Stockport Council, in partnership with the National Trust at Lyme, is offering a free single use pass to the park, house and garden for all residents in the Stockport area.
The pass will allow free entry to the house and garden for two adults and children. It can be used throughout the year, excluding bank holiday weekends.
For those travelling by car there will be free entry for one vehicle. Access to Lyme will also continue to be available for residents via a range of modes of public transport.
The pass will be included in the summer issue of The Review, which will be delivered free to all households across the borough from 11th July. Digital versions of the pass will not be valid.
Lyme was home to the Legh family for more than 600 years and sits in 570 hectares (1,400 acres) of deer-park, with glorious views across Manchester and the Cheshire Plain. Over the centuries, Lyme was the setting for hunting parties, plotting and royal visits, all the while being a much loved family home.
Its lavish interiors reflect the life of a great estate, from its earliest beginnings to its Edwardian ‘Golden Era’ – the heyday of aristocratic life, with its social whirl of parties, all of which ended with the start of the First World War.
You may recognise Lyme as ‘Pemberley’ from the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, starring Colin Firth, and the ‘Big House’ in series two of The Village. Lyme’s ever-changing gardens, with the Reflection Lake, Orangery and Rose Garden, are an ideal place to relax and stroll.
Councillor Sheila Bailey, Stockport Council’s Executive Member for Communities and Housing, said: “It’s great news that residents will now have one day of free access per year to what is a stunning local asset which should be enjoyed by everyone. This offer reflects the strong relationship Stockport Council has with the National Trust, and I’d like to encourage as many local people as possible to take it up.”
Although Lyme is owned and managed by the National Trust, it is partly financed by the Council.