September 4, 2015 - Londonderry (Derry) to Galway

Dia dhaoibh,

We were up early, well rested after a very early night. Breakfast was a full Irish, where I ate white blood pudding for the first time. It was grainy but not that bad at all. After breakfast we headed out to explore the city for a couple of hours. From the B & B it was a short walk to the old city which lies on the west bank of the River Foyle. We started by walking along the top of the wall. Derry is the anglicisation of the Irish name Daire or Doire meaning "oak grove". In 1613 the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and gained the London prefix to reflect the funding of the city's construction by the guilds. The picture upper left is of one of the many cannons we saw as we walked along the wall. Our first stop was to visit St. Columb's Cathedral, Church of Ireland, built between 1628 - 1633 by The Honourable The Irish Society.

The picture on the right is of the Cathedral and it is one of the oldest buildings in Londonderry. The church is built of stone from local quarries and skilled stone cutters and masons where procured to do the work. The arches and stone work is a testament to the craftsmanship of those workers, as seen in the picture below.

Our next stop was the Guild Hall. This building was first built in the 17th century and has been rebuilt a number of times due its destruction by fire and political unrest. The last major renovation was completed in 2010. To see further pictures check out my Facebook page and Fred's Flickr page (www.flickr.com/photos/fredparkins). After ambling up and down streets for a couple of hours we headed back to the B & B to check out, then headed off to our next stop Galway, a 4 hour drive away. The scenery continued to be spectacular as we drove along. We were now on a route called The Wild Atlantic Way. The drive to Galway took less time than we had expected as we basically had the road all to ourselves until we neared the city. The picture below to the right is one of the views we saw as we drove along.

Galway is a university city and as it was late Friday afternoon the traffic was crazy. We found a parking lot beside the Cathedral and as Fred went to pay for parking a gentleman leaving gave him his ticket which was good to 6:00 pm. We walked around the Cathedral first; it's a new build being officially opened on August 15, 1965 and had just celebrated its 50th anniversary. After walking around the Cathedral we then made the short walk into the city centre.

It was very busy with white and burgundy checkered banners every where. We did not know it at the time but where informed later by our hostess Bernadette at Abbeyville B & B that the flags represented the colours of the Galway Hurley team. Hurley, an Irish game appears to me to be a cross between field hockey and lacrosse. The picture on the left is of one of the many buskers in the city centre. After a quick walk about we now headed to our B & B for the next two nights. It is located in Freeport Barna, a small village just outside Galway City. Our hostess Bernadette Ryan made us very welcome and provided us with a number of places that we could have supper at, all within walking distance. We chose Mulberrys and were early enough to enjoy their early bird special.

A bit about Abbeyville Bed & Breakfast. Bernadette has been in the business for 38 years and has a fantastic place. We had a room on the  ground floor with an ensuite. There is also a living room for guests to use which we took full advantage of. It was so nice to be able to sit in comfort while catching up on our laptops and iPads. A hot breakfast was made to order, with cereals, yogurts, fresh fruit, tea, coffee and juice also being available. Bernadette also made fresh brown bread daily. She was a great source of information of what to see and do in the area. We had, however, stolen a bit of her thunder as Fred had a well laid out plan for our exploration of the Connemara area that we were staying in. If you were to be in the Galway area we highly recommend a stay at Abbeyville B & B (www.abbeyvillebarna.com).

Sia'ngo fo'ill

Sandy & Fred

September 2 - 3, 2015 - Liverpool to Belfast to Londonderry (Derry), Northern Ireland

Dia dhaoibh,

On September 2 we headed off for an 11 day break to Ireland. We left from Birkenhead taking the ferry to Belfast. The picture on the left is of The Isle of Man. The ferry ride was 8 hours and non eventful with calm waters. We did not explore Belfast at all, just used it as a stop for the night before heading off to start our exploration of Ireland. September 3 we started our Coastal Causeway drive towards Londonderry (Derry) our next stop.

Our first stop of the day was Carrickfergus Castle. The picture on the right is of King William III. Born William Henry of Orange in Hague, Netherlands Nov 4, 1650 where he immediately became king as his father had died of small pox 8 days before his birth. William personally intervened at the Battle of the Boyne July1,1690 in the struggle between the Irish Protestant and Catholic interests. Today the Order of The Orange, a Protestant Celebration, holds a parade each year on the 12th of July. The statue is a commemoration to the Battle of the Boyne.

