Pride and Prejudice: Lyme Park - 27.10.08

A beautiful mansion, set into vast grounds, south of Manchester. Used as the back drop for the BBC's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the house strikes quite as pose as you approach it from a remarkably long driveway. The anticipation as you work you way through the parkland makes the building seem all the more impressive when you finally "make it". The interior is an eclectic mix of fittings and furnishings from every era, from Tudor to early 20th century, not to mention the pre-A.D souvenirs hanging from the walls. I think there has always been a tendency to want to "keep up with the Joneses", so the house possesses all that was the height of fashion throughout the ages. It was quite unlike anything I had seen before but, in a strange kind of way, it worked and certainly added to its charm. It is interesting to see how attitudes towards priceless items have changed over time; the Victorians evidently thought nothing of cutting round an x hundred year old tapestry to accommodate a light fitting or doorway.

Shannie would certainly have approved of the gardens, in all their autumnal glory, and its Victorian greenhouse conservatory.

Above is my favourite photograph of the day. It was the perfect light for capturing the building in all its glory!

Victoria Baths Restoration Project - 19.10.08

Manchester's Victorian Baths appeared on a BBC series called Restoration and was chosen, by the British public, to receive the 3 million pounds raised by the programme. The money has been put to positive use, repairing the frontage and bringing its stunning stained glass windows back to their former glory, but it is thought that the bulding will need at least another 15 million to complete the project. The future of the building still seems uncertain but the Friends of the Victoria Baths are holding out for it to be opened up to the public as a swimming facility and Turkish Baths.

Holcombe Hill with Laura - 27.09.08

The Road to Wigan Pier: 9 Mile Orwell Walk - 6.08.08

With us becoming so enthusiastic about this hiking business I thought it a good time to invest in a really sturdy pair of walking shoes, so what better way to walk them in than with a 9 mile walk. The walk we chose was listed in the AA book as a tour around Orwell country, starting in the industrial working class town of Wigan and winding along the Leeds-Liverpool canal to Haigh Hall, set out in the Lancashire countryside. I had never really thought of Wigan as a hiker's destination (my family had only ever been there to visit the Wigan Pier museum, which has now closed due to a decline in visitor numbers) but it really was lovely. I always find it amusing to see people out on their canal barge holidays, trying to navigate the endless stream of locks in the hilly regions of Britain. I had thought that 9 miles on the relative flat would be quite gentle, as I usually find steep descents to be the real killer, but it was suitably tiring and we slept well afterwards.