The Industrial Heritage & History of the East Midlands

Day 1 – Belton House

Board our private executive coach at your preferred pick up points – visit a carefully selected National Trust property en route such as Belton House near Grantham, a crowning achievement of Restoration country house architecture with important collections of paintings, furniture, tapestries and silver – check in at the 4* Delta by Marriott Belfry Hotel on the outskirts of Nottingham.

Day 2 – Hardwick Hall and Gardens & Workhouse at Southwell

Hardwick Hall and Gardens, an Elizabethan treasure house and National Trust property dating from the 16th century, is a magnificent statement of the wealth and status of its builder, Bess of Hardwick, and gives a rare insight into the formality of Elizabethan courtly life – built in 1824 as a place of last resort for the destitute and the most complete workhouse in existence, the architecture of the National Trust’s Workhouse at Southwell was influenced by prison design and its harsh regime became a blueprint for workhouses throughout the country.

Day 3 – Mill Yard at Cromford Mills & Crich Tramway Village

Guided tour of the Mill Yard at Cromford Mills, the world’s first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill and a cornerstone of the Industrial Revolution, was built in 1771 by Sir Richard Arkwright, who went from the humblest of beginnings to become the richest commoner in the country – Crich Tramway Village overlooking the famous Derwent Valley is a lovingly restored period village that is also home to the National Tramway Museum and its world renowned archives.

Day 4 – Framework Knitters Museum, the Taylor’s Bell Foundry Museum & the Great Central Railway

Guided tour at the award winning Framework Knitters Museum near Nottingham depicts the 400 year history of framework knitting, from its role in the Industrial Revolution to the infamous Luddite riots of the 1800s, and how framework knitting gave birth to the Nottingham lace industry – the Taylor’s Bell Foundry Museum at Loughborough explores the history of the foundry whose bells ring out from towers all over the English speaking world and regarded as the finest instruments of their kind – a return nostalgic steam train journey from Loughborough to Leicester North on the Great Central Railway.

Day 5 – Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park, the historic site of secret codebreaking activities during World War II and birthplace of the modern computer, is home to the most comprehensive public display of Enigma machines in the world, with exhibitions including Hitler's ‘Unbreakable’ Cipher Machine, The Life and Works of Alan Turing Gallery and an outstanding Churchill collection.