The picture on the left is of Carrickfergus Castle, which is a 800 years old Norman castle built were King William first set foot in Ireland. The castle was besieged by the Scottish, Irish, English and French and is the best preserved medieval structure in Northern Ireland. We spent about a hour here before heading off to our next stop.


We took a slight detour off the coastal route to visit The Dark Hedges (pictured to the right), a beautiful avenue of Beech trees that were planted in the 18th century and provided a haunting backdrop for Ayra Stark's escape in the Game of Thrones (Season 2, episode 1). Photo op completed we next headed to Larrybane Bay and Carrick-A-Rede, which means rock in the road. The road being the sea route for Atlantic salmon on their westward journey past Carrick Island. The scenery was spectacular and rugged. It was very windy and the trek to the rope bridge was 1 km, winding and up and down. For over 350 years fisherman have strung a rope bridge 30 metres above the sea to allow them to access the best places to catch migrating salmon. The rope bridge they used in the past was nowhere as sturdy as the one we crossed.  The wind was very strong and whips the bridge as you cross. I must say this was the most exciting thing I did while in Ireland. It certainly got my heart racing.

Our last stop before heading to Londonderry was the Giant's Causeway. A geological wonder with over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns. The causeway is a result of intense volcanic and geological activity. It provides us with a glimpse into the earth's ancient past. A 60 million year-old legacy to the cooling and shrinking of successive lava flows. I was rather disappointed here. While impressive, for me it just did not provide the "Wow" factor I was expecting.

This may be due to the fact that you did not get a view from above the stones or all the hype that the site has received. The site is also steeped in myth and legend about the mighty giant Finn McCool, who left behind a home full of folklore and of features left by the ravages of the sea and wind.

Our accommodation for the first night was the Abbey B&B. Seamus our host was quite the character with a hilarious sense of humour. On arrival we were offered tea, coffee and biscuits and we were told what was going on in Londonderry. As well, we were given recommendations in the area for places to go for supper. While we were enjoying our tea/coffee a group of men come in looking for a place to stay. As he was fully booked, he offered them complimentary tea/coffee and biscuits while he made a few calls to locate a B&B for them for the night. Not only did he get them a place to stay, but also arranged for the owner to come and guide the group to his B&B. Great customer service for the industry. After settling in we set off to explore a bit and then had supper. We ate at The Exchange Restaurant one the recommendations given by our host and it was a great choice. After dinner we walked about a bit more and stopping in Peadar O'Donnell's pub for a drink before heading back to our room.

I had an Irish whiskey, my first and last as it did not hold a snifter to Scotch whiskey. Fred had a Guiness which he said was quite different from what you get in the UK, a much smoother stout. It was a full day of exploration and we crashed for the night.

Sia'ngo fo'ill,

Sandy & Fred

July 5 - 6, 2015 - Glasgow and area & homeward bound

Latha math All,

Sunday we were off to explore in Glasgow after for me a rather upsetting morning which had a happy ending. Saturday evening we decided to have a night cap in the hotel's bar. Unknowingly, I had left my purse in the bar when we went back up to our room. As I was getting ready to leave for breakfast on Sunday morning I couldn't find my purse, panic set in. I stopped by reception on the way to breakfast to see whether anybody had turned it in, and to my relief some one had. I don't know whether it was another guest or one of the bar staff but it was there and nothing had been touched. I was one lucky and very relieved person.

Our task the night before was to pick the place to explore, so as it was a lovely day we picked the Royal Botanical Gardens and arranged to meet up there. The gardens were created in 1817 and were intended to supply the University of Glasgow.  William Hooker, the regius professor of botany at the university contributed to the gardens development before his appointment to the directorship at Kew Gardens in London. The gardens were originally used for concerts and other events and in 1891 the gardens were incorporated into the Parks and Gardens of Glasgow. There are numerous glass houses some large and some more like small green houses were more exotic plants were on display or being cultured for the larger houses. The picture upper left is of one of the beautiful orchids. We had a wonderful stroll around the gardens and down along the river. Terry and I then checked out a craft sale that was on in the gardens but did not see much of interest. We all relaxed in the cafe, enjoying tea or coffee before heading off.

