Revisiting Melbourne Hall Gardens

It's a year or two since we've visited Melbourne Hall Gardens, and, although we keep saying we'll go back, somehow we've not ended up there. Last weekend though, to coincide with the weekend of  Melbourne Art Trail, the gardens were open at half-price, and we couldn't turn down the offer.













With the streets outside so busy, I was surprised to find the gardens almost empty. It's a good way to see these gardens because they're designed to be calm and tranquil, with lots of grassy walks and gentle fountains; a place best appreciated without hoards of visitors.

From the Hall, terraced lawns lead down to a pond with view of the wider parkland beyond.




























Flower gardens and shrubberies are hidden away to one side, and looking splendid at the moment

Almost everywhere there's the sound of fountains; their water trickling into ponds where swans and ornamental ducks swim

And at the furthest point of the garden there's a small petting zoo with pygmy goats, pigs, sheep and alpacas. This guy was obviously feeling starved of attention when we visited :)

Staycation part 2 - August (and a little of September) at home

Haddon Hall

Summer has somehow managed to come and go without me really having noticed it and although I'm still hoping for a weekend away with some (hopefully) warm autumnal sun, with our living-at-home daughter off in Italy for what seemed like most of the month (it wasn't really) I decided it was time to fall back on the staycation plan, trying to find things to do and places to visit on my doorstep. After all, plenty of people come to Derbyshire for holidays, to see the countryside, visit the stately homes etc, so as a local I should be able to find even more to do, shouldn't I?

Greenhill, Wirksworth

It turned out, as I might honestly have expected, that the problem wasn't finding places to visit but time to actually get round to it. When you're at home, the day to day routine of housework, laundry, and grocery shopping is much harder to ignore, and then there was a much more dramatic interruption from a stomach bug that laid me low for a week (!). Also there's less inclination to go out and about on a wet day. On holiday, I'd put on a waterproof jacket and go and throw stones at the sea, or hang around a local museum/art gallery/tea room, but at home there's less incentive to risk getting soaked.

Melbourne Hall

Another difference when you're away from home is that you're up and out early in the morning, busy doing something all day, then stay out till the sun sets. Even attempting to do that at home failed. A couple of days we managed to pull in two things but never did the 'stay out for the whole day' thing.


In the end, I'm not sure this really worked as a 'holiday' but it did certainly get us out and about a lot more than otherwise, and particularly had us exploring places which were new to us despite being on the doorstep!

House Style Exhibition at Chatsworth

Anyway over the past month we've been to stately homes and gardens - Haddon Hall (location for the films of The Princess Bride, and Jane Eyre) and Melbourne Hall (home of Queen Victoria's Lord M) - looked at, and played with, an interactive mechanical art exhibition at Haddon, seen the most fantastic clothing at Chatsworth, gone walking at Shipley Park, Kedleston and along the Great Northern Greenway, admired the vast collection of rhododendrons at Darley Park, and explored the small market town of Wirksworth. 

Playing with mechanical sculptures

It's been a busy and enjoyable few weeks, and we've certainly discovered a lot of fascinating places all within an hour of home, but, sadly, it's not really felt like a holiday. I think for that I should have walked away from the household chores completely for a couple of days,been out of the house by 10 as if staying in B+B accommodation, and stayed out in the evening, eating fish and chips somewhere outdoors. Next time my daughter's away for a long weekend I might try just that!

Just some of over 500
 varieties of rhododendron at Darley Park

Melbourne Hall and gardens

Bank Holiday Monday dawned bright and sunny so we decided to seize the day and visit Melbourne Hall just south of Derby. Despite it being quite close by - less than half an hour from home - we'd never been before, but my staycation project is all about finding new and interesting things to do on my doorstep, so off we went.

If it hadn't been for all the cars trying to park by the hall, visiting Melbourne itself would have felt like stepping back in time, but even with modern intrusions it's easy to imagine a bustling market town of a couple of hundred years ago.

View from Hall entrance

The Hall itself sits right on the main street but the entrance is down a small lane from which a view of Melbourne Pool opens up.

From the house terraced lawns lead to the pond and its 'birdcage' gazebo, but paths lead further away, through specimen trees to other smaller ponds, with a variety of statues and urns to discover on the way.

With plenty of seats it was easy to find a spot to sit for a while, either in sun or shade, to watch the ripples make and break patterns on the pond surface, watch the swans, or try to spot fish. It would be a lovely tranquil place but for one unavoidable modern-day intrusion - regular flights to and from nearby East Midlands airport; another time I'd visit on hopefully quieter non-holiday day.