Hardwick Hall

We had to be out of the house by 9.30 so it was an expensive 36 hours. A hotel would have been cheaper but we enjoyed being free in our own little house for our celebration.

We had to take a detour to get to Hardwick Hall as they were re-doing a road but we got there by 10.15, in time for a wander outside before the introductory talk as the door opened.

The introduction was made by an elderly, posh and very entertaining person - and she knew it. Like Tim’s NT property at Kingston Lacy, this is a treasure house and important for all the magnificent tapestries and furniture from as far back as when Bess built the house in Tudor times.

She was a strong woman, made 4 marriages, climbed the social ladder and managed to keep her family on the winning side so that a dukedom was secured by their support of the so-called Glorious Revolution. She and her fourth husband Earl of Shrewsbury were assigned by Elizabeth I to ensure Mary Queen of Scots was kept in captivity for 19 years. Mary was a strong character too - we saw an embroidery she’d made with the emblems of not only France and Scotland (she was queen of both those) but also she included the rose of England. A risky thing to do. She was heir to that throne much to Elizabeth’s chagrin and her son became king.

It was a magnificent building though the family moved on to Chatsworth which is imposing and much grander, but I preferred this one.

The volunteers in most rooms were knowledgeable. One young man told us about a beautiful table which in Tudor times was called a board, hence the term ‘above board’. However there was little written information. I did ask about the craftspeople who carved the doors but they had no record of that.

Apparently the house was nice and cosy despite only one fire in each room. Obviously the tapestries acted as insulation but when enquiring I found that it took 4 people on a constant regime to keep the 27 fires burning. There was no shortage of coal as Bess owned all the mines in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire. The volunteers didn’t know the wages of the maids in the house or the miners but I was assured she was a wonderful, caring employer. They need someone like our friend Tim to get a bit more “woke”.

After enjoying all this splendour (and food for thought) we found ourselves in a horrible hot sweaty Betty situation as we tried to battle our way up the M1 and A1M with many traffic holdups with NO aircon in at least 28 degrees in a tin box at a standstill. It took 5.5 hours from joining the M1 north of Derby to get home.

Memo to self. No Friday driving on our inadequate road system - especially with no aircon in our car.