For our third weekend trip in October, we visited the grand Chatsworth House. It is in the Peak District, which is famed for its beauty and was somewhere I really wanted to visit. Chatsworth is discussed briefly in Bill Bryson's new book At Home, which Dave and I had both recently read, and it is commonly described as one of the 5 best "great houses" in England. I wasn't expecting anything nearly as wonderful as what we found. And to top it off, this was the setting of Pemberly (Mr. Darcy's house) in the Kiera Knightley/Matthew McFadyen version of Pride and Prejudice. So after reading this post, go re-watch the movie, or at least the Pemberly scenes. WOW. Beautiful house, gardens, grounds, adventure playground, everything. So if you are in England or planning to visit England, put this on your to-do list. You will not be disappointed. Also, as we were leaving I picked up a biography at the book shop about Bess Hardwick. Talk about an amazing life, she was essentially a peer of Queen Elizabeth and became one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, women in England during her lifetime. Her descendants still live in Chatsworth today, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. Here is a sampling of some of the great pics Dave took, for the rest, go here.
I wouldn't mind waking up to this view every morning.
My sweetie - who is everything Jane Austen was trying to portray in her heroes, only MUCH better.
H&E at the entrance to the coal mine. They had their own mine, which was hidden so that guests wouldn't suspect its existence. Can't seem too common you know.
I have been pleasantly surprised at the amazing fall colors here, it rivals New England in places.
Three of my favorite people.
This picture took a lot of "coaxing". E was really embarassed because there were a bunch of other people who all were taking pictures and then, taking pictures of him. He really didn't want to be on display. We couldn't pass up the photo op though.
Let's do Thanksgiving here next year.
We have found the Maltese falcon.
This statue is before we got to the hall of sculptures. I missed it because of the 3 rowdy kids who were finding all the pumpkins that were hidden. Dave thankfully saw it and sent me back to see it, I am so glad he did.
We stood in the little outlook to the left of the grand staircase.
The kids's favorite part : ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND!!!
3 comments:
As for "Who has a tambourine and a serpent", Cleopatra had a serpent, but I don't know about the tambourine. Wonderful pictures!
I'm totally jealous---what a great place to see. The pictures are wonderful. I especially like that sculpture that Dave caught--how they could get the impression of a veiled face. I saw one of the same technique in the Borghese Gallery in Rome--only of Christ laid in the tomb. Totally amazing.
I imagine you must be caught up in England's "wedding fever." What a fun time to be there. Do let me know when you get your invitation!
Janet
I actually know a few people who are planning on going to London for it. I don't expect an invitation anytime soon, but it is pretty awesome to be here for what is such a momentous event in England.
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