Hardwick Hall & Haddon Hall

A very early start at 7 am this morning! Off again on the train for about 2 hours to get to some more old houses where royalty or the really wealthy lived. Don’t get me wrong they are all very interesting but all the history and a lot of stuff all runs together because its all very similar. Hardwick Hall actually has two houses to visit. One is the ruins of Old Hardwick and then New Hardwick. They were only built a few years apart but Old Hardwick was abandoned and just not looked after so it just deteriorated. Both houses were very grand though. Hard to imagine having that much space! I guess they lived with a lot more people though like servants and cooks so it wouldn’t be as lonely. New Hardwick is one of the first buildings with that many windows in the structure though. The way I like to live. The ceilings were also about 30 ft high which amazes me. So much space!
Haddon Hall was our last stop but a very beautiful tudor building! Movies like Pride and Prejudice and Princess Bride were filmed there. My favorite part of the tour was the back garden which was full of beautiful roses and all sorts of flowers! The back of house was very pretty also with creepers and flowers up the walls and just very beautiful. Its is hard to imagine that long ago and see that they had these beautiful structures and to get an idea of how they would cook and function in the Medieval Period.
We had a bit of a glitch on the ride home. We had a long day on Tuesday so everyone was anxious to get home and be home a little earlier on Wednesday night but a little too anxious. We got on the train just before ours on the same platform and ended up in Bristol, two hours outside of London! I had fallen asleep and woke up ready to be back in London but instead found out we were headed to Bristol so I wasn’t very happy especially since I just woke up but it ended up being a fun ride. Just took about 3 hours longer than we thought to get home. Mom, I heard you were excited I was there because of your mission but I’m sorry to say all I saw was the train station. We arrived home safely and very tired. The end? Haha