Two of the regions in England that both my friend Rachel and I really wanted to visit were the Lake District and the Peak District.  Despite both these areas being just an hour or so from where I do my lambing, I had yet to visit either of them.  They are both well known for wonderful photographic opportunities, but the weather didn't cooperate with us for either location.

We visited the peak district first as it is more southerly .  Driving into the district was very disappointing with heavy fog obscuring our views of the first few planned stops.  There is a cliff range known as The Roaches which we really wanted to photograph, but decided not to wait around for the fog to clear and continued on to some of the great estates.  Many locations in the Peak District feature in the new movie Pride and Prejudice and we tried to visit as many of those locations as possible.

Haddon Hall was our first estate stop.  It was built in the 12th century and has been owned by the same family since 1567.  The family had moved to a separate residence 200 years ago and Haddon Hall was left untouched till recently.  The last Lord began renovation, but did as little as possible to alter the estate.  It is thus an excellent example of a preserved estate from the 1700's.  Several rooms at Haddon Hall were used in Pride and Prejudice for the tavern scene.

Chatsworth Estate was our second and best stop - WOW!! Absolutely amazing.  The estate covers 35,000 acres and the house is unbelievable.   It was built in 1552 and has always been owned by Cavendish Family.  The staff was very friendly, obviously loved the house, and encouraged photographs (even with flash inside the house).  When Jane Austin was writing Pride and Prejudice, she stayed in the area around Chatsworth and it is believed that the estate was the inspiration for Pemberly in the novel.  Scenes of Pemberly in the new movie were filmed on location at Chatsworth, including my favorite, the sculpture gallery (I've written a bit more about these on the left). 

We also visited Lyme Hall which was used in the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Sadly by the time we arrived at Lyme Hall it was already closed for the evening as they were preparing for an open air play later in the evening.

In addition to the Estates of the Peak District, we visited Cubar Edge, a stunning line of cliffs, where we enjoyed playing the part of Elizabeth standing on the edge overlooking the valley.

The next day we drove north into the Lake District, which is famous for its small, quaint towns and idyllic scenery.  The Lake District was the inspiration for many of the romantic poets being "discovered" in the late 1700's as a fashionable place to stay. Due to the weather, it was difficult to photograph the beauty of the area, but that allowed us to simply soak it in without feeling that we must capture it.

The first town of any size in the lake district is Kendal and we stopped there to get tourist information and stock up on our new favorite British food - the Kendal Mint Cake (think peppermint patty only firmer and with more peppermint flavor).  We then rode a 16 car ferry across Lake Windermere to visit the home of Beatrix Potter (author of the Peter Rabbit tales) and had a delightful lunch in Hawkshead.  As we continued up the western side of Lake Windermere to Ambleside and Grassmere we stopped at two homes owned by William Woodsworth (famous romantic poet), Dove cottage and Rydal Mount.

Driving north along Derwent Water (all the lakes in the lake district are known as waters, except lake Windermere) we finished our day at Castlerigg stone circle.  The circle consists of 38 stones in a circle of approx 90ft diameter with the tallest stone about 6 feet.  The setting is magnificent with 360 degree views and a few wondering sheep.

Photos from other areas in my trip trough England