We left Manchester early and headed southeast to the village of Disley, right on the edge of the Peak District. In honor of our plans for the day, I found us the perfect place for breakfast – a little cafe on the Disley High Street called Lyme Perk. We’re talking about a tiny place where the owner lives above the cafe and you can hear her cooking your food. And, goodness, it was delicious!
We left Lyme Perk and drove two minutes down the road to the entrance of Lyme Park. Lyme Park is a large estate that has been gifted to the National Trust and is probably best known to most Americans as Pemberley, home of Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy. We were a bit early for visiting the house, but the grounds were open to visit. It was a bit drizzly and already muddy from the rain the day before, but it was a nice, fresh feeling! After parking in the muddy lot, we walked down by the lumber yard, perused the garden store, and had a tea in the cafe. At that point, knowing it was almost time for the house to open, we walked a path that took us on a grand circle around the entire house and some of the grounds.
It was on this walk that we could see Lyme from the vantage point that Elizabeth Bennet did in the film. And a little part of me felt the same rush that I imagine Lizzie felt. It was truly beautiful.
We walked through the door to the courtyard and up the stairs into the house. There was so much to see and so much to learn about the house. And the gardens were equally delightful! We took a ton of pictures, so many that we have two albums of photos to share for this day (with captions on just about everything). So here is album number one, filled with pictures from Lyme.
After leaving Lyme, we headed through part of the Peak District and decided we’d just stop for lunch when we decided we were hungry. That happened as we passed the tiny village of Tideswell, so we stopped at the Anchor Inn for lunch. We then headed down the road to the Chatsworth Estate.
Chatsworth is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire and the family welcomes visitors to visit part of the house and the beautiful grounds. There are some who speculate that Jane Austen had Chatsworth in mind when she described Pemberley. And, in the 2005 Keira Knightley adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, Chatsworth was Pemberley.
As we toured the house, Mom commented on the amount of knick knacks that they have collected over the generations. Obviously, they are extremely priceless works, but still – can you imagine having to dust it all?
I was most intrigued by the statuary, filled with some interesting marble works. The hall empties into the Orangery, which has been converted into the house shop. It was there that I came face to face with Mr. Darcy. Well… it was a marble bust of Matthew MacFadyen, the actor who played Darcy to Keira Knightley’s Lizzie.
After a short walk of part of the grounds, we headed out of the park and down the road towards Derby, driving through the towns of Matlock and Matlock Bath on the way. We arrived in Derby at our little hotel just in time to meet yet another friend for dinner in the pub. It was wonderful to get to meet my friend Sonia in person and share a meal in the pub and I am so glad she was able to make the drive out to meet us!
Now, this hotel, the Georgian House, is apparently haunted (if that’s something you believe in). I don’t know about all of that, but I do know it is old and our room was super creaky. There was a main room with a four poster bed, another small room with two twins, and then the bathroom, each having doors between them. The door from the main room to the small room would not stay open! So, the creaky door moving when no one was near was a bit freaky. But, that bed was so comfortable and we got some great sleep!
Here are the pictures of the second half of our day:
La Voce Vivace 