Next we strolled along Byers Road, the main street, window shopping with some of us stopping to purchase things. The kids (Ellen and Nikos) were hungry so they stopped for crepes, while I purchased a nice Tayberry vinegar made with berries from Fife at a small distillery, Demijohn that makes vinegars and liquors from plants and ingredients from the UK. While at the store we had a nice chat with a local lady who recognised our Canadian accents and asked where we were from. The kids then took us to a quirky lane way Ashton Lane, which is home to numerous restaurants and beer gardens. We stopped for some refreshment in a lovely little beer garden and relaxed enjoying the sun. Refreshed, we continued our walk into the university area taking in the lovely architecture.
The picture on the right is of a Church of Scotland building and is one of many such buildings in the area. The University of Glasgow is the 4th oldest university in the English-speaking world, being founded in 1451 and would definitely be worth a visit to the grounds on a future date. Our last stop was for refreshment and a bite to eat. A pub where we enjoyed ciders and beers along with a couple of sharing platters for all. The heavens opened so we timed this break perfectly. We spent time recalling old times and learning more about Nikos and getting his take on the current situation in Greece with the EU referendum. Refreshed we headed back to our cars taking advantage of the break in the rain.

We have enjoyed our break in Glasgow and the opportunity to catch up with Ken, Terry, Ellen and meet Nikos.

Monday we were up and out early for the trip home. Our plan was to stop at New Lanark, a World Heritage Site on the way home. New Lanark is a village built on the River Clyde; it was founded in 1786 by David Dale who built cotton mills and housing for the workers. Early in the 19th century Dale sold the mills for £60,000 to a partnership that included his son-in-law Robert Owen. Owen was a social reformer whose ideas and their implementation of them brought schooling for the children, health care, better and cheaper foods for the workers, better working conditions and housing for the time. In Owen's time some 2500 people lived in the village. The mills operated until 1968 then fell into disrepair. The village was restored and in 2006 became a World Heritage site were over 400,000 people visit each year. The picture on the left is of the housing provided for the
workers and the right is of the falls and old mill that burnt down.

We now headed back to Liverpool taking the roads less travelled. What would have taken 3 ½ hours to drive by motorway was a 7 hour drive. We saw some lovely scenery but very few villages while in Scotland. Once back in England, the village are numerous and we stopped for a late lunch/early supper outside Penrith at The Beehive Pub. The food was excellent and the portions generous accompanied by very friendly staff.

We hope you have enjoyed this blog of our Glasgow break.

Sian Leibh,

Sandy & Fred

July 3 - 4, 2015 - Glasgow and Area - Scotland

Latha math All ,

We were up and off early heading to Glasgow for a long weekend to meet up with Terry and Ken Thompson who were visiting their daughter Ellen and her boyfriend Nikos. We had booked a hotel that is in East Kilbride as we wanted to explore before heading into Glasgow. Our first stop was Culzean Castle located on the Ayrshire Coast. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa head of the Kennedy Clan.

The castle was constructed in the L-shape plan as ordered by the 10th Earl of Cassilis. The architect, Robert Adam, rebuilt a more basic structure into the castle that we see today. The castle was built in stages between 1777 and 1792. There is a grand circular stair case which can be seen on my Facebook Wall or Fred's Flickr site (www.flickr.com/photos/fredparkins). The views across the sea from the drum tower's circular saloon to the Isle of Arran were gorgeous.

In 1945 the Kennedy family gave the castle and grounds over to the National Trust for Scotland to avoid paying inheritance tax but with a stipulation that the top apartment be given to General Dwight D Eisenhower in recognition for his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in WWII. Eisenhower stayed here a total of 4 times the first in 1946 and once as President of the United States of America. We explored only a small portion of the property; the immediate grounds to the castle and the castle itself. There was much more to see such as the grounds, parkland, walled gardens and ponds as well there are sea caves to explore beneath the castle. The castle has also been featured on the Scottish 5 pound note since 1987. Another of the castle's claim to fame is that it is haunted by 7 ghost's which include a piper and servant girl. Exploring completed we headed off to our hotel taking the back roads enabling us to enjoy the countryside.

On one of the lanes we drove along we came across a pasture that had this cow (pictured to the right) with the pinkest nose I have ever seen on such a large cow.
Once at the hotel which took a bit of time thanks to the nav-chick taking us to a family fun park, they had difficulty finding our reservation. After a while it did get sorted out. Our accommodation special was bed, breakfast and a 3 dinner on the night of arrival. The meal we had was one of the best we have had in a hotel.

