This was a trip that was organised through a short course I was attending at Derby University. The purpose was to give the people on the course the chance to practice their photo skills on a location other than the university grounds. It being October, we weren’t exactly hoping for a bright sunny day, which is just as well because we didn’t get one!
Keddleston Hall (or Keddy Hall as it’s known by us locals) was yet another place of interest that’s on my doorstep that I’d never visited, so I was glad to be getting the chance through this course. Due to the limited budget of the course, we didn’t get the chance to go inside the hall and have a look round though, so we made the most of the gardens and grounds to get trigger happy with our shutters.
There’s certainly plenty of room to roam about here, with an extensive lawn stretching into fields and woodlands at the back of the house. After a group session, we were set loose to do our thing and explore the grounds at the rear of the house. There were people of varying skills on the course, so a lot of the time was spent helping others in the group with any camera queries they had and trying to figure out how to work cameras other than mine!
After a couple of hours we stopped for lunch, and although some had brought theirs with them, we decided to eat in the restaurant on site, which although expensive, was bloomin’ tasty! We plotted our plans for the rest of the afternoon and decided to walk one of the trails that are available around the grounds here. Opting for the one that took us around one of the lakes in front of the house as it seemed a bit more picturesque.
What should have been a relatively short walk turned into a lengthy one due to all the stops so that everyone could take photos of the same thing! It’s a pleasant walk here, even though it was cloudy and grey. I’d imagine it’s massively improved if the weather’s not as grim.
Again, a place that I would like to go back to and to see more of it now that I know a little about the property and grounds.
Additional Info:
Wikipedia
National Trust
Peak District Information
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