Chatsworth, BBQ, Nottingham

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Janet volunteers on a Friday at Chatsworth House,which is about 3 miles from their place. The definite bonus of this is that we can get into the house for free instead of paying £24!

Chatsworth is home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, and has been passed down through 16 generations of the Cavendish family. "Chatsworth House is renowned for the quality of its art, landscape and hospitality, and it has evolved through the centuries to reflect the tastes, passions and interests of succeeding generations. Today, Chatsworth contains works of art that span 4,000 years, from ancient Roman and Egyptian sculpture, and masterpieces by Rembrandt, Reynolds and Veronese, to work by outstanding modern artists, including Lucian Freud, Edmund de Waal and David Nash. There are over 30 rooms to explore*, from the magnificent Painted Hall, regal State Rooms, restored Sketch Galleries and beautiful Sculpture Gallery."

I saw the house last time I visited, but it was decorated for Christmas, which they do every year in an extremely grand style. So it was going to be good to see it as "normal". It is amazingly opulent, unbelievably so. There is gold everywhere and art and statues and precious things everywhere. The grandeur is so in your face it at times seems a bit obscene that one family could own so much. It is definitely worth seeing though. The gardens are also magnificent, so if you are planning to go you definitely need the whole day.

This time they had not long opened the Belvedere which is an area up on the roof that you can go and look at and look out from. The view was brilliant, and so thrilled to have been able to see it. A really fabulous day out.

Saturday, Jim and Janet had organised a BBQ for their friends to meet me. Sadly I took a bit ill and checked out the NHS system instead and the BBQ had to be postponed to Sunday.

Sunday was a beautiful day and most people were able to reschedule and come on Sunday which I was very grateful for. It was so nice to put faces to the names Jim talks about and to get to know his friends.

Monday, the summer holidays are over for Jim and it was back to work. Up early and we caught the train to Nottingham from Matlock. Rob came as well to take some photos of Jim for the new website he was developing. While Jim was running his course I explored Nottingham. Sadly the weather wasn't great, but I still managed to catch the tram into the main square, go to the caves, the National Justice Museum and follow a trail around to explore the history.

"City Of Caves is a subterranean family attraction that is part of a complex of over 500 caves dating back to the Dark Ages, the last of which were in use until as late as the 1940's. Indeed, the city of Nottingham has more man-made caves than anywhere else in Britain, and the cave network has Ancient Monument Protection.

The area was originally known as Tiggua Cobaucc, meaning ‘Place of Caves’, and the first extant reference to Tiggua Cobaucc was in The Life Of King Alfred, by Welsh monk and historian, Asser, the Bishop of Sherborne, who visited Nottingham around 900 AD. These ancient caves were likely used for housing as early as the 11th century, and troglodytes were certainly recorded in the 17th century. Many were inhabited until 1845, when the St. Mary’s Enclosure Act banned the rental of cellars and caves as homes for the poor, though the practice doubtless continued underground!

The family attraction that is now the City Of Caves was made possible thanks to the soft Sherwood Sandstone beneath Nottingham that allowed hand-carved cellars to be excavated and used as store rooms, factories, pub cellars, dwellings and even air raid shelters. Most of the caves remain in private hands, and some were destroyed over time by various city developments. This journey back in time begins with a descent into the dark, dank Brythonic and Anglo-Saxon tunnels, leading to original medieval wells and cesspits.

Archaeologists are still investigating the maze of tunnels to see where they lead and discover new vistas within our family attraction."

I had a fabulous tour guide and the history in the caves was really fascinating, definitely worth a visit.

The National Justice Museum as equally as fascinating as it went through the justice system over the ages in England, including the transportation of convicts to Australia, interesting to read from the English side.

Back on the train in the evening and home about 7.30pm. Train trips are fun!

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