Just back from a lovely Christmas break at Scott’s, blessed with good company and relatively placid weather. On the way up to the North East we had a stopover at the Belton Woods Hotel, which was a significant improvement over our last visit. No Downtown bargain purchases though!
The Christmas trip included the obligatory Boxing Day match at the Stadium of Light, where both the home team and Bolton worked impressively hard to outdo each other in the ineptness of virtually every facet of footballing tactics and, it has to be said, ability (said the smug Blades fan).
On the way back from Sunderland, we’d booked a three night stopover in Derbyshire at the View at the White Horse in the never heard Wooley Moor. Took a bit of a flier, but proved to be an excellent inn with superb luxury accommodation (housed separately), first class food and an excellent position close to a range of attractions. We went to the Chatsworth House estate on the first day, and although it was pricey, the internal Christmas decorations were genuinely amazing. Took me a while to work out but, astonishingly, it must be close on fifty years since I last went to see the inside of Chatsworth House.
On day two, we visited Bolsover Castle, which Mrs. No Name insisted she could not remember visiting until we reached the ticket office and visitor centre, at which point she could suddenly recall everything! Still, it was worth a revisit, although the new audio guides, which also feature an extensive amount of video, are a real drain on battery life – we just made it round and didn’t major on the video; audio would suffice. Also took a trip to Hardwicke Hall, and although the new hall was closed for restoration, it was worth the visit to see the Old Hall (itself featuring temporarily restricted access) and the Bess of Hardwicke exhibition.