Get hands-on at Beaulieu this February half-term as you train as a below stairs Victorian house servant or a country garage apprentice mechanic and explore the heritage of this New Forest treasure from February 15th – 23rd.
Make sure you’re on your best behaviour as you present yourself to the costumed butler and housekeeper at Palace House, the ancestral home of the Montagu family. The year is 1889 and you are applying for a job in this grand Victorian country house … but be warned, starting at the bottom is the only way to join the team and start your career in service!
Try out as a footman or scullery maid and tackle some of the household chores that were part of daily life for the hard-working servants. You’ll have to aim high to please the taskmasters, as you learn how to correctly set the table for a grand dinner, look after the house guests and even sweep the floor. Maybe you can lend a hand in the Victorian Kitchen and let the cook judge your efforts.
If that sounds like hard work, test your brain in a different way with curious gadgets from the 19th century, putting your deductive skills to the test to work out what these strange contraptions were used for.
Then race over to the National Motor Museum to follow in the tyre tracks of motoring pioneers and discover the thrill of the open road that made every journey an adventure. Try horns and handle the motoring artefacts of a bygone era to get a taste of motoring technology from the turn of the 20th century.
Become an apprentice in Jack Tucker’s 1930s country garage. Put on overalls and complete a vehicle maintenance checklist to learn about the life of a mechanic.
For more dress-up, rummage through the collection of driving costumes and pull on coats, hats and goggles before clambering behind the wheel of the veteran 1904 Pope-Tribune for the perfect selfie opportunity. Can you imagine driving along rough roads in a car like this?
Make sure to fill in your travel log as you make memories all together on a marvellous family day out at Beaulieu. Collect stamps along the way from each of the costumed guides and take away a balloon car kit to build at home.
All holiday activities are included in a general admission ticket to Beaulieu.