Travelgal on the move

From heather-clad moors, grand homes, to rugged mountains and sweeping vales, pretty villages and resplendent gardens . . . it’s all here.

I’m such a sucker for anything Pride and Prejudice, and as Miss Elizabeth Bennet and her aunt and uncle curve around the road and Pemberley appears before them – they gasp, as I do at first sight of the sheer beauty and presence of the home.

OK, it’s not Pemberley, it is stately Chatsworth House in real life and a joy to behold. Set in the Derbyshire Dales of England’s Peak District it is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire and has been home to the Cavendish family since 1549. (Scenes for the 2005 Pride and Prejudice TV series were filmed here.)

The region is in the super league for grand homes that sit in the midst of elegant, vast gardens, manicured and manipulated to perfection. And the surrounds are of imposing, inspiring landscapes and delightful wide open spaces. And the wide open spaces amount to almost 500 hectares, populated with villages, farm gate shops, working farms, activity centres – all sitting within the bold and precious landscape.

You can visit Chatsworth House and be awed by the beauty of the building and indeed what it houses as far as art, memorabilia, furniture, décor and artefacts . . . but it’s the villages that are curious.

Villages

Edensor is over a rise and can’t be seen by the Chatsworth folk. The original village was torn down and relocated out of sight as it was deemed too close to the big house. It was rebuilt in the 1830s and quite efficiently too. It has a fine collection of houses that are all built in different architectural styles, which makes it unique and rather indulgent – all down to the Lord at the time, as he could.t quite make up his mind!

Next one, Beeley is a charming village at the foot of the moors and the road sweeps through it and its pretty cottages and cultivated gardens.

Pilsley is a stoic kind of place with solid granite buildings and the ever-handsome Devonshire Arms Hotel. Here it’s the local watering hole and a fine accommodation place. Many of the outbuilding have been fitted out as superior rooms. (I had a glorious apartment and a high four-poster bed under a canopy of heavy embroidered fabric. And there was a little stool for me to climb up to my bed.)

Travelling around the Chatsworth estate is a journey of discovery as Capability Brown’s boldly fashioned landscape unfolds. He transformed what had been farmland into the Chatsworth gardens in 1760.

(The great designer often talked of the garden’s capabilities, which thus earned him his well-known nickname.)

Throughout the Peak District there are towns and cities including Chesterfield, Derby, the Amber Valley and a host of tiny villages plus the wild and wonderful moors and national parks of the region overflowing with wildflowers, ancient trees, manicured estates, planned gardens and botanical exploits.

The Amber Valley is a stone’s throw from the Peak District National Park, an area of rolling countryside, gentle valleys and woodland. One of the villages here dates back to the Domesday Book and was granted a special market day in 1251 – and still adheres to the weekly privilege – and the village is Ripley.

This village has a lot going for it; exquisite buildings, a fine castle (above) – an ice cream parlour that is famous the length and breadth of England. The creamery’s offerings never fail to please the palate.

So, if you find yourself in the great northern part of England, take your time, slow down and soak up the majestic beauty and atmosphere of the dramatic Peak District – if it was good enough for Mr Darcy . . .

Visit: visitbritain.com

visitpeakdistrict.com

From heather-clad moors, grand homes, to rugged mountains and sweeping vales, pretty villages and resplendent gardens . . . it’s all here.

I’m such a sucker for anything Pride and Prejudice, and as Miss Elizabeth Bennet and her aunt and uncle curve around the road and Pemberley appears before them – they gasp, as I do at first sight of the sheer beauty and presence of the home.

OK, it’s not Pemberley, it is stately Chatsworth House in real life and a joy to behold. Set in the Derbyshire Dales of England’s Peak District it is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire and has been home to the Cavendish family since 1549. (Scenes for the 2005 Pride and Prejudice TV series were filmed here.)

The region is in the super league for grand homes that sit in the midst of elegant, vast gardens, manicured and manipulated to perfection. And the surrounds are of imposing, inspiring landscapes and delightful wide open spaces. And the wide open spaces amount to almost 500 hectares, populated with villages, farm gate shops, working farms, activity centres – all sitting within the bold and precious landscape.

You can visit Chatsworth House and ne awed by the beauty of the building and indeed what it houses as far as art, memorabilia, furniture, décor and artefacts . . . but it’s the villages that are curious.

Villages

Edensor is over a rise and can’t be seen by the Chatsworth folk. The original village was torn down and relocated out of sight as it was deemed too close to the big house. It was rebuilt in the 1830s and quite efficiently too. It has a fine collection of houses that are all built in different architectural styles, which makes it unique and rather indulgent – all down to the Lord at the time, as he could.t quite make up his mind!

Next one, Beeley is a charming village at the foot of the moors and the road sweeps through it and its pretty cottages and cultivated gardens.

Pilsley is a stoic kind of place with solid granite buildings and the ever-handsome Devonshire Arms Hotel. Here it’s the local watering hole and a fine accommodation place. May of the outbuilding have been fitted out as superior rooms. (I had a glorious apartment and a high four-poster bed under a canopy of heavy embroidered fabric. And there was a little stool for me to climb up to my bed.)

Travelling around the Chatsworth estate is a journey of discovery as Capability Brown’s boldly fashioned landscape unfolds. He transformed what had been farmland into the Chatsworth gardens in 1760.

(The great designer often talked of the garden’s capabilities, which thus earned him his well-known nickname.)

Throughout the Peak District there are towns and cities including Chesterfield, Derby, the Amber Valley and a host of tiny villages plus the wild and wonderful moors and national parks of the region overflowing with wildflowers, ancient trees, manicured estates, planned gardens and botanical exploits.

Visit: visitbritain.com

visitpeakdistrict.com