Saturday we were up early for breakfast, then after check-out we headed into Glasgow to meet up with Ken & Terry. We had made arrangements to meet at the Burrell Collection an art collection in Pollok Country Park located on the south side of the city. Sir William Burrell (1861-1958) took over the family shipping business at the age of 14 and was a very successful shipping magnate and art collector.

There are over 8000 objects in his collection. The picture on the left is of the re-creation of the drawing room from Hutton Castle complete with the objects that were in the room. The collection which contains medieval art, weapons, tapestries, stained glass, Islamic, Chinese and Ancient Egypt items was given over to Glasgow in 1944 along with 250,000 pounds with the stipulation that the collection be housed outside the city to avoid the pollution problems of the time. This, however, was not realised until 1983 with the building of the gallery in Pollok Park. The gallery, however, can only house a small portion of the collection. We were interested to find out that Terry is a distant relation to William Burrell, so her family tree contains some people of importance. While there we also met some people who were visiting from Hamilton, Ontario. As it was cool I was wearing my jacket with its Canadian flag which acted as a conversation starter once again.

Though overcast it was still dry so we decided to head off to Luss to take in the highland games of a local clan. The village of Luss is located just north of Loch Lomond and it is too bad that it was so misty as it is a lovely scenic area with some fantastic drives when the weather is clear. We parked in the village and made the short walk to the games. Ken was a bit cheeky and got us all in for the price of a family and 2 seniors. The sign with the prices did not specify the age for children under the family package, so Ken took a broad interpretation to get his daughter Ellen and Nikos in as his children. The games were not what I had expected, it was really more like a family sports day, with races for the children, tossing of items for the men and dance. We saw the men tossing a bush over a high jump measure as seen on the right.

The heavens finally opened so we exited and headed a short way to Balloch for a late lunch. From here we went our separate ways as Fred and I had to check into our hotel in Glasgow. We arranged to meet up later for supper at a local pub "The Bon Accord" which is a short 10 minute walk from the hotel. The Bon Accord is a well known Whisky Pub and I tried a lovely single malt whiskey while we were waiting for the gang to arrive. We had a light supper as we were all still quite full from our lunch. Around 9:00 pm a live band, who took forever to set up, came on to play so we stayed for their first number to see if they were any good. They were not bad but as we are sitting very close to them it was far too loud so we left much to the band leaders dismay after the first song. We said our good nights and we were given the task of planning our next days activities.

Sian leibh,
Sandy & Fred

June 24, 2015 - Harewood House, Leeds

Greetings All,

We took advantage of the good weather to use a Two for One coupon we had received from our visit to Chatsworth House. Chatsworth House is one in a group of ten Treasure Houses of England, and this day we were visiting another from the group, Harewood House which is near Leeds, Yorkshire. This is the seat of the Earl and Countess of Harewood and is set within the beautiful Yorkshire countryside. As this is a day trip for us being as it is just outside of Leeds, we headed out by 10:00 am. We stopped and had a pub lunch at The Harewood Arms which is also a small hotel. Fred had his favourite, a proper steak and ale pie and I had a Greek Salad. The meal was accompanied with the area's local brews, cider for me and best bitter for Fred. Tummies full we set off on our exploration of Harewood House.
                            
The picture above to the right is of the North Front of the house. The House was designed by architects John Carr and Robert Adam and was built between 1759 and 1771 for the wealthy plantation owner Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood. The Lascelles family claim to have arrived in England with William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England, with the family then settling in Yorkshire around 1315. The house remained untouched until the 1840's when Sir Charles Barry was employed by Henry Lascelles, 3rd Earl of Harewood to increase the size of the house for his family.

Henry was father to 13 children, a productive chap and poor mom but then large family were a sign of the times back then. The picture on the left is of a servant's bell. The handle pulls down and lets the servant's who were in the basement know which room required their assistance. The house itself is not as ornate as some of the other Treasure Houses or National Trust properties we have visited but the plaster work was very beautiful and detailed.

The picture on the right is of one or the more ornate rooms now known as the portrait room.

Harewood House was also home to HRH Princess Mary, the eldest daughter of George V. She married Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles in 1922, living nearby at Goldsborough Hall until 1929 when they moved into Harewood House on the death of Henry's father.

Princess Mary wanted to have an active roll during WWI and set out to ensure that every sailor and soldier would receive a personalised gift at Christmas in 1914. The 1914 Christmas Boxes pictured below on the left are examples on display of the boxes that were given to every sailor and soldier. The Princess raised £100,000 pounds, a considerable amount of money in 1914 in order to produce the boxes.

We explored the servants quarters and kitchens which were in the basement of the house. The kitchen was huge and very well equipped. From here we explored the gardens which were of the traditional Italianate Formal Terrace type with various fountains and shrubbery. We then headed into the Bird Garden. Many of the species in the garden are listed as endangered. You may see more picture again on my Facebook wall or Fred's flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/fredparkins


Our last stop of the day was All Saints Church, Harewood which is now a redundant church on the grounds of Harewood House. A church has been on this site since the late 1100's, however, the current building was built in 1410 by Elizabeth and Sybil De Aldburgh, daughters and joint heiresses of Sir William De Aldburgh of Harewood Castle. The church was built of Yorkshire Millstone. As stated it was not the first church to be built here, as evidenced by a fragment of a carving from the 10th century that was found and a Norman Font  which still stands inside the church. The church was refurbished in 1863 with the ceilings, pews and stained glass windows being replaced to the then fashionable medieval Gothic design. The church houses one of the largest collections of alabaster stone tombs. The are six pairs of effigies, dating from 1419 - 1510, commemorating the owners of Harewood and nearby Gawthorpe estate. They are some of the greatest examples of alabaster carving in England.

Once highly coloured you can now just see the beautiful alabaster
of which the tombs were carved. The picture on the right is of the tomb of Sir Richard Redman (died 1426) and his wife Elizabeth Aldburgh (died 1434).

We took the back road home to Liverpool to enjoy the Yorkshire countryside and avoid the motorways.

Ta Ra for now,

Sandy & Fred

June 12, 2015 - Eyam Hall, Haddon Hall and Home

Greetings All,

We headed out after breakfast to visit two properties before making our way home. The first stop was a National Trust property, Eyam Hall which is an unspoilt example of a gritstone Jacobean manor house. It was completed in 1672 by William Wright as a wedding gift for his second son, Thomas Wright. The hall has been in the Wright family for 9 generations with the last Wright moving out in 2013. The hall, still owned by the Wright family, is leased to the National Trust. The contents of the hall contain all the family history from family trees, portraits to house hold items. The interior has been adapted and evolved over the years to the needs of the family.

The picture on the left is one of the tapestries that hang on the wall in the tapestry room on the upper floor. The gardens though somewhat small for the era was lovely with vegetable patches and had a beautiful wildflower section in the middle.

Eyam, as a village, is noted for its outbreak of bubonic plague in 1665 when plagued-infected fleas were released into the village from a shipment of damp cloth that was received by the village tailor from a supplier in London. The villagers decided to isolate themselves, quarantining the village, and as such prevented the spread of the disease. The plague ran its course over 14 months killing 260 of 350 villagers. We did a short walk around the village, but did not do any of the walks that are available as time was short.

Our next stop was Haddon Hall whose origins date back to the 11th

century. William Peverel, the illegitimate son of William the Conqueror held the manor in 1087. It was acquired by Sir Richard de Vernon by his marriage to a Haddon Heiress in the 13th century and remained in the Vernon family until the death of Sir George Vernon in 1565.  Sir George's heir was his daughter, Dorothy who had eloped and married John Manners in 1563. The hall remains in the Manners family to this day.

The hall underwent major construction between the 15th & 17th centuries and in the 20th century John Manners the 9th Duke of Rutland made it a life's work of restoring the hall. The chapel which is in the oldest part of the hall is in very good condition considering the age of it. The paintings on the walls are still visible and depict life back in the day.

The Long Gallery as pictured on the left is from the 16th century. We spent a good hour exploring the house and then moving into the gardens. These were beautiful, terraced and walled in style. The scent of the roses was wonderful as we wandered around exploring and taking pictures. To see more pictures check out my Facebook wall or Fred's Flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/fredparkins.

Exploration done we headed off for home stopping first for lunch at the Devonshire Arms pub in the small village of Pilsley, just outside the Chatsworth farm shop. At the farm shop we bought some lovely oaked smoked  bacon and several types of sausages. We would have loved to buy more, but as  we did not have a cooler we were unsure of how things would keep as it was a 3 hour drive home (we were taking the back roads). Fred was also disappointed that he did not wait to purchase his beer at the farm shop as he could have gotten 6 for the price of 5. Such is life.

