Northern Tour – One

The first leg of a three week tour of the North (and Spain!) started with a night away in the spa town of Buxton and a visit to the majestic Chatsworth House.

For two period drama fanatics imagining ourselves alone whilst surrounded by snapping cameras and people speaking many languages in long corridors and bed chambers where Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire once walked was enough of a thrill to last a whole day. The tour of the ostentatiously grand house and magical gardens cost a fair bob (£18 each) but was well worth it.

We got frustrated in the maze, were wowed by a child virtuoso when she sat down at a piano in one lavish room off the main dining hall and proceeded to tear up the keyboard, imitated statues of fair maidens and mad lions and picnicked happily in the car when the ominous rain clouds finally split open!

Tomorrow we set off for Gwynedd, Wales for a week of family gatherings, dog walks on the beach and reading Tomalin’s biography of Jane Austen to continue the Victorian vibes!