A Bakewell jaunt

This was my first walk with the chaps in 2011.

Walk leader for the day, Simon, did us proud. Not only did he arrange for a bright and sunny day, he also made sure that we had excellent venues for our elevensies and our lunch. Then we finished off with a superb pint of Chatsworth Gold at the end of our walk.

The only (minor) downside was that His Grace was not in to welcome us to Chatsworth; Stuart also wanted a cushion for the lunchtime seat (but we'll let that pass)

Here are a few photos from our jaunt.

Bakewell Station was opened on 1 August 1862 by the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway, then becoming part of the Midland Railway. In 1923 the station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and during the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948 the station was passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways, and finally succumbing to the fall of the Beeching axe in 1967.

The station building is still in use as a warehouse along with the platforms (but the gap between platforms have been filled in to make the Monsal Trail).

Bakewell was almost bypassed by the railway - the Duke of Rutland, owner of the surrounding land, was opposed to it. When he eventually relented and authorised a route out of sight of his baronial hall, Bakewell Station had to be built high above the town.  

Edensor's St Peter's church was expanded by Sir George Gilbert Scott for the 7th Duke of Devonshire in the 1860s. It contains an early 17th century memorial to Bess of Hardwick's sons, Henry and William Cavendish. Sir Joseph Paxton is buried in the churchyard, as is U.S. President John F. Kennedy's sister Kathleen Kennedy, who was married to the 10th Duke's eldest son. Kennedy visited the grave during his presidency.

En route to Chatsworth

It's not much but we call it home!

As we all know, Chatsworth House is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549. The name 'Chatsworth' is a corruption of Chetel's-worth' meaning 'the Court of Chetel'.

In the reign of Edward the Confessor a man of Norse origin named 'Chetel' held lands jointly with a Saxon named 'Leotnoth' in three townships; Ednesoure to the west of the Derwent, and Langoleie and Chetesuorde to the east.
 

Chetel was deposed after the Norman Conquest and in the Domesday Book the Manor of Chetesuorde is listed as the property of the Crown in the custody of William de Peverel.

Chatsworth ceased to be a large estate, until the 15th century when it was acquired by the Leche family who owned property nearby. They enclosed the first park at Chatsworth and built a house on the high ground in what is now the south-eastern part of the garden.

The main block was re-built by the 1st Duke between 1687 and 1707, on the site of Bess of Hardwick's original Tudor mansion. The long north wing was added by the 6th Duke in the early nineteenth century.

There are many structures other than the house on the estate, including two surviving Elizabethan buildings — the Hunting Tower and Queen Mary's Bower. Flora's Temple and the 1st Duke's Greenhouse survive from the 1690s, the Stable block and bridge were built by James Paine in the 1760s and Joseph Paxton's Conservative Wall and other glasshouses date from the 19th century. The 11th Duke and Duchess added the Display Greenhouse in 1970.

 

Elevensies by the Derwent

The book said "enter the field by the stile" - so that's what I did

Team lunch

Wood ear - a mushroom of the genus Auricularia that grows on fallen tree trunks, used in cooking. The fungus strongly resemble an ear, as it forms folds and whorls while it grows on the trunks and bark of mostly dead trees. The Wood Ear tends to jiggle slightly, and has a slightly crunchy, slightly rubbery texture which is retained even after cooking. We didn't find these until after we had eaten our lunches - otherwise who knows what we may have done - and in which hospital we may be now!

The Wood Ear fungus is found widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, although it is more commonly cultivated and used for food in parts of Asia. Wood Ear often appears in Chinese and Japanese food. 

A rumour that our globe-trotting colleague may pay a flying visit from Hong Kong proved to be unfounded - although the sight of this helicopter did raise our hopes for a few seconds

Our new "home"

Chatsworth Gold at its finest - we'll definitely return