Helen

For more beautiful National Trust photography, check out www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk

Photography © James Day/National Trust

The views of Polesden Lacey’s 30 acre garden are breathtaking when the valley is covered with frost and glistens in the low winter sun. The trees, denuded of their foliage stand upright on the slopes, casting shadows and silhouettes onto the rolling hills.

The Winter Garden was designed by the famous plantsman and prolific garden writer Graham Stuart Thomas and it is believed that it is the only existing example designed by him. The jewel in Polesden’s crown, it was popular with royalty, celebrities and high society during the Edwardian period.

In February, Winter Aconites form a carpet of yellow under the canopy of three impressive Persian Ironwood trees (Parrotia persica). The air is heavily scented with the fragrance of Christmas Box (Sarcoccoca humilis) and Winter Sweet (Chimonanthus praecox) which jostle for position among rarer shrubs. The garden also features over 20 varieties of snowdrops.

See http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/places/gardens-and-parks/view-page/item631371/ for the Trust’s top ten Winter Gardens. 

Photography ©National Trust Images/Philip Pierce

Prior Park offers great views over Bath and in winter more can be seen, as the trees lose their leaves.

We’ve had snow the past few years and it transforms the garden – the grass is carpeted in white and the evergreen trees stand out against the snow.

We always try to open at weekends when the snow is lying – as it’s the perfect time to enjoy a bracing walk. 

Look out for Prior Park in the Reader’s Snapshot page of our spring issue, out next month.

Terms and conditions

Three answers to the question posted by @NTMagazine at 12 noon on 6 December will be selected by an independent person to win a pack of National Trust Christmas cards.  This prize draw is open to residents of the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man aged 18 years or over, excluding employees and their families of The National Trust, or anyone connected with this promotion.
Only one entry per household.
The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The winner will be notified by Twitter direct message within 24 hours of the closing date and time, giving them an email address to respond to. If a winner does not respond via the email address specified setting out their contact details and address within 3 days, the Promoter has the right to pick another winner from all valid entries.

‘Don’t worry Helen, I’ll make you sound good.’ Encouraging words from Nigel, our Studio Manager, after I failed (several times) to construct a sentence in my run through with our producer, less than 72 hours before the real thing.  It’s scary stuff, sitting surrounded by microphones in a fish tank style room, being watched – and more importantly, listened to -  by the editor, deputy editor, studio manager, producer and anyone else who happens to pop in to the ‘control room’. Luckily for me, these people kindly passed on their top tips. So, as I had a bit of a head-start, I thought it was only fair to share their advice with you…

1. Don’t forget, you’re in control. Talk about what YOU want to talk about – lead it! Malcolm Billings, producer

2. Remember what you found interesting about the story you’re telling, as this is what the audience will be most interested in. Don’t treat it as something formal, but as a chat in which you are trying to hold the other person’s attention – exactly as you do in real life! John Waite, presenter

3. Don’t eat biscuits before you go on air – you’ll sound crunchy. And tempting though it may be, save the glass of wine for after. Nigel, our studio manager

4. Write your opening sentence down as it’s often those first few words that are hardest to get out – once you’re going, you’ll find you relax. Debbie Schrieber: Deputy Editor, NT Magazine

5. Smile whilst you’re talking. You might not feel like it, but when someone’s smiling you can hear it in their voice. Sue Herdman, Editor, NT Magazine

How did I do? Listen here and judge for yourself!

We recently had the pleasure of visiting Brownsea Island for their Sconefest, where we were able to sample many delicious homemade varieties (and purchase a few for our packed lunches the following day!)  Between us our favourites were:
Cherry & Coconut, Spring Onion & Goat’s Cheese, Cheese & Bacon and Carrot & Coriander. Simon, Dorchester

My favourite scone is the cheese scone.  First encountered at Mottisfont rather a long time ago!  Cheese scones, served with a small pot of cream cheese, and fruit chutney, the perfect lunch after a visit to the stunning rose gardens! I wonder if they still serve them? Laura, by email

I love sultana scones fresh from the oven. I recently had some at Fyne Court, delicious with a pot of green tea :0)
I made some myself for the first time and found that I needed a bigger cutter. So the second batch were bigger, definitely the bigger the better (more room for the jam & cream!) Lysa, by email

Add 1oz/30g finely chopped stem ginger to the traditional sweet scone recipe before adding the milk – definitely a favourite here. June, Newport

My favourite scone is the good old plain one – but made with buttermilk and served with real Cornish clotted cream and home-made strawberry jam. What a treat! Jane, by email
Other flavour suggestions we liked included blue cheese, apricot, apple, black olive and feta cheese, cheese and watercress and scones made with rosewater.

Top baking tips included using milk soured with raspberry vinegar, and dipping the tops of the scones in a little milk, before lightly dipping in brown sugar – yum!

For more scone recipes see http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/get-involved/build-your-skills/how-to-guides/video-recipes/view-page/item938713

We met the Giltinan Allias family, our four millionth members, at Osterley Park.

