Lyme Park Cheshire, United Kingdom

I hope you will pardon my tardiness in making blog posts but I have been a very busy, sightseeing, tourist in England.  Yesterday, 27 May 2017 I met my guide Deborah Hill proprietor of Classic British Drama Tours who has laid out the next 8 days of touring the more northerly towns of England.  We began with a short drive from my hotel in Manchester to the Town of Disley in Cheshire and the nearby Lyme Park, one of the great manor houses of England and sight of filming of the exterior scenes of the  1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice series in which Colin Firth played Mr. Darcy and Jennifer Ehle played Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen’s famous story.  Take a look at the photo of the manor house of Lyme Park across the lake and you may understand why Elizabeth said that it was her first view of “Pemberley” which helped her realize that she was in love with Mr. Darcy.  In 1346 King Edward III made a grant to Sir Thomas Danyers for his service in rescuing the standard (battle flag) of his son, Edward The Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy.  The estate of Lyme Park passed to the Legh family in 1388 and remained in that family until 1946 when after 600 years it was given to The National Trust.  The house dates from the later 16th century although numerous additions and alterations were made over the centuries.  Deborah and I had a lovely walk over the beautiful grounds of Lyme Park before making a detailed tour of the house itself.  Deborah possesses an extensive knowledge of English history which forms the foundation for the lively and informative comments and descriptions she is able to make concerning the grounds, the house and it’s gorgeous art works, carvings, sculptures, furniture, books, workmanship and architecture.  I hope you enjoy the attached few photos which are a small sample of the many that I took yesterday.  Hooray for digital photography!!

View of the manor house of Lyme Park as seen by Elizabeth Bennett as her first sight of “Pemberley.”