Derbyshire 14 - the Sitwells, their garden and Renishaw Hall

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We are now in the heart of a British summer. The occasional thunder storm clears the air but it still feels heavy and muggy. A different heat to that abroad. The nights are long and have reached that plateau where they neither get any longer nor get any shorter. And it is 50 days to our next long holiday.



Suzy sits idly on the top garden waiting to get on the road again. She needs a fill of fuel and that will be done some time over the next week or so as I have accumulated another 20p per litre off fuel and need to use it by the end of the month. Plans are still underway . We need a vignette for the Czech republic and we cannot get this from our usual supplier TollTickets in Germany and have to buy it at the first petrol station we find in the Czech Republic. I think we probably will need Google Translate to ask for a vignette. Musim si koupit dalnicni znamku pouzivat sve cesty prosim. I may make sense and I may get my short stay vignette to add to Suzy's windscreen - equally I could get a pound of potatoes, a lettuce and a roll of toilet paper.

June is moving on - It is a weekend where defence of titles has been the topic of conversation . Andy Murray failed to defend his title at Wimbledon, Mark Cavendish went out of the Tour de France the first day followed closely by Chris Froome. So no Brits to cheer on. Plans for September holiday are well underway. Campsites chosen and route decided . OK it might just change again. Only campsite booked is one near to the motorcycle circuit of Misano . It means we should be able to see a MotoGP again this year. Better find the Rossi T shirt and put some money aside for a 46 baseball cap and a new T shirt.



Today was another little trip just up the road. It was Derbyshire again as we drove up the motorway towards Sheffield .



. It was our second attempt to visit Renishaw Hall the home of the Sitwell family. Open today for visits to the gardens. WE would have to wait until Friday to see the house so we had to make the decision go today or wait a few weeks until my work days are changed. Gardens won - House lost. We had a BOGOFF offer of two for one entry fee with our Derbyshire Gold Card. This is issued to pensioners and is a combined bus pass and discount card. First time we have used it as we rarely use the bus service but it saved us money as we only paid £5.50 plus £1 for parking. Car parked on the grass, the sun shone, the buses were out and the gardens were busier than I expected them to be. Groups of pensioners out for the day. Did we look like pensioners I wondered as we wandered amongst them?

Our first stop was as always the cafe which stood in the corner before the ticket office . As it was only 11.30 we thought we would see the gardens and museum first and then combine morning coffee with dinner and have brunch instead. We had eyed up the Renishaw Ploughmans which although expensive looked tasty .



. The small museum in the corner of the courtyard had items of interest belonging to Edith, Osbert and Sacherverell Sitwell. Not a lot inside but what was there was interesting.



The house of grey ashlar stone stands in a huge area of parkland and is Grade 1 listed built in 1625. How the other half lived! All that wealth divided amongst such a small proportion of the population . The Sitwells have owned the house for almost 400 years. Their money was made through owning mining concerns , being landowners and also owning iron works. Surrounded by the industrial sprawl of Staveley and Dronfield the parkland is so vast you forget that there is or was so much industry in the area. There was great wealth here which gave the family the chance to indulge themselves filling their house with nice things and filling their gardens with exotic plantings.



The three Sitwells most known were Edith later to become a dame, her brothers Osbert, and Sacheverell. They were all arty farty and between 1916 and 1930 created a literary and artistic clique around themselves. They were all writers, poetry and architecture. and modelled themselves on the famous Bloomsbury Set. Their moto Yield not to Misfortune seemed to sum up their lives. Edith never married, was very tall and gangly and it was said that she looked like Elizabeth I with her very long aristocratic nose. She attached herself to a homosexual Russian painter and spent many years in his company . She lead a strange life wearing exotic costumes and flamboyant jewellery some of which was displayed in the museum . Osbert and Sacheverell were younger than Edith. th spent a number of years in heady Paris returning to and retired to Renishaw after the end of Second World War. Apparently she was rather eccentric and did not have electricity in the house and she wrote under the lights of oil lamps. Shades of Squire Yorke of Erddig Wrexham whose house had no electric lights until the 1970's if my memory serves me correctly.



The gardens are set into a series of rooms which gave us many nooks and crannies to investigate. Each slightly different to the last one we had seen.



. We entered the garden via the ticket office passing a pretty black wrought iron gate and the Gothick Aviary. No birds in it now but it provided a lovely focal point to that part of the gardens. Hydrangeas in pastel hues, pale pinks, peach, cream and lilac lined the path. The path was bathed in darkness due to the mature trees which lined the path and blocked up the summer sun.. From the darkness we entered into the light of the main gardens. The sun streamed everywhere and the gardens opened up with the hall as a backdrop.



First garden was the First Candle -not a candle in sight -. I believe it was named thus because of some statuary in the garden although we didnt find it. Logically we should have gone into the Buttress Garden next but found ourselves walking past the house and into the Middle Lawn a huge expanse of lawn. But them we never do things in the order the brochure suggests. Yes sometimes we miss things doing it our way but we take the risk and just wander where we feel like. If we miss something so be it.



The borders around the house were full of perenial plantings with roses and clematis climbing and softening the grey stone building. If you like summer borders then this was a nice space to see many of the plants in full flower. Day Lilies shortlived, living up to their names of only being open one day were deep yellow and orange and very impressive. From here the next two gardens were The Second Candle with again another statue and the Secret Garden. That was small and intimate. The gardens were all hedged with yew and box. Bright red tiny flowers were growing and climbing through the trees. A delight around every corner. It is not the biggest garden we have visited but it was one the nicest at this spectacular time of the year. It will continue to be flamboyant through the rest of this month and through to August.



There are a number of very large lakes around the grounds and we could see the largest through the canopy of the trees. The Bluebell Walk took you through these woods and would have been a delight in Spring when the Bluebells are in full bloom. The scent must be overwhelming. We didnt walk to the lakes today but left it for another visit perhaps next May.



From the lake walk the next garden is the Fish Pond which was crossed by a tiny black wrought iron bridge . In the water were lily pads - the flowers impressive pink to one side and pure cream to the other. The leaves that glossy vibrant green. The Fish Pond was probably one of my favourite parts of the garden. Although all over the garden I did find myself putting my nose up to roses to smell them, lifting labels to see what the unusual plants were and touching them. Even picking pods off the plants in the hope the seeds would grow in my garden.



Through the green hedges to the Swimming Pool. Not strictly the type of swimming pool you would dive into for a swim this was just another green space with fountain and water feature in the centre.

And finally another of my favourite gardens - The Buttress Border . Two borders - one on each side full of perennial plants. Delphiniums electric blue, deep purple and white were deeply planted at the back of the border. Pretty clematis and the roses climbed through them and up the brickwork behind them. Peach coloured poppies lined the path.



There is a vineyard on the estate although we didnt see this.



We finished the day off with brunch in the cafe. We enjoyed the Ploughmans which was spread out on a wooden plate consisted of Brie, Cheddar, three types of meat, ham, beef and salami, crusty brown bread, home made chutney, tomatoes and cucumber. The only thing left - gherkins !!!!



Another delightful trip out to see one of the treasures of this part of Derbyshire . Provoking thought for the day - Happiness is lighter than a feather - no-one can grasp it. Chuag Tzu . After today happiness felt like a trip out in the car with the wind blowing in through the windows, the tasty lunch in lovely surroundings . I think we grasped a little of the happiness today as the sun shone down on us.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Lily pond
I love this photo

[JenGog]

lily pond
Thankyou they are lovely flowers and so spectacular