We have just been on a long weekend break to the beautiful Peak District and the heart of the country. We based ourselves at the historic market town of Bakewell, renowned for its tarts and puddings (though not to our tastes), which is a lovely town besides the river that has a friendly atmosphere and bucolic charm.
On our way to the town we stopped in at the nearby historic Chatsworth home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. It is an impressive pile with grand gardens and lands as far as the eye can see. We were more impressed with the wonderful grounds with their long lacks, fountains and water terraces than we were with the house itself. We had a delightful picnic lunch sitting in the grounds in the bright sunshine
The following day we visited another historic home that had belonged to the Cavendish family, that of Hardwick Hall. We were very impressed with both the old and new halls that stand next to one another on the top of a hill overlooking the countryside.
Down into the valley we stopped at another National Trust property; that of the estate’s mill – Stainsby Mill, where we witnessed the water wheel powered millstones grinding grain into flour just as it did so long ago.
We returned to Bakewell to have another picnic lunch, this time on the banks of the river, before returning to our hotel to change for the evening.
We drove a couple of miles out of town to a little village of Rowsley where we parked up in the middle of a field. Here we had arranged to meet with others for a balloon ride over the countryside.
The weather was perfect and the organisers started to prepare the balloon as we were briefed. It turned out one person had tried 17 different occasions to fly over a 2 years before this day, each time to have it cancelled before it took off. Conditions though were right and the balloon was inflated and we clambered into the wicker basket to soar into the sky. The trip was sublime and gentle as we drifted up to over 4000 feet where we could see all around the Peak District, the town of Bakewell at out feet, Chatsworth over the hill, other stately homes, farms and rolling countryside. We could see a couple of other balloons in the sky with us and briefly a small airplane buzzed in between us and the Virgin balloon like the red baron. After the controlled landing in a farmer’s field we had a drink of champagne before being driven back to our car.
It was one of the best experiences we have ever had, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
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1 comment:
The hot air balloning sounds great. That's something I've had on my wish list for years.
Picnic's in the coutry, ballooning. What a break :-)
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