England Adventure #6

I have had my shower and I am all snuggled in to bed, sipping my tea and writing to all of you. Daughter 1 is packing, watching Britain's Got Talent and looking over the goods she has purchased. We are both a little melancholy this evening as this is our last evening in the Peak District. We have enjoyed a four day tour of this area. The weather was good on Satuday, but like Sunday, today has been WINDY. Everyone tells us the wind is so unusual! Our day started early at The Roaches, where a scene from Pride and Prejudice 1995 was filmed. We struggled to climb up to the top of the rocks because of the wind. The scenery was beautiful - a rock formationhigh on a hill looking out on a vast valley. We took some pictures and got ourselves out of there before we were blown away! We headed to Stoke-On-Trent, the pottery area of England, for shopping! When living in England I journeyed to Stoke over 20 times - I felt like I was going home! However, so many thing had changed: stores have closed and shops have been remodeled. Because today was the bank holiday, the one store I wanted to go to was closed! After going in only two stores (I was very disheartened, but I am sure Sir will be thrilled when reading this), we left for our next destination. Our next stop was Sudbury Hall, which was crawling with people because of the bank holiday - we waited in line to grab lunch, we waited in line for the toilets, and we waited in line to get into the house. We loved Sudbury Hall. It was used to film several movies, including: the inside of Pemberley, Mr. Darcy's home, in Pride and Prejudice 1995; and the red room in Jane Eyre 2007. Why did we love Sudbury? In addition to the formal state rooms, we were able to tour the family rooms and bedrooms. Let me explain. In all the houses, halls, etc we have been in, you are able to tour the state rooms - the rooms built to impress and house special guests. Families that owned the homes didn't actually live in the state rooms; they had their own seperate living areas. If the family still lives in the house today (14 or 15 generations later), the family rooms are not open to the public, as many family members still occupy the family areas. We didn't spend much time in the gardens because it was so windy outside. So we headed west towards Kedleston hall, another spot in the filming of The Duchess. And oh my gosh, what a trip to get there! A tree was down across the road but thanks to two old ladies, we found the way. Upon arriving we had only 1.5 hours to tour the gardens, park and house, and unfortunately we had enough time - the gardens, most of the park and part of the house were closed due to the strong winds. This house was amazingly different from the others we had seen. This was the first house in England to be built in the neoclassical style. The house was gorgeous, opulent and over the top, but architecturally brillant. We asked for directions on how to get back to the highway because of the closed road, so we took the directions with a leap of faith and headed out. This is a direct quote "right out of the park, then the next right, a left to Duffield, then at the T go right." Considering these were all country roads - we made it and were shocked that we only had to turn around once! We found ourselves at a restaurant right across the street from the B&B. We shared a great shrimp ceasar salad flatbread pizza before heading back to pack. Goodnight! I will post again from Stratford-Upon-Avon. Hopefully we will find internet service at our next B&B so I can post daily!