4th December 2024
It was a cold…..no very cold….. day for the trip to the Derbyshire Dales and the beautiful Haddon Hall. We arrived, slightly early, to be met with a packed car park well marshalled by friendly locals, who for some reason thought I might be disabled, and we were directed to a spot close to the entrance gate. Approaching the Hall the bridge over the clear waters of the Derbyshire Wye river demanded a photo of us.
The short walk up to the Hall itself provided the first opportunity to sample some of the crafts and food on offer. As we were too early to enter the Hall (we were told it had to cleaned after the morning groups had left) we decided to have lunch in the café. Very nice but very expensive!!! Then, at the prescribed time, the doors to the Hall were opened and in we walked to a myriad of passageways, rooms and artisan stalls.
There were 18 DonMoggers present but finding each other in the maze of small rooms, linked by numerous steps and narrow passages, proved almost impossible as the Hall was very busy as visitors crowded around the artisan displays on offer.
The temperature inside the Hall seemed as cold as outside. The one log fire we did find was unfortunately blocked by a certain Chris Lewis who was warming his derriere to the detriment of others (myself) to get close to the flames.
Perhaps it was not surprising that we only met fellow club members two at a time until we were leaving the Hall when unsurprisingly we met several in the food and wine marquee.
Thanks to Liz for planning this really interesting visit.
Words: Martin Woodward
Pictures: Roger Pullen & Martin Woodward