Images from the Chatsworth House trip and hike

On the 8th of August my aunt and uncle from Nottingham, aunt from the East of England, all four of my younger cousins, my cousin's boyfriend, my brother, and I all went to Chatsworth House for the day. This journey differed from the last in two ways - the first being the amount of people in our group (seven then, ten now), and the second being the manner in which we visited Chatsworth and its grounds.

To start, the best route to Chatsworth House from Nottingham goes through the town of Chesterfield, known for its "crooked spire", the peak of the Church of St Mary and All Saints. Various explanations have been provided for why the spire is crooked, with the most likely being that it was built with damp wood that warped as it dried out. Another is that heavy lead was added to the spire a few hundred years after the church was constructed, and when it expanded in the sunlight it bent the frame.

I was fortunate to take this shot of the spire, as we were in motion and driving on a roundabout.

Rather than going directly to Chatsworth House we parked about a mile away from it. Our goal for today was to walk a nine-mile "loop" around the main grounds. The trek started off reasonably well, save for us having to turn around a couple of times because we were walking in the wrong direction. The above picture was taken when we were passing through a field full of sheep and cows, and presents a view of the Derbyshire landscape.

Unfortunately, the trek did go downhill somewhat for a spell: we ended up bumbling around a village or two and going into a field that wasn't a part of any of the paths. Worse, the maps we had for the loop were useless, as the routes listed on them didn't appear to exist (either that or we had the wrong maps).

The walk brightened up again when we encountered a helpful couple who directed us to the paths through the forest. After thanking them we made our way to the forest, of which a brief segment is shown in the above picture. However, the walk through the forest consisted of going almost entirely uphill, and whenever we were approaching the top of a hill we kept saying to ourselves "we should be able to see Chatsworth from the top of this next peak!".

This was taken from one of the highest points in our journey, and it shows an even better portion of the Derbyshire landscape than one of the aforementioned images. With its wonderful mountains and countryside, Derbyshire is amongst the most beautiful counties I've visited in the United Kingdom since moving back.

Another shot from the highest peak in our walk, this time of a zoomed-in view of the road leading into and out of Chatsworth House. However, we still could not see the house itself even from this vantage point, and so we continued on the path before reaching a crossroads with a helpful sign saying "house" and directing us to the left.

We never saw Chatsworth House from the peaks we climbed that day, and it was only when we approached the main grounds after walking downhill that we finally saw it. The route from our parking place to Chatsworth House was about nine miles in length (or at least felt like it anyway...we were walking for several hours!), but it did not consist of going on the loop. Everyone was tired and incredibly hungry when we arrived at Chatsworth House - during our afternoon meal not one of our plates had any food remaining.

There were still several hours remaining before Chatsworth House and its grounds closed for the day, so everybody except for my uncle and me chose to visit the house's interior. My uncle and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather, and so opted to walk around the gardens.

The above picture is of the south wall of Chatsworth House; last year that end of the house was covered with scaffolding from all the renovations being done at the time. It was nice to get a proper picture of the south side.

This rock entrenched in one of Chatsworth's many ponds was the catalyst to the highlight of the day. My uncle and I decided it would be a great idea to leap onto the rock and take some pictures from it, citing "no one's likely ever done it before." We easily cleared the jump down to the rock, congratulated ourselves on our achievement, and then took some pictures. Then came the issue of getting back over.

The gap between the pond rock and the rock nearest to the main path was three-and-a-half in length and two feet in height...meaning we had to jump up as well as over. My uncle went first - he performed a running jump and clear the gap back over. I thought for a moment, and then I decided to pass all of my electronic equipment - camera, phone, and Vado - to my uncle. It was the best decision I had made all day, because when I attempted the run-jump back I did not jump high enough, I felt my stomach collide with where my feet were supposed to me, and I fell into the water. Chest-deep in stinky, muddy water. I took my uncle's hand and climbed out of the pond, and then we made our way to the nearest bathroom, where my uncle had to hand-wash most of my clothes in a sink.

A shot of the fountain, located at the south end of the house. I do wish I had taken this picture, and my others similar to it, with the camera held vertical rather than horizontal (as well as a little straighter). Still, I think it's a fine image.

A view of Chatsworth House from the back on that lovely, sunny day. I was still mostly wet at this point, and it had been over half an hour since my clothes had all been washed. After I had captured this my uncle and I then sat at one of the tables at the rear exit of the house to wait for the rest of our group; needless to say, when they had finished inside the house and its gift shop a few minutes later they were surprised to see the dampness of my clothing!

We all ate an ice cream each, and then all my cousins, my cousin's boyfriend, my brother, and I went to the maze in the gardens. We had to find the centre fairly quickly, as it was getting close to 6:00, Chatworth's closing time. After reaching the middle we took a few pictures and then hurriedly returned to the house when one of the keepers of the gardens shouted at people to start hurrying up!

One of my last pictures of the house that day, of the front and taken with my phone. When we left the house we still had about an hour's walk to the car park, giving my clothes additional time to dry; I only had to change my shirt and sit on a bag for the journey back to Nottingham.

It was a superb day. The weather was perfect, we had a lengthy walk, saw more of the countryside, had plenty to eat, saw the house and its gardens, and had an overall amazing time. We were exhausted at the end, and it almost goes without saying that everyone slept well that night, but we were contented. As for the mud...well, that merely added another layer of fun, didn't it?