Last week in Yorkshire

On this last week in Yorkshire, I spent time again with my former workmates. One member of the group, Gloria, had expressed a desire to see Wentworth Village - she’d heard so much about it - so we met up on a hot sunny day to give her “the tour” of some favourite areas of this lovely village. We strolled around the lovely gardens at The Garden Centre even attempting the maze that they have there. We admired all the plants for sale in their shopping area.....we also sampled some of the tasty offerings at their café. We walked along a quiet path that leads to the village church. We also took a look inside an even older church that serviced the village before the current one.
Three of us are familiar with all of these lovely parts of Wentworth (although I had never been inside the old church), but it was all new to Gloria and she loved it, and plans to return soon. We ended the afternoon at the Rockingham Arms which has a prominent spot in the centre of the village......a cold beer on this hot day was just what we needed to ease our throats.....we had, as usual, all been doing a lot of talking!
The last of our day trips was to one of our favourite places.......a place that for a few years we’d been promising ourselves to return to - Chatsworth House, which has several times been selected as the UK’s favourite country house. Situated in Derbyshire, this stately home is the seat of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and has been home to the Cavendish family for almost 500 years. The house, set in parkland, houses an important collection of paintings, furniture neoclassical sculptures and books. The gardens are surrounded by a wall that is almost 3 km long. Even with 300,000 visitors a year these 105 acres never seem crowded. A staff of 20 full-time gardens are employed.
The converted 18h century stable block, designed by James Paine, has 3 restaurants and a shop. Situated close to the parking lot, many visitors head there before and after their visit....which is exactly what we did. The courtyard area of the old stables makes for a very attractive place to relax, have a drink and a bite to eat. Trevor had fond memories of the sausages he’d once eaten there and a repeat tasting of them did not disappoint him!
A word of warning for anyone who is contemplating a visit to Chatsworth - there’s a lot to see, so allow plenty of time - the entire day, if possible. Entry to various areas can be purchased separately or as a package - we decided on the house and gardens.....other areas Include a farmyard and a play area. If tickets are purchased on-line for a specific day, the parking fee is also included. An audio tour can be added for £3 (CAD $5.25) when entering the house......we found it very interesting and worthwhile.
The house is simply stunning, and is immediately impressive when entering directly into the “Painted Hall.” This huge area was used to welcome guests - built by the 1st Duke in the late 17th century - it’s covered in huge paintings, both on the walls and ceilings. Light floods in from the 2nd floor windows, which were placed there to enhance the rich colours of these masterpieces. Continuing up the grand staircase the house draws the visitor into its centuries of history, design and the collection of art and furnishings.......with some modern pieces placed surprisingly along the way to give an element of surprise and interest. From the work of the first Duke to the current one (number 12) the house has evolved, and fortunes have been spent on its upkeep and renovations. The latest project which was completed this year, cost £32 million, took 10 years and included restoration of stonework, statues, paintings, tapestries and water features in the gardens........it was the most extensive work to take place in 200 years.
Chatsworth House has plenty of “wow factor” and there is far too much to describe - so without too many superlatives, here are a few excerpts of our day. The Library (created by the 6th Duke in 1830) has a huge Axminster carpet that was especially made for the room, an elaborate painted ceiling and 40,000 books line its shelves - including a collection of pre printing-press books that were handmade by monks. A bachelor Duke, he was an enthusiastic traveller and an avid collector. He liked to go to auctions and collect marble, so he had the sculpture gallery purpose-built following a trip to Italy in 1819......this gallery finishes the tour of the house in grand splendour.
The State Drawing Room houses famous Mortlake tapestries, manufactured in the early to mid 1600’s, these works of art were made in the village of Mortlake, just west of London, in a workshop created under the patronage of King James I .......recently refreshed, they are simply, stunning!
The sumptuous Dining Room is lined with red silk, has a beautiful chandelier and a huge table. The first dinner held here was in honour of the 13 year-old Princess Victoria - her first banquet as an adult. During dinner, the room was lit by 48 candles and once they had burnt down to the end of the wick, dinner was finished, to be followed by music, charades and smoking - for the gentlemen only! Today it’s used only for very special occasions.
There are, of course, numerous bedrooms - all with history - including one used by The Duke of Wellington and one that for a time was used by the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots. All are impressive and decorated beautifully.
Chatsworth House was the first “Stately Home” that I ever visited as a child and, to me, its most fascinating feature was “the violin” - something that I still always look for. Using the art technique known as Trompe l’oeil, this very realistic painting of a violin is set on a door and appears to hang from a real metal peg on the door itself. The painting is thought to have been at Devonshire House in Piccadilly, London and was rescued from a fire that destroyed the house in 1733.
