Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
~Oscar Wilde ~
I thought for a change you could share a walk I took Thursday afternoon. It has been some years since we visited this place and to say its only a 20 minute drive away we were surprised at the changes and improvements made, as the National Trust has injected much into its upkeep for public viewing with the help of lottery funding. I will share a little of our English Heritage with you this morning. So I hope you all enjoy your walk with me into our Historic Places around Great Britain,
Hardwick Hall was created by the formidable Bess of Hardwick
in the late 1500’s, She was said to be the richest woman in England after Queen Elizabeth I. Bess was married four times and she was also a gifted needlewoman who worked on some of the famous tapestries which hang and are preserved today.
Hardwick Hall is still a working Farm and around the grounds are some wonderful walks which take you down to the lower parklands where a series of small ponds in tiers are full of fish and wonderful water lilies.
I took pictures of the view and of a wonderful Field in the distance which I managed to magnify with my camera full of poppies.
I always find that a walk clears the head, and when you get such wonderful weather as this week has been after the terrible Summer of rain here in the UK, you have to make the most of your garden and free time to enjoy the countryside and fresh air.
The Hall itself is surrounded by a terrace row of Cottages, which house tenants and labourers of Hardwick Hall.
It brought home once again the vast differences in the Rich and Wealthy of those bygone days as the Hall is lavishly styled with a great Hall and furnishings Many more images can be found here, as now the Hall is also used for Wedding Venues.
Below are more photos of my afternoon walk. I hope you enjoyed a little History Lesson too..
But out of all of these wonderful trappings of Human Riches, we still come with nothing and leave with only that which we have in our hearts..
While Bess left a legacy of Bricks and Mortar and furnishings. It still all past to the state, as it remained in her family until the 1956 when it was handed over to Her Majesty’s Treasury in Lieu of Estate Duty.. As the Wealthy Have a Huge amount of Death Tax Duty to pay. Hardwick Hall was handed over to the Treasury to pay off this Tax debt. And it was then handed over to the National Trust in 1959.
Many Dukes and Duchesses have nearly lost their stately homes to pay these extraordinary High Death Taxes, Chatsworth House another grand Stately home, a place close to my heart as I used to live only a few miles from it when growing up and spent much time walking in its grounds. This wonderful Stately Home nearly fell foul to death duty taxes also, but due to opening its doors to the public it has become a success story in its own right Thanks to the previous Duke and Duchesses who turned it around so they didn’t loose everything.
As a foot note here Hardwick Hall was used in the Filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt1 and Pt2, in the Scenes of Malfoy Manor. And Chatsworth house is the setting for that wonderful
Film The Duchess with Keira Knightley fame as Georgina Cavendish the Duchess of Devonshire.
Here are more of my photo’s Forgive the repetition of some, but somehow the thumbnails got added to the slide show.. Wishing you all a Sunny Relaxing Weekend. And to end with, here is another Great Quote from Red Cloud.
” I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.”
— Red Cloud
Dreamwalker's Sanctuary 
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