Nottinghamshire

Left at 12:45 and after an uneventful trip passing yellow fields of Rape seed we stopped at the Moto Services at Ardley on the A43. Good chicken and bacon toasted sandwich and reasonable coffee, courtesy of Costa. Took one wrong turn and Google put us on the right road and we arrived at 16:00 at a happy Robert and Lauren’s house in West Bridgeford, Nottingham. Much excitement for Susan

and Jenson, checking out the living conditions and Jenson sniffing his way around, thank goodness he did not lift his leg. 

Robert cooked us a superb steak, chips and salad evening meal. 

We had breakfast with Phillip and Wendy, Lauren’s parents, at The Speciality Cafe in Nottingham city centre. A posh place where a special bacon bap costs £ 11.00. In all fairness the food seemed good, my pork sausage patty was still red in the middle and had a sour taste. Decided to err on the side of caution, they do things differently in the North. Coffee was good and then we walked up to Nottingham Castle, home of Robin Hood. 

Robert and Lauren then took us to the world-famous Home of Stilton in Colston Bassett. Had to buy some and as Gary enjoys a good Stilton, so I added an extra for him. 

We headed back to Nottingham and put together a shopping list for the two-night stay. Robert recommended an Aldi store close to where he lives and we were able to get all we needed and some other items of interest. This could have taken a while as Susan was pandering to her retail therapy vice, so I decided to take over the list, spontaneously buying can cost a fortune if you let it. 

Then it was time to make our way to Woodend bungalow, close to Huthwaite. With the price we were eager to see what the value was. Arriving just after 4:30 pm, having managed to get lost twice and then phoning the host for directions. The bungalow is the second highest point in Nottingham and has accommodation for 10 people. Word on the street is that one of the neighbours wanted his place to be the highest point and put a statue on the top of his hill, giving him a 20 cm advantage, our host says she will chop the head off one day. 

We were not disappointed, amazing views and really friendly host, who gave us a full tour of the house, complete with a huge games room, sporting a full-size ping pong table. Our host baked us a lemon drizzle cake as a welcome, much to Susan and Michael’s delight. We were closely followed by Robert and Lauren, Michael and Matilda having left Poole just after 3 pm and expected to be here by 7:30 pm. 

An enjoyable evening, smashed burgers, Robert’s speciality, fried chicken breasts, and sausages, normal burger night but in Nottinghamshire.

I do believe Lauren was the eventual ping pong champion after Matilda was found to be ball tampering and disqualified, those Aussies never learn. Matilda did start a fire in the lounge but it went out fairly quickly, cooking bush tucker on an open fire, was never her strong point, growing up.

Saturday morning greeted us with partly cloudy skies and a cold breeze that seemed to chill your core. Much colder up north than we are accustomed to in Poole. The four young adults took a while to surface but eventually made their way to the kitchen. After much procrastination they set off for a 10 km run, taking them through bridle paths and up stubborn hills for the next hour. Susan and I took time to enjoy the view over the hills of Nottinghamshire and into Derbyshire. Nottinghamshire is surrounded by Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire and is quite small in comparison. 

The normal madness continued after their run with everyone heading for the showers, we did have three bathrooms, breakfast and then the plan to see Hardwick Hall in Chesterfield. 

‘It was the formidable 'Bess of Hardwick' who first built the nhouse and developed the surrounding estate in the late 1500s. Her descendants, the Dukes of Devonshire, treasured Hardwick, while lavishing much of their attention and money on nearby Chatsworth. Their success – intimately associated with empire over 400 years and across the globe – preserved Hardwick, and their interests elsewhere saved it from significant alteration.’ (National Trust description)

Armed with this knowledge we made our way through narrow country lanes and were greeted by fields of yellow flowers. 

The estate has two major attractions, the ruins of her old hall, which she built and then partially broke down, it was fashionable to have a ruin on one’s estate in the 1500s. The second is Hardwick Hall in all its splendour.

The ruins were interesting as they had broken it down to a degree is was no longer inhabitable but still keeping all the structure recognisable as it must have been in its heyday. We stumbled into the kitchen with two ovens, still intact. The great hall held the memories of grand balls and still has intricate artwork on the walls. I took a photograph from the top of the Old Hall showing the New Hall through the ruins, this captures the splendour of what was and what is now. 

The New Hall was everything we expected, lavish tapestry, bold paintings and grand halls, all showing off the wealth that Bess of Hardwick had accumulated from her 4 marriages and the fortunes she inherited. It must be said, that she was very unlucky in marriage, all her husbands died shortly after marrying Bess. She did have 8 children, 6 of which survived to adulthood. 

As is our normal trend when visiting a National Trust property, we make for the cafe for much-needed coffee and sweet scones or savoury pastries after seeing the houses and gardens.

Stopped for a snack on the road back to Woodend at the Hardwick Inn. Pretty pub, just at the foot of Hardwick Hall. I know, we had just eaten but the children were hungry and the Inn seemed a good call. I did find the wooden benches a little hard on my posterior, not enough padding was Susan's comment.

As Michael and Matilda were cooking the dinner, they took themselves off to a nearby Asda, complete with local talent and the smell of cannabis, fresh in the air, they shopped and dashed, they do not recommend that particular store, if you are in the Huthwaite area.

Thinking about the remoteness of the area, I would imagine there is a certain amount of inbreeding in the more deprived sectors of the population.

Another fine meal of spiced crumbed chicken breasts served with Sugo di Pomodoro, an authentic Italian tomato sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese. My California Merlot was a great companion with this tasty dish. Well done Michael and Matilda.

The evening rounded off with darts, then numerous card games, everyone keeping an eye on the Australian entry, one can never be too careful.