Natasha and her friend Levi are transported to wonderland at Antony, one of the locations that Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was filmed.

Emma Woodhall wasn’t expecting to find this contemporary exhibition by Susie MacMurray, ‘Promenade’, when she visited Kedleston Hall in autumn 2010.

The Gould family take a break on the tree seat at Knightshayes Court in 1978 – which is still there today!

Lynn Mash captured this image of Orford Ness during one of the first National Trust photography classes to be held there.

Jan Bell’s Welsh Terrier, George, and his sister Tess, are well known faces at Attingham Park.

James Stove had a chilly day out in January at the Clent Hills, as he waited for the sun to go down to take this stunning shot.

Andre, Louis and Lilly Rhiann said that their visit to Bodnant Garden was ‘the best day ever!’

Photography ©Megan Taylor/National Trust Magazine

My first experience of the Trust was on a working holiday in the Lake District in 1996! I got to carry out a range of conservation tasks and I was hooked – I had to get a job working outdoors with the Trust. After working as a Trust ranger in the Lakes for several years I relocated to Dorset a decade ago. In recent years we’ve doubled the number of working holidays we run. We now hold ten a year – in winter the focus is on hedge laying and in summer it’s more maintenance work – rebuilding steps to the beach and clearing invasive species of plants. In the last ten years we’ve laid miles upon miles of hedges – passing a rural skill onto numerous people along the way – and cleared hundreds of acres of Japanese knotweed. Our rangers look forward to new groups arriving and we’re planning more holidays in the future, especially family focused ones.

And the Noble family from Lincolnshire tells us what it’s like to go on one!

I discovered the Trust’s working holidays while searching for active breaks. We’re not Trust members but I thought it would be lovely to spend time working on something together as a family. Our first Trust holiday was to Snowdonia, where we cleared rhododendron and Himalayan balsam and carried out path repairs. Then we went to Stackpole for a spot of beach cleaning, bird hide painting and eco loo building. Accommodation and food for both holidays was great. For me the most refreshing thing was not being in charge, yes I was busy but there was no ‘Mum! Mum?’ They had to ask our wonderful leaders instead. Andrew started secondary school after our last break and all of the students in his class were asked about their holidays – his was voted the most interesting. We’ve recommended them to our friends and we’ve got another Trust break planned soon – we have such wonderful memories from the last two.

To hear Deputy Editor Debbie Schrieber speaking about working holidays, click here:

Winkworth Arboretum is one of my favourite gardens. Especially in early mornings when mist is rising, the sun is burning through and the lake is waking up – birds and occasionally fisherman in a boat are gliding across the surface.

Spring mornings fresh with bluebell carpets and apple blossoms, autumn ones with colourful trees, and winter with cobwebs sparkling in frost.

I like the variety of trees that add interest to the garden whatever the season. I like the hilly terrain that offers different perspectives. I like that it’s full of wildlife. And I like the scones that are freshly baked in the small tea rooms by the entrance!

Winkworth Arboretum is near Godalming in Surrey.

See pages 6-7 on  www.nationaltrustmagazine.co.uk for more on autumn colour at Winkworth. 

Portraits © Nick Haddow/National Trust Magazine

Were you a big fan of Potter as a child?

Yes. My father, Eric Thompson (the creator and narrator of The Magic Roundabout), used to read her books to my sister and me, and we adored them. Reading them to my daughter Gaia several years ago made me appreciate Potter anew. She wanted to entertain her readers, she doesn’t patronise – her vocabulary is often complex and the narratives dark and her writing is brilliant; she has a universal appeal, like Dickens, Austen and Shakespeare. I love that her books get passed down through the generations.

So, how did this book come about?

I didn’t know much about Potter before this project but I’d always loved and connected with her characters (Benjamin Bunny and Samuel Whiskers were my favourites). If Frederick Warne (the publishers) had sent me an official letter, asking me to write the book I would have been too daunted to accept. But their invitation was so playful and in the spirit of Beatrix’s characters that I couldn’t refuse. They sent me a box with half-eaten radish leaves and a note from ‘Peter’ saying I was ‘cheeky’ like him and asking me to write another adventure.

Did you enjoy writing it?

I loved it – I went out and bought lots of notebooks till I found the right one. I’d write a few words on each page and it became clear very quickly which phrases worked and which didn’t. Then it was a process of winnowing, it’s a short story but it took a long time to get just right. I hope everyone will enjoy it.

What’s your simple pleasure?

Cooking – I’m a bad baker but a great cook. I cook everything, tarts, pies, casseroles, but roasts are my favourite and I like to serve them with as many different vegetables as possible! I find cooking really relaxing; it’s my way of getting back to normality. And I love shopping for food at farmers’ markets – I wish I could do all my shopping outside!

Read more from Emma on page 42 www.nationaltrustmagazine.co.uk