Have you ever wanted to embrace your romantic heroine alter ego and wake up in a majestic National Trust property, stroll through expansive grounds and take lunch in a beautiful historic dining room? This is actually possible at the three Historic House Hotels, all of which were donated to the National Trust – Middlethorpe Hall, Hartwell House and Bodysgallen Hall.
What’s more, each stay, meal, and spa experience support the National Trust. Under the agreement, all annual profits generated from the three hotel operations directly support the trust’s ongoing work. The hotels operate as a self-sufficient commercial hotel operation under the existing management of Historic House Hotels. So, you’re not only able to enjoy a wonderful experience, but are helping preserve some of our most treasured historic buildings too.
We thought a road trip would be the perfect way to explore two of these wonderful properties – Hartwell House and Middlethorpe Hall, and in terms of choosing the ideal vehicle for this adventure, it had to be the majestic new Range Rover Ingenium 3.0 litre 6-cylinder 510HP Turbocharged Petrol PHEV (Automatic) All Wheel Drive. A perfect match in not only its majesty but patriotic charm and eco-credentials too.
Stylish and tech rich
Eye-catchingly awesome, the Range Rover came in stunning SV guise in a unique Sunrise Copper satin finish, set off beautifully with Gloss Black features such as its roof, wheels and brake calipers. The SV Intrepid interior was a masterclass in elegant ergonomics, in classic Light Cloud and Cinder Grey, complemented by Satin Black ceramic controls. It’s rare to find an interior as tasteful and high quality as this.
Of course, being a Range Rover, it came with a host of state-of-the-art tech, safety, performance and entertainment features, highlights being SV metal plated elements, Terrain Response 2, an amazingly clear 3D surround camera, Wireless Apple CarPlay, 13.1″ Touchscreen, heated steering wheel, sliding panoramic roof, and even illuminated seat belt buckles.
Electrifying performance
Practical and eco-conscious at heart, this all-new Range Rover provides electrified performance with a choice of new Extended Range PHEV Powertrains. Using the “Always Be Charged” (ABC) Principle ensures it’s possible to experience the best of PHEV features such as Predictive Energy Optimisation, great fuel economy as well as highlighting the USP’s such as driving in low range in EV.
In simple terms, this means you can complete around 75 per cent of your journey using hushed electric-only power, and for longer journeys, benefit from a total driving range of 740km (460 miles) in real-world conditions using the PHEV features. This is in stark contrast to the often highly limiting sub-300 miles range of many others.
High tech to the max, you can make the most of the plug-in hybrid using the connectivity options delivered by the comprehensive Land Rover Remote app. These include Cabin Pre-Conditioning, which can be activated while the car is plugged in and charging, enabling you to pre-warm or pre-cool your Range Rover ahead of journeys, all via the convenience of a smartphone.
Easy charging and long range
You can also manage a suite of PHEV-related Timed Charging functions, including Immediate Charging – which commences battery charging immediately, Low-Cost Hours Only – when plugged in, priority is given to charging during a specific time period (for instance, when energy costs are at their lowest) and Smart Charging – the car’s intelligent charging system will charge as efficiently as possible based on the planned departure time set by the driver. In conjunction with the pre-conditioning function, it will begin charging at the most cost-effective time.
Something important to us on our historic house road trip taking us from the Hampshire coast right up to Northumberland, was ease of charging when away from home. We needn’t have feared as we discovered Land Rover PHEV uses a Combined Charging System (CCS) making it compatible with a good variety of charging points of varying speed. The Range Rover came with its own AC charging cable too.
Smooth easy journey
Our journey in the Range Rover was smooth, seamless and we arrived after a five-hour stretch remarkably refreshed still. It really is the perfect vehicle for long journeys – affording command position excellent visibility, supreme cabin comfort, effortless performance, and of course ample space for luggage of any kind.
Our first stop was Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire, with fascinating royal connections, and continuing on to Middlethorpe Hall, close to the fine city of York, before heading to our northernmost point, spectacular Bamburgh Castle – which fans of The Last Kingdom will know. They have an exhibition on now of some of the costumes and props used in The Last Kingdom, and for the new Seven Kings Must Die.
After returning home from this step back in time adventure, we enjoyed the Range Rover for a few days of local errands too. It proved a great car to actually live with and use on a daily basis – albeit one that your neighbours are likely to be rather envious of.
Range Rovers, in fact any model from the Land Rover stable, never disappoint on test. This superb Ingenium 3.0 litre 6-cylinder 510HP Turbocharged Petrol PHEV (Automatic) All Wheel Drive model is naturally one of the best. It may be £169,000 plus but still managed to exceed expectations. Simply a joy to experience and drive.
For further information on the all-new Range Rover, visit landrover.co.uk/vehicles/new-range-rover/index.html.
