The town is called "Beeley". Don't know if it has a pub - I guess I'll find out when I get there.

I met an older couple from Sheffield on a cruise last year and they said Beeley is very small but the countryside is beautiful.

A few more questions:

How do I rent a car for the day? Are there rental counters at the Chesterfield train station? Do I need to take the train to a larger station (Sheffield? Manchester?) Can I make reservations?

Thanks for all the help.

I just checked the www.city-visitor.com website and they list several rental agencies including Sixt, Enterprise and Kenning which are all majors. Even if the location is not at the train station, many firms will deliver a car to you.

There is at least one pub -- the Devonshire Arms. Beeley is VERY close to Chatsworth so you could even walk there from the village

And here is a lovely B&B right in the village www.foldfarmbeeley.co.uk/ffgallery.htm

twodanes:

Does Beeley have a pub? The Devonshire Arms is famous the length and breadth of the Peak District. You absolutely must restrict your drinking to its real beer, for which it really does have a near-national reputation.

The direct walk from it to Chatsworth is OK: the roundabout route at www.cressbrook.co.uk/walks/walk02.htm takes you up to the hill where the hunting tower (the oldest bit of the estate) overlooks the Emperor Fountain - a several hundred foot long spectacle.

If you want to hire a car, you really must book ahead: car hire is in the area. Don't come in from the Manchester side unless you're planning a specific trip: traffic can be a real pain.

johnj:

Can you walk along the Derwent? I'm vague on the local rivers, but there's a very pleasant 20-30 min walk from the House to downtown Baslow, and at one point you do walk along a river. I wouldn't want to do it carrying a full cricket kit bag, so get the team bus to drop you at the House and take the kit on to the ground.

Is it one of the finest stately homes? Personally, I'd say "fine stately home" is a contradiction in terms, and who's got the right to define "finest" anyway? It's among the 2-3 most visited, and unlike its best-known rival, Blenheim, it's not hideously ugly. If you want to see one of these embarrassing monuments to unearned wealth, Chatsworth's as good as any. Less grudgingly, it really would be perverse to visit the area and not see Chatsworth.

Incidentally if after visiting it you get the Mitford bug, it's worth knowing that Swinbrook in Oxfordshire, where the girls mostly grew up, and where several are now buried, probably has England's loveliest cricket ground.

Oldie:

Oops. Quite right. See how Mr Kipling ads corrupt us all.

twodanes:

I meant to type: "If you want to hire a car, you really must book ahead: car hire is eccentric in the area"

Thanks Flanner

the ground at Baslow is at the nether end adjacent to the derwent which flows south towards Chatsworth.The Baslow ground is on the chatsworth estate and quite close to the flash Cavendish hotel.Of course we won't be staying there but rather a fawlty towers place in West Bridgford...do you know Notts at all? Have you been to Eastwood ...D H Lawrence?

My plan is to drive up in our coach up the derwent valley via Matlock and Bakewell...do a quick look at Chatsworth with an emphasis on colonial exploitation..and then go up to Baslow and beat the hell out of the local XI and drink their bar dry....then sing coarse rugby songs etc on the coach back to notts via chesterfield and the M1.

I am partial to a daily walk (often around the island) so I will send the group on and take the walk north to Baslow CC.

We won't be going to Oxforshire...fixtures centred around Manchester (Westleigh,Earby,Marple,Grinsargh)
Notts
(Edwinstowe,Clay Cross,Baslow,Kimberley)
London
(Dulwich college,Old Hamptonians, Hambledon,Knebworth,)