HADDON HALL AND BAKEWELL PUDDING

I took my mum to see Haddon Hall the other day. Located on a bend of the River Wye a couple of miles from Bakewell in Derbyshire, it is one of the best preserved fortified manor houses in the country. Parts of it date back to the twelfth century, and there are mediaeval rooms, replete with original tapestries and lovely wooden wall-panelling. The 17th century civil war in England led to the ruin of many such homes through cannon fire; but the Manners family, Dukes of Rutland then and now, were influential in the Peak District area, and somehow managed to stay neutral. However, after they decided to concentrate their energies on the ducal seat, the much larger Belvoir Castle, Haddon Hall fell into disuse. The house and gardens were not finally restored until the 1920's.

Some old castles are a bit disappointing, either because there is not much to see, or because there are too many people trying to see it at the same time. But Haddon is a bit off the beaten track, and there is a lot to see. The chapel, with newly rediscovered frescoes (Reformation Protestants took exception to painting in churches and whitewashed over them), the hall, the kitchens, the master bedroom, the dining room, an upstairs walking gallery (so-called, because it was here that Elizabethan women took their exercise), and lovely terraced rose gardens overlooking the river. There was also a great video on how to cook food in Tudor times, and which explained the origin of the expression "to eat humble pie". The humbles are apparently the innards of a deer, which used to be put in a pie and eaten by the servants, while the rich folk ate the venison. You learn something every day ....

Afterwards, my mum took me for tea in Bakewell, a lovely old market town in the heart of the Derbyshire Dales, which still has many well-preserved stone buildings. In the bakery where the first Bakewell pudding was made, I had a cream tea consisting of tea, scone with butter, jam and cream, and one of these puddings. They are made of flaky pastry with a layer of jam, and an egg and almond filling that sets like custard (the better known Bakewell tart, which in fact originates from America, is a sort of pre-fab version). It was more than a bit piggy, not least because I also had half of my mum's. But you should be allowed to be piggy once in a while, particularly if you have done some serious historical studying beforehand.

Walter Blotscher