Peak District Day 2 - Robin Hood's Stride, Nine Ladies Stone Circle & Haddon Hall
Day 2 was cloudy and sometimes misty. It wasn't great but didn't stop us from hiking. Our first walk was to Robin Hood's Stride, a formation of broken gritstone rocks on Hartle Moor.
Look, four deer over there!!
Here we arrived at Robin Hood's Stride. There is a pinnacle at either end of the formation. According to a legend, the distance between the two pinnacles was equal to the length of Robin Hood's step or stride. Well, it's about 15 meters. Robin Hood must have had loooooooong legs.
This was the exact spot and the primary reason why we came here. It was where Westley and Fezzik fight in one of J's favorite films, Princess Bride!
We were able to see Buttercup's farm from there, too!
We went back to a cute little village called Birchover that we parked our car, and started immediately another walk from the village to the opposite direction to see Nine Ladies, an early bronze age stone circle. The path went through Stanton Moor. The place must be so beautiful when the heather flowers are in bloom!
Sheep were hiding (almost) in the moor. Baaa
The Nine Ladies stone circle was situated in the tranquillity of the moor. It's believed to depict nine ladies turned to stone as a penalty for dancing on the Sabbath (by most Christians on Sunday) to a fiddler. Actually there were ten stones in the circle although the tenth has fallen and now lies flat.
This was the fiddler, or the King Stone. He was also turned to stone. According to English Heritage, little evidence has been uncovered to suggest why or when this stone circle was built and how it was used. There are several suggestions such as a place for burial, ceremony or seasonal meetings, a territorial marker, a perceived link between the earth and the sky, etc., but I would like to leave it a mystery.
We met fluffy alpacas in a farm in Birchover.
We walked a lot in the morning. It was time to recharge. We drove to the Manners, a pub in the town of Bakewell. We don't often go to a pub, but they have received many good reviews. So, why not? J had a pint of beer and I had tea. We both had beef burgers and chips. Food wasn't bad at all. The seating area wasn't crowded. It was a nice lunch indeed!
No more hiking in the afternoon. Instead we visited Haddon Hall, a fortified medieval manor house.
It was another filming location of Princess Bride. It was also a filming location for the Priory School of the Granada series: Sherlock Holmes! In fact a new filming was carried out on the day we visited. We saw a couple of people who looked like actors wearing costumes from old times although we didn't recognize them.
The origins of Haddon Hall date back to the 11th century, just after the Norman Conquest. At that time the manor of Haddon belonged to William Peverel, known as a Norman Knight. The hall was forfeited to the Crown in the 12th century, and passed to William Avenal, a tenant of the Peverels. In the 13th century, the hall was acquired by Richard Vernon, who had married Avenal's daughter. The Vernon family built most of the buildings of the hall. In the 16th century, a younger daughter of Sir George Vernon, Dorothy married to John Manners, the second son of the Earl of Rutland. Since then, the Hall has been in the hands of the Manners family. Today it's the private residence of Lord Edward Manners whose brother is the 11th Duke of Rutland. We just saw medieval monuments of the Vernon and Manners in the church in Bakewell a day before. How interesting to find connections between the church and the hall!
Because of the filming operation, we were offered a free guided tour. The guide told us all we saw in the hall are from medieval times, including Tudor, Jacobean and Elizabethan. The Manners family didn't use the hall very much for 200 years, between the 18th and 19th centuries. It kept the hall away from modernization. That's why many original early features has survived. The tour started with St. Nicholas Chapel that had extraordinary 14th century wall paintings, fresco seccos.
Banqueting Hall was the entrance to the medieval home. One of the oldest French tapestry in England welcomed us. It was a gift to the Vernon family from King Henry VIII.
Long Gallery was impressive even though there were less furniture than usual due to the filming activities. The diamond window panes set at different angles were to maximize the amount of daylight entering. The lightened oak panelling also helps make the room brighten.
The boars head and the peacock, the emblems of the Vernon and Manners family were spotted here and there.
More tapestries! Although a fire in 1925 completely destroyed nearly 60 pieces, the hall still houses a magnificent collection of English, Flemish and French tapestries.
Dining Room had remarkable red and black ceiling decorations including Tudor Rose and Talbot Dog, and striking wall carvings such as two figures that were thought to be King Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York.
The garden was rather compact but neatly arranged.
I enjoyed the visit to Haddon Hall very much. I wouldn't mind coming back there again and take another look at details of each room!
Tea time? Yes! We came back to the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop again. We tried a Bakewell tart with fresh cream this time. Somehow I thought fresh cream meant whipped fresh cream. Actually it wasn't whipped. It was so called "pouring cream." It is fairly unique to the UK. I was very excited to pour fresh cream on my tart!
We walked around the town of Bakewell again. It was another lovely day!
To be continued...
