Pumpkin Picking at Knightshayes

Of all the National Trust places in the South West, this is the only one where you can pick your own pumpkin. They are grown in the estate's Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden, among the beds that have supplied the house for generations, and you take yours straight from the patch rather than from a stall.

The picking itself costs nothing beyond normal property admission, and National Trust members come in on their membership. Pumpkins are paid for by suggested donation: staff weigh the one you have chosen and suggest an amount based on its size, so there is no price list to work through.

No booking is needed and the event is open to all ages, which makes it a workable plan for a group with a wide spread of ages and attention spans. There is step-free access into the Walled Kitchen Garden, with assistance available if you need it. Dress for the weather, because you are outdoors and walking onto the patch.

Picking sits inside the wider Spirit of Autumn season at Knightshayes, so the gardens and grounds are worth the walk in their own right once the pumpkin is in the boot. There is a cafe, a shop and a second-hand bookshop on site, and dogs on short leads are welcome year round across the parkland, the gardens and those indoor spaces.