We had decided to spend half of our time in the house and the other half in the gardens - so although it was difficult to leave the house, we were also keen to start the second part of our day....having walked the gardens on previous visits, we know how lovely they are!
We left the house via the previously mentioned Sculpture Gallery which leads through the gift shop (the Duke & Duchess are well experienced at marketing!) and out into the gardens.....which like the whole house, are a work of art.
Although the gardens were started by Bess of Hardwick in 1553 - she had the river Derwent dredged to create reservoirs that doubled as fish ponds - it was the 4th Duke who made great changes to It during the middle of the 18th century. Parts of the village of Edensor were pulled down so they were no longer visible from the house and, with the help of the famous Lancelot “Capability” Brown, the Duke replaced the formal gardens with a more natural look. Despite all his traveling and collecting, the 6th (Bachelor Duke) also made extensive changes to the gardens.
Here are a few impressions and highlights of our our day in these gardens. The first place we gravitated towards was, like most visitors, the Cascade and Cascade House - voted the best water feature in England in 2004 by a panel of 45 gardeners. Built in 1696 and rebuilt in 1701, water flows over a set of 24 steps, each one cut slightly different and with a variety of textures so that each gives a different sound when water runs over and down them. A Baroque style Temple or Cascade House was added at the top in 1703. On the very warm day that we were at Chatsworth it was a perfect spot to sit and watch the water flow by....and....watch a lot of people dip their feet in the cool water!
Another lovely water feature we saw was at the end of our garden tour - a cooling sight after a good few hours of walking the grounds - the Emperor Fountain. The fountain is set in an 8-acre lake that was dug out of the moors, in anticipation of a visit from Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. Built in the mid 1800s it was, at that time, the world’s highest fountain. At 350 feet above the house, it supplies natural water pressure - the record height the water jet has reached (so far) is 296 feet! All the work was completed in 6 months - work continued throughout the night by the light of flares - but the Tsar died in 1855 without seeing it.....however the water power was put to good use when it generated Chatsworth’s electricity from 1893-1936.
Art work, sometimes whimsical, can be seen throughout the garden - the pink outline of a woman’s high-heeled shoe, for example - plus an old tree that looks like the head of a rabbit (is it natural or man-made?!). Another art piece provides a more practical use - chair backs set into a log makes a great and comfortable place to sit. We visited some old favourites - the maze, and an old tree-top shelter that gives a great view over a “secret” pond.
We also saw a large rock garden, which we thought was new because we’d never seen it before on any of our visits to Chatsworth Gardens....it was, however built in 1842! Partially restored in 2002 when some of the higher rocks collapsed, it now has a large rock, named the “Wellington Rock” which is 50 feet high and has an attractive waterfall running over it.
We finished our day at Chatsworth the way we’d started it - at the stable café....who wouldn’t want an ice-cream to end such a memorabke day?!
As all good things must come to an end - so does our time in the UK.....it’s been a wonderful 5 weeks with old friends and new....but especially with our family Glyn, Marjie, Phil, Marie and of course Trevor’s mum - Clarice. We should all be so lucky to reach the age of 104, especially with such a good attitude to life and such a happy disposition and sense of humour......she is truly remarkable!
We were fortunate to spend a large part of the week as dinner guests, so a big thanks to everyone who hosted us. With Phil & Marie we enjoyed a tasty selection of cold items - many of which came directly from their garden....we were outside for most of the evening and, as usual, we shared a lot of laughs with them....I think that Trevor overdosed on Marie’s scones!
With Wei & Yunjie we learned so much about their culture as we spent the whole time around their dining-table eating the amazing array of Chinese dishes (except for me - they were kind enough to feed me a salad!). Although it was the first time that we’d met these good friends of Marjie’s, they treated us with warmth and hospitality as if we’d known them for years.
Anne hosted a BBQ at her home - her son-in-law Steve “manned” the grill and Dylan (Anne’s grandson) who is a delightful 5 year old boy, entertained us and made his mother, Anna proud! With this very unusual British summer we enjoyed the whole evening in Anne’s lovely garden. With a friendship that’s lasted over 55 years, I think no explanation is needed of how happy Anne and I are to spend time together.
We continued our week of eating by managing to “squeeze in” 2 nights of fish & chips from our favourite “Chippy” (how much are we going to miss that?!).
Thank you all, but special thanks to Glyn & Marjie who share their home, their pets and their lives with us......we hope to be invited back next year and to continue our adventures with you.....but for now, we’re off to Seville.