Chatsworth under wraps ... and of staddle stones, toads and Dryad's Saddle.

In the car park at Calton Lees there's a block of [what I hope is] Derbyshire stone in memory of the 11th Duke of Devonshire ...

  The stone acknowledges his "wish that all should enjoy Chatsworth".

From the car park a short stretch of path leads to the bridge over the Derwent ...



 Once you've walked along the short stretch of road beyond the bridge, whilst trying to avoid the traffic, you can bear left and follow the old lane that climbs steadily uphill to Beeley Hilltop ...



 Tucked against the wall of Beeley Hilltop [which paradoxically isn't at the top of the hill] are at least eight staddle stones. These were used as support for small barns or hayricks to keep the rats out ...



  A short distance beyond this old farmhouse we forked left following a concessionary which isn't marked on the OS Map in front of me ~ it's an old map ~ it might be on a newer one ... there was a tall gate that opened onto the moorland [to keep the deer in ... or out ?].



  The path beyond climbs up to Rabbit Warren Edge ...



 I think I can say I have never seen a rabbit hereabouts. 

Once we'd negotiated the very high step stiles, we followed the gravel track through Bunker's Hill Wood ...



There are two Robin Hoods in Derbyshire, one ten or twelve miles away near Whatstandwell and the other one near Baslow on the far side of Chatsworth ...



 We were aiming in the general direction of the latter. The track through the wood continued ...



 We reached Swiss Lake ... and you can just make out Swiss Cottage on the far side in a couple of the photographs below ...







  The track we were on then leads to the Emperor Lake, so named as it provides the water for the Emperor Fountain in the gardens of Chatsworth House, far below. We walked around the edge of Emperor Lake ...



 I'd never been this way before and so was surprised to find that the path brought us out next to a pond overlooking the gardens ...



 As I stepped around the stones at the side of the pond, looking to get a better photo of the gardens below, I stopped just before taking the next step ...



  I had to go down to a lower level to get a shot of the water falling off the end of the stone garden feature ...



 A rotting tree stump provided a home for some Dryad's Saddle [Polyporus Squamosus] ...


  
It seems these may be edible [but don't take my word for it] ... see here ...

 A couple of years ago anyone making a special trip to see Chatsworth House would have been disappointed. Heck, we only live five miles away and we were ...



  We crossed the still waters of the River Derwent again ...



 ... and got another view of Chatsworth House. There were two sides covered in sheeting !



  The path sticks very close to the river in some places ...



 The weir was really noisy ... you've been warned !
 


   I always enjoy watching herons ... usually they take off. 



 We passed the old sawmill ...



 ... and finished with a look at the road bridge we crossed a few hours earlier. I have always believed that the metal grille hanging below the bridge is to keep the deer in ...



 This walk was followed on the 24th April 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 4.86 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 135.91 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 24th April 2011 ~ 663.96 miles

  30 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just over 4.5 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap 

Chatsworth ~ two more sculptures ... and a wooden seat.

I'm just about finished with the photographs I took at Chatsworth in September of this year. 

There are some sculptures that are permanent and there are some seats that are probably less though. 

Here are two examples of the former and one of the latter ...

 



 

Quite a contrast between the three pieces but I rather like them all though my particular favourite is the one in the middle.

An excellent piece of design ...

Whilst wandering around the garden at Chatsworth a couple of months ago I discovered the most impressive bench rather tucked away from the paths.

If you look at it straight on you can see straight through it ...

Initially I didn't latch on to what it was. Then I got nearer and thought what an interesting feature ...



Eventually I realised this is a bench or seat [I can be slow] ...



If I had had more time I would have taken more photographs, it was just so pleasing to the eye ...



One of the best things about it is that it's great to sit upon.

It was designed by Corin Mellor.

I think it's more interesting than some of the sculptures I've seen in the grounds at Chatsworth.

Laura Ellen Bacon ... at Chatsworth

I've posted some photographs of Laura Ellen Bacon's work before. Here are a few more ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond 'Beyond Limits' ...

Here are a few more features I saw when I was at Chatsworth a couple of months ago.

The first is a fan of a Rolls Royce jet engine ...

 

... it needs a duster running round it !

After the Conservative Wall I included in a recent blog here's a more modern greenhouse built in 1970 ...



Here's the same greenhouse beside a more traditional greenhouse on the right and the Conservative Wall in the background ...



After discovering the gravestone in memory of the tame red deer earlier in the day I then noticed another gravestone erected in memory of Smut, Grandpa ... and others ...



Smut and Grandpa etc appear to have lived for 12 to 15 years so I assume they are dogs.

Then on its own nearby was a stone in memory of Portly who was born in 1951 and died in 1962 ...

 

Why Portly was buried on his or her own I don't know. What Portly was I don't know.

A bit of a mish-mash of photographs but it gives you an idea as to the variety in the garden at Chatsworth. You could easily spend an hour or two looking around. They're worth a visit but even more so when the Beyond Limits exhibition is on. Then you can spend a couple of hours just looking at the sculptures in that exhibition.

The Conservative Wall !

The Conservative Wall is at Chatsworth ...

... and I can do no better than show you the information panel [in Chatsworth blue rather than Conservative blue presumably] that explains why it is so called.

An unnamed sculpture ... at Chatsworth

Still on the topic of what else I saw at Chatsworth [other than Barry Flanagan's sculptures] I'm moving on to an unusual piece.

 There was no name on it or near it and having done a search in Google I could find out nothing about it. Perhaps I will have to buy the Chatsworth guidebook.

It's a slightly unattractive piece to me almost as though all the meat has been boiled off the head of an ox and then the skull has been rammed on a post ...

It's a strong piece though. Heavy and uncompromising.

It's stuck between two ends of a hedge behind a seat ...



That may well be the best position for it from a Health and Safety aspect, of course.