National Trust - The Vyne — Attraction in Basingstoke and Deane

Thought I’d take myself on a little hike. Went to National Trust’s The Vyne because I have membership 💅🏼. I put Alistair and Rory in my ears and started the walking route. There was path closure so i was quite restricted. I had some lunch then came to the end of the route and tthought u know what, I’m doing it again, why not. So I did but this time I ended up on a different footpath towards Sherborn St John which is a really cute little village.

It was a peaceful day, the kind where you expect nothing more dramatic than a slightly aggressive goose encounter (looootsss of geese at The Vyne for some reason). But fate had other plans.

I was walking along, minding my own business, when I stumbled upon a scene straight out of a low-budget action movie: a man had taken a rather unfortunate detour off a small bridge, landing under his mobility scooter like a very unlucky tortoise.

The man had his priorities straight. Before I could lift the scooter, he issued his first command: “Get my egg and cress sandwich!"” — which had bravely followed him into the grassy abyss. Now, in true Sandhurst spirit, I assessed the situation with military precision. Mission: Rescue the Man. Objectives: 1) Secure the sandwich 2) Extract him from under the scooter. A true soldier never leaves a man (or his lunch) behind, so I retrieved the sandwich first.

At this point, the man informed me that his scooter was far too heavy for me to lift. Naturally, I took this as a personal challenge. Channeling all the gym sessions I’d been guilt-tripped into, I heaved the thing up like I was competing in an Olympic deadlift—smugly proving him wrong in the process.

Reinforcements soon arrived in the form of another walker, fresh from a knee replacement surgery. His wife and daughter were less enthusiastic about his heroics, standing by to shout helpful advice like, “Don’t do anything because of your knee!” while he proceeded to ignore them completely.

With our combined (if slightly compromised) strength, we managed to free the man and his treasured sandwich. He was unharmed, his lunch was intact, and I left the scene knowing that if leaderless tasks at AOSB involve confused teamwork and a vulnerable egg and cress sandwich, I am...

Car park spaces are a bit tight and the signage could be clearer. We ended up part way into the disabled section by accident because there was nothing marking it until the very end. Not a huge issue but worth noting.

The walled garden is lovely and the information signs are good. It would be helpful to have a direct cut through to the seating area rather than walking the long way round. The house itself is beautiful but the information inside felt limited. We were told volunteers would answer questions and I am sure they would but that relies on knowing what to ask. There was not much detail on the architectural features or what makes the house unique, and very little to help you understand its long history. It feels like a missed opportunity.

The real disappointment was the tearoom. The layout is confusing as soon as you walk in. It is not clear where to queue and you end up weaving through tables before finding everyone crowded by the self service cakes. This was just before closing, not peak lunch, yet it still felt chaotic. Staff were polite in wording but the service felt forced and not very welcoming. Cutlery was tucked around the corner on a messy counter under the stairs which did not help.

Overall it is a lovely property with lots of potential but the visitor experience, especially in the tearoom, needs improving. A rethink of the whole layout is needed and strong hospitality management would help bring it up to the standard the...

We have NT membership and so been to many gardens they have. We have now been to the The Vyne twice, only because we previously ran out of time to visit the house and the pathway along the river was so boggy. They currently have major works going on and it seems to have impacted the parking as spaces were fairly limited and it was a fight with other cars to get to a free space. Guessing due to the works, there seems to be a lot of railings along the pathways (near the entrance) which is a bit of an eyesore. The house was fine except they were only letting in 8 people at a time and causing a bit of queueing that I had not seen at other locations. Hands-up, I accept the blame but was spoken to quite abruptly when I touched a cabinet on a walkway; I did touch it incredibly gently as I am quite considerate but offended to be spoken to like a child by one of the staff; I suggest if the cabinet can not be touched (I did NOT see a 'do not touch' sign on this particular item) it should be moved to behind the roped area, I can imagine children and pushchairs, etc brushing it as they go along the walkway. Sadly, the footpath along the river was still too boggy even though we came this time wearing walking boots, everyone was going so far down the path and then having to turn back. The path would be completely usable if they laid down some gravel, not cheap but...