The last picture to the right is of lambs crossing the road on the Chatsworth estate as we headed through the estate to the farm shop.

We took the slower route home and enjoyed the beautiful country side.

Before I sign off this blog I would like to share a small anecdote
from Chatsworth. One of the beers Fred purchased was called the Gardener's Tap. The name for the ale was derived from the following story. When James Paine built the stables in the 1760s a brewery was added. Beer was brewed for the main house and the staff and was part of their wages until 1931.  Rather then carry heavy barrels to the house cellar, a lead pipe was sunk from the brew house through the garden to the cellar. In the 1950s it was decided to uproot the lead pipe for its salvage value. When tracing it through the first Duke's greenhouse, it was found that the gardener's had tapped into it. Someone discovered that that the brewers tipped the wink to the gardeners when the ale was flowing down so they could 'borrow' the odd pint or two.

We hope you have enjoyed this segment of our travels.

Cheers,

Sandy & Fred

June 11, 2015 - Chatsworth House

Greetings All,

We headed off after breakfast to visit Chatsworth House the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. It is a Tudor mansion built in 1560's by Bess of Hardwick in a quadrangle layout. The picture on the right is the entrance to the stables and carriage house, which now houses a restaurant, a cafe and shops. In the stable courtyard there was plenty of seating to relax on as well as a fountain. As we arrived before the house and gardens were open to the public (not until 11:00 am), we strolled up to the stables first as we had about a half an hour to kill.

We decided to do the gardens first as it had turned out to be a lovely sunny warm day and wanted to see it before it got too hot. The gardens are a complex blend of features from six different centuries and covers 105 acres. We explored only a small portion of the gardens, what I would consider the main gardens that were around house. The gardens consist of parkland, groves, various ponds, woods, an arboretum as well as those we visited. The areas we visited were the kitchen garden, the cottage and sensory gardens, forms of growth, Paxton's Rock Garden, The Cascade and the Willow Tree and Emperor fountains.

The current Duke and Duchess have added to the gardens contemporary art work or sculptures. The picture on the left is a sculpture called "Revelation" by Angela Conner. When closed looks like a onion and is operated by water hydraulics' of some sort. We spent a good 1 1/2 hours exploring and taking pictures. The Cascade, a set of stone steps over which water flows from a set of fountains at the top was originally built in 1696 then rebuilt on a grander scale in 1701. The stone steps are of varying textures giving the water different sounds as it flows. In 1703 the Cascade House, designed by Thomas Archer, was added at the top. As you enter the gardens there is signage about watching your children and keeping off the water features. At the cascade there was a parent allowing her child to play in the cascade. We were very annoyed as we were trying to get a nice shot of the feature from the base looking up. The kid fell in the cascade and got soaked. Served her right! We did, however, get our photo right after she fell. To see more pictures of the gardens you can go to my Facebook wall or Fred's Flickr site.

After walking around the gardens we stopped for some light refreshment at the garden café and a little rest. Now rested we entered the house. There are 126 rooms in Chatsworth House of which 100 are closed to the public. This allows the family to live privately while the house is open to the public.

The family's rooms are situated such that they can move about without having to cross the public. The painted hall remains the focus of the home still and the picture on the left is the ceiling of the painted hall done for the first Duke. Each duke over time has left his own stamp on the premises either by rearranging the rooms, changing their uses or their layouts. The current Duke and Duchess have added contemporary art throughout the house but have retained the original rooms they inherited. I found it rather interesting that in the staterooms or bedrooms we explored those rooms designated for men have large beds while the women's beds were small in comparison, makes one wonder what shenanigans the men got up to. We spent a good two hours walking through the house.


We next headed back up to the stables to have a late lunch in the restaurant and we sat outside in the courtyard enjoying the beautiful sunny weather.

We both enjoyed a tomato, mozzarella and parma ham salad with a carafe of red wine.

We had a very relaxing lunch then headed to the gift shop to pick up some locally brewed beers, ciders and wine to take home.

We had intended to visit Haddon Hall as well but Chatsworth had so much to offer that we took our time and enjoyed our day here. The last picture is of Chatsworth house taken as we were driving out.

Ta ra for now,

Sandy & Fred