Chatsworth at Christmas: Part 1

Every year Chatsworth House in Derbyshire sets up for Christmas. They make a pretty big deal of it holding events from mid-November onwards. The best parts always sounded to me like the Christmas Market (I love christmas markets, as you are may be beginning to realise) and the Christmas trees.

The Christmas trees you say? Yes, the trees. Every year Chatsworth takes in around 80 Christmas trees and decorates them all around the house. They have a theme each year and I was desperate to go last year to see the Villains and Dames of Pantomime theme and didn't make it, so this year I was determined, because you see this year, it was Narnia.

No way was I going to miss out on Narnia brought to life in my favourite stately home, this book lover was getting herself there no matter what. So we booked some time off work, and on the first friday that the christmas market was open we took a drive to Derbyshire.




The weather was a bit grey, but the market was lovely, this happy chappy serenaded us all with with some lovely organ music while we grabbed some hot drinks and started to wander around.



We definitely made the right choice going on the friday, it was busy but wasn't so crowded that you could get a good look at the items.



We bought copious amounts of handmade fudge, there were so many varieties to choose from!



Plenty of biscuits for christmas presents



And J spent a bit of time trying out some chilli jam from the Chilli Jam Man and eventually bought a couple of pots home.



I wish I had grabbed some of these sausage rolls. There were so many varieties and all named after medieval kings and queens.



I finally got to try Churros, which I quickly decided were much better without the chocolate, but better than sugared doughnuts as they are much easier to eat.





We had a quick nosey around the house shops, considered having afternoon tea in the posh restaurant but decided against it, and I had to take a couple of pictures of the mini fountain in the courtyard, it had ducks swimming in it!



We started to make our way up to the main entrance of the house so that we could start the Narnia experience, and passed the Whomping Willow's extended family on the way!



As you entered it was all set up like an old undergrounds station, and evacuees were directed to follow the arrows. Once in the house you encountered your first themed tree.



I am kicking myself for not having a better shot of this, my skills at taking long-exposure shots have a long way to go and they all came out blurry, but the corridor was beautifully decorated, and the wardrobe was waiting at the end, filled with coats.



Next, we were in Narnia!



Check back on Sunday for Part 2, but in the mean time, details about Narnia and other Christmas events at Chatsworth can be found on Chatsworth's events page.