a day out at the buxton festival and filming at lyme park

By Catherine Jones on Jul 13, 10 12:20 PM

Sometimes I can go weeks before I realise I haven't left the city environs, so last Thursday I accepted an invitation to spend the day at the Buxton Festival.
Amazingly, I've never been to Buxton but I plan to go back now - it seems like a lovely little town, and even if you don't want to drive, which I didn't (Sir Ranulph Fiennes no less, taking part in a literature event at the festival revealed he'd been playing cat and mouse with parking wardens), it's easy to get there by train with a change at Picadilly.

In the course of 12 hours I managed to sit in on a fascinating question and answer session with Sir "Ran", Amazon adventurer Robin Hanbury-Tenison and Gobi Desert pioneer John Hare; take a walking tour of the town with an ex-concert pianist/dairy farmer; enjoy a leisurely lunch at the Pavilion (following a toated teacake and an icecream at other establishments over the morning!); attend a Festival Fringe event in the cellars of the Old Hall Hotel; write a poem and win myself a very strong G&T from the Hendrick's gin train, attend a drinks reception and then round it all off with a trip to the Opera House for the Barber of Baghdad.
Phew!
The next morning I got up (albeit with a faint headache - gin and champagne not the best combination, but cured by a hotel cooked breakfast!) and went on a visit to Lyme Park at Disley.
You'll know it best as "Pemberley" in Pride and Prejudice where Colin Firth wandered round in a wet shirt a lot.
They were filming there last week too, not Jane Austen, but a supernatural thriller called The Awakening starring Imelda Staunton, Rebecca Hall and The Wire's Dominic West - the latter of whom I think caused me to miss my train when my taxi was prevented from using the exit drive because of filming. Dom, you owe me one!
Now it's back to Liverpool with just as much going on here this week including the Tate getting a Freedom of the Rolls gong from the city tomorrow among a myriad of announcements, launches and events.
And I wouldn't have it any other way!
Incidently, Black Box theatre boss Ian Moore is taking his new play The Inconsistent Whisper of Insanity to the Buxton Fringe next week. If anyone is going, please drop in and give him a bit of support......