J_on_tour: July 2014

Thursday, 31 July 2014

Chatsworth House, Derbyshire.

(Stables, Chatsworth House)

Chatsworth House is the home of the Duke of Devonshire and is arguably the Jewel in the Crown of the attractions of Derbyshire. This is a county that I haven't visited in this blog before and the second of three occasional posts that I have pulled out of my Photo archives.

I had three friends that I knew in a social group in South Yorkshire and had been observing their programme of events for some time and eventually opted for this day trip in the car. It so happened that one of my friends, who I shall call the Doncaster Dame, was the organiser of the event and tried to dissuade me on the telephone about distance travel issues. I have known The Doncaster Dame for 12 years and didn't catch up with her often enough in more recent times. However I chose to ignore her advice as I informed her that this opportunity doesn't come up often and historically she was professional in organising events.

(Sorry folks, I struggled to get this post out for many reasons ... something for July at least. I'm still dealing with the computer issues and the shop have now recommended to buy extra Ram to be able to upload images from the camera. I'm in Scotland at the moment and have been tied up with other things recently, so I'll sort that out next week and catch up with all your blogs. The place where I'm staying may turn the wifi off at some point, haha, so I'm on borrowed time here :-)
This set is so old and dated in time due to the art exhibits depicted here that I had to struggle with inspiration. Some of the original batch didn't make it and I over edited another 5 or 6.
Lastly the bicycle I bought has been a little distracting during some warm June & July evenings.)

The motorway journey to Chesterfield was long but acceptable and my traffic knowledge of delays on the outskirts of the town was minimal. Although I didn't regret my decision to travel, her words of wisdom proved to be right as the last 20 mins was more like 50. On arrival at The Chatsworth Estate I was disappointed to discover that the house was partially covered in tarpaulin for maintenance purposes. The landscape view from near Edensor village and the classic bridge in the foreground scene would have to wait for another occasion and to date still hasn't happened.

War Horse by Dame Elisabeth Frink, (Stables, Chatsworth House)

We met up in The Stables (title image), which in itself is a tourist magnet for those not wishing to pay the additional fee to visit the main house.

Restaurant ! (Stables, Chatsworth House)

The area has related specialist shopping, cafe and a restaurant of such a standard that it is suitable for wedding receptions.

Despite a residence being on the site since 1549, Chatsworth House and Estate has been a work in progress over the years since it was rebuilt in the 20 years up to 1707. There are however buildings on the estate that pre-date the main house such as The Hunting Tower and Queen Mary's Bower.

(The North Wing, Chatsworth House)

The North Wing was added to the main body of the house in the early nineteenth century.

(Lake, Chatsworth House)

The gardens and the estate were designed by Lancelot Brown (otherwise known as "Capability Brown") in the 1780's.

(Statue and Hedge, Chatsworth House)

He had an amazing C.V. and seemed much sought after due to his other garden projects at Blenheim Palace, Bowood House, Harewood House, Broadlands, Highclere Castle and Longleat.

The fame of Chatsworth House took on an International flavour when in 1843 Nicholas I (Tsar of Russia) promised to visit sometime. The 6th Duke of Devonshire who was residing in the house at the time employed his gardener Sir Joseph Paxton to construct the tallest fountain in the world for his arrival. This incorporated an 8 acre lake on the moors high above the level of the house to acquire the desired water pressure. It was unfortunate that despite the project being completed in six months, the Tsar never managed to see the fountain before he died in 1855.

Interestingly the Hydro electric power technology was used to to supply the house in the early 20th century before the connection to mains electricity in 1936. Ideas change and it was decided to upgrade the equipment with a new turbine in 1988 to supply 1/3 of the electricity needs.

One of the main features of the garden that everyone comes to see is the Cascade Fountain. It was designed and built from 1690, extended to include a Pavilion at the top waterfall, then re-aligned by Paxton to compliment the garden plan in relation to the House.

Thomas Archer Pavillion 1703

Paxton seemed to specialise in Greenhouses, some successful and some he would choose to forget, however the Conservative wall Greenhouse stretching 331 ft (101m) stands the test of time.

Time for a wander around the estate !

The features in the estate are at times a little unusual, some unusual features with dual viewpoints ...

Downstairs

Upstairs

A rare capture of two social group leaders ... the Doncaster Dame and the Leeds link ( taking a break to see the success of other events outside her region).

The distorted ... Chloe's World by Jaume Plensa

After the disappointment of the Tarpaulin covering the historic part of the house there was the surprise of The Beyond Limits sculpture exhibition that were dotted around the estate.

Lord William Burlington by Angela Conner

Two other people making up Angela's collection !!

The main exhibits were a Unicorn (called Myth) and this Horse (called Legend) sculptured by Damien Hirst.

The partly surgically exposed sculpture was a development of Hirst's interest between science and religion. Hirst said "I like the way that even by showing these creature's insides they still feel majestic and hopeful, so they seem more real and not just creatures from fantasy"

Pegasus

The Owners like the works of Barry Flannigan who seems to specialise in Hares. This one is known as left handed drummer. Personally I felt it stood out more as a silhouette, hence my take on it.