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Published: July 25th 2008
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Pilsley
Pilsley was interesting, especially since that dark blue was everywhere (explained later). 11 June - Wednesday 11th June 2008:
After breakfast we learnt that Sheila was indeed pleased with the hanging basket. On being told that our first port of call was Chatsworth house she suggested that we avoid the motorway and instead drive through the moors of the Peak District and mapped out a suggested route for us. The sky was threatening with heavy grey cloud, but it wasn't raining as we set off.
We followed her advice and made our way toward the moors.
On the way we came to an interesting little village made almost entirely of stone bricks. We had a wander and took a few pictures in one of the few hamlets we had discovered that had almost no wooden buildings.
The first part of the moors were undulating with large outcroppings of granite-like rock scattered about, making obvious where the village's building material had come from. It was part of one of these outcroppings that Sheila had told us to look for as a landmark. It is called "The Winking Man" (and, of course, the local pub is named after it). "The Winking Man" is an outcropping that vaguely resembles the shape of
Chatsworth House
A view of Chatsworth House, complete with sun! a man's head in profile, with a roughly circular hole in the rock, where the eye would be. As you come alongside the rock, the hole is briefly occulted by another ledge behind it, before reappearing as a hole; thus making the manlike rock appear to "wink". (Note: Only Owen and I saw this phenomenon as all three of us believed it was best if Marion watched the road out of the front windscreen rather than have her eyes glued to the side window waiting for the "wink'.)
The moors themselves were awesome in their harsh beauty. Some of the long, light green grass looked almost white as it bent before the wind. The hillsides were mainly covered with a bright green spongy (almost moss-like) grass. This was broken by the dark green growth in the furrows and swales that snaked down the hillsides. This was heath that would flood the meandering gullies with purple when it flowered later in July/August. We were mostly in sun but we watched the shadows of clouds chasing one another over the hills between the patches of sunlight.
There were very few of the large grey boulders and little loose rock in
Chatsworth House
Lavish interior decorating in Chatsworth House. this area, but many drystone walls criss-crossing the hillsides. Tiny white flowers bloomed in large splotches and small yellow-white daisies occasionally showed their heads around the bases of the wall.
A couple of farmers were attempting to grow crops of Canola, but otherwise all we saw were a few very hardy sheep and ,even less, brave cattle living in this unforgiving countryside.
The weather seemed to begin to reflect the mood of the Peak District moors and the cloud overhead darkened and a few drops of rain began to fall.
As we headed out of the Peak District towards Chatsworth House the sun re-asserted itself again (maybe it was the influence of the moors)!
We decided to lunch at the township of Pilsley. This was another village composed exclusively of stone buildings, many of which had ivy growing over them. But what was striking was that all the none stone surfaces, metal down-pipes, wooden doors, edgings, even the plaque bearing the pub's name, were painted the same shade of blue on every house. Maybe the local store was selling this colour paint at a sale price, or perhaps there had been supply problems?
The pub
Chatsworth House
Another incredible room in Chatsworth House. had a number of humourous signs inside and the ceiling was decorated with a horde of promotional jugs produced by various liquor brands. The pub also provided us with an excellent meal of fish, chips and mushy peas.
On resuming the trip toward Chatsworth house we noticed a couple more isolated buildings using the same shade of blue for their trimming.
Chatsworth was another impressive family mansion owned by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. In former days it was known as "The Palace of the Peak" and offers a house full of treasures and is set in a magnificent 1000 acre park (most of which is cultivated and sculptured garden areas.)
The interior of the home boasts painted ceilings and walls that we have seen in many similar homes and walls featuring the carvings by one of the finest wood-carvers in Britain, (almost as good as Grinley Gibbons, generally considered the best wood- carver of this time-more: on GG later).
But the main interest in this house is the objects in its interior. There are delicate chests of drawers made of gold, ebony, mother-of-pearl and other expensive materials. It also contains fine dining services, statues,
Chatsworth House
And another incredible room in Chatsworth House. paintings, ancient furniture and magnificent chandeliers, but where this house stands out is in the more eccentric objects it contains.
There is a giant ancient Greek marble foot (about three times human size), a broomstick used in the first Harry Potter movie, Dutch flower vases, the titanium fan of a Rolls Royce jet engine, a Victorian painting of a poodle pretending to be a judge in court, a mounted display of all the keys to the house and a clock made of Russian malachite - all objects of wonder and delight.
One of the doors has a painting of a violin produced in such a way that it appears to be a real three dimensional violin rather than a painting. There is also a lace cravat carved from wood by the aforementioned Grinley Gibbons. Mr. Gibbons was in the habit of always "signing" his work by including pea pods. If he had been well-paid for the piece of work they would be bursting open with huge peas but if the commission had been less generous the pods would be empty or split open showing tiny withered peas inside, thus displaying the stinginess of the owner to all who
Waterfall
This immense waterfall in the Chatsworth Estate grounds freezes over in winter! could read the "code". It would appear he wasn't overly impressed by what he had paid for the cravat!
We also discovered by questioning the guide that the entire hamlet of Pilsley, and the other houses we had seen between the village and Chatsworth, were owned by the Duke and it was his decree that the edgings must be painted that shade of blue. (The main colour in the family crest.)
But the other outstanding feature of the House was its gardens. It contained various types of plantings (including another Laburnum arch) of mainly English plants sprinkled with some other European and imported plants. It also included a cascade of waterfalls and employed some physical features, such as a natural cliff and a huge outcrop of granite. There were also some fun attractions such as a human sundial (which even accounted for daylight saving) and a real maze.
A number of the gardens we had seen said that they included a maze but they were either hedges with multiple entrances and exits, or a labyrinth where you followed a single path from beginning to end. But Chatsworth House had a true maze; indeed I think the design
Lion
This statue of a sleeping lion was one of the more beautiful pieces in the Chatsworth art collection. had been stolen for a puzzle called "Skill-It" I had when I was about 10 years old. Owen and I had fun threading the maze while Marion took pictures of flowers in beds located at the maze entrance.
We left the grounds of Chatsworth House via the impressive black, gold-encrusted metal gates.
Destination: York. No trouble getting there via the motorway but there was a bit of a bottleneck approaching the city. We entered York via one of the town gates that opened upon a rather complicated junction and followed NavMan's instructions (piloted by Owen). After directing us straight ahead NavMan wanted us to return to the junction by performing a U-turn. When we entered it from this direction we are forced to turn left (due to one-way roads) rather than right as NavMan desires.
When NavMan directs us back to the junction for a third time we call a time-out and pull off to the side of the road. (I consult the map book - which contains maps of most major British towns) and work out where we have to go. We do, indeed, need to enter the junction for a third time but now I know where to go after that.
We end up in a narrow road with quiet rows of terrace houses lining both sides of the road, but there is nowhere to park. Quickly we unload the car and rouse the owner of the B&B as to where to park. He tells us there is a space out the back.
Unbeknownst to us (and Marion in particular) this involves negotiating a very narrow right -angled bend after exiting the current street, and then manoeuvring the car into the parking lot from an extremely tight lane.
After help from the B&B owner and myself, Marion, after a certain amount of cursing, finally gets the car parked snug and warm for the night.
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