We had breakfast with Steve and Fiona then it was off to Bolsover Castle which was a holiday home built by one of the Cavendishs and then renovated and extended by William Cavendish in the early 1600s. It was quite a place. High up on a hill above Bolsover and looking out for miles to the south. It’s a National Trust place. Most of it is ruins but there is a little castle part that was rented by the local vicar for 20 years until the 1930s. He clearly had a view about his appropriate status in the community! Goodness only knows what they did for bathrooms. But it is really interesting to see how the inside would have been decorated with wood panelling and tapestries for insulation. Not that I thought to take any photos of the inside!

William was a keen horseman and was one of the first founders of dressage. Evidently wrote books on the subject. The largest part of the place is the indoor arena where they rode, trained and stabled the horses.

We joined a midday guided tour and the guide was excellent. Then had lunch at the pub next door.

In the afternoon we went to the house of Elizabeth Hardwick. She was William Cavendish’s grandmother and had pots of money after marrying upwards and outliving each of her 4 husbands. The Duke of Shrewsbury was the last, hence her initials and coat of arms above the house (Hardwick Hall). Again it was a National Trust place. We had joined NZ Heritage for the small sum of about $70 and now get in places free.
We were too late to get into the house but could walk through the lovely gardens and enjoyed an ice cream along with loads of other families all picnicking and having fun.

Then it was off to a restaurant called the Red Lion where we had reservations for dinner. It was quite close to Hardwick Hall. I scored well with excellent Moroccan Guinea fowl for entre and lamb rack for main. Mike and Fiona had the beef and it was flavoursome but pretty dry.
We were well and truly exhausted by the time we were dropped off at our hotel. Another excellent day.