From late‑night bat hunts to dawn moth‑watching and a once‑secret RAF base, a Worcestershire National Trust estate is hosting a series of weird and wonderful events.
National Trust’s Croome Court, on the outskirts of Worcester, is a classic stately home with sweeping parkland and elegant bridges by day.
However, after‑hours people can enjoy bat hunts, dawn moth‑watching and a past steeped in wartime secrecy.
This summer’s Bat Walk 2026 series turns Croome’s parkland into a real‑life episode of Springwatch after dark.
DUSK: Discover the bats at Croome Court on a dusk walk (Image: Canva)
On selected dates – May 11 and 13, then August 11 and 13 – visitors can join experts for a guided walk from 8pm to 10.30pm, using bat detectors to listen in on Lesser Horseshoes, pipistrelles and Daubenton’s bats feeding over the lakes and tree line.
Tickets cost £15, and places must be booked in advance via the National Trust booking line on 0344 249 1895 or through the Croome events page online.
MORNING: People can look at moths at Croome Court (Image: Trevor Mcgill)
For the early birds, there’s Moth Morning 2026 on Sunday, June 21, when West Midlands Butterfly Conservation will be at Croome to open up overnight moth traps in the orchard.
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Starting at 9.30am outside visitor reception and running until 11am, the session lets people help uncover and identify beautifully patterned nocturnal insects, learn how to handle them safely and hear how they fit into the local ecosystem.
Tickets are £15, booking is essential.
UNIQUE: Moth morning will be coming to Croome Court (Image: Trevor Mcgill)
Croome’s other unique claim to fame is its role in Britain’s wartime aviation story.
Regular History of RAF Defford walks, led by museum volunteers, take visitors around the remains of the once‑secret airbase where radar was installed and tested on aircraft, helping to change the course of the Second World War.
Starting and finishing at the RAF Defford Museum, the walks last around two hours and lift the lid on how a peaceful Worcestershire estate became home to some of the country’s most closely guarded wartime experiments.