Well, Covid caused last year's St James Place event at Chatsworth to be cancelled, but even though Omicron had raised its head well above the pulpit in the last couple of weeks, they decided to go ahead with it this year.
This year it was on a Wednesday night, so as with the one we went to in 2019, we decided to spend a few days in the Peak District. We booked a lovely recently refurbished cottage in Baslow for 3 nights.
Out private tour of the Christmas decorations at Chatsworth House began around 5:30pm, lasted for nearly an hour and then the rest of the night involved eating and drinking....all paid for. Then at 11pm the coach arrived to pick us up, then drop us off in Baslow. We headed to the Cavendish Hotel where some couples were staying and then spent a couple of hours in the hotel bar having a natter. By the time we walked to our cottage and hit the sack, it was 2am. I had forgotten that such a time still existed!
As we'd left the car at Chatsworth we walked back there on the following morning, passing the main house on our way down to Calton Leys, before heading back through the grounds to pick up the car and take it back to Baslow - which is only a 10-minute drive.
Then that evening, we had booked to see the garden light at Chatsworth so again threw on our boots and coats and headed back there on foot. We had booked in for 6pm but got there a little earlier, and then spent around 2hrs taking in the sights and sounds of the garden at Christmas. Well worth the visit. Our route back with torches was an interesting one, obviously very dark at that time but also thick fog so the sounds of the deer in the parkland added to the eerie atmosphere.
On the following morning, Friday, we could see that it was foggy outside so wondered if it would be clear up above. A trip up onto one of the 'Edges' was too tempting to miss out on. So as we were in Baslow, why not just head up onto Baslow Edge where we might also be lucky enough to see the Highland Cows.
Well, we were out of luck in the cow department, however what a view out over the fog-filled valleys. It was crisp and clear up there, but below us was the thick blanket that we had seen from our windows earlier in the day. It was a great way to spend a few hours.
Saturday was homeward bound day, with the expectation that once home we would be turning around and heading down to the rugby. But, with Covid in the ranks of the opposition, that never happened!
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