Chatsworth or Hardwick? Heritage train passengers spoilt for choice
A HISTORIC steam-hauled locomotive that actor Bill Nighy described as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel” is returning to Derbyshire – but this time passengers will be able to venture out to one of the county’s stately homes of their choice.
The grand day out is one of the many high-class trips offered by Northern Belle each year, enabling modern-day passengers to travel like a 20th-century aristocrat.
The upcoming sell-out journey will see the 1930s Pullman-style train depart from Norwich at 7.30am on Thursday.
Passengers have been given the chance to visit either Chatsworth House or Hardwick Hall once the train arrives in Chesterfield at around 1.10pm, where two coaches will take them to the stately home chosen prior to booking.
Champagne-sipping passengers are paying up to £700 a ticket to
The Northern Belle travel on the train which once formed part of the Orient Express. That price does include a threecourse brunch and a gourmet six-course dinner on the way home in the evening.
A Northern Belle spokesperson said: “Both Chatsworth and
Hardwick are wonderful buildings... While Chatsworth is certainly the better-known of the two, Hardwick is a stunning Elizabethan masterpiece and the formidable Bess was quite a character.
“She got through four husbands and every time they seemed to become richer until she ended up one of the most powerful women in the whole country. Hardwick was also famous as the first training base for the Parachute Regiment during the Second World War.”
Bill Nighy described the train journey as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel” when it featured on Channel 5’s The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journey programme.
The Northern Belle will also set out from Chesterfield and Derby in September to visit Edinburgh and the Fringe Festival, followed by a steam-hauled trip from Derby over the picturesque Settle-Carlisle line in October.