23 October 2023

It was a foggy start to the day but I didn’t care. I was going to “Pemberly” to find Mr Darcy!!

We had booked our tickets to view “Pemberly” (the movie one, not the BBC series one), Chatsworth House. Unlike Lizzie we applied online and not directly to the housekeeper.

But first, we needed coffee! A quick stop at the appropriately named Ashford -in-the-Water revealed more sandbag evidence of recent floods but no where suitable for coffee. We did however have a walk around and of course checked out the local church.

Chatsworth Estate has a Farm Shop in nearby Pilsley, so we headed there in our next attempt to find coffee. It was chockablock full of “fresh, produce from the Chatsworth Estate, tenant farms, local suppliers and small food producers”. Foody Heaven!!

There was also a massive room full of beautiful Christmas themed stuff. Decorations, mince pies, chocolates, biscuits, cards, placemats, table decorations, candles etc. I was thankful I have no room in my backpack, otherwise it may have been an expensive visit! Our coffee, in context, was a bargain!!

On to Chatsworth House for our 10:45 entry time.

Chatsworth House is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has belonged to the Cavendish family since 1549. It is Grade I listed and now owned by The Chatsworth House Trust on behalf of the Cavendish Family (not sure how that works) who still live there.

To say that the rooms we visited were amazing is an understatement. The first few were mind blowing…..

And we loved the library and the Dining hall.

After that, the rooms melded into each other. Equally stunning, equally filled with beautiful things.

The final room , before the obligatory exit shop, was the Sculpture Gallery. Every home should have one!!!

Having had our fill of the interiors of the house, we headed out into the gardens.

Anyway…. I think you get the idea. Time to go!

We left Chatsworth and decided to drive to Castleton , an old lead mining village with several underground caverns. We ate our Picnic lunch and pondered our next move.

The Peaks District is undermined by a combination of mines as well natural caverns. We had heard that the Speedwell Cavern involved an underground boat ride and having not been in a boat for a day or so, it was the obvious choice. As luck would have it, Grahame and I were the only ones on our tour , so we had the guide all to ourselves. He was a bit of a larrikin with a healthy (or unhealthy) respect for OHS rules. Maybe he was just playing with my head, but I would love to see the risk management plan. We donned hard hats, and descended 108 stairs down into the flooded mine shaft where our little boat was waiting.

We travelled for about 15 minutes through the flooded shafts of the 230 year old lead mine while our guide gave us a run down of the history, and the lives those poor miners would have lead. We pulled into a “passing bay” while another boat with a load of tourists went past. Such a weird experience.

When we arrived in the actual cavern, we exited our boat and another group who had been waiting boarded our boat and left. So there we were, standing in a large cavern with the sound of rushing water dropping from the mine tunnel into the underground river (called The Bottomless Pit,) and no means of return. Our guide assured us, someone would turn up with another boat (and another load of tourists)! Mind you, it took a bit longer than I was comfortable with.

Overall it was an interesting experience and our guide had the banter down pat. The cavern itself was a bit of an anticlimax but it was still a fun adventure, if you’re not claustrophobic that is. And the underground boat experience was a hoot!

Winnats Pass was an unexpected bonus. We did it because that’s the way the car was pointed. It was short and steep but the view was with it. We enjoyed it so much , we drove back down.

Grahame was keen to visit Derwent Lake. It was the training area for the Dambusters in WW2. It was here the RAF honed their skills on the dropping of the bouncing bomb before putting it into practice. The memorial there was quite moving.

Of course, we ended up back at our local at Litton for dinner. We chatted with the locals and they help us put together tomorrows itinerary. Their perception of distance is so different to ours. And they are amazed that we would even contemplate driving so far in one day.

As for Mr Darcy?? Found him!!