Random thoughts and photos of my journey through life…
I am busy again due to last minute unexpected visitors! We will be going out for a meal which will give me a challenge in choosing some healthy options. I can’t go spoiling my weight loss plans so soon can I?
So for now I shall leave you with another of my Corel Painter Essentials experiments.
16 Comments CherryPie on Aug 11th 2010
The new hall as you can see is even more magnificent than the old Hall. It was built in the 1590s and has remained unchanged since. The silhouetted initials ES that adorn the top of the building are for Elizabeth Countess of Shrewsbury who was better know as Bess of Hardwick.
The National Trust guidebook describes the hall as perhaps the most perfect of all the Elizabethan ‘prodigy houses’.
To design it, Bess chose the greatly gifted Robert Smythson, a mason by training but one of the first Englishmen to be described as ‘architect’; and she poored a lifetime of her own experience of building into the project. The exterior is relatively plain; what makes Hardwick unforgettable is it’s height and symmetry, the everchanging silhouette of its six towers, and the huge expanses of window glass that glitter magically on a sunny evening and inspired the famous rhyme, ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’.
You might not the similarity of style to Burton Agnes Hall which was also designed by Robert Smythson.
2 Comments CherryPie on Aug 11th 2010
I have already shown you the view towards Chatsworth in this previous post so today I will show you the other viewpoints from the house:
10 Comments CherryPie on Aug 10th 2010
Last week a blue envelope with a large ‘18′ printed on it landed on my doormat. It was an invitation to my nephew’s 18th birthday party later this month.
Now where did all those years go? It only seems like yesterday when he was a baby sitting on my Dad’s knee enthralled by him explaining the ‘Theory of Relativity’. I am not sure how much of that he took in though 
I was going to share a particular photograph with you, but it seems to be hiding in my box of photo memories so perhaps that just wasn’t meant to be.
24 Comments CherryPie on Aug 9th 2010
Green is the prime colour of the world and that from which its loveliness arises.
Pedro Calderon de la Barca
20 Comments CherryPie on Aug 8th 2010
The picture to the left shows an artists impression of what the Hill Great Chamber would have looked like, showing clearly that the room is full of design elements taken from ancient Roman architecture. The pictures below are taken from the roof level and you can just see the remains of the balustrade that allowed the guests to safely take advantage of the roof walk.
The fireplace wall faces west, the direction of Chatsworth, the home Bess created with her husband Sir William Cavendish. The windows to the north are facing towards Bolsover castle which was owned by her son Sir Charles Cavendish and the windows to the South face towards Wingfield manor. The later was a property of her last husband the Earl of Shrewsbury and Bess temporarily lived there whilst she built the Old Hall.
The central panel makes a point about Bess’ long life and her slow, steady rise to the top:
The winged figure is copied from a Flemish engraving, published in 1559, that shows the triumph of Patience, sitting on a carriage, over desire, who is being made to pull the carriage, and over Fortune, who has to follow behind. Like other educated Elizabethan’s Bess was familiar with symbols and signs worked into decorative schemes, and would have expected her guests to understand the reference.
If her guests knew anything about their host, they would have known that Bess had outlived four husbands and had overcome legal debts, legal challenges and political intrigue. She was confidently handing over unthinkable wealth and lands to her sons. Patience had certainly won over life’s many setbacks.
The central panel can be viewed in more detail in this previous post.
Information from the English Heritage guidebook and visitor information board situated at the hall.
16 Comments CherryPie on Aug 7th 2010
34 Comments CherryPie on Aug 6th 2010
