In life there are many place you must go and see … and Chatsworth House in Derbyshire has to be one of them.
Why? Well, first and foremost it’s got that wow factor from the moment you see it and, secondly, it’s just packed full of so much to see, admire and remember.
You can take the kids – after all there’s a farmyard and adventure playground – but it was our wedding anniversary so we thought we’d do something a bit special. And this was special … from start to finish.
First the journey. We went from Huddersfield but if you’re in the north why not head this way and take in the Derbyshire moors and dales on the way down. Ideal stopping off point for morning coffee would be the Oil Can Cafe in Hepworth – a retro café with 1940s music where you sit looking out across vintage classic cars.
Then it’s a short drive to the Derwent Valley. It’s pure pleasure and tranquillity meandering along James Herriot style across sweeping heather-packed moors and wood-lined dales. There’s only one stopping off place – the Strines Inn – so that could be your lunch ‘pit stop’. And then around 40 minutes to Chatsworth and the estate.
And what an estate – all 10,000 acres of sweeping pastures, trees, copses and woods. Although a natural look that seems like it’s been that way for centuries there was a lot of thought and planning put into it by landscape architect Capability Brown who transformed it in the 1700s.
He was certainly well capable. And then you glimpse the first sight of the house – its gold windows glinting in the early Autumn sun. It lives and breathes history and grandeur and with the unstoppable success of dramas such as Downton Abbey who doesn’t want to go through the keyhole to get not only inside but to travel back to another age?
It has been owned by generations of the Cavendish family stretching back hundreds of years and the hotel on the edge of the grounds is, not surprisingly, called the Cavendish. That’s where we stayed in wonderful style – think of the hotel as an extension almost of the house with its lavish furnishings, paintings and naturally stylish and relaxing atmosphere.
Even the bath towels were the height of luxury – that wrapped up in cotton wool feeling – along with the fine dining. You’ll have starters such as mosaic of corn fed chicken and ham knuckle followed by mains including venison from the estate, oven roasted sea trout and rack of lamb with red pepper puree.
Nice touch was the fact you can eat breakfast up to 12 noon so have a walk first to build the appetite for a brunch extraordinaire.
The view from the terrace looks across fields towards the estate and it takes around 20 minutes to walk to the house through parkland that’s teeming with deer, sheep and squirrels. It’s fair to say that Chatsworth is geared up for the visitor with no shortage of cafes and restaurants – but they are not intrusive with most tucked away in the massive stable block and have been renovated to a high standard.
But it’s also a not inexpensive day out with adult tickets to the house and garden £22 on top of the £3 car parking charge.
Take away the running costs – which must be huge judging by the number of staff needed to run the place – then the rest is ploughed back into a charitable trust that runs it and is constantly renovating and maintaining. Even current owner the Duke of Devonshire and his family are now tenants in their own home.
It’ll take you a full day to properly appreciate the house and gardens. There’s not an inch on the walls and most of the ceilings that isn’t worth a close inspection. Fan of cherubs? You’ll find masses of them in the ornate, predominantly religious ceiling artwork and then there’s everything from wallpaper and tapestries from hundreds of years ago to ceramics, art, furniture, soft furnishings, highly complex carvings on the wood panelling … the history goes on and on.
But where Chatsworth is different is that it’s now worked in the modern with a display of contemporary chairs – from those made out of coal, yes, coal to others that look like a wall tapestry that you can perch on and a couple that resemble huge drawing pins. So there’s no shortage of somewhere to rest awhile, but sit on some at your peril.
And then outside Sotherby’s have put on a vast exhibition of alternative sculpture – called Beyond Limits – and it’s certainly that as it includes the likes of work by Barbara Hepworth and Anthony Caro all over the grounds. And all is for sale if you’ve a few thousand quid spare and an unfeasibly large garden.
And if you’ve ever hankered after owning an allotment or turning part of your garden into something resembling 1970s sitcom The Good Life then go to Chatsworth kitchen garden and see how they grow everything from apples to corn, marrows to onions. Now that’s as much a work of art as everything else about the place.
We were away from home for 30 hours yet it seemed so much longer. These mini breaks aren’t half worth doing.
The sculpture exhibition Beyond Limits features 37 works and runs until October 25. Cost of a one night stay at the Cavendish with room, breakfast and evening dinner is £329 per couple in a standard double room but there are good deals to be found on the website www.cavendish-hotel.net with seasonal promotions, multiple night deals and late availability.
