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Travel Photos...Chatsworth and the Peak District
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Chatsworth House is in North Derbyshire, a few miles West of Chesterfield, within the Peak District. It has been privately owned by the Cavendish family since 1549 and it is the seat of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.
This was originally the stables. It is now used mainly for providing refreshments for the huge numbers of visitors who flock here throughout the year. Yet, in spite of the crowds, we never felt squeezed in as the grounds are extensive and visitors are allowed to slowly wander through the house at their own pace. We thorougly enjoyed our visit and spent over five hours exploring the house and the gardens.
This is a view of a ceiling painting in one of the stairwells within the main house itself.
Chatsworth has a fine collection of paintings, including this portrait by Rembrandt. It also has an impressive collection of furniture, sculpture, drawings and books.
Did I forget to mention the collection of precious ceramics?
Some of the rooms have tapestries.
One of the large ceiling paintings with a mythological theme.
The grounds of Chatsworth House cover more than a hundred acres. The River Derwent runs through the property.

In hte 18th Century, Lancelot "Capability" Brown was employed to create a natural landscape garden.

In 1826, one of England's most innovative garden designers, Joseph Paxton, was appointed Head Gardener and he had a profound influence upon the evolution of the landscape and the gardens. Paxton was only 23 years old when he was first appointed. He had been trained at Kew Gardens before that.
There are several greenhouses in various styles dotted throughout the landscape. Chatsworth played an important role in the search for, and propagation of, exotic plants from all corners of the world.
There are occasional exhibitions of contemporary sculpture in the gardens at Chatsworth.
A pool with a rocky folly behind it.
The Derwent River which passes through the property at Chatsworth also forms a reservoir elsewhere in the Peak District. This particular artificial lake is famous for its part in the Dambuster Raid. As you may recall, Barnes Wallis had invented the "bouncing bomb" in order to destroy several dams in the Ruhr Valley in Nazi Germany.

617 Squadron, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, used this lake and its dam to practice the difficult art of accurately dropping the bouncing bombs. There is a museum dedicated to the Dambusters in the tower above.
Bakewell is a pretty village in the Peak District. It is not far from Chatsworth House.
These huge trout share the river with the geece.
This cow in the Peak District has horns and an udder. Just to reveal my ignorance, I had always believed that only male critters of this kind had such horns. I must have flunked Biology at school.
This stream, wending its way through the moors, cuts across the road at Snake Pass.

I hear that they filmed the latest version of Jane Eyre in this part of the country.
Chesterfield has a crooked church spire. It is a friendly town and is ideal as a base for exploring the Peak District.

We stayed at a very pleasant B&B run by Martin and Lisa Foston. If you are interested in accommodation in Chesterfield, you can email them at: anislouise@gmail.com