09.05.2022, 00:00 A.M.
As Irish Georgians will be aware, our first Country House tour with the 20-Ghost was to Oxfordshire in 1978, and these tours are now a firm fixture in the annual calendar of both societies. This year’s tour will be in Derbyshire, last visited together 39 years ago (1983!), and all agreed that it is certainly time for a return visit. This event is most welcome, it being three years since the last one, North West Ireland in 2019.
Derbyshire is known for being the county with some of the greatest houses in the land. As always, a number of the houses we will be visiting are still in private hands – many of them for centuries. The itinerary is not finalised at the time of writing this, so things are still somewhat fluid. So far we have concentrated on lining up the less well known houses and the tour is expected to include Melbourne Hall, Staunton Harold Hall, Tissington Hall, Renishaw Hall, Locko Park, Radbourne Hall and Wootton Hall. Others are in the pipeline, and members should remember that the itinerary is subject to change as details are confirmed. We are not including a visit to Chatsworth during the tour, as it is expected that most members will have visited the house and gardens in the past. However, you might like to consider a visit either side of the established tour. In view of the large number of houses to be visited, at a slightly slower place than previous tours – and the logistics involved – it has been decided to start the tour immediately after breakfast on Tuesday 10th May, and to finish as usual in the late afternoon on Friday 13th May. More precise details will be sent to all those booked on the tour when the arrangements and itinerary have been confirmed. As always, our transport with be provided by the magnificent pre-1939 Rolls Royces of the 20 Ghost Club.
The tour will be based at the Breadsall Priory Hotel, Moor Road, Morley, Derby DE7 6DL. The hotel is approx 5 miles north of Derby. To quote from the hotel’s website: “Nowhere does the allure of history meet modern comforts more elegantly”. We shall see!