Culture
The Peak District has an enormous range of cultural experiences on offer you, with music venues, theatres, museums to visit, centres for arts, crafts, antiques, and so much more.
Film locations
The Peak District boasts many magnificent stately homes, several of which have been used as film locations. Chatsworth House, the real home of Georgiana, 5th Duchess of Devonshire, was used recently in the filming of The Duchess starring Keira Knightley. Five rooms at Kedleston Hall were also used and several costumes from the film are on display there.
Haddon Hall,
a medieval manor house has been used in the filming of The Other
Boleyn Girl, Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and
Jane Eyre.
Sudbury Hall with its museum of childhood was used in the filming of the TV series Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice.
The grit stone crags of Stanage Edge have been used for many famous scenes including the iconic view of Keira Knightly looking into the distance in Pride and Prejudice.
The long running TV drama, Peak Practice was filmed in many places including Crich, Ashover and Longnor.
Stately homes and gardens
For
those interested in grand houses, there are a number of stately homes to
visit such as
Chatsworth House,
Haddon Hall
and Eyam Hall,
all of which are close to Candlelight Cottage and offer a range of
special cultural events throughout the year. All have beautiful gardens
and good places to eat.
Annual events at Chatsworth include horse trials, a country fair, an
outdoor sculpture exhibition, outdoor concerts and extensive Christmas
festivities.
Further afield, but within an hour’s drive are Lyme Park, Renishaw Hall, Bolsover Castle, Hardwick Hall, Kedleston Hall and Sudbury Hall.
In addition to the fantastic gardens at these stately homes, gardening enthusiasts will enjoy Biddulph Grange Garden, Dunge Valley Hidden Gardens, Lea Gardens and the Herb Garden at Hardstoft, all within easy reach of Candlelight Cottage.
Art and music festivals
During July, Buxton hosts the now world famous Buxton Arts Festival
which attracts many well known figures from the musical and literary
world. In August The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival takes
place, In February the Four Four Time Festival features the best of
rock, pop, blues, jazz and world music and a whole host of other
artistic events are held throughout the rest of the year.
The Pavilion Gardens Buxton host a wide range of fairs and events throughout the year including dances, book fairs, antique fairs, live music in the bandstand and much more besides.
For up to date events see:
- Visit Buxton
- Buxton Festival
- Buxton Opera House
- The Gilbert & Sullivan Festival
- The Ashbourne Festival
- Arts Derbyshire
Ashbourne hosts an Arts Festival and a Highland Gathering in July and the Ashbourne Show in August. The Bakewell Carnival is in July followed by the Arts Festival and Bakewell Show in early August.
Theatres, concert venues and cinemas
The theatres, concert venues and cinemas in Sheffield, Manchester, Derby and Nottingham and Chesterfield are all within easy reach of Litton.
- Sheffield City Hall - Events
- Sheffield Theatres
- Buxton Opera House
- Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
- Chesterfield Theatres
- Derby Theatres
- Nottingham Theatres
Well dressings
The
tradition of well dressing goes back to ancient times and began as a
creative way to give thanks for clean water. The custom is almost unique
to the area and takes place in over 70 villages between May and
September.
Springs and wells are decorated with beautiful pictures made entirely from flower petals, moss, berries, leaves and seeds pressed into a bed of soft clay. These pictures often depict natural, historical or biblical scenes and are made by teams of volunteers from each village. Several villages like Litton, also have a children’s well. Well dressing week or Wakes Week is often combined with a village carnival, maypole dancing and a procession of floats.
For full details and dates of well dressings in Derbyshire see welldressing.com.
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