I haven’t seen Pemberley in seven years, and it was so good to be able to go back again! It was not the sunny day I had hoped for, but in fact the rain made it even better, because it persuaded people to go to the café instead of walking or playing on the lawn, and I could get a clear shot that might have looked like 1814 instead of 2014.

To be honest, I’m rather glad that the P&P 1995 team were not allowed to film indoors at Lyme Park. 

If you have never been there to see for yourself, all I can say is that it is beautiful and full of grandeur, but too ‘Tudor’ in some parts, too Victorian in others, and quite dark. Dark panelling, dark red tapestry. Beautifully intricate Grinling Gibbons carvings, wonderfully lifelike, but nothing of the bright, exquisite plasterwork of nearby Sudbury Hall.

And then last week I discovered yet another reason to be VERY glad they did not get to use Lyme Park for the interiors. Indoor photography is not permitted at Lyme Park, but to my great joy, I discovered that Sudbury Hall allows it! So, until you visit to take home your own hundreds of shots of outdoor and indoor Pemberley, I’d be happy to share some of mine.

For my part, I think it’s rather special that Pemberly 1995 is a magical product of imagination – a little bit from here, and a perfectly well-chosen dash from there, and another touch of artistry to make you think that a certain lake or the carriage-road are someplace where in fact they are not. 

To me, this makes it belong even more to the Darcys, and to the magical world we know and love. So now, without further ado, let’s go to Pemberley!

‘What are young men to rocks and mountains?’ Elizabeth Bennet said to her Aunt Gardiner when she was told about the planned trip to the Lakes and, joke or not, she might have had a point! 
The sights are simply amazing! If you haven’t visited the Lake District yet, have a look and judge for yourselves!

Just a few hundred yards from where the above picture was taken, there is an old inn. 

Apparently, there has always been an inn here from 1496 onwards, so when Mr. and Mrs. Darcy went to the Lake District at some point or other after their marriage – as they must have done, to make up for the trip that never happened – they might have stopped here, at Kirkstone Pass Inn. 

Or maybe they stopped here, even though it’s not on the beaten track, and it’s unlikely that they would have gone mountaineering on the nearby Crinkle Crags, no matter how much Elizabeth might have loved the wide open spaces! 
Still, it’s a lovely place, some 300 years old and converted from a dairy, the proprietor said.

The 'Rules of the Inn' are worth a read as well. There are fourteen altogether, but here are a few:

No. 4: Only coins of the realm may be tendered for the purchase of liquor. Cheques or notes of hand will not be accepted from those below the rank of Royal Duke. (So even Darcy would have had to pay hard cash!)

No 8: The following penalties may be invoked for swearing: an oath 1d, a curse 3d, a blasphemy 6d, it being for none but the proprietor to categorise.

No. 10: There may be no dicing, whether the die be fair or loaded.

No. 13: No spirituous liquors shall be served for the consumption by dogs, except before fights.

And lastly, No. 14: Seamen and travellers are invited to be moderate in the telling of tall stories, lest the credulity of the company be strained, and the King’s peace threatened.

So I suppose that with all the travellers, the dog-fighting, gambling and brawling, this might have been a bit below par for the Darcys – but wherever they might have stopped, I hope they enjoyed their trip, and were delighted with the scenery, as well as with each other!

And now I think we should follow them back to Pemberley!