July 27-28, 2018 - Two Pemberleys in Two Days - Mark's Parents Come For a Visit

In this post we will cover visits to two different manor houses (Lyme Hall and Chatsworth House) that were each used to represent Pemberly in one of the two most popular film versions of Pride and Prejudice. Because of some unexpected and unavoidable travel difficulties, we ended up having overlapping guests. Mark's parents, Neal and Jackie Beecher, arrived on Friday, July 27th, and Heather's sister, Heidi, left on Monday, July 30th. With only one car and five seats for six people, it took some planning to make everything work, but it all seemed to go remarkably well.

Lyme Hall

On the 27th, Mark, Heather, and Hannah drove to the Manchester Airport to pick up Mark's parents. Heidi wanted to see London, so she caught an early train and spent a long day touring the city. On our way back from the airport we stopped at Lyme Hall, which was used as Pemberly in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Unlike the last time we stopped here (See our August 12th post) we had enough time to tour the inside as well as the grounds and gardens.

As one would expect, it is quite lavish inside.

They have a beautiful piano in the main hall. There is typically a volunteer who plays throughout the day. He was on break when we arrived, so Hannah got to have a go. As it was in Calke Abbey, it was great to hear her play in such a beautiful place.

We loved the beautiful library with books dating back to the 1400s.

There was ornate carving throughout the house.

We have been impressed with the National Trust volunteers in all of the properties we have visited. They are abundantly friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.

This small window was a creative touch that also added some nice natural light to a small hat closet.

The subject in the painting below is actually a boy! He grew up to be the owner of the house.

The intricate carvings on these walls were each unique and incredibly ornate, with very fine detail. When they were purchased for this house they were already old, having been moved here from somewhere in Italy, we think.

They had a room full of period clothing that guests could try on.

The gardens and grounds were beautiful, and a great place for a picnic.

We ate lunch on the pond overlooking the Hall. Two muslim women sat next to us. Mark's parents started talking with them, and we had a wonderful conversation with them about religion and life in general.

After Lyme Hall we drove back to our home in Duffield. Mark's dad still had enough energy to go for a walk with Mark up on the Roman road above our house.

Chatsworth

The next day (Saturday, July 28th) we decided to all tour Chatsworth House. As far as large, manor houses go, Chatsworth is one of the granddaddies. It was used as Pemberley in the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice, with Keira Knightly. Wikipedia says the following about it:

Chatsworth House is a stately home in Derbyshire, England, in the Derbyshire Dales 3.5 miles (5.6 km) northeast of Bakewell and 9 miles (14 km) west of Chesterfield. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has been home to the Cavendish family since 1549.

Standing on the east bank of the River Derwent, Chatsworth looks across to the low hills that divide the Derwent and Wye valleys. The house, set in expansive parkland and backed by wooded, rocky hills rising to heather moorland, contains an important collection of paintings, furniture, Old Master drawings, neoclassical sculptures, books and other artefacts. Chatsworth has been selected as the United Kingdom's favourite country house several times.

We intentionally did not visit Chatsworth until we had guests. It was a little tricky to get all six of us there (It is about a 40 minute drive from our house in Duffield to the House), but we put Heidi on a bus from our house to a town near Chatsworth, and then Mark dropped everyone else off at the House and picked Heidi up. The house is majestic and the grounds and gardens are spectacular and expansive!

While Mark was picking Heidi up, the others visited the stables that have been converted into shops and restaurants.

The grand hall is impressive (Just like in the movie.).

Hannah liked the incense burner in the great hall. It was huge and filled the house with aromas.

This statue that is featured in the movie is strikingly beautiful!

Notice that the windows are all guilded in gold leaf! Crazy!

There are several halls of sculptures collected from all over the world in the house.

The carved wood throughout the house is remarkable!

This entire room decor was moved here from Italy.

Lions are a consistent theme throughout the house. This is a doorstop, and each room had one throughout the entire house.

The picture below is of a modern sculpture of Bartholomew holding his skin.

The imported objects pictured below were used to hold fresh tulips and other fresh flowers as a way to demonstrate the family's wealth.

It is difficult to get a sense of scale, but the picture below shows a collection of silver miniatures. They are very tiny and amazingly intricate.

They had displays of items that were used in the house throughout the years.

The candelabras on the large dining table below were silver and quite ornate. Some of them dated back to the 1700s. The worker there said that one just like them was sold at auction for over $150,000.00.

The tablecloth was also quite interesting. It is a single piece of linen that was woven in Ireland specifically for this table, and, as you can see, it was made in 1891. It looks almost new, though the worker said the Duke is talking of having another one made. Just imagine being the one who spilled berry jam on the tablecloth!

The statue gallery was quite impressive!

This lion was a lot bigger than a doorstop!

And what would the tour have been without Mr. Darcy?! Okay, this statue was in the gift shop, but Hannah liked it. They had a sign beneath the bust that said, "Do Not Kiss!"

Though the house was magnificent, the grounds were amazing! The white buildings behind Mark's dad are greenhouses or glasshouses full of fruit trees, vines, and tropical plants.

As we were walking around the grounds, it began to rain. We, and many others, sought shelter in the greenhouses.

Lucky for us, the rain was short-lived, and we were able to enjoy our lunch in the gardens. There was even a small band playing music in one of the gazebos. The grounds are extensive!

There were many statues throughout the gardens, including the one Hannah enjoyed below.

One of the most impressive parts of the gardens was the rock garden, or "Rockery," a huge area of man-made cliffs and water falls. It was hard to imagine what it must have taken to move and assemble all of these rocks using the technology of centuries past. It was beautiful and quite fun to scramble around on (Look carefully to spot family members in nearly every picture below.).

There was a lengthy tunnel that once had railcar tracks that allowed workers to transport coal to heat an enormous glass conservatory that was destroyed in 1920. The hedge maze in the pictures below is actually inside the remaining walls of the conservatory.