England Trip

We had a lovely trip to England last month.

It was truly a dream trip for me. I have waited 16 years to be able to stay at the Hunting Tower at Chatsworth, and we finally did it! I saw it on my first visit to Chatsworth and was enchanted at the idea of staying on top of a hill in a round house overlooking the main house and the absolute gorgeous views. In this case, the pandemic helped us out, because the usually completely booked tower was available while we were internet surfing back in January 2021, so we jumped at the chance. And here we are 1.5 years later finally having completed the trip!

Chatsworth has a special place in my heart, and I also love the Peak District in general. Back when my husband and I first got married, we lived very near the Peaks and often drove out to take some country walks. It was a great activity for young, recently married people with not much money. Before I moved to England, I never ever went out on walks or hikes. It took some getting used to - especially in that you carry on no matter whether it rains or not - and also some purchasing of appropriate footwear and waterproof gear. Not to mention that I am from very flat Indiana, which makes almost any incline seem enormous. :-) But after I got some good boots and built up some stamina, I started to enjoy it. Now, when I’m away from England, I crave a good country walk. Preferably a little chilly and with a stop at a tea shop somewhere in the mix.

When we first got to England for this trip, we spent the weekend with my in-laws. They took us to a nearby nature reserve to do some birdwatching, which is an activity we are fairly new at, but are enjoying immensely! We finished up that walk with some lunch in the cute little cafe there, including coffee and hot chocolate. Perfect. Yet somehow I took no pictures of that.

Then we travelled up to Chatsworth on the Monday. When we got there, it was absolutely breathtaking - beautiful weather and a great view. We spent a lot of that first evening sitting on the steps watching as the sun slowly dip behind the trees. I wanted to tell all the ramblers who went by on the path, “Look at us! We’re staying here! This tower is ours! Can you believe it?” We even took tea out on the steps to enjoy. It was literally perfect.

The next day, we had some family photos taken, followed by lunch at the Estate Farm Shop Cafe. We agreed to eat outdoors to not wait in line, but that was ambitious of us. We got a little chilly, but you can’t beat that view!

Then we spent the afternoon touring the gardens. It was absolutely perfect fall golden light.

Can you see the Hunting Tower nestled up on the hill on the right?

The next day was reserved for a lovely country walk. We headed out around the estate, and we were greeted with gorgeous sun as we followed a path along the river, then climbed a hill, and came back down through the village of Edensor. While there, I convinced my family to stop for a hot chocolate and cake, though by that time it was pretty close to lunch. But hey, we were on vacation!

After our walk, we met my in-laws who were passing through and had lunch with them, followed by some shopping in Bakewell. It did finally rain a bit while we were in Bakewell, but nothing too intense. After they dropped us off back at Chatsworth, we hit the Chatsworth shops. To my delight, I found a Chatsworth cross-stitch sampler!! I wanted to start on it right away, but obviously hadn’t packed an embroidery hoop. So I set to Googling how to cross-stitch without a hoop, which I’ve never done. The fabric was stiff enough to make it work, and I even learned a new technique to stitch a bit faster. (I used this video, if you’re interested!)

What do I love? That all the pillows in the living room were Chatsworth themed. <3

I was desperate to finish as much as I could while still at the Tower. I wanted Chatsworth to be truly stitched into the heart of this project. By the time we left the tower, I’d added some of the blue center lines, done the first row of windows and the door, and added a sweet little heart. Since we spent every evening enjoying the Tower, I had a lot of time to work on it. We usually started with a little Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (you should play this if you haven’t yet!) and then kicked back to watch Catchphrase, and then usually followed that with some educational content about the history of Britain on TV. The living room had an electric fire, which we turned on every evening, and it really upped the cozy factor a little more.

Our last full day, we toured the house, took a short walk, and then played a little on the Kids Adventure Playground in the farmyard area. We also got modeled shots of my Halloween Hat from the top of the hill!

Friday, we woke up to some really intense rain. We ended up driving to Manchester in some pretty dodgy weather, and I was super nervous about the amount of the water on the road at several points. But we finally made it! And it was worth it, because we got to cuddle our new niece for the very first time! (She’s the one who got this quilt I made.)

We headed on out to a cottage that my in-laws had rented for our family, so we got to spend time some quality time with my in-laws and my husband’s brothers, partners, and children. We played Mario Kart, introduced them to Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, and went out for a couple of nice meals. You could also just literally walk out of the cottage and be on a gorgeous walk, so we definitely did that a couple of times!

Then it was time to head back towards Heathrow, and back home. It was a truly magnificent trip that I really enjoyed.

But I was also happy to get home to my cat. :-) I spent this past Sunday morning continuing work on my Chatsworth piece with her. I’m still going hoopless and I think I like it! I have some Aida that is just too cloth-like to do this with (I’m thinking of this Tiny Modernist Halloween Project that I’ve been working on since… 2018? LOL.), but for projects with stiffer fabric, I think I might keep rocking it with no hoop!

And that is the tale of trip. I’m glad to have little reminders like this sampler project of such wonderful family time.