Chatsworth House - close, but no cigar!

One of the country houses that litter the countryside on this little island that I'd love to visit is Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. And last Friday, had the day off and went to see it! Or, rather, we went to the Chatsworth Country Fair. It was a big show, located in the grounds of the house (the park?) but entry to the house and gardens wasn't included - and as the show was big, we were too busy walking around there to go to the house itself. The Squeeze has promised we'll go back and see the house properly at some point.

Chatsworth House - Pemberley '05

I got a proper belt so my trousers won't keep falling down and a proper whittling knife (by Mora of Sweden - oh the irony!) and had a look at plenty of dog things (not that we have a dog), lots of tweed and Australian leather hats. Another thing was the animals - ferret racing, for instance. Got to pet a very relaxed little ferret (they're super-cute). There was also a falconry display, but we didn't see that. Instead, we looked at some rescue owls. Owls! I love owls! They had some charity cards, so I got a bunch for Xmas.

"Lady, I haven't got any mail from Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade
or anywhere else for that matter. Do I LOOK like a mail man?!"

What was most interesting for us, however, was the fact that it's also a quite big food festival. Lots of things to try, lots of tasty things to buy. The chicken wraps ... should've shared one. I couldn't even manage half of it, it was just too much meat for my taste. Pretty tasty, though. Lots of nice chocolate. Some of the stalls we recognised from local farmers markets and the East Midlands Food Festival (coming up again in early October).

"Wendy, I can fly!"

Highlight of the day was the visit made by the Red Arrows - they're the Royal Air Force aerobatics display team. There was also another military team, the White Helmets, that did the same sort of thing ... on motorcycles. As they went after the Red Arrows, they seemed a little bit pants. I mean, formation motorcycling vs formation flying - flying wins hands down, it's way more impressive. The bikers put up a really good show, though. Very impressive, driving backwards and upside down and what have you! The funny thing was the names of the people on the team. There was a Potter, a Hale, a Steadman (thirtysomething, finally out on DVD!) ... and an Armitage! :)

"Hey, Armitage, isn't Spooks starting soon?"
"Yeah, September 18th, apparently."

The thing I found the very best was the breathtaking surroundings. Wow. The surrounding land featured beautiful rolling hills, and on the way back home, I took out the camera and opened the window to take a picture of the heather-filled moors, so the Squeeze stopped the car so I could take a proper photo. :)

Moors! Oh, my inner Brontë sister is purring.

You can really see why they've chosen Derbyshire as a filming location for a number of costume dramas. Because the scenery is such a wonderful character in itself. Looking forward to going back and see the house and gardens! :)

Dis what we call scenery pr0n, dawg.

Here's a video of bits of the Red Arrows display:



And a photo gallery of the day: