The family home of Lord and Lady Cavendish, Holker Hall, near Grange-over-Sands, is a magnificent house set in beautiful gardens. On a bright sunny day it is difficult to decide whether to explore the gardens first or the house. Opting for the gardens we wandered past scarlet masses of rhododendrons and beside the cascade, with its statue of Neptune, before lingering beside the massed daffodils beneath the trees. The gardens have a staff of no less than five full time gardeners, which gives some idea of how much there is to see. Gardening enthusiasts will enjoy the booklet which, although entitled "The Garden Walks", in fact includes much detailed information on the plants and trees to be found. There is also the Holker Hall Garden Festival which is staged every June. But somehow gardens are just that bit more enjoyable when you have them to yourself - after all that's how they were intended to be seen - so skip the crowds, be a lord and lady and wander off, the house can wait 'til later. Reluctantly going inside, as it was still brilliantly sunny outside, we wandered round the library, the drawing room, the billiards room and the drawing room. You can truly wander here as unusually visitors are not constrained into queues by ropes and forbidding notices. Then passing beneath an archway of polished limestone, we climbed the cantilevered oak staircase. While downstairs one can envy the lifestyle and fantasise about sitting on one of the Chippendale chairs and dining at the polished table, upstairs is different. Of course it's still magnificent, but for all the canopied drapes and opulence one gets the hint that it might not have been quite as comfortable. Although records show there has been a house on this site from the beginning of the sixteenth century, the present house is the result of many additions and improvements, especially the distinctive Gothic character of the tall chimneys, gables and windows which were added around 1840. The west wing however was built after a disastrous fire destroyed the whole of this area in 1871. The name Cavendish sounds familiar to anyone who knows the Peak District and indeed Lord George Augustus Cavendish, who inherited Holker Hall, was a great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Devonshire. Holker is also noted for its motor museum and the deer park, with its herd of fallow deer, as well as a programme of plays and concerts. There is a cafe and shop.
Tel: 015395 58328