Hobbies and Interests
We'll fly you to some amazing places
See the great outdoors from the skies in the comfort of your very own private flight. Fly from airports across the UK for just an hour or book your own tour in the skies.
Wingly, a UK-based company, offers flights with private pilots in their planes.
The Great Outdoors
Ordnance Survey - Maps, Books, GPS, Historical Maps
Camping, Hiking, Rucksacks, Clothing
Go Stargazing - Dark Skies, Events, Stargazing Cruises
Wingly - Fly high with your own pilot, go anywhere, anytime
Gardening and Shows
Royal Horticultural Society - Helping hands for your garden
Leave peat where it is, coconuts do it better
The Soil Association - Food for Life Programme - Early Years
History and Heritage
British Newspaper Archive in partnership with Find my Past
English Heritage history not just preserved but brought to life
National Trust for Scotland
protecting nature, beauty and heritage, and sharing our amazing places with everyone
about our hobbies and interest
Our great outdoors are there to be enjoyed in a thousand different ways.
With nature as a backdrop we work with national partners to provide the right equipment for a host of activities. Help and advice is a feature of each organisation, names you know you can trust.
Go Foraging in our National Parks
Foraging expertise in the UK National Parks is primarily delivered through guided workshops and educational courses led by professional foragers.
These experts teach sustainable practices, legal compliance, and accurate identification of edible plants, fungi, and seaweeds.
Expert-Led Foraging Experiences
Professional organizations offer structured learning within and around National Park boundaries:
- Totally Wild UK: Provides 5-6 hour "Forage and Cook" courses in locations like Whinlatter Forest (Lake District) and Tegg’s Nose Country Park (near the Peak District).
- Experts cover identification, medicinal uses, and ethical harvesting followed by a wild food meal.
- Wild Food UK: Operates various courses across the UK, including the Peak District (starting in Eyam) and the Lake District (near Penrith), focusing on seasonal plants and mushrooms.
- Really Wild Emporium: Features knowledgeable guides for specialized foraging along the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, covering hedgerows, ancient trackways, and the shoreline.
- Wild Food People: Offers over 15 years of expertise in North Wales (near Eryri/Snowdonia), including specialized coastal foraging courses that identify up to 20 edible species.
Luxury Vacations UK: Hosts high-end experiences in the Cairngorms National Park, combining survivalist foraging skills with whisky pairings and gastronomic feasts.

Our friends from Wild Food UK have some tips for you if you fancy going out for a bit of Spring Foraging
From Field
To Plate
The Forager’s Code of Expertise
Experts emphasize three pillars of responsible foraging in National Parks:
- Legal Compliance: It is legal to forage for personal use (leaves, nuts, berries, fungi), but uprooting any wild plant without landowner permission is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Commercial foraging requires specific licenses.
- The "Rule of Thirds": Sustainable foragers take no more than one-third of a particular plant or patch to ensure enough remains for wildlife and future regeneration.
- Strict Identification: Experts teach a "100% certainty" rule. Foraging in Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) often requires explicit consent, as these areas host rare or vulnerable species. National Trust
Leap into Your Very Own Seasons of Fun
What starts in your imagination comes to life on your screen. Our apps make life a whole lot easier if you are planning a different kind of day out for the family.
Most of the apps on this page are free. A few charge a small fee to access their pages.

Our idea is to help turn your weekend or short break into days packed with fun, creativity and entertainment, they are often educational. Click on any button below to discover more about new hobbies for your children some include video links.
Its official children's favorite pastimes is hobbies
Why not encourage your little one's or not so little one's to try a hobby that can be fun, perhaps a way to equip a young mind with a pastime they could take into adult life. Several come to mind - painting, photography, music, astronomy, a herb garden, nature watch, home crafts, science related, scrap booking, metrology, coin or stamp collections, recycling waste material into useful items and models, maps, map reading and geocaching.
The more we know, or learn about plants the better equipped we will be enjoy the spectacle in front of us, and know how to give nature and wildlife a helping hand.
Crathes Castle
National Trust for Scotland
Standing against a backdrop of rolling hills and set within its own glorious gardens, Crathes Castle is every inch the classic Scottish tower house – and a fantastic day out for all the family.
The Burnett family, who lived in the castle for over 350 years, had roots in the area dating back to 1323 when Robert the Bruce granted them nearby land. Alexander Burnett built the castle in the 16th century, an intricate maze of turrets, towers, oak panels and painted ceilings, many of which survive beautifully to this day.
