A walking weekend in Pride & Prejudice country
It’s 25 years since the BBC adapted Jane Austen’s classic novel. Celebrate with a weekend on set
IT IS A truth universally acknowledged that the finest adaptation of Pride & Prejudice is this 1995 mini-series, and the scene where Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) strides from the lake at Pemberley and bumps into Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) has been declared ‘one of the most unforgettable moments in British TV history’.
You too can stroll the grounds at Pemberley – or Lyme as it’s properly known. This grand house is the largest in Cheshire and was the location chosen for Mr Darcy’s ancestral home (over the border in Derbyshire in the story, but we won’t quibble). Owned by the National Trust, it is surrounded by 1400 acres of parkland criss-crossed by footpaths, dotted with lakes, and grazed by a herd of red deer.
Other memorable scenes were shot in the Peak District too. Lizzy takes a carriage ride past the distinctive outlines of Parkhouse and Chrome Hills, before a walk up onto the Roaches which lie 12 crow-miles to the south of Lyme. You can follow her footsteps up to the gritstone ridgeline, and wander among the wind-winnowed pillars of Ramshaw Rocks where she exclaims at the beautiful view and her Aunt Gardiner implores her to take care.
It’s thought Jane Austen revised the final chapters of her novel while staying at The Rutland Arms Hotel in Bakewell, so superfans might want to stay there. Geographically, Buxton is a more convenient basecamp between the two walks and the spa town is full of Regency charm with its grand Georgian crescent recently restored.