Hardwick Hall is the ancestral home of Bess of Hardwick, I visited this English Heritage site in Derbyshire on my journey back from Yorkshire, where I had a cup of tea . I was unable to visit the National Trust owned New Hardwick Hall because of its limited opening times. However the older one was most impressive. I saw a photograph from 1910 which showed a sculpture above the fireplace (still intact) of a large man similar to the ghost in Oscar Wilde's short story the Canterville Ghost. It was obviously being repaired because it was coated in a white plaster type material. But it was still very eerie and I expected it to come to life any moment!
You are visiting some of my fave places, Benjamin. Both halls are fantastic, for different reasons. What a woman Bess was